Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman aired from 1994 till 2004. It lasted ten seasons and revolves around a circle of friends living in Manhattan and their day to day activities. The characters are Ross Geller played by David Schwimmer, Rachel Green played by Jennifer Aniston, Phoebe Buffay played by Lisa Kudrow, Joey Tribbiani played by Matt Leblanc, Monica Geller played by Courtney Cox and Chandler Bing played by Matthew Perry.
It’s hard to believe 20 years have passed since the sitcom got aired. Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the iconic sitcom.
When the show was first conceived it was Joey and Monica, not Ross and Rachel who were supposed to have the epic love storyline. Writers changed their minds when they cast Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer because of their “chemistry”.
Jon Favreau and Jon Cryer both auditioned for the role of Chandler… and Ellen DeGeneres turned down the role of Pheobe.
Courtney Cox is actually older than David Schwimmer in real life even though Monica is Ross’s younger sister
All of the six main characters have kissed each other at one point except Monica and Phoebe.
Friends masterminds Marta Kauffman and David Crane are also co-writers of the show’s theme song, “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts.
Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon were both on Ross’ “celebrity list”. They both later guest-starred on the show as Melissa Warburton and Jessica Lockhart, respectively
In The One After Las Vegas episode, Courteney Cox had just got married and changed her name. To commemorate the wedding, the entire cast is credited with ‘-Arquette’ after their names. Reese Witherspoon was signed up for around six episodes, but apparently Jennifer Aniston disliked her and asked the producers to fire her.
The frame around the peephole in Monica’s apartment door originally had a mirror in it. It was broken by a crew member during the early stages of filming, but was never replaced.
When the last series ended, each cast member was given a piece of the pavement from outside Central Perk as a keepsake.
To mark the end of the show, Jennifer Aniston and her then-partner Brad Pitt hosted a dinner party at their home. They served bottles of wine that producer Kevin Bright had saved from the first series and watched the final episode together.
