Friends fans are extremely dedicated, that much we know for sure.
In addition to watching the series over and over again about a million times, they’ve also memorized little-known things about the beloved sitcom.
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But there are still some things that will stump even the most dedicated fans!
Ready for this? Here are 10+ completely random facts about Friends .
1. Phoebe and Chandler were only supposed to be supporting characters.
Instead of friends, they would be acquaintances. This meant that they would only show up occasionally on the show.
Thankfully, this soon changed when the writers saw how important these characters were to the dynamic.
2. *Friends* was almost called an entirely different name:
Before the show creators finally settled on Friends , they mulled over several different names.
This included Insomnia Cafe , Friends Like Us , and Six of One . They chose the best one, if you ask me.
3. Lisa Kudrow was afraid of the duck.
Yep, in real life, Lisa was afraid of birds.
This is definitely ironic, considering how much her character loved animals!
I mean, she once broke up with a guy over a bird!
4. Some episodes had very tight budgets.
In order to save money on sets, the episode “The One Where No One’s Ready” was filmed entirely in Monica and Rachel’s apartment.
Fans will also notice that this episode had no guest actors.
5. Monica’s apartment number changed throughout the series.
Listen, it’s shocking, but it actually makes a lot of sense.
For many shows, things change after the first few episodes in order to make continuity better in the long run!
It was orignially number 5.
But this soon changed to 20 after the writers realized that “5” didn’t make sense with Monica’s apartment being up so high.
This meant that they also changed Chandler’s apartment number from 4 to 19.
6. Gunther was actually a trained barista.
James Michael Tyler told Buzzfeed that this is actually why he got the job.
“I’d worked with the assistant director, Joel Wang, and he gave me the call. He said, ‘Hey, do you want to come on and be in the background in a coffee shop?”
“I would love you to just stand by the espresso machine and pretend like you’re actually really working it, just so it would look authentic.”
While he thought this would only be for at least six episodes, he ended up staying on for the whole 10 seasons!
7. The cast took a trip to Las Vegas before the premiere.
James Burrows, one of the show’s directors, treated the cast to dinner at Ceaser’s Palace.
They must have really loved it, because they returned to film there in later seasons!
On their first trip though, James Burrows was sure to give them some words of caution and wisdom to prepare them for the future.
“I had me and six of them and I said — I don’t know why I said this — I said, ‘This is your last shot at anonymity,” he recalled .
8. Matt LeBlanc once had a crush on Jennifer Aniston.
“Now I had a little crush on Jen in the very beginning,” Matt said in his exit interview for the book, Friends…’til the End .
“But I think the whole world did too, so what are you going to do?”
9. On the show, though, both Matt and Jen had an issue with their characters getting together.
This isn’t too surprising, because a lot of fans thought it was weird, too.
“It was Ross and Rachel all the way,” Jennifer told Elle .
“I just don’t think Joey and Rachel could have made it. I think it was more physical than emotional with them. They were friends with benefits, and they left it at that.”
Personally, I am very happy that Ross and Rachel ended up together.
I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
10. Three cast members from *The Simpsons* made guest appearances on the show:
This included Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Hank Azaria (Moe/Apu), and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns/Smithers).
While Dan and Harry had brief cameos, Hank was the only one to have a recurring role as Phoebe’s love interest, David.
11. Each cast member got $1 million per episode in the last season:
This was a huge jump compared to the first season when they only made $22,500 .
The cast even made history in 1997 when they joined together to negotiate a salary increase to $100,000 per episode.
12. Matt LeBlanc was down to $11 when he landed the part.
Turns out, the actor mimicked his character’s life more than anyone ever knew.
They were both struggling actors who were fighting to make it in the entertainment industry!
We are so happy that he got the part, because from the very first episode where he appeared in this cafe, he blew us away.
“‘Friends’, when it came my way, was my fourth TV series – and the other three had failed,” he said in 2011.
Poor guy!
13. Phoebe’s triplets storyline was written to cover up Lisa Kudrow’s real-life pregnancy.
This all happened in 1997.
In real life, Lisa had one child , not three, and she had it with her then-husband, not her half-brother!
14. The average *Friends* episode took five hours to film.
They got paid big bucks and they worked less time than the average workday? Talk about being lucky!
Things could go longer if scenes had to be re-shot or if the writers wanted to change lines.
15. Courteney Cox was pregnant during the last season.
This is actually why the show’s last season had fewer episodes than all the rest.
If you go back and watch the show, you’ll see that Cox wore a lot of scarves and baggy clothes.
16. There’s a sweet dedication in the opening credits of the opening credits of “The One After Vegas.”
After Courteney Cox married fellow actor, David Arquette, the show celebrated this in a unique way.
They changed every cast member’s last name to include the surname “Arquette.”
17. The big white dog actually belonged to Jennifer Aniston.
It was a ” good luck ” present from one of her friends when she first started acting.
There’s a good chance she despised it as much as Monica did since she lent it to the show to use.
18. David Schwimmer was the first character to be cast, while Jennifer Aniston was the last.
David got the role, no audition needed, but the same couldn’t be said for Jennifer.
If that isn’t poetic justice for their character stories, I don’t know what is, really.
They were quite unsure about her.
“When we were shooting the first grouping of cast photos [of Friends ] in front of that fountain, I was asked to step out of a bunch because they didn’t know if I was going to be still playing Rachel,” Aniston once explained .
19. There were some continuity issues revolving around Ross and ice cream.
When Ross admits to the group that he doesn’t like ice cream because it’s “too cold,” some fans might remember that some seasons before, Ross is in a scene eating ice cream!
20. The famous orange couch.
The famous orange couch that sits in Central Perk was actually found in the basement at Warner Bros. studio.
Set decorator Greg Grande said: “Literally in the back corner, shoved under another piece, was this sofa with beautiful carved wood.”
“I remember explicitly, there were network and studio notes because there was a rip in the back of the sofa and it was a little tattered on the arms. I had to redo some of the fringe.”
“The compromise was for me to take a piece of tapestry throw” in order to cover a huge rip.
21. Interestingly enough, live-audiences were never used for episodes that had cliff-hangers.
Which I suppose makes sense!
Maybe they wanted complete silence, or maybe it was because the episode continues right away and they want to keep the ambiance!
22. By the end of the show, the *Friends* cast was making a million per episode.
So no one in the cast is struggling today, we can say that much for sure.
Unless they are really blowing away their money, it should have set them up for life.
23. Gunther’s first line was in the 33rd episode.
And his first line wasn’t exactly anything special.
But hey, he ended up becoming a pretty regular supporting character, so that’s something to celebrate on his end!
24. Ross’ celebrity list (celebrities he was allowed to hook up with while in a relationship) included Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon.
Funnily enough, they both later ended up guest-starring on the show, not as themselves, but as people part of their world.
