Less-Known Friends Facts

It is Sept 22, 1994, and NBC just aired the first-ever episode of the show simply called Friends. People magazine gave the pilot a D, the Times wrote: “In Friends, the crowd is always around to share their latest personal woes or offer a shoulder to cry on. But who would want advice from these dysfunctional morons, with their obsessive pop-culture references?” 25 years later, Monica, Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, and Phoebe are the names we all know and love.

As you know, the show went on for 10 years and zero reunions, despite what the fans wanted. The creators of the show addressed this issue on a panel and confirmed that their story is done. David Crane and Marta Kauffman only added that they believe Ross and Rachel are still together. And their daughter Emma would be in therapy. Not surprising if the parents are still arguing about the whole “we were on a break” thing.

All six Friends were unknowns, but if you were Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen fans, you already saw Monica (Courtney Cox) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc). The biggest star turned out to be Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), and she almost didn’t return for season 10. She was America’s sweetheart, making movies left and right. She didn’t need Friends, but in hindsight, it was morally a good decision to come back. Not to mention that deal where each got one million per episode.

Matthew Perry (Chandler) was, arguably, the most talented one. However, his personal struggles almost killed his career. But he did make one bet all Friends fan are grateful for. Bruce Willis guest-starred because he lost a bet to Perry during the filming of The Whole Nine Yards. Willis donated the money he made to The American Foundation for AIDS Research, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Rape Treatment Center, and UCLA Unicamp for underprivileged children.

Everyone thought Chandler was gay. That includes Lisa Kudrow. And speaking of Kudrow and her Phoebe Buffay seems like the creators didn’t like her at all. Speaking at the Friends 25th-anniversary panel at the Tribeca TV Festival, writers revealed they aren’t fond of her stalker storyline. You know the one where she dates a guy who’s stalking her twin. And the second storyline they didn’t like was the one with Phoebe dating a Navy lieutenant who gets chickenpox. They didn’t mention some storylines people find offensive today. But, those were the 90s and overall the show did not age that bad.

Sure, Will and Grace has less troubling storylines in 2019. But, Eric McCormack (Will) auditioned for the role of Ross several times. However,  the writers were already developing Ross’s character in David Schwimmer’s voice. And indeed, Schwimmer was the first person cast on the show.  Schwimmer was apparently tired of shooting pilots and wanted to focus on his Chicago theatre company, Lookingglass. We almost had a different Ross!

Obsessive pop-culture references in the past two decades wouldn’t be as funny if there was no Friends. From “Hey, how you doin’?” to Janice and “OMG”, to the whole “Smelly cat, smelly cat” song, the show is full of gags. And most of them are still popular today, as they were years ago. “Pivot, pivot,” and “We were on a break” are our favorites. Ross Geller was the annoying one, but Schwimmer made him lovable.

Reese Witherspoon was a perfect spoiled, evil version of Rachel Green. She played her baby sister Jill Green. But Amy (Christina Applegate) was an original Regina George. How many guest stars were there? Hugh Laurie, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Ellen Pompeo, Paul Rudd, Anna Faris, Gary Oldman,… It’s safe to say no other show ever had or will have this kind of guest stars.

Which episode was your all-time favorite? Which storyline did you dislike? And were they on a break?