With the hit sitcom Friends having just recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, it’s only appropriate we took a little bit of a deep dive into the ins and outs of the show we’ve grown to love and appreciate so deeply. Led by Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry as they navigated their twenties together in New York, the city they called home, we can’t help but look back fondly on the 10 seasons that brought us not only laughs but the occasional tear. Here, take a look at these 30 fun facts about Friends in honor of its 30th birthday.
- Who says the fans don’t hold any power? After Chandler and Monica got together in season four, viewer response to their hookup was so overwhelming that their relationship got a permanent spot in the show.
- Friends wasn’t the original title of the show—Across the Hall, Six of One, Friends Like Us and Insomnia Cafe were a few that were on the drawing board prior to the one we came to know and love.
- Phoebe and Mike, played by Paul Rudd, ultimately ended up with one another due to the fact that everyone wanted Rudd to stay on the show.
- Much like her fictional counterpart, Courtney Cox has an affinity for cleaning and could often be found organizing her co-star’s dressing rooms.
- Every character in the series has locked lips except for Monica and Phoebe.
- Originally, Joey and Monica were who producers wanted to be the central couple of the series. In season three, the episode titled “The One With the Flashback” explored that possibility, as well as the possible pairings of Chandler and Rachel, Chandler and Monica and Ross and Phoebe.
- Originally, Ross’ ex-wife was played by Anita Barone, but Jane Sibbett replaced her after one episode.
- The actress who played Helen Baxendale, Emily Waltham, was supposed to have more appearances in the show’s fifth season, but her real-life pregnancy made leaving England difficult, so she was written off earlier than anticipated.
- The series cast James Michael Tyler to play Gunther due to the fact that he was the only extra who could use the coffee machine.
- Remember Marcel the monkey? David Schwimmer disliked working with him so much that he was written off the series.
- Everyone’s favorite couple, Ross and Rachel, actually share the same initials of “R.G.”
- Originally, Chandler and Phoebe were meant to be supporting characters.
- Each character, at some point in the series, has been unemployed.
- Despite her kiss with Chandler occurring in a dream and her kiss with Monica never being seen, Rachel is the only character who has kissed all of the members of the group.
- Each one of the friends have appeared in every episode.
- Each episode, which was filmed in front of a live audience, took about five hours to shoot, despite only being 22 minutes long.
- Chandler delivered the last line of the show and Monica spoke the first line.
- Talk about a typo! The spelling of Rachel’s last name was inconsistent throughout the series—sometimes it was “Green” and sometimes there was an “e” added to the end.
- Of all the friends, Chandler is the only one who is an only child.
- The only character who never lived in Monica’s apartment was Ross.
- “Friends” is said over 300 times in the entire show.
- The first wedding between two women on network TV was between Susan and Carol. Fearing the fan response, phone operators were hired to field a high volume of callers with grievances, but in reality, only 11 came through.
- In all of the episode titles, Monica’s name appeared only eight times with Rachel’s appearing 27.
- The only character who doesn’t get married on the show is Joey.
- Matthew Perry was the youngest of the group.
- In Central Perk, every three episodes, the art changes.
- The character who has the fewest romantic relationships in the series is Chandler.
- Season 6, season 2 and the season 10 finale are the only instances where there isn’t a cliffhanger regarding the relationship between Rachel and Ross.
- In the show, the women all have “non-traditional” pregnancies, with Rachel being a single mom, Phoebe being a surrogate and Monica adopting.
- When the show concluded, each of the cast members took home a piece of the sidewalk from outside of the famed coffee shop.
