Top 10 Fun Facts About You Should Know About F.R.i.E.N.D.S.

The opening credits were not shot in New York.

1

The fountain in the opening credits of Friends is not in New York City but on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.

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The producers wanted Courteney Cox to play Rachel, but cox resisted.

2

Courteney Cox requested to play the role of Monica on Friends instead of Rachel because she admired Monica's strong character.

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The cast could have been completely different.

3

Griffin and Lynch auditioned for Phoebe, while Favreau and Cryer were considered for Chandler. Perry almost missed out due to another pilot, but it wasn't picked up.

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Friends was originally called Insomnia Café (and a bunch of other things).

4

Friends was originally titled "Insomnia Cafe" and featured a different concept with Joey and Monica as love interests. The show had various working titles before premiering with the title "Friends" in 1994.

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Lisa Kudrow didn't know how to play guitar.

5

Kudrow considered having Phoebe play the bongos but ended up learning a few guitar chords. She decided Phoebe would only know a handful of chords, leading to the creation of "Smelly Cat."

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The cast took a trip to Las Vegas together before the show aired.

6

Director James Burrows took the Friends cast to Vegas before the show aired, telling them it was their last chance at anonymity before becoming famous.

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Caesar's Palace played an important role on Friends later on.

7

Joey plays a gladiator at Caesar's Palace in "The One in Vegas" where Ross and Rachel get drunk-married, while Monica and Chandler witness the event, having planned to get married themselves.

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Monica was an early Mental Floss fan.

8

David Arquette gave Courteney Cox a copy of Mental Floss, which later appeared in a Friends episode where Monica can be seen reading the magazine.

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They were the first TV cast to negotiate as a group.

9

Friends cast received $22k per episode in the first season, with their salaries reportedly varying in the second. In 1997, they demanded $100k per episode, and by the final season, they were earning $1 million per episode.

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It's one of the most watched shows on Netflix.

10

Friends is a popular show, most streamed on Netflix in the UK and second only to The Office in the US. When Netflix announced its removal in 2019, fans' petition with #Justice4Friends was successful in bringing the show back.

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