1It wasn't always called Friends.
Reisig & Taylor/NBCThe show's working titles were Insomnia Café, Friends Like Us, and Six of One, before everyone settled on Friends.
2The credits weren't shot in New York.
The opening was shot at Warner Bros. Studios in California. There's a reason you've never been able to find the fountain on the east coast.
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3No one was a real fan of the theme song.
Gary Null/NBCAccording to Jennifer Aniston, "We felt it was a little… I don't know… dancing in a pond? A fountain felt sort of odd." She says the only reason they did it because they "were told to."
4Before the pilot aired, the cast went to Las Vegas.
NBCThey dined at Spago inside Caesar's Palace to enjoy their "last shot at anonymity." The cast would return some six years later to shoot Mr. Rachel's wedding to Mrs. Ross (and Joey's movie fail, among other things).
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5Courteney Cox was just like Monica IRL.
NBCIn 1995, show co-creator Marta Kauffman told The Los Angeles Times that Cox had "the neatest" dressing room. In the same interview, Cox said, "OK, I am a neat freak. Not about myself. I don't use a lint brush or anything, and I don't iron, but I could easily pick lint off of someone else." To quote Ross, "MONICAAA!"
6Friends was supposed to have just four friends.
NBCPhoebe and Chandler were originally written as supporting roles. Can you even imagine?
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7Monica and Joey were supposed to get together.
NBCAccording Kauffman, the studio audience's response to Monica and Chandler first getting together was so overwhelming, the show went "a different direction."
8The names of all six Friends were inspired by characters from All My Children.
NBCChandler is for the Chandler family, Rachel's last name, Green, is for Janet Green, Ross is for Ross Chandler (LOL), Monica is for Monique (Daisy Cortland), Joey is for Joseph "Joey" Martin, and Phoebe is for Phoebe Tyler Wallingford.
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9David Schwimmer didn't have to audition for Ross.
NBCAs Kauffman explained in 2012, "Schwimmer had auditioned the year before for a pilot we were making, and he just stuck in our heads. That was an offer. No audition."
10Phoebe was supposed to be goth.
NBCPhoebe was originally pitched as a "goth girl," which prompted Janeane Garofalo to turn down the role. "There is some truth to it, but not exactly that," she later explained. "Long ago before Friends was Friends, when it was in its infancy, it was a show called Friends Like Us, and I was being considered for a role, like a goth girl, which I think morphed into Phoebe."
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11Gunther was a barista IRL.
NBC"I had a job at a coffee shop called The Bourgeois Pig in Hollywood, which is still around and one of the last independent coffee shops that hasn't been taken over or whatnot,"James Michael Tyler told BuzzFeed in 2014. "I was one of their first baristas — I think I started there in 1990 or so."
12Hank Azaria auditioned for the role of Joey.
NBCTwice. It's OK. He was destined to play David and go to Minsk for a really long time. (Maybe too long.)
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13Jane Lynch auditioned for Phoebe.
Ben Cohen/Bravo/NBCUSo did Kathy Griffin. Obviously we're going to need to see those tapes now. (Jane eventually did appear on the show as a real estate agent in the final season.)
14The identity of the actor who played Ugly Naked Guy wasn't revealed until 2016.
NBCThanks to a Huffington Post investigation. Memorize this name for your next trivia night: Jon Haugen. We applaud you.
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15Paul Rudd got the role of Mike after a casting director wrote "dreamy" in her notes.
NBCAccording to Leslie Litt, "We had a casting session for that role but no one was quite it. Paul agreed to do a one-time meet and read with Lisa [Kudrow]. All I wrote on my notes was 'dreamy'!"
16There was an intervention for Jennifer Aniston's tardiness.
NBC"David did it. Very kindly," Aniston later told Us Weekly. "The day my alarm didn't ring."
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17There's a reason "The One Where No One's Ready" takes place entirely in Monica's apartment.
Showrunners used a "bottle episode" format for this season three favorite due to budget restrictions, at it was later revealed in the 2005 special, Friends: Final Thoughts.
18Lisa Kudrow hated the guitar at first.
NBCIn fact, she suggested that Phoebe play the bongos instead. (Thankfully, the guitar stuck.)
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19Bruce Willis guest starred on the show after losing a bet.
NBCThe bet was with Matthew Perry, his co-star in The Whole Nine Yards (2000). Rumor has it that Bruce donated his money to charity. Either way, he will always be the neatest guy.
20Monica is actually older than Ross IRL.
NBCCourteney Cox is two years older than David Schwimmer, despite playing his little sister.
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