There are TV series which, despite their age, do not have a real expiry date. Television series that have collaborated to create a shared collective imagination, which have been able to revolutionize the way of telling stories on the small screen and which, in this way, have stood the test of time. It undoubtedly falls into this category Friends, the series written by David Crane and Marta Kauffman was broadcast for the first time in 1994 and ended ten years later, on May 6, 2004. Precisely on the occasion of twenty years since the last episode was broadcast, we decided to tell you ten curiosities that perhaps you don’t yet know about the sitcom that set the pace throughout the nineties and much of the 2000s, capable of ensnaring viewers so much that it even pushed for a sui generis reunion.
Fun facts you don’t know about Friends
The change of apartments
Perhaps not all fans and viewers of Friends they noticed a change that was made on the run, during the airing of the show’s first season. In the first episodes, in fact, Joey and Chandler’s apartment was number 4, while Monica’s, where Rachel also goes to live, was marked with number 5. Soon, however, the writers realized that those numbers could represent an inconsistency, since the protagonists’ houses are located on the top floor of a very tall building. For this reason the apartments have changed the number, becoming 19 and 20,
The stunt double on the pitch
Since Friends it is a very long series, both in terms of number of episodes and number of seasons, it sometimes happened that the filming made use of stunt doubles for the main actors. Thus, when it was not strictly necessary for them to be on stage – perhaps because the shot was from behind and therefore there was no need to frame the face – the stunt doubles lent their presence. However, during the editing phase the production was not always good at hiding these “external presences”. This is the case, for example, of the fifth episode of the eighth season, in which the character of Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is sitting on the couch in Central Perk talking to Monica. The one playing the latter in the scene from behind, however, is not Courteney Cox, but a stunt double whose face is framed, as seen in the second eleven of the following video.
Monica and Chandler’s relationship wasn’t expected
Despite the fans of Friends are often fond of the back-and-forth relationship between Ross and Rachel, one of the most loved couples is that of Monica and Chandler, the latter played by the late Matthew Perry. In the episodes where the friends are in London for Ross and Emily’s wedding, the two just had to sleep together and finish the matter there. However, those episodes were recorded with the audience present and when it was discovered that the two had been in bed together, viewers went crazy with joy. With such a reaction, the writers realized that they would not be able to resolve the matter as they had planned.
Pablo was… Italian
In the seventh episode of the first season, which in Italian has the title of Candlelight, The character of Pablo enters the scene, who in the Italian version is presented as a fiery Spaniard for whom Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) loses his mind. In the original version, however, Pablo’s name is Paolo and he is an Italian boy who still has some problems with the English language and who fascinates Rachel with the charm of the Mediterranean man. The actor played Paolo/Pablo Cosimo Fusco.
Crossover with another series
Still about the episode Candlelight, a curiosity that perhaps not everyone knows is that the blackout that kicks off the plot of the episode is the result of a crossovers with another TV series. In fact, it is the character of Ira (John Pankow) who causes the power outage throughout New York Crazy lovers, in the sixth episode of the third season entitled A question of honesty. The blackout is not only told in Friendsbut also in the sitcom Madman of the People. Furthermore Lisa Kudrow had taken part in Crazy lovers, as a maid named Ursula. This same character will also be used in Friends, and will be Phoebe’s “evil” twin.
Robin Williams’ cameo was not expected
Friends it was a series whose success pushed many Hollywood stars to agree to participate in more or less large cameos: actors like Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts And George Clooney they appeared in various episodes of the show. Among these great stars there was also Robin Williams, protagonist of a scene in the company of Billy Crystal in the third season. As he writes Screenrant, the cameo was not in the script and was completely sudden and improvised. The two were near the set where the show was being filmed and decided to do a scene. All dialogues – including interruptions and the reactions of the six protagonist friends – are improvised.
Friends wasn’t supposed to be called Friends
Not everyone knows that Friends it wasn’t the original title the writers and producers had intended. In the early stages of production, in fact, the sitcom should have been titled Six of One and then Insomnia Café. At a later time the title changed to Friends like us. At that point it was decided for a title that was simpler and more immediate and the choice fell on Friends.
Where was the theme song filmed?
One of the most iconic aspects of Friends it is undoubtedly the theme songwhich unfolds on the notes of the song I’ll be there for you by The Rembrandts. The theme song was filmed at four in the morning, in winter, with the actors forced to suffer from the cold. Except that it wasn’t filmed in New York, where the series is set, but in the Warner Bros. Studio, in Los Angeles. Today it is possible to visit studio 10, the one where most of the show was filmed. Precisely for this reason, the studio is called today The Friends Stage.
The trip to Las Vegas
It has become legend, as we also read above Marie Claire, the trip that the six protagonists took to Las Vegas before starting filming the first season. One of the producers accompanied them to the city and stayed with them at the dinner that took place at Spago, a restaurant inside Caesar’s Palace, the same hotel that would later be used in the two episodes of Friends set in the desert city of Nevada. The trip was made to give the actors the opportunity to have fun for the first time in complete anonymity, given that the entire technical cast was convinced that Friends it would become a worldwide success. They weren’t wrong.
The true identity of the Naked Man
One of the secondary and iconic characters of Friends is the Naked Man: a nudist who lives in the apartment across the street from Monica and Chandler’s, which will later be rented by Ross. If at the beginning the Naked Man was just an “entity” that was talked about, on two occasions the character is seen on stage, although his face is never framed. This meant that the actor’s identity remained “secret” until 2016, when it was revealed by an “investigation” by theHuffington Post.
The man was played by Jon Haugen.
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