14 Things Even 'Friends' Fanatics Never Knew About The Show

#1

The show was originally called "Insomnia Café."

A few other horrendous titles were tossed around, including "Friends Like Us" and "Six Of One."

#2

David Scwhimmer was the first of the 'friends' to be cast.

"We had done a pilot the year before and David Schwimmer had auditioned for us so his voice was kind of in our heads," co-creator and executive producer Marta Kauffman said, "so we pursued him."

#3

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

Director James Burrows had a good feeling about the show's potential from the very beginning, so he took the cast on a trip to enjoy their last days of anonymity before the show would change their lives forever.

"I took them to Vegas. We ate at Caesar's Palace in Spago. I had me and six of them and I saidI don't know why I said thisI said, ‘This is your last shot at anonymity. Once the show comes on the air, you guys will never be able to go anywhere without being hounded,'" he said.

#4

Lisa Kudrow really hated playing the guitar.

"I didn't like the guitar. I wasn't getting it. So I think I even asked, ‘What if she plays the bongos?'" Kudrow said in a 2004 interview.

She ended up having to take some guitar lessons, but they didn't last long. In the end, she learned a few chords and refused to learn anything else Besides, it made sense that Phoebe would only know a few chords anyway.

#5

Marcel was actually played by a female monkey.

Her name was actually Katie.

Guess we weren't, uh, inspecting Marcel closely enough.

#6

Originally, NBC wanted the show to be set in a diner rather than Central Perk.

Apparently, they thought a coffee shop was "too trendy."

And they really weren't trying to hide the fact that the show was a massive Seinfeld rip off?

#7

The cast was surprised to learn that Chandler was straight.

There was a lot of speculation surrounding Chandler's sexuality at the beginning of the show.

And that speculation wasn't limited to fans the cast also made some assumptions about the characters.

Lisa Kudrow admitted that she was surprised when she heard Matthew Perry's interpretation of Chandler at their first table read because she had assumed (from reading the script) that Chandler was gay.

Friends co-creator David Crane finally had to set the record straight (bad pun intended) in 1997 and told Entertainment Weekly, "No, Chandler isn't gay. Nor will he be gay."

#8

Joey would have owed Chandler over $120,000 by the end of the series.

One curious Redditor posed a tough question for even the most observant and dedicated Friends fans: how much money would Joey, the world's most epic mooch, have owed Chandler?

Well, between the rent, food, acting head shots, phone bills, and furniture, Chandler covered for his pal, the grand total comes to $120,760.

That's a real friend.

#9

Drawing Joey's Magna Doodle Art became an important behind-the-scenes job.

The fabulously '90s Magna Doodle hanging on Joey's door practically became its own character in the series. It got such a fan response that it was featured prominently whenever someone walked through the door. Some fans even began looking for hidden meanings in the Magna Doodle drawings.

The drawings ultimately became a project for crew member Paul Swain. Apparently, you can read descriptions of every single Magna Doodle drawing that appeared on the show on a Friends fansite.

#10

Cliffhangers were never filmed in front of a live audience.

Typically, an episode took five hours to film and was shot in front of a live audience.

However, no one was allowed to sit in on the episodes with epic cliffhangers. Take the season four finale, "The One With Ross' Wedding." Yeah, the one where Ross is supposed to marry Emily at the end of the episode but says Rachel's name instead.

"We couldn't have an audience for that," Jennifer Aniston said in an interview in 2004. "We always remove the audience for the cliffhangers because, obvious reasons, you don't want to spoil it."

#11

Bruce Willis appeared on the show for free because he lost a bet to Matthew Perry.

Every Friends fanatic remembers that Bruce Willis made a guest appearance as the father of Ross' girlfriend.

However, Willis didn't collect any major cash for the role thanks to losing a bet he made with Matthew Perry while the two were making The Whole Nine Yards.

Perry believed the movie would be number one in the box office its opening weekend, but Willis was skeptical. However, the film hit number one in February of 2000 and Willis was required to donate his Friends earnings to charity.

#12

The cast was the first TV cast to negotiate contracts as a group.

Salary disputes and rivalries among cast members are known to derail our favorite TV shows, but Friends managed to be the exception.

Throughout season one, each of the six ‘friends' were raking in $22,000 per episode. However, their salaries began to differ by the second season (allegedly).

In 1997, all six cast members decided to use solidarity as leverage and they refused to work until they earned equal salaries of $100,000 per episode.

#13

All six 'friends' earned $1 million each per episode during the last season.

Joey could've paid off his debts pretty easily.

#14

The cast and crew were given pieces of the sidewalk from outside Central Perk after the final episode aired.

Everyone got take away a literal concrete piece of history.