The first episode of ‘Friends’ aired on Sept. 22, 1994, kicking off the iconic show that lasted another 10 years
Friends has become one of the most iconic shows since its inception in 1994.
The sitcom may have ended in in 2004, but its legacy has lived on in the two decades since. On Sept. 22, 2024, the show celebrated its 30th anniversary since the pilot aired.
Friends left an indelible imprint on all its fans as it followed the lives of six close 20-somethings — Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, Joey, Ross and Chandler — creating a life for themselves in New York City. The cast, which included Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry — was close in real life too, and reunited for the HBO reunion special in May 2021.
“It was just magic. Nothing was not exciting,” Aniston told PEOPLE in April 2024 of her time on the show. “And it’s still exciting, but we’ve had more experiences. We’ve learned more lessons. There’s a little more behind us.”
From who didn’t want to play their character originally to which two cast members had a crush on each other, here are 20 fun, behind-the-scenes facts about Friends
01 of 10
No one really liked the theme song and opening sequence
The iconic theme song, “I’ll Be There for You,” accompanied by the six friends splashing around in a fountain and settling together on the burnt orange couch, has become synonymous with Friends.
However, in a 2016 interview with BBC, Aniston shared that the cast of the show didn’t necessarily feel as fondly toward it. “No one was really a big fan of that theme song,” she said.
She added that she found it “a little odd” that they were all dancing in the fountain.
02 of 10
Schwimmer originally didn’t want to play Ross
Though the role of Ross was created with Schwimmer in mind, he didn’t originally feel passionate about the part, according to former PEOPLE writer Kelsey Miller’s 2018 book I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends.
Co-creator David Crane said Schwimmer had had a negative experience working on a TV project and had resigned to a career in theater. Crane recalled during the 2021 reunion special having to “beg” and “beseech” Schwimmer to join the cast.
“[We] tried to get David, [but] David had quit television,” he said. “He had a miserable experience doing another show. He moved back to Chicago to just do theater.”
Perry also almost didn’t play Chandler, as he had another pilot booked.
03 of 10
The creators originally wanted Cox to play Rachel
During Friends: The Reunion, Crane revealed they had a “hard time” finding the actress to play Monica, originally wanting Cox to play Rachel.
“We met with Courteney Cox and she explained to us why she didn’t think she was a Rachel and that she, herself, was more of a Monica — and she was right,” co-creator Marta Kauffman added. “Courteney brought this incredible joy to the character.”
“Everything Courteney brought to it made Monica so much richer than what we had originally intended,” said Crane.
04 of 10
The cast went to a casino before the first live taping to celebrate their last night of “anonymity”
Having a feeling that the show would blow up, director James Burrows took the young cast out to dinner in Las Vegas the night before the pilot premiered.
“This is your last shot at anonymity,” he told them, according to Miller’s book.
He added that they wanted to “do whatever it was that hot young television actors were supposed to do when they flew into Vegas on a private jets,” sharing that they wrote Burrows checks so they could have money to gamble with.
05 of 10
‘Friends’ takes the credit for making the term “friend zone” popular
Now well-known in pop culture, the term “friend zone” refers to when a person does not reciprocate someone’s feelings but, rather, sees them only as a friend.
While the phrase didn’t take off until the 2010s, it was originally coined by Joey in the season 1 episode “The One with the Blackout.” He tells Ross that he has waited too long to confess his feelings for Rachel and is now certifiably in the “friend zone.”
06 of 10
Monica was supposed to end up with Joey, not Chandler
While Monica was originally supposed to end up with Joey, the actors’ chemistry changed the outcome of the show. After Monica slept with Chandler in the season 4 finale of the show, the creators knew that relationship was there to stay.
“When Monica and Chandler went to bed together the first time in London, the original plan wasn’t that they were going to then become a couple for the rest of the series,” Crane told Entertainment Weekly in September 2019.
He added, “It was one of those things where originally the thought was, ‘Oh it was just a big, quick, funny mistake and how are they going to get out of that?’ Then the more we explored it, the more stories it provided and it really reinvigorated the show.”
The audience also reacted so strongly, screaming loudly, that the creators knew they hit gold.
07 of 20
Set decorator Greg Gande found the iconic orange couch in a basementGande searched far and wide for a couch that would be the central meeting spot for the friends at their favorite café, Central Perk. He eventually found the perfect fit — a burnt orange, slightly torn couch — in the basement storage area at the Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, California.
“Literally in the back corner, shoved under another piece, was this sofa with beautiful carved wood,” he told USA Today in September 2019.
He recalled that he had to spruce it up before it could go on air.
“I remember explicitly, there were network and studio notes because there was a rip in the back of the sofa and it was a little tattered on the arms,” Gande said. “I had to redo some of the fringe.”
08 of 20
Perry’s favorite episode was one where he spoke the leastThough Chandler was known for his signature sarcastic humor, Perry’s favorite episode was ironically one in which he had little dialogue.
In season 1’s “The One with the Blackout,” Chandler is stuck in a vestibule with Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre during a city-wide power outage.
“The interesting thing about that episode was I didn’t speak much; it was mostly in voiceover,” Perry told Entertainment Weekly in 2004. “We prerecorded what I said, and I had to react.”
He added in the interview that the fact that he was acting opposite Goodacre didn’t hurt.
“Let’s face it: Jill Goodacre is hot, so it wasn’t that difficult,” he said, adding, “I [remember] spitting my gum out, and it stuck to the wall. It was my choice to just stay frozen in fear and embarrassment.”The episode in which Ross and Rachel consummate their relationship has a unique titleRoss and Rachel consummate their relationship for the first time in season 2, with the episode aptly titled, “The One Where Ross and Rachel…You Know.” It is the only episode to include two characters’ name in the title.
Ross and Rachel’s on-and-off relationship was a staple throughout the show, leaving off with the two of them finally getting together after a decade in which they welcomed a child and dated multiple times.
10 of 20
Perry had a crush on Aniston before the show startedWhen Perry first met Aniston, two years before the show started, he immediately had a crush on her, he told PEOPLE in October 2022.
“There was such severe indifference from her that I ended it,” he said jokingly. “I think everybody probably figured it out. I never said anything. And I hid it. But then she married Brad Pitt, and I was like, ‘I don’t think I have a chance here.’ “
