| The first line of speech in the very first pilot episode of Friends was "There's nothing to tell." A 30-second commercial during the break in the show in America cost advertisers £500,000. Other titles considered for the series included "Once upon a time in the West Village", "Insomnia Café" and "Across the Hall". The original title, "Friends like Us", was shortened to the current one-worder. Courteney Cox originally auditioned for the part of Rachel which was given to Jennifer Aniston. The six characters full names are Rachel Karen Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica E Geller (Courteney Cox), Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Ross Geller (David Schwimmer). According to Aniston, her famous "Rachel" hairdo was created by accident when her "friend" Chris cut her hair with a razor. Courteney Cox is known as CC to friends and family. David Schwimmer attended Beverly Hills High, the school on which the series Beverly Hills: 90210 was based. Matthew Perry appeared in Beverly Hills: 90210 earlier in his career. He said of his role: "Its kind of a blur, but I remember playing the most popular kid in school who ends up with a gun in his mouth because his Dad is so overbearing". Matthew Perry's wit is so legendary that the scriptwriters have often incorporated his gags into the show. Courteney Cox had the honour of being the first person to say "period" on American TV, making a commercial for Tampax. Jennifer Aniston attended the New York High School for the Performing Arts, the school that Fame was modelled on. Central Perk, the café in which they all hang out, is based on the Manhattan Café in New York's West Village. Cox was a cover girl for People Magazine's "50 most beautiful people in the world" issue. She was also dubbed "TV's hottest babe" by American Playboy magazine. Matt LeBlanc loves dogs and has a mutt called Lady that he rescued from a dog pound, and a Doberman called Shadow. Lisa Kudrow is married to a French advertising executive called Michel Stern. David Schwimmer is the son of two Los Angeles lawyers. His mother, Arlene, handled Roseanne's first divorce. Matt LeBlanc, son of a mechanic and a circuit-board maker, originally studied carpentry. "I am not a dumb guy," he says. "I just play one on TV". Matthew Perry dated Roberts after her appearance on the show. His verdict? "She does leave toothpaste all over the sink and she's always wanting to borrow money". The whole cast huddle together before each episode to wish each other luck. This made frequent guest star Tom Selleck feel a bit left out The cast now get paid $1 million per episode,this will last through to the ned of series 9. Marcel the monkey was used in the film "Outbreak" with Dustin Hoffman. Series 10 will Definitely be the last. In the first few episodes of Series 1,appartment numbers were 4 and 5 but were later changed to 19 and 20 because Joeys and Monicas appartment are too high up to have low numbers. Lisa Kudrow(Phoebe) was actually pregnant during filming in Series 4. Matt LeBlanc is now got married The wall in the background of Central perk is decorated after a few episodes. The "lame cool guy handshake" that Chandler and Joey do in the finale is actually the handshake that Schwimmer, Perry and LeBlanc do before they film every episode The reason Phoebe didn't go to Ross' wedding was because Lisa was actually pregnant and couldn't fly to London with the cast and crew. In the pilot a girl asks Rachel if she wants some coffee, so she works at Central Perk. But in a few later episodes (in season 3) she appears as one of Phoebe's friends who works at her massage parolor The frame around Monica and Chandler's peephole started as a mirror, but it broke while getting set up |
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