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Facts
This is a bunch of interesting facts that you might not even know... yet about Friends! Thanks to NBC.com and Friends: Season One DVD for this info!
Stage 24 (home to Friends from season two until now) is said to be haunted. It is one of the oldest stages on the Warner Bros. lot and rumors of late night "occurrences" have been circulating for years!
Each episode enlists from 35 to 50 extras. James Michael Tyler (Gunther) was an extra in season one. He was the only extra who could work the cappuccino machine, which led to his recurring role. Not until his first spoken line ("Yes." in The One with Phoebe's Dad) did the writers give him a name.
The Wardrobe Department has an entire room just for handbags!
The artwork in Central Perk is changed every 3 episodes. The art department showcases local, national and international artists. Some artists create original pieces just for the show!
The shops across from Central Perk have meaning. Dottie & Herman's Deli is named after co-creator Marta Kauffman's relatives. Free Being Records is an homage to a Greenwich Village record store that executive producer Kevin Bright frequented as a kid.
Paul Swain, the Electrical Best Boy, draws the art on the Magna-Doodle board hanging on the back of Joey and Chandler's front door. Sometimes he does a drawing that the writers request or that relates to the storyline; otherwise, the doodle is usually an inside joke with the crew.
Monica and Joey's refrigerators actually work (a TV rarity). Monica's is filled with water and soda for the cast and crew. Joey's is, um, pretty darn bachelor-like!
The sandwich board outside Central Perk references a crew member who went above and beyond the call of duty. "Neighbor Tim" has been appearing at Central Perk ever since his good deed on the set.
In the cold open of "The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy" (Season Premiere, 1996), the gang came in and found other people sitting in their Central Perk spots. Those were the show's writers for that season.
The show goes through 32 pots of regular coffee on show day and over 100 cases of water a week.
Phoebe has performed over 25 original songs on the show since the first season.
The Central Perk set is one of the few soundstage sets with a real asphalt "street." This allows for more realistic sound during exterior scenes, and allows for underground plumbing to pipe-in real steam from the manholes.
The newspapers near the pay phone in Central Perk are six months old.
30,000 feet of film is used to tape one episode of Friends.
The art department updates the food in Monica's kitchen cupboards weekly. But types of food (example: pasta, canned goods) are always kept in the same areas, because Monica is so organized!
Monica and Chandler's kitchen has 7 spatulas in plain view.
The show orders pizza twice a night for the studio audience. That's a total of 85 pizzas to feed the 300 audience members. (The cast and crew sometimes get sushi too!
When the original Magna-Doodle wore out, the prop department had to find one on eBay to match the original.
Robin Williams and Billy Crystal did four takes of their brief cameo in Central Perk.
Most of the copy on the Central Perk coffee board is the original copy from the show's first season (typos included!)
The show spends $1,700 a week on lightbulbs or "globes."
Executive producer/co-creator Kevin Bright often directs episodes. He also re-edits the opening title sequence twice each year with new footage. Once for the first 12 episodes, then again for the second 12.
Each script goes through three to five drafts - and often times jokes are rewritten during filming, based on audience response.
It takes 366,000 watts of electricity to light all the sets on Stage 24 for one Friends filming. That is the equivalent electrical power of 12 large homes.
25 to 30 people attend the weekly table reads. This is when the cast reads the script for that week's episode aloud for the first time.
In order to give Central Perk a genuine look, the art department created thier own coffee brands and logos. Just check out the hanging chalkboard which lists the menu items and special blends whether it's a long smooth "Long Island Creme" or the potent "Manhattan Mocha." Central Perk has a flavor to satisfy any coffee aficiondo's cravings.
The patrons at Central Perk are specially trained actors who fit in th e coffeehouse's background and add a touch of realism to the scene. Occasionally friends and family of the cast and crew get the opportunity to act as extras, chatting and sipping coffee on camera.
The huge coffee maker in Central Perk is actually made up of two entirely different machines. In oder to create an instantly recognizable set piece, the art department found an antique cappacino maker and placed it on top a functional espresso machine.
Actor James Michael Tyler was working in a real Hollywood coffeehouse when he was hired as an extra for the show's first season. The producers were so impressed by his acting ability and coffee know-how, that in the second season his character ws given the name "Gunther" and has become a part of Central Perk ever since.
Not only is Central Perk a great spot to grab a cup of coffee and relax with friends, but it is also a good place to work when money is tight. During the course of the show, Rachel and Joey have donned aprons and slung java in order to pay thier rent.
The famous orange sofa that serves as the centerpiece for Central Perk was actually discovered hidden in the basement of Warner Brothers property warehouse. The crew had to place a sheet of plywood underneath the cushion because the actors were slouching. Also the couch had to be recovered because it looked too tattered according to NBC.
Obtaining the props and set pieces needed for Friends is definately a full time job. Property master Majorie Coster-Praytor scours antique stores, knickknack shops, supermarkets and even garage sales in order to locate the numerous props required for each weeks show.
One of the creators of Friends decided that much of the show would take place in a Manhatten coffeehouse. They had a daunting task of figuring out exactally what the set sould look like. After much concideration, they agreed on a warm cozy environment with natural wood, brick walls and tattered furnishings where customers would feel free to kick back and put thier feet up on the furniture.
There was no street ouside during season one. Just a painted backdrop. The windows of Central Perk were partially frosted and covered with plants and props
Coming up with a proper monkier for the coffeehouse turned out to be a difficult job for the shows creators. Numerous rejected idea's, like "Java Joe's", were tossed around until they found just the right name for the Friends favorite hangout
No coffeehouse experience is complete without a local musician performing for customers. Pheobe enjoys entertaining the Central Perk regulars by playing guitar and singing one of her many bizzare original folk numbers.
The golden frame around the peephole on the door was originally a mirror which one of the crew accidentally smashed. But because it still looked good they decided to leave it there.
The opening footage of the cast dancing around a fountain was filmed on the Warner Brothers lot in LA at five o'clock in morning. The scene was re-created for the episodes TOW That Could Have Been.
The occupations of the characters are as follows: Ross, former paleontologist but now college professor; Monica, head chef; Joey, actor/model; Phoebe, masseuse; Rachel, former waitress but now executive at Ralph Lauren; Chandler, data processor.
The monkey was the first cast member to get a Hollywood movie role, appearing in the movie Outbreak.
When Ursula is on the show, Lisa Kudrow's sister doubles for the shoulder shots.
There's a book out called Cooking with Friends, full of comfort-food recipes for when "it hasn't been your day, your month or even your year" which is a reference to the theme song.
Three models for American underwear company Victoria's Secret has appeared on the show. The first one was the dream girl Chandler gets stuck with during a blackout, the second one was a girl who is convinced that Joey has VD, and the third one was Rebecca Romijn who appeared in a fourth season episode as Ross's girlfriend.
The first thing Courntey Cox bought with her Friends money was a brand new Porsche.
Matt LeBlanc was down to his last $11.00 when he got the part in Friends.
After being picked to play Roz Doyle in Frasier, Kudrow was subsequently dropped in favour of actress Peri Gilpin before the pilot was even shot.
The day he auditioned for Friends Matt LeBlanc had a big scab on his nose and forehead. He had fallen down when he was drunk on a bender the night before.
Jennifer Aniston's real last name is Anistonopolous.
When the pilot show was approved by the network, and a series comissioned, the entire cast was sent on a free trip to Las Vegas.
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.
Central Perk, the café in which they all hang out, is based on the Manhattan Café in New York's West Village.
According to Aniston, her famous Rachel hairdo was created by accident when her friend, Chris, cut her hair with a razor.
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 Friends.
The first line of dialogue in the very first pilot episode of Friends was "There's nothing to tell."
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