Behind-The-Scenes Details About 'Friends' That Fans Need To Know
While the beloved sitcom Friends is known for its silly and lighthearted moments, making the show wasn't exactly a walk in the park (or, perk.) From actor struggles to rewrites to even near-catastrophic cast changes, these little-known factoids reveal a much different version of the show than you'd probably realized. And apparently, the difficulties started right from the opening credits.
Opening Credit Issues
Scheduled bright and early at 4 am, the iconic opening credits for Friends was a bigger pain to shoot than you'd expect. Fortunately, NBC had the foresight to heat the fountain water for filming six stars were focused on lip-syncing the theme song's lyrics correctly, an even bigger task since no one had ever heard it before! It was recorded later.
Schwimmer Hated The Monkey
Who could forget Ross' lovable primate pal Marcel? Well, the charismatic capuchin was actually a female named Katie. Despite the on-screen chemistry with her owner, Schwimmer told Entertainment Weekly in 1995 that he hated the monkey and wished it dead! Yikes! As of 2019, Katie was still in show business, working as the rally monkey for the Los Angeles Angels baseball team.
Selleck's Standing O
Tom Selleck's time on Friends was so thrilling for fans that the studio audience would actually give him a standing ovation every time he entered a scene. These entrances typically proved unusable, forcing the production crew to reshoot them without the audience!
Other Possible Titles
Initially, Friends wasn't the title of the show. The earliest drafts of the sitcom were known as Insomnia Cafe, and it even became Six of One and Friends Like Us before producers opted for the shorter, more straightforward title.
