Friends

A television phenomenon and genuine American cultural artifact, Friends chronicled the misadventures of six twentysomethings navigating their way through the not-so-fast lane of Manhattan life. Like all great sitcoms, Friends featured unforgettable characters we all could identify with: self-absorbed but sweet-natured Rachel; hypercompetitive siblings Monica and Ross; daffy but street-smart Phoebe; insecure and soulful Chandler; and self-styled ladies' man Joey. Like Seinfeld and Frasier, Friends captured the heady zeitgeist of the roaring '90s.

Cast & Characters

• Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing
• Courtney Cox Arquette as Monica Geller
• Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green
• David Schwimmer as Ross Geller
• Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani
• Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay
• James Michael Tyler as Gunther
• Elliot Gould as Mr. Geller
• Christina Pickles as Mrs. Geller
• Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick Geller
• Jessica Hecht as Susan
• Tom Selleck as Richard
• Helen Baxendale as Emily Waltham Geller
• Charles & John Allen; Cole Sprouse as Ben Geller
• Paul Rudd as Mike Hanigan

Broadcast History

First Telecast: September 22, 1994
Last Telecast: May 6, 2004
Original Network:  NBC
Number of Seasons: 10
Number of Episodes: 236
Original Primetime TV Schedule:

• September 1994 - May 1995, NBC, Thursday 8:30-9:00pm
• September 1996 - May 2004, NBC, Thursday 8:00-8:30pm

Theme Song Lyrics & Opening Credits

{videobox}/media/video/friends.mp4{/videobox}
"I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts

So no one told you life was going to be this way. Your job's a joke, you're broke, you're love life's DOA. It's like you're always stuck in second gear, Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year. But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too. You're still in bed at ten, the work began at eight. You've burned your breakfast, so far, things are going great. Your mother warned you there'd be days like these, But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees. That, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too. No one could ever know me, no one could ever see me. Seems like you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me. Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with, Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst, I'm best with you. It's like you're always stuck in second gear, Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year. But, I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you, like I've been there before. I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me too.

Listen to theme song: {mp3}Friends{/mp3} Purchase theme song from Amazon.com: Purchase theme on Purchase show soundtracks from Amazon.com:

Friends on DVD

Season 1	Season 2	Season 3	Season 4	Season 5
Season 6	Season 7	Season 8	Season 9	Season 10
Complete Series	View all Friends DVDs, books, merchandise & collectibles from Amazon.com

Friends Image Gallery

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

Friends Trivia

The golden frame around the peephole was originally a mirror which one of the crew accidentally smashed. But because it still looked good they decided to leave it there.

Other titles considered for the show were "Friends Like Us", "Six of One", "Across the Hall", and "Insomnia Cafe."

In the first couple of episodes Chandler and Joey's apartment number was #4 and Monica and Rachel's apartment number was #5. However, in the later episodes, they are 19 and 20 respectively because the producers noted that 4 and 5 corresponded to apartments on lower floors and the Friends' apartments were higher up the building.

Friends was filmed on the same soundstage that was used for the filming of the sitcom Full House during the last two seasons (1993-1995) of it's eight year run (1987-1995). The pilot of "F·r·i·e·n·d·s" was shot on stage 33 (the same stage as Living Single) at the Warner Ranch, and the first season was shot is Warner Bros Stage 5, now the home of Everybody Loves Raymond) from 1996-2005.

The theme song performed by The Rembrandts became a #1 single on the American pop charts.

The characters' full names are: - Rachel Karen Green - Phoebe Buffay (in "The One Where They All Turn Thirty" 7.14, she says that never knew her middle name since she had never seen her birth certificate and her twin sister, Ursula, had sold it to a Swedish runaway) - Joseph Francis Tribbiani Jr - Chandler Muriel Bing - Ross Eustace Geller - Monica E. Geller (Monica's middle name is never said).

Out of the six friends, Chandler is the only one to not have any siblings. Rachel has two sisters, Monica and Ross are brother and sister, Phoebe has a twin and a half-brother, and Joey has seven sisters.

No Friend ever made more money doing the show than any others. They started out making $22,500 per episode and ended up making $1,000,000 per episode. All negotiations were done in unison. Kudrow said, "The six of us are far stronger than just one person."