History Trivia / Friends

** Creator/MatthewPerry's father played Joshua's (Creator/TateDonovan) father in one episode, complete with Chandler-like snarking.

** Creator/MatthewPerry's father played Joshua's (Creator/TateDonovan) father in one episode, complete with Chandler-like snarking.

** Phoebe is left back in London for that arc as Lisa Kudrow, like Phoebe, was too far along in her pregnancy to travel overseas; it also allowed Kudrow to mainly act while laying down or sitting.

** Joey's sister Gina is played by KJ Steinberg in "TOW Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister," but Creator/DreaDeMatteo in the spinoff Series/{{Joey}}.

* OldShame:
** Creator/JenniferAniston has this towards 'The Rachel' haircut. She hated it and grew it out as quickly as she could.
** Marta Kauffman [[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/02/friends-co-creator-marta-kauffman-regrets-transphobic-jokes/ regrets the portrayal]] of Chandler's DragQueen parent, as well as several other jokes that seem horribly transphobic in hindsight. She's also said that she regrets not pushing for a greater racial diversity in the cast, and that had the show been made today, it definitely would not have had white actors in all six lead roles.
** Creator/KathleenTurner has also regretted her portrayal of Chander's dad, saying that if she was offered the role today she would have turned it down, saying that it should have been played by a trans woman.

* WagTheDirector: Phoebe may have had a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, but Creator/LisaKudrow refused to do a joke involving being molested as a child.

** In a form of LifeImitatesArt, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer confessed on the reunion special that they had a massive crush on each other during the first few seasons but never got together, on the set EveryoneCanSeeIt but one of them was [[RomanticFalseLead always with someone else when the other was single]]. The feelings behind their first kiss in the show were very much real.

* HostilityOnTheSet: As a general rule, although the six main cast members got along phenomenally well and became RealLife TrueCompanions, they were ''so'' close-knit that many guest actors over the years have reported feeling shut out of the clique they formed, and that little attempt was ever made by any of them to make the outsiders feel welcomed or part of the team. Some more specific examples:
** Creator/DavidSchwimmer did ''not'' get along with the monkeys (there were two) who played Marcel. As noted elsewhere, the idea of Ross having a pet monkey in the first place had been forced on the showrunners by the network, and the monkeys were not particularly obedient and did not take direction very well. The trainer also refused to let the cast bond with the monkeys as they had to consider their human castmates "props" as opposed to their friends in order to perform (a policy which, as noted, had decidedly mixed results). With the passage of time, the other actors were able to remember "Marcel" more fondly, but Schwimmer (who shared the most scenes with the monkeys) continued to badmouth them even during the ReunionShow in 2021, which ired their trainer enough to complain about Schwimmer to the press as one of the two monkeys had recently died of cancer.
** Creator/TomSelleck (who had a recurring role on the show in its second season) was the first of many to comment on the clique that had formed among the main cast and how he often felt like an outsider looking in.

** Though not outright hostile, Creator/DavidSchwimmer and Creator/MattLeBlanc revealed that Helen Baxendale (Emily) was very aloof towards the main cast. Despite their reported attempts to make her feel welcome (though Baxendale claims they shut her out, as other guest stars have consistently said), she chose to keep her distance and gave the impression she viewed the job as beneath her, and wanted nothing to do with the ensemble or the show. Baxendale later revealed she was uncomfortable with the level of attention the role brought her.
** In a rumoured case, Creator/ReeseWitherspoon didn't get along with Aniston, and thus Jill never returned... [[https://www.eonline.com/news/1026911/inside-jennifer-aniston-and-reese-witherspoon-s-sweet-history-of-fangirling-and-friendship when in fact]] things were mellow (Aniston even hugged Reese after she panicked following a flub), and both actresses [[FriendshipOnTheSet developed a good friendship]] (eventually doing ''Series/TheMorningShow'' just to star in something together). It was later suggested Witherspoon couldn't fit the time in with her very busy film career.
** Creator/PaulRudd much later confessed that he felt out of place on the show, being brought in very late in the series to be Phoebe's successful romantic interest. Recognizing this, in the GrandFinale he tried to be funny by saying things like "We made it guys!" Since everyone else was emotionally distraught with the ending of the show, it didn't go over very well.
** Creator/KathleenTurner, who played Chandler's transgender father, said that she found the main cast not welcoming, calling them a "clique". She recalled one time when she was wearing a difficult gown and her high heels were "killing" her, and found it odd that none of them thought to offer her a seat, before one of the older crew members did so. She credited it on them being "such a tight little group that nobody from the outside mattered", though she did however "respect the camaraderie they had."
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The original DVD boxsets feature extended versions of many episodes. However, these versions were not included in the HD versions found on Blu-ray and streaming, much to the dismay of fans.

* TransCharacterCisActor: Chandler's estranged, drag queen father, who was confirmed as a transgender woman years later, is played by cisgender actress Creator/KathleenTurner.

** In TOW The Worst Best Man Ever, in the scene where Ross confronts the stripper and alleged ring thief in Chandler's office, Matt LeBlanc can briefly be seen ducking behind David Schwimmer to hide his laughter.

* {{Corpsing}}: In the scenes where Ross is playing music in the apartment (his keyboard, and then later in the show, his bagpipes), Jennifer Aniston is visibly trying to hold it together, putting her hand over her mouth as casually as she can. In the bagpipes scene, she has a tougher time once Phoebe "joins in" with her rendition of "Celebration" ("EEEEEE! EE-EEEE! EEE! EEE!....E-E-EEEEE!")

** In the UK, the first two seasons debuted on Creator/Channel4, before Creator/SkyOne took over the first-run rights in late 1996 with the following four seasons debuting on the channel along with Channel 4 airing the episodes a month later until regaining the first-run rights from Sky in late 1999, thus the last four seasons debuted on the terrestrial channel and allowed the channel to launch E4 as a result. Repeats of the show continued to air on Channel 4 and E4 after the show's end until [[Creator/ViacomCBS ViacomCBS]] took over the rights in 2011, allowing the show to air on Creator/ComedyCentral and Creator/Channel5, the latter of which aired its [[Series/{{Joey}} spinoff]] back in 2005, while the reunion special aired on Sky One instead of either the Viacom channels or Creator/{{Netflix}} due to Creator/HBOMax currently unavailable in the country as a result of an existing deal between Sky and Warner Bros.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://friends.wikia.com/wiki/Friends_Wiki Friends Central]], and another [[http://friendstvseries.wikia.com/wiki/Friends_Wiki Friends Wiki]].

* FriendshipOnTheSet: The cast all insisted on equal pay and if they were nominated for awards, you could not nominate one of the cast for Best Lead and another for Best Supporting Cast Member.

* ContractualObligationProject: Bruce Willis appeared on the show because he lost a bet against Matthew Perry on the set of ''Film/TheWholeNineYards''. However, he admitted that the had lots of fun and would have been glad to have made a return. Also, although he was paid a good deal of money for his appearances, he happily donated every single earning from the show to a number of different charities.

** Creator/AnnaFaris - who played Erica, the woman who carried Monica and Chandlers’ twins - appeared as a barista in the pilot episode.

** High school-aged Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Monica are played by the regular cast. This is largely PlayedForLaughs, as the actors make very little effort to look or act like younger versions of themselves outside of wearing cheesy fashions from the period.

** David Schwimmer appears for a one-off as "Russ", a Ross-esque guy Rachel briefly dated (without noticing the similarities, such as profession and the, uh,... u-''NIQUE'' manner of speaking).