History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Friends

* Rachel's sister Jill was going to make more appearances, but Creator/ReeseWitherspoon was too busy with her film commitments.

* Creator/EricMcCormack was the runner-up for the role of Ross Geller before the casting of Creator/DavidSchwimmer.

* The writers thought about ending Ross and Rachel on a vague MaybeEverAfter note but decided that would too cruel after ten years of WillTheyOrWontThey agony.

* Joey and Monica were originally supposed to be the main couple focused on over the course of series rather than [[WillTheyOrWontThey Ross and Rachel]] and later [[HappilyMarried Chandler and Monica]]. A couple of episodes seem to have a few nods to this, such as Joey mistakenly thinking that Monica is flirting with him in "The One with the Flashback", and Monica revealing that she'd originally wanted to have sex with Joey right before getting together with Chandler in "The One With the Truth About London". There are also some subtle hints of this in "The Pilot": While it's unclear whether the writers changed the romantic focus to Ross and Rachel before or after the episode was filmed, the constant banter between Joey and Monica suggests that an eventual romance between the two was probably still on the cards when it was written.

* "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross" was originally supposed to have Chandler and Monica not arriving at their honeymoon. Chandler makes a joke about bombs at the airport and the two are detained. However, it was changed after the September 11 attacks(though the scenes did surface online over a decade after the episode aired and were later officially released on the complete series Blu-Ray set).

* Creator/JonCryer, Creator/CraigBierko and Creator/JonFavreau were considered for the part of Chandler Bing before Creator/MatthewPerry was cast. Bierko and Perry had previously costarred in the short-lived sitcom ''Sydney''.

* Creator/MatthewPerry and Creator/JenniferAniston were both signed on for different shows and had ''Friends'' in second position for the 1994-1995 TV season, meaning they could have become unavailable should the other shows have been picked up.
** Perry was cast in ''LAX 2194'', a sci-fi sitcom about a futuristic LAX airport where aliens come and go daily. Luckily for ''Friends'', studio executives saw just how awful that concept was and told the producers to go ahead and cast Perry as Chandler.
** Aniston was cast in ''Muddling Through'', a CBS sitcom about a woman trying to rebuild her life after prison, with Aniston playing the main characters daughter. The ''Friends'' team liked Aniston so much that they worked out a scheduling agreement so she could shoot both shows, knowing that they'd have to reshoot multiple episodes if ''Muddling Through'' had any success. Aniston begged to be released from her ''Muddling Through'' contract and NBC set out to kill that series[[note]]NBC started a scheduling war to tank ''Muddling Through'''s ratings and succeeded in just a few weeks[[/note]] so that she'd be available for ''Friends''.
* Creator/DavidSchwimmer had sworn off TV and film was going to focus on becoming a theater actor in Chicago when he was convinced to try out for Ross.
* Creator/TeaLeoni was the first choice for the role of Rachel Green before Creator/JenniferAniston was cast. However, Leoni turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with ''Film/BadBoys1995''.

** Creator/NancyMcKeon and [[Series/TheKingOfQueens Leah Remini]] also read for the part of Monica Geller before the casting of Cox.
* Creator/JaneLynch, Creator/KathyGriffin, and Creator/MeganMullally screen-tested for Phoebe Buffay before Creator/LisaKudrow was cast. Creator/EllenDegeneres supposedly auditioned too, although she denies it when asked.

* Creator/JonCryer, Creator/CraigBierko, and Creator/JonFavreau were considered for the part of Chandler Bing before Creator/MatthewPerry was cast. Bierko and Perry had previously costarred in the short-lived sitcom ''Sydney''.
* Creator/EricMcCormack was the runner-up for the role of Ross Geller before the casting of Creator/DavidSchwimmer, but Schwimmer was known to the creators from a previous project and was always their first choice. He was the first of the six to be cast. Creator/BillyCampbell was also considered.
* The opening title sequence was originally going to be based solely around the main cast playing around/goofing off in the fountain, but this version was only used once in the pilot episode and scrapped afterwards, due to the producers feeling that the scene showed the cast as a closed group of friends who might snub anyone outside their group. All of the later title sequences show a mixture of the fountain scene and scenes from other episodes.
* Music/{{REM}}'s 1991 song [[Music/OutOfTime "Shiny Happy People"]] was the original choice for the theme tune of the show, which would've been a RealSongThemeTune and in fact, the opening title sequence was originally [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl5751mttoE different]] as it was made for the pilot, hence it was under the WorkingTitle ''Friends Like Us'' and included the song. After the show was picked up for a series as well as the band rejecting the offer to use "Shiny Happy People" (which they [[CreatorBacklash openly disliked]]) for the show, the producers wrote "I'll Be There for You" with the Rembrandts to replace it. Though the Rembrandts were always the producers' choice, R.E.M. was offered to perform the theme tune, but they declined it due to working on their album ''Music/{{Monster|REMAlbum}}'' at the time. Music/TheyMightBeGiants was also offered but declined due to working on their album ''John Henry'' at the time.

* "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross" was originally supposed to have Chandler and Monica not arriving at their honeymoon. Chandler makes a joke about bombs at the airport and the two are detained. However, it was changed after the September 11 attacks.

* Music/{{REM}}'s song "Shiny Happy People" was the original choice for the theme tune of the show, which would've been a RealSongThemeTune and in fact, the opening title sequence was originally [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl5751mttoE different]] as it was made for the pilot, hence it was under the WorkingTitle ''Friends Like Us'' and included the song. After the show was picked up for a series as well as the band rejecting the offer to use their song for the show, the producers wrote "I'll Be There for You" with The Rembrandts to replace it. Though The Rembrandts were always the producers' choice, R.E.M. was offered to perform the theme tune, but they declined it due to working on their album ''[[Music/MonsterREMAlbum Monster]]'' at the time. Music/TheyMightBeGiants was also offered but declined due to working on their album ''John Henry'' at the time.

* Creator/TeaLeoni was the first choice for the role of Rachel Green before Creator/JenniferAniston was cast. However, Leoni turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with ''Film/BadBoys''.

* Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea (although Creator/JasonAlexander later had a one-off cameo as a suicidal office worker Phoebe convinces to keep on living). This would have lead to a YouLookFamiliar situation, as Creator/CourteneyCox played Meryl, a girlfriend of Jerry's, in an episode of ''Seinfeld'' six months before ''Friends'' aired.

* Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea (although Creator/JasonAlexander later had a one-off cameo as a suicidal office worker Phoebe convinces to keep on living). This would have lead to a YouLookFamiliar situation, as Creator/CourteneyCox played Meryl, a girlfriend of Jerry's, in an episode of ''Seinfeld'' mere months before ''Friends'' aired.

* Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea (although Creator/JasonAlexander later had a one-off cameo as s suicidal office worker Phoebe convinces to keep on living). This would have lead to a YouLookFamiliar situation, as Creator/CourteneyCox played Meryl, a girlfriend of Jerry's, in an episode of ''Seinfeld'' mere months before ''Friends'' aired.

* Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea. This would have lead to a YouLookFamiliar situation, as Creator/CourteneyCox played Meryl, a girlfriend of Jerry's, in an episode of ''Seinfeld'' mere months before ''Friends'' aired.

* Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea.

** Creator/TiffaniThiessen, Creator/JaneKrakowski, Creator/ElizabethBerkley, Creator/DeniseRichards, Creator/NicolletteSheridan and Creator/ParkerPosey auditioned for the part of Rachel Green as well before the casting of Aniston.

* Creator/JaneLynch, Creator/KathyGriffin, and Creator/MeganMullally screen-tested for Phoebe Buffay before Creator/LisaKudrow was cast. Ellen Degeneres supposed auditioned too, although she denies it when asked.
* Creator/HankAzaria, Creator/VinceVaughn and Louis Mandylor auditioned for the role of Joey Tribbiani before the casting of Creator/MattLeBlanc.

* Creator/EricMcCormack was the runner-up for the role of Ross Geller before the casting of Creator/DavidSchwimmer, but Schwimmer was known to the creators from a previous project and was always their first choice. He was the first of the six to be cast.

* Janine was supposed to stick around for more episodes but Elle [=McPherson=] was based in London and wasn't available for more filming.

* James Michael Tyler was supposed to be just another extra on the set. However, he was recruited to be a recurring character in the coffeehouse because he was the only extra who knew how to operate a cappuccino machine.

** Writer Peter Mehlman revealed that NBC suggested a crossover between ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Seinfeld''. The event would take place in two episodes aired on the same night, with the characters from ''Seinfeld'' appearing on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', and vice versa. Creator/LarryDavid immediately rejected the idea.