The six best friends who come to the city in search of a new life and becoming a family is something that anyone can relate to no matter which generation they belong to. Even though the series finished in 2004, it remains much loved, much watched and much re-watched TV show ever! So, here are some interesting facts about Friends, that we collected from IMDB and other sources, to feed your nostalgia

1 The Friends cast were one of the highest paid TV show actors and they were also equally paid because they opted to negotiate their salaries together.

The cast members of Friends always did everything together. They appeared together on magazine photo shoots and they even entered themselves in the same acting categories for awards. They even became best friends off-screen. They always took care to keep their ensemble format and did not want to allow any hierarchy of importance among them. Their efforts, of course, paid off and the show was praised for being a “truly ensemble” show. (source)

2 The show was initially named Insomnia Cafe. The producers also considered the titles Friends Like Us, Six of One, and Across the Hall, before finally settling on just Friends.

The idea for the series came from the time when the creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman had finished their college and started living by themselves in New York. So, they decided to make the series about “six young people in their 20s making their way in Manhattan”. The idea was first pitched as a seven-page treatment titled Insomnia Cafe in December 1993. After many changes in titles and ideas, and casting, the pilot premiered on September 22, 1994.(source)

3 David Schwimmer, who played Ross, directed ten of the show’s episodes.

Playing the hopeless-romantic paleontologist Ross Geller wasn’t the only thing David Schwimmer did on the sets of Friends. He also directed ten of the show’s episodes and went on to do more directorial work after the series came to an end. He was also very particular about not being typecast and went on to work on Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers in which he portrayed  Captain Herbert M. Sobel.(source)

4 The 30-second commercial spots for the series final episode sold in the UK for £1.2 million (approx $1.8 million), the most expensive commercial slots of any TV program in the UK with the exception of sports.

5 When Matt LeBlanc auditioned for the show, he had only $11. When the cast got their paychecks, the first thing he bought was a hot dinner. 

6 Courteney Cox was originally asked to play the role of Rachel, but she asked to play Monica instead after reading the parts. 

In the beginning the producers felt that the upbeat and cheerful energy of Courteney Cox was better suited for Rachel the way they had envisioned the character. They wanted Jennifer Aniston to play Monica. But they both disagreed about the roles and after Cox’s audition, they saw the point. So, they gave the role of Monica to Cox and Rachel to Aniston.(source)