DRIENDS! How many meanings are contained in that word...

The roles of “Mom” and “Dad” in the series were played by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, who had known each other for many years—since their time at Brandeis University in Watthham, Massachusetts. Later, they worked together for about 16 years; it was during this period that Kevin Bright joined them. Naturally, such a close-knit group of friends could only create a story about friends!

THE MAIN CHARACTERS We won’t go into detail about all 236 episodes of the series—those who have watched it know what’s in it, and those who haven’t should watch it immediately! Instead, let’s focus on the main characters. There are six of them.Rechelle Green (Jennifer Aniston) – full name: Rechelle Karen Green. At the beginning of the series, Rechelle is a spoiled rich girl; by the end, she becomes a self-reliant and normal person.Monica Heller (Cortney Cox-Arquette) – full name: Monica Heller (later changed to Heller-Bing). Monica is Ross Heller’s younger sister. As a child, she was very overweight, which caused her a lot of self-esteem issues. By the time the series begins, she has lost a lot of weight. She has some obsessive habits: she insists on everything being perfectly organized, can’t trust anyone with tasks, and always wants to be the winner. Her friends have gotten used to these quirks and no longer pay them much attention.Fibby Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) – full name: Fibby Buffay (later changed to Buffay-Hannigan). At first glance, Fibby’s life seems terrible: her biological mother abandoned her, her father left the family, her adoptive mother committed suicide, and her stepfather went to jail. As a result, Fibby ended up living on the streets and hanging out with con artists and thieves. But believe me, there isn’t a more optimistic and positive person out there!Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) – full name: Joseph Francis Tribbiani Jr. Joey comes from an Italian-American family; he has seven sisters. In the series, he plays a failed actor who is poor, uneducated, and naive, and is constantly looking for a job. Nevertheless, he is very charming and always succeeds with women, which he takes full advantage of.Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) – full name: Chandler Murial Bing. Chandler was born into a family where his mother is an author of erotic novels and his father is a gay transvestite. Chandler has many complexes, but he tries to hide them behind jokes. His job involves analyzing and reorganizing data, and he has a successful career in this field. However, towards the end of the series, he quits his job and starts over in the advertising business.Ross Heller (David Schwimmer) – full name: Ross Justus Heller. Ross is Monica’s older brother and the favorite of their parents. He is a respected paleontologist who first worked at a museum and then at a university. He isn’t very successful in love, but he has been married three times and divorced just as many times. Since high school, he has had a romantic relationship with Rechelle, and their story is one of the main romantic plots of the series.

THE CAST These are the main characters, and the actors who played them also had successful careers in feature films. However, only Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry achieved particular fame.The cast was selected carefully and over a long period of time. In fact, David Schwimmer was the only candidate who didn’t go through a screening process—his role was written specifically for him. He had already proven himself to be a talented television and theater actor, so the creators were confident that he would be perfect for the part.All the other candidates went through multiple rounds of auditions. The process began in March 1994, even before the producers finished writing the pilot episodes. For each of the six roles, the casting committee received over a thousand resumes. Approximately 75 candidates were selected for further interviews, and in the end, only four candidates were recommended to the NBC executives. The final decision to cast these actors was left to them.According to most experts and critics, this was the best cast in the history of television series production. In fact, thanks to this cast, “Friends” became the first and so far the only true blockbuster series in television history. By the end of the filming, the actors’ salaries had exceeded $1 million per episode!

EPILOG From time to time, there are rumors about the possibility of a feature film sequel or new seasons of “Friends,” but the main characters themselves have denied these rumors. It would be so nice to see “Friends” together again… Definitely more interesting than any reality show, like “Big Brother” with Kerry Bradshaw!

INSIDE THE SET Here are 50 facts that every true fan of “Friends” should know!

1. The first line of the pilot episode read: “There’s nothing to say here.”
2. The 30-second commercials for “Friends” cost over $500,000 in the United States.
3> Some of the proposed names for the series included “Once in West Village,” “The Sleepless Cafe,” and “Through the Hall.” The final title, “Friends,” was shortened from the initial idea “Friends Like Us.”
4>Cortney Cox, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, is called CC by all her friends and family members.
5> David Schwimmer attended Beverly Hills High School—the same school where the characters in “Beverly Hills 90210” went to school.
6> Matthew Perry’s wit is so legendary that the scriptwriters often include his jokes in the series.
7>Matt LeBlanc once admitted that he is a “mommy’s boy” and is very close to his mother, Pat Grossman. He didn’t meet his father until he was 8 years old.
8>The “Manhattan Cafe” in West Village, New York, served as the inspiration for the “Central Perk” where the Friends gather.
9>Cortney Cox appeared on the cover of a special issue of People magazine, which featured the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
10>Matt LeBlanc loves dogs. He has a dog named Lady and a Doberman named Shadow.
11>Matt LeBlanc’s father is a mechanic and furniture maker; Matt initially studied carpentry. He says, “I’m not a stupid guy—I just play the role of such a guy on TV.”
12>Some of the celebrities who appeared in “Friends” included David Arquette, Hank Azaria, Gary Oldman, Alec Baldwin, Selma Blair, Christina Applegate, Bruce Willis, Danny DeVito, Reese Witherspoon, Kathleen Turner, Paul Rudd, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, George Clooney, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chris Isaac, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Hugh Laurie, Shawn Penn, Susan Searandon, Christina Davies, Charlie Sheen, Helen Hunt, Denise Richards, Anna Faris, Dakota Fanning, and Leah Thompson.
13>Matt LeBlanc dated Julia Roberts after she finished shooting the series. His opinion about her: “She leaves toothpaste all over the sink and constantly borrows money from me.”
14>Before each episode started filming, the six main characters would gather together to wish each other luck. Tom Shelleck (who also acted in the series) felt excluded because of this.
15>Matt LeBlanc has a weakness for singers. He says, “If you’re a woman and you’re going through some emotional difficulties and you sing about it, I’ll help you release an album.” His favorite singers include Tori Amos, Shawn Colvin, and the Indigo Girls.
16>When the pilot episodes were approved, the entire cast went on a trip to Las Vegas as a reward.
17>Cortney Cox dated the Batman actor Michael Keaton for 5.5 years; they are still good friends today.
18>Jennifer Aniston’s father was an actor and appeared in the American soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” He divorced her mother when Jennifer was 9 years old.
19>Lisa Kudrow said that people often treated her just like Fibby, saying things like, “You talk so slowly… You must be only 10 years old.”
20>Just like Ross, Matt LeBlanc also has a pet monkey. In the basketball movie “Ed,” he acted with a chimpanzee.
21>Jennifer Aniston used to weigh 30 pounds more than she does now—until her agent advised her to lose weight. She had to give up mayonnaise, white bread, snacks before and after meals, and butter.
22>Cortney Cox’s half-brother is Stuart Copeland, from the pop band “The Police Fame.”
23>David Schwimmer really wants to have children. He says, “I’ve always wanted a family. I think that’s the reason we’re here on Earth—to have kids, raise them to be good people, and make life better for those who come after us.”
24>The six actors are as close in real life as they are on screen. They play poker together, and the girls go shopping together. The rumor that they signed a contract not to sleep with each other is completely false.
25>When David Schwimmer first met Matt LeBlanc, he was skeptical of him. LeBlanc was wearing leather pants, and Schwimmer thought he was just like “Joe the Horse”—so he didn’t like him at first. But now they are really good friends.
26>Originally, Cortney Cox was supposed to play the role of Rechelle.
27>Just like his character Joey, Matt LeBlanc has a reputation for being a ladies’ man. He has dated volleyball star Gabriella Ris, English actress Minnie Driver, Yana Jameson, Goldie Hawn’s 16-year-old daughter Kate Hudson, and several strippers. And these are only the ones who have become known to the media!
28>David Schwimmer was tired of being approached by women who demanded kisses from him, sometimes even in front of their boyfriends.
29>The series “Friends” has the highest ratings on channel 4. More than 3,000,000 people watch it regularly.
30>When Matt LeBlanc got the role in “Friends,” he only had $11 left in his pocket.
31>Swimmer said that he was a “fat, disgusting idiot” in school.
32>Jennifer Aniston was once interested in Noah Wyle (from “Emergency Room”), as well as actors Jonathan Silverman, Tate Donovan, Matthew Perry, and Grant Hayslowe.
33>Marcel Neri’s coach said about his student: “If Marcel were a human being, he would be Marilyn Monroe.”
34>The monkey was the first member of the cast to get a role in a movie—Marcel appeared in the film “Outbreak.”
35>The soundtrack for “Friends” includes songs by REM, Johnny Mitchell, and the band Hootie the Blowfish. The three main actors even attended a concert of Hootie the Blowfish during the filming of an episode.
36>The characters of Ross’s ex-wife and her friend Susan were based on real-life godmothers of Marta Kauffman’s daughter.
37>The scene where all six characters dance by the fountain was filmed at 5 a.m. one morning in Los Angeles, at Warner Bros’ studio.
38>Cortney Cox used the money she earned from “Friends” to buy a new Porsche.
39>Jennifer Aniston gave her brother a car for Christmas, and he was overjoyed.
40>Christina Pickles, who played Monica’s mother, worked with Cortney Cox 10 years ago in the movie “The creators of the Universe.”
41>Cox said about her character: “She has so many quirks. She’s the kind of person who always tries to be perfect and please everyone. I’m so similar to her that it scares me.”
42>Matt LeBlanc admitted that once, while working at a snack bar in New York, he spit into someone’s plate.
43>Jennifer Aniston appeared in a shampoo commercial for L’Oréal that was shown in Europe. She said she would never appear in a hair product advertisement in the United States.
44>Matt Perry grew up in Ottawa, Canada, and played tennis professionally before starting his acting career. He didn’t finish college; he dropped out after getting the role in the movie “Boys Are Boys.” His first film role after starting “Friends” was in the movie “Fools Rush In,” where he played the owner of a nightclub.
45>A book titled “Cooking with Friends” was published, containing recipes for times when you feel like “it’s not your day, not your month, and maybe not even your year.”
46>Matt LeBlanc advertised Levi501’s jeans and also appeared in commercials for Coca-Cola and Heinz ketchup.
47>Lisa Kudrow was included in several American magazines’ lists of “the worst-dressed people,” but only because of her character in “Friends,” not because of her own taste in clothing.
48>Director James Barrabus, who directed most of the first episodes of “Friends,” also directed “Taxi” and “Mary Taylor Moore’s Show.”
49>The song “I’ll Be There for You” by the band Rembrants became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
50>Since the first season of “Friends” aired in the 1994/95 television season, it has won 19 Emmy awards, including three for “Best Comedy Series.”

If you have read all 50 facts, congratulations—you are a true fan of “Friends”!