Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Friends reunion: What went down at the NBC special

In so far as five people sitting on a sofa is a reunion

Christopher Hooton
Monday 22 February 2016 05:32 EST
Comments
Jennifer Aniston weeps during James Burrows' speech
Jennifer Aniston weeps during James Burrows' speech (NBC)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

NBC’s tribute to sitcom director James Burrows may not have been the full-on ‘Friends reunion’ fans were hoping for, but it did still yield some interesting tidbits about the show.

Though Matthew Perry couldn’t be there as he’s currently running a play in the West End, he did introduce the cast via video message.

Five-sixths of the cast then awkwardly arranged themselves on the sofa and were grilled by the host, serving up these IMDb-ready pieces of trivia (collected by EW):

1. Crushing that long-running rumour, the cast did not sign a contract saying they would not sleep with each other, at least according to Lisa Kudrow.

2. The cast used to play poker in Burrows’ dressing room, which served as the genesis of the episode, “The One with All the Poker”.

3. In the early days, the cast would sit and watch the show together and give each other notes; something Courteney Cox picked up from Seinfeld.

4. Kudrow, Aniston and Cox had lunch together every single day for ten years. They would eat the same food everyday which Courteney called a ”Jennifer salad.”

5. Aniston initially auditioned for the part of Monica, and Cox tried out for the part of Rachel.

6. The cast loved filming the flashback episodes, when Monica was fat and Rachel had yet to get her nose job.

7. The question of how Monica and Rachel could afford that Manhattan apartment was again brought up (despite the show having addressed it in fairness), with the cast for the last time confirming it was all down to rent control.

The one where they replaced Rachel

The ‘reunion’ won’t be getting a UK broadcast, so YouTube clips is the best you’re gonna get.

Click here to play the Friends Trivia quiz

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in