'Friends'
We've been singing their tune while they've been making us laugh for eight years now. In 1994, they were fresh faces that faced an uncertain future on a new show called simply "Friends." It’s a show created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, who have been friends themselves for 25 years and first collaborated together on a college play.
Nobody could predict in the beginning how huge "Friends" the show, and the actors who play them, would become. Not even the future Mrs. Brad Pitt. Jennifer Aniston said in the beginning, “I’ve learned not to think, ‘Oh, this is going to be a hit.’"
Kauffman and Crane revealed that the “Friends” cast you've grown to know and love could have looked very different. Marta says, "Courtney we originally thought of for Rachel. Boy were we wrong."
David explains, "We thought originally the big romantic hot relationship was going to be Joey and Monica. This was back when they were names on a page."
Both Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry were unavailable when Crane and Kauffman were casting, and didn't become available until the 11th hour. David says, “It was not an easy show to cast."
It's what you don't know about your favorite friends in real life, that Marta and David say might surprise you. Courteney loves to buy houses, fix them up and sell them, Jennifer is a talented artist, and Matthew's a terrific tennis player.
And wait, a little secret about these television creators: what they like to watch on TV. Marta says, “I religiously watch a show called 'That's My Baby' on Animal Planet.”
David says, “ For awhile I was watching ‘Survivor’ and it was opposite us.”
Yes, despite other enemies of “Friends,” like “Survivor,” invading Thursday night, ratings and salaries have skyrocketed upwards to a million an episode for each cast member. The creators say it's all worth it. David says, “Finally in our 8th year to be number one, which we've never been before.”
Sadly, we all have to think about the end being near. Next season, their 9th, will be their last. Marta says, “My hope is they all will be happy.”
David adds, “And there are some romantic wrinkles we need to work out. So we'll have fun with that."
Well, we'll still have our “Friends” forever, thanks to the genius of Kauffman and Crane, and reruns.
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