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Before Joey ever asked how you doin’, or Monica stressed over another Thanksgiving dinner, Friends that became a cultural monolith nearly launched under a completely different title. One that would’ve made the theme song feel way less catchy.
Back in the early ’90s, creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane were still shaping what would become Friends. The chemistry was there, the coffee shop was there, but the name was still brewing. In fact, they cycled through multiple options, trying to pin down the tone. At one point, the show was pitched under a name that hardly sounds sitcom-worthy today.
What Was The Original Title Of Friends?
Now for the twist, during the filming of the pilot, Friends wasn’t even called Friends. It was officially titled Six of One. That name stayed through early development until NBC and the producers finally landed on something simpler. Friends.
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The rest was history. From its 1994 debut to its finale in 2004, watched by over 52 million people, the show never left the top ten. A reunion, a spin-off, and a billion memes later, Friends remains one of the most iconic series in television history. But somewhere out there, there’s a pilot script with Six of One written at the top, and it almost changed everything.
How The Friends Cast Nearly Looked Very Different
The title wasn’t the only thing that evolved, the cast came together after a long series of almosts and last-minute switches. Courteney Cox, now forever Monica, was first approached to play Rachel. Kauffman confirmed (via ABC), “We originally offered Rachel to Courteney Cox, but she said she wanted to do Monica, not Rachel.” That bold choice reshaped the whole ensemble.
For Monica, the original voice in the writers’ heads was someone very different. “When we originally wrote the role, we had Janeane Garofalo’s voice in our head. Darker and edgier and snarkier,” co-creator David Crane recalled. But Cox brought something lighter, more heartfelt. It clicked.
The Chandler hunt was another wild ride. Matthew Perry wasn’t even an option at first. He was locked into a sci-fi pilot called LAX 2194, about airport baggage handlers in the future. Not joking. The creators saw “everyone” for Chandler, thinking the role would be the easiest to fill. Turns out, it was the toughest. Eventually, Perry’s schedule cleared. He jumped in, coached another actor auditioning for the role, and then ended up landing it himself.
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