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Friends had a unique process of shooting its episodes. If the live crowd didn't react to a certain punchline, the show didn't shy away from doing the scene over again. Heck, in some instances, Lisa Kudrow herself would ask the audience if they understood a particular joke.
The creators and cast had a blast making the show - though it was quite the process. Episodes weren't very long but shooting them certainly was at least a few hours worth. Let's take a look at how long it took to shoot and some other cool backstage facts.
Creative Fights Behind The Scenes Took Place On A Few Instances During Friends
Looking back on its ten seasons, there are very few things fans would change about the iconic sitcom. However, in the writers room, things weren't always as easy. The creators of the show revealed alongside the Hollywood Reporter that at times, there were some heavy debates when it came to certain storylines. One of them, was Joey going after Rachel. It was a back-and-forth struggle between both the creators and cast.
"When we first started the arc where Joey was going to get together with Rachel. The cast revolted when they read the first script on it: “No. Joey would never do this to Ross.” Marta and David were able to explain how it wasn’t going to end in a place that would compromise Joey as a character for stealing his buddy’s girlfriend. That almost didn’t happen. And we would have lost what was a very good season for that. I’m glad they won that one."
Marta Kauffman would also reveal that NBC pitched the idea of an older seventh character. The goal would be to entice an older demographic as well. Ultimately, the show creators were strongly against the idea, and we can safely say that they made the right call!
An Episode Of Friends Usually Took 5-Hours To Shoot
The process of filming an episode of Friends was much different in comparison to other sitcoms of its time. Unlike other shows that never dared to touch the script, Friends was very much the opposite. The show focused heavily on the reaction of the live audience, if a joke didn't land, they would reshoot the scene.
In fact, during the Vegas episode, there is behind the scenes footage of Lisa Kudrow herself asking the crowd if they understood her joke.
The cast was also given a lot of flexibility, at times if a joke didn't land, the writers trusted Matthew Perry to come up with his own line in accordance to the Chandler character. The show also kept in several unscripted moments that were too good to pass on, this included Rachel's "world's worst hangover" line and Chandler hitting himself in the head with the filing cabinet.
Sure, the show ran between 20-28 minutes per normal episode, however, the process took much longer, especially when it came to switching sets. According to Koimoi, a typical shoot would last at least five-hours and during special episodes, perhaps even longer.
The Creators Did Have Some Backstage Regrets For Certain Friends Episodes
It is only normal, not only did some storylines fall flat with the audience, but the same held true behind the scenes. Among those fails, included the awkward storylines of Chandler getting off the sharks... Kevin Bright revealed that the idea was not suited for the show and more along the lines of a Seinfeld storyline.
Other fails included the Carol and Susan wedding, David Crane revealed that the episode should have gone a little more in depth. "The lesbian wedding. I was happy that Carol and Susan got married but my only wish looking back is that we had told that story more from their point of view. Our mantra was always that the show was about the six of them. And so many of the stories happened off-screen and the six would come back together at the apartment of the coffee house and they’d talk about what just happened. I wish we had violated that rule in that case."
Ultimately, the show managed to captivate the audience and reruns will be binged on for years to come. True fans know, a lot of work went into the show behind the scenes.
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