For those of us who are already on a seventh or eighth round of re-watching Friends, the
jokes might still be pretty funny, but there's little left in the way of surprises.
True fans can practically recite the best lines by heart at this point.
But even the most Friends-ied fans out there are bound to have missed a few hidden details
along the way, from Rachel's first rain-soaked visit with the Central Perk crew to the moment
she got off the plane to finally be with her lobster.
Here are some of the things you still might've missed after even your umpteenth binge session
of Friends.
The One with the Familiar Faces
Throughout Friends' 10 seasons, there were a lot of famous faces to grace the place,
from Brad Pitt and his "I Hate Rachel Club" to Julia Roberts stealing Chandler's underpants
to Bruce Willis going from protective dad mode to a crying baby who's still not over
his cruel "Chicken Boy" nickname from childhood.
Danny DeVito, Hank Azaria, George Clooney, and Christina Applegate are also among the
show's many celebrated guest stars.
And how about some Reese Witherspoon?
"Phoebe, and that's Joey!"
"Hey how you doin?"
"Don't!"
Family members in showbiz were also welcome to join the Friends' fun.
In addition to Pitt, and Courteney Cox's eventual husband David Arquette, Matthew Perry's father
John Bennett Perry made a brief cameo in Season 4.
Then, in Season 7, actress Alexis Arquette, who was also Courteney Cox's former sister-in-law,
briefly appeared in a scene starring herself and Perry.
Meanwhile, the VIP guest stars that might've gone unnoticed were the series' creatives
— Marta Kauffman, Kevin Bright, and David Crane — who made several appearances throughout
the show.
They were seen as the audience to Joey's "Holden McGroin" audition snafu in the first season,
then again on the set of the Hollywood outbreak movie starring Ross' monkey.
Some of the executive producers also stole the group's prime chill spot at Central Perk
in the season three premiere episode, and execs were also seen on the double-decker
bus Joey and Chandler rode in London for season four.
The One with the Magic Magna Doodle
The magnetic board at Joey and Chandler's apartment didn't arrive until the third season,
but it became a secret VIP of the show with its random displays of amateur artistry.
Sometimes it had utilitarian purposes, like taking phone messages or making a grocery
list, but it also proved to be a great source of subtle jokes and outright immaturity.
So, pretty much the norm for these fellas.
"Well I see you've had a very productive day.
Don't you think the cowboy hat's a little much?"
"Come on it's fun!"
"Alright."
The One with the Hidden Menu
If you've ever had ambitions of visiting Central Perk and ordering a scone just to beat it
down like Ross did or go full-throttle on the espressos during a particularly bad break-up,
OH MY GOD do we have news for you.
Turns out, the menu at our favorite coffee house was actually filled with clever and
alliterative options that our Friends never even tried out on the show, like: "Long Island
Cream: A moovingly rich and creamy coffee straight from the mutter's utter" and "5th
Avenue: Going shopping?
You'll need some fuel.
Try this trendy blend while you spend."
Who knew Gunther had so many puns tucked away in that bleach-blonde brain of his?
Delicious.
The One with the Reservation
Considering none of them owned the place — that we knew of, at least — it did seem a little
strange how the coolest couch in the coffee house was almost always free and available
to the group at any given time.
Well, thanks to some eagle-eyed viewers, the mystery has been solved.
In some of the earliest episodes, there's a small "Reserved" sign perched right there
on the coffee table.
And while it might not have been the most obvious signage, it did seem to keep the big
orange couch clear for the crew more often than not.
The One with the New Apartment Number
In Friends' first season, Monica's apartment door bore the number 5, with Chandler and
Joey's numbered 4, but their addresses were later changed to Apartments 19 and 20.
"You all knew and you didn't tell me?"
The producers reportedly wanted to make it clear that the gang lived on the second floor
of the building, a fact which would come in handy for many, many balcony scenes to come.
That wasn't the only major mix-up at Monica's, though.
There was also the matter of the annoying support beam which conveniently disappeared
from sight, and let's not forget the way her window view never seemed the same.
It was all pretty disorienting and hard to overlook.
"I'm relying on a carefully regimented program of denial and wetting the bed."
The One with the Fake Location
By now, it's probably no secret that the "New York" set of Friends was actually just an
L.A. soundstage at Warner Bros.
But one place that did serve as an authentic location for episodes abroad was London.
Everyone except actress Lisa Kudrow — who, like her character Phoebe, was actually unable
to travel during pregnancy at that time — was England-bound for those episodes.
But after the difficult experience of taking the show quite literally on the road, the
producers vowed to never do so again.
So, the group's later trips, like their fateful venture out to Vegas and Chandler's job jump
to Oklahoma, were all filmed in the comforts of their studio home.
"And hey, just so you know, it's not that common.
It doesn't happen to every guy, and it is a big deal!"
"I knew it!"
By the way, the house that Chandler and Monica bought in Brooklyn?
Turns out that the scenery you can see through the windows was actually reused background
stock footage from Home Alone.
"Aaahhh!!!"
The One with the Names
Most people probably caught the addition of the Arquette name to every single person on
the credits in celebration of Courteney Cox's then-marriage to former guest star David Arquette,
but one name wink that might've slipped through the cracks happened around another wedding
celebration on the show.
When Rachel was in search of a substitute officiant to fill in for Joey at Monica and
Chandler's wedding, she came upon a Greek Orthodox wedding of someone who happened to
bear the original name of Jennifer Anniston.
"Anastasakis Papasifakis wedding, excellent!"
The One with the Recycled Wedding Dress
Considering how often Ross "The Divorce Force" managed to got hitched — and unhitched — it's
no surprise that there were a lot of wedding gowns that came into play along the way.
And while fans might've noticed that the wedding dress Monica was supposed to pick up and store
for Emily looked nothing like the one she actually wore, or that Phoebe never wore Monica's
veil as her "something borrowed," what hasn't gotten much attention is the fact that Rachel's
original wedding dress from her altar-ditch with Barry was the same one that she wore
for fun the day of her break-up with Joshua.
Who says you can't wear those things twice?
It'd sure save Dr. Geller some cash.
"Hey!"
"She's right ya know."
"Ya but still, cheap shot!"
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