To mark the 30th anniversary of Friends, the cast and crew have been reflecting on the beloved sitcom — including the show’s line producer, Todd Stevens, who revealed how things changed behind the scenes as the cast ascended to global fame.
Stevens recently discussed working on the sitcom with the Guardian, and recalled how lead stars David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow resisted filming a scene for the Season 6 episode, “The One That Could Have Been.”
The two-part, alternate reality episode follows Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, and Joey as they imagine what their lives might look like if they had taken different paths.
Stevens explained to the Guardian that producers wanted the cast to reshoot the iconic Friends opening credits, but this time as their alternative reality characters. However, they weren’t keen on recreating the famous scene, in which the cast danced in a water fountain to The Rembrandts track “I’ll Be There For You.”
“It’s one thing to do that when you’re on the pilot,” Stevens said. “Revisiting the uncomfortable nature of that, cold and wet, was very different when they were big.”
Despite their initial reluctance, the Friends cast later agreed to reshoot the opening credits for the two-part episode, which originally aired in February 2000.
This wasn’t the only behind-the-scenes issue sparked by the cast’s rising fame. In his Guardian interview, producer Stevens also revealed that Aniston, Schwimmer, Cox, LeBlanc, and Perry were “hounded” by paparazzi in London while filming the Season 5 episode, “The One with Ross’ Wedding.”
Friends’ “Fraught” Anniversary
Premiering on Sept. 22, 1994, Friends followed the lives of six close pals living in New York City. The Emmy-winning sitcom ran for 10 seasons, with the final episode airing on May 6, 2004, to more than 50 million viewers.
Series creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, recently discussed the show’s bittersweet 30-year milestone on Today. The anniversary comes almost a year after the death of cast member Perry, who passed away aged 54 in October 2023.
“It’s a huge loss,” Kauffman said of Perry’s death. “It does make the 30th a little fraught. He made us laugh every day — David always said he was the funniest man in the room.”
