A true fan of FRIENDS and someone who is a keen observer might know about this one. The apartment number of FRIENDS apartment, aka Monica and Rachel’s, apartment was 5 in the first few seasons. However, if we see it practically, it was quite impossible for their apartment to have a number as low as 5 while the room itself was on a higher floor. So the producers eventually changed the number to 20. Did you notice it?
The FEIENDS apartment has seen everything and has sheltered all the members of the squad at one point in time. Many fans would have noticed it. But in case you are still unaware, let us remind you. Everyone from the group has lived in this apartment for some time. Of course, Monica, Rachel, and Chandler were here while the series was running, but Phoebe also lived here before Rachel joined in. Joey lived here when the teams swapped the apartments. While Ross was here when their grandma was living in it to learn dance.
It’s quite obvious and common for the shoot sets to use fake equipment to give a realistic look. This is extremely obvious for electric appliances as there is no point in keeping real electronics like fridges, an oven, toaster extra for a show or a movie. But in Friends, the fridge in Monica’s apartment was a real one that worked perfectly. In fact, the cast used it to store beverages in it that could be used in between the takes.
Do you remember that secret closet in the FRIENDS apartment that was talked about a lot but was shown only once in the entire show? The one that had a lot of belongings of Monica and Ross’s grandma? Well, it seems like the reason why the show did not use that closet was because the secret closet was more of a secret door for the entire crew. Yes, it was used for entering the set by the show crew, due to which they did not show it much.
Seems like the show used a different building for the scenes where it showed the entire building. But when it came to the apartment scenes in the show, the planning was not quite done properly. The building in the scene never had a balcony. But the apartment still somehow had a balcony which had a lot of scenes involving that mysterious balcony. Where did it exactly come from?
It is almost shocking to know that we would have missed an entire string of scenes that involved the giant window in Monica’s apartment. Yes, the original plan for the set did not have a window that huge. Instead, they were to use smaller ones. Thank god, the plan changed, and we got scenes like where Ross saw Monica and chandler. And not to forget the iconic ‘my eyes’ scene done by Phoebe.
You will be surprised to know how different the actual set was from the FRIENDS apartment shown in the show.
The people who attended the taping would definitely tell you a different story. The set created for the guest rooms and the stairs were separate from the living room that usually appeared in the show. Only the entrance of these rooms was made in a manner so that they all will look attached.
Remember that Vintage Poster that was hung in Monica’s Apartment? The one that was just there without any purpose. Well, guess what? It did have a purpose, and a pretty strong one, to be honest.
The poster was actually used to cover a hole in the wall, which was basically a slot to fit the camera. So, whenever the crew used to film the opposite direction of the poster, they took the poster down and fit the camera instead. Now that sure is smart.
You might have noticed it if you rewatched the series a number of times. But the windows in Monica’s apartment did not have any drapes in the entirety of the first season. It was the second season when the crew finally added some drapes around the window.
That was simply because the show did not have that much budget in the first season. However, the show kicked pretty well after it, and the rest is history.
You know you are a true FRIENDS fan if you know what this gold frame is. Yes, we are talking about the famous gold frame that is used in almost all the FRIENDS merchandise. The one that was around the door in Monica’s apartment. Surprisingly enough, this gold frame was actually hung there temporarily.
In fact, it was a frame for a mirror that was broken by a crew member, and they simply hung it for some time. But the frame looked so good that the crew left it there. And eventfully, the frame became a star.These were some of the facts about the FRIENDS apartment that we bet you did not know of. But now that you are aware of them, feel free to go and flaunt your newfound FRIENDS information to your squad!
