We get by with a little help from ‘Friends’
Thanks to reruns and streaming, “Friends” is still with us, long after NBC’s hit show ended its 10year run in 2004. And now there’s a book: Kelsey Miller’s “I’ll Be There for You: The One About ‘Friends’ ” (Hanover Square Press, out Tuesday), which chronicles its highs and lows through interviews with the stars, showrunners and industry insiders. Here are a few juicy tidbits:
Jennifer Aniston, the show’s Rachel, was nearly replaced when CBS ordered more episodes of its 1994 sitcom “Muddling Through,” in which she also starred. (Miller says it was a ploy to derail “Friends.”) Aniston juggled both until CBS canceled its show, but her status was tenuous: “I remember a girlfriend calling me saying she was auditioning for Rachel, and do I have any advice,” Aniston says.
Lisa Kudrow (the ditzy Phoebe) was playing the clueless waitress Ursula on NBC’s “Mad About You,” airing right before “Friends.” To avoid confusion, “Friends” co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane proposed Ursula and Phoebe be twins. They were surprised when “Mad About You” co-creator Danny Jacobson said OK.
American women scrambled to duplicate Aniston’s blond-streaked mane, a k a “The Rachel,” including Miller herself. She wasn’t alone: A 2010 study by a UK hair-care company found that 11 million British women also gave it a shot.
“Friends” fans can forget about a “Will & Grace”-like reboot. “I think all the people who say, ‘Oh, I want to see them again!’ You really don’t,” says Crane. “Best to leave them right where they belong: in that time,” Miller writes. “Then we’ll never lose them. We’ll always know where they are.” They’ll be there for you — and for bingeing.