The Two Friends Who Were Originally Meant To Hook Up

When Friends came to an end Chandler and Monica were destined to live happily ever after - but their love story almost didn't happen.

Because it's been 22 years since the show hit our screens, news.com.au put together some of the little-known facts about our favourite TV show.  

1. Before settling on the name Friends, producers considered other titles including Insomnia Cafe, Friends Like Us, Across the Hall, and Six of One.

2. Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe, hated playing guitar. She tried to have her character's preferred instrument changed to the bongos, which obviously didn't work. 

3. The central love story was originally supposed to be between Monica and Joey. Producers switched it to Chandler in later versions of the script.

4. The role of Ross was written specifically for David Schwimmer, and he nailed it. 

5. Right before the show aired, the director took the whole cast to Las Vegas for a holiday.

He encouraged them to enjoy their anonymity, as he had very shrewdly predicted that life would never be the same for them after Friends hit our screens.

6. Filming a single episode took about five hours, because the crew needed 20 minute breaks between scenes to change the set and wardrobe. Most of them were filmed with a live audience of 300 fans, but producers closed the set for cliffhanger moments to avoid spoilers.

7. The famous white dog statue that Joey spends a fortune actually belonged to Jennifer Aniston in real life. She lent it to the show for one episode - but producers liked it so much they persuaded her to let them keep it.

8. Bruce Willis guest starred in several episodes for free after losing a bet. His Whole Nine Yards co-star Matthew Perry made him promise that if their film was number one in the box office on opening weekend - he'd have to appear on Friends. Willis played the role of Ross' girlfriend's father and donated all his earnings to charity.

- news.com.au