i don t sound like that. that is so not true. that is so not that is so not oh, shut up. matthew perry. yeah. you really wanted him. he was the first person we offered chandler to. he was doing another show called l.a.x. 2194 . sci-fi sitcom lax 2194. it s about baggage handlers in the year 2194. i sorted out aliens luggage. that is not a winning title. no, it s not. but that was in first position. that happens when you find the talent that you think is perfect for a role and you ll take the chance the other show will fail and they ll become available. we were a little nervous but we saw a million people. even made an offer to someone else. who? no. the 25th anniversary. now the truth can be told. he is a lovely actor named
watch the diet coke commercial during friends . there was this diet coke commercial that people did not seem to like. who s going to drink the diet coke? why was there a backlash to them having a corporate sponsorship? the truth is you had warner brothers and you had nbc wanting to capitalize on the show. i feel violated, and not in a good way. for many years we were the most watched television series in the history of television. is that what you want to hear? i didn t do it. i wasn t even there. it wasn t me. you know what would be nice in here? a couple of candles. it seems like friends was just everywhere. we were saturated and we needed to go back to what we were best at which was telling little stories. and we actually sat in the boardroom at nbc and said maybe we need to pull back and just let it breathe. hey! [ laughter ] hi. i spent 20 years at nbc.
true friendship or what was it like? yeah. they were very close. you know, they all got shot through a canon together. [ laughter ] they took care of each other and supported each other. i think they loved each other and that came across, and even when one of them would have a struggle you could sort of see the others stepping into prop each other up. was there anyone for whom all of this, all of the smash and all of the limelight took a bigger toll on? i think that, um, it s very publicly known that the show did take a toll on matthew perry. i was in denial about the serious nature of alcoholism and addiction. once i had a drink i could not stop. i couldn t i couldn t stop. hey, now you stay out here and you think about what you did! [ laughter ] that s a duck. that s a bad duck! i did show up to work in
see ya. the show itself was about a time in your life where you leave the home for the first time, your friends become your family. if nobody tags rachel, isn t the play still going? it s a time in everybody s life that we share in common. over 75 million americans, which was a third of the country, would come to watch our network on thursday. so friends was a monster hit in ways that it s hard to imagine today. there s no half-hour comedy that s ever been more successful throughout the world for 25 years. we were on a break! oh, my god. what about the impact that it s had on television? smelly cat smelly cat a phenomenon like friends can t really be replicated. that sense of everyone is
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