The characters, their chemistry together, and their ability to give their unique inputs to the show make Friends such a fantastic show. Although it has been on the air for 25 years, it feels like a show from today.
Though the Friends screenplay is undoubtedly one of the wittiest in sitcom history, many great moments were improvised and unscripted. This is what distinguishes the sitcom.
Friends’ top 5 spontaneous moments
Here are five fan-favorite Friends impromptu and unscripted moments that were kept on the program.
1) Ben and Ross play a practical joke on Rachel.
Jennifer Aniston was not warned ahead of time that Rachel would be pranked by Ross and his son Ben in an episode involving Rachel, Ross, and his son Ben because the producers wanted a more real reaction from Aniston. And they got exactly what they wanted. Ben and Rachel were pranking Ross jointly in the scenario, but Rachel had no idea she would be pranked. Rachel’s outrage at Ross’ dummy being tossed down the stairs was confirmed as she screamed,
“Oh my goodness, David!”
Of course, this had to be dubbed.
2) Donald Trump-like his blazer to be black.
Chandler has always been the one who cracks jokes and makes caustic remarks. But this time, he made himself a laughingstock by botching up his lines. Matthew Perry delivers the phrase.
“Donald Trump wants his blue blazer to be black again!”
Although Chandler mispronounced the word, the sequence was incorporated into the series owing to the other characters’ impromptu reactions. It was a genuine mistake committed by Matthew Perry, and the way everyone mocked him for it and his response to it was too amusing to leave out of the show.
3) Carol Cries
Ross was going through his first divorce from his then-wife Carol in early Friends episodes. Carol had tears in her eyes at the moment when Ross and Carol wind up running into one other at dinner, and Ross makes one final heartfelt plea to Carol not to leave him. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jane Sibbett, who played Carol in the series. She stated that the directors did not ask her to cry, but she couldn’t help but cry at the sensitivity of David Schwimmer’s portrayal.
I’m absolutely stunned and delighted that Friends season 3 got away with a scene where Carol picks a pube out of her teeth after Ross interrupts her anniversary celebrations.
Carol and Susan weren’t even allowed to kiss at their wedding in season 2. pic.twitter.com/0je8i3Yfx3
— Hannah Shaw-Williams (@HSW3K) April 25, 2021
4) Struck by a cabinet
Chandler gets into foreplay with some handcuffs and ends up shackled to a filing cabinet in the episode The One with the Cuffs, where he sees Rachel’s employer Joanna. When Chandler enters the room and tries to persuade Rachel to assist him in getting out of the awkward position, he inadvertently unlocks the filing cabinet, which knocks him in the head. The blunder was kept since it gave a comedic touch. This scene element was not scripted, but Perry kept the character and carried it through.
5) The final scene
The last scene of Friends was heartbreaking as the six friends split ways to pursue their careers. It couldn’t finish that way, leaving viewers in tears.
The final scene 💔 pic.twitter.com/hSYM5Z7gzm
— Friends TV Show (@HookedonFriends) May 7, 2021
Matthew Perry chose to improvise a little. Rachel proposes that the six cast members have coffee as they leave Monica’s apartment in the last scene. Chandler responds with his typical snark,
“Of course; where?”
