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What makes Friends such an epic show is the cast, their chemistry together, and their ability to add their own inputs to the show. Though it has been on air for 25 years now, it almost feels like a show from today.
Though there is no doubt that the Friends script is one of the wittiest in sitcom history, many memorable moments were improvised and unscripted. This is what makes the sitcom iconic.
Top 5 unscripted moments from Friends
Here are five fan-favorite improvised and unscripted Friends moments that were retained on the show.
1) Ben and Ross prank Rachel
In an episode involving Rachel, Ross and his son Ben, Jennifer Aniston wasn't told in advance that Rachel was going to be pranked by Ross and Ben because the producers wanted a more genuine reaction from Aniston. And they got exactly that. The scene involved Ben and Rachel pranking Ross together, but little did she know that Rachel was going to be pranked too. Rachel's reaction to Ross' dummy being thrown down the stairs was absolutely genuine, where she screamed,
"Oh my god, David!"
This, of course, had to be dubbed.
2) Donald Trump wants his blazer black
Chandler has always been the one making jokes and passing sarcastic comments. But this one time he himself became a laughing stock for messing up his lines. Matthew Perry delivers the line,
"Donald Trump wants his blue blazer black...back!"
While it was clear that Chandler mispronounced, the scene was incorporated into the series due to the other character's improvised reactions. It was an actual mistake that Matthew Perry made, and the way everyone made fun of him for the error and his response to it was too funny to not be retained in the sitcom.
3) Carol cries
Early episodes of Friends saw Ross struggling with his first divorce from his then-wife Carol. In the scene where Ross and Carol end up running into each other at dinner and Ross makes one final heartfelt plea to Carol asking her not to leave him, Carol had tears in her eyes. Actor Jane Sibbett, who played Carol in the series, said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that she wasn't instructed by the directors to cry but she couldn't help it and ended up crying at the tenderness of David Schwimmer's performance.
4) Hit by a cabinet
In the episode The One with the Cuffs, where Chandler is seeing Rachel's boss Joanna, Chandler gets involved in foreplay with some handcuffs and ends up getting himself cuffed to a filing cabinet. When Chandler gets Rachel into the room and tries to convince her to help him out of the embarrassing situation, he accidentally opens the filing cabinet which hits him in the head. This part of the scene was not scripted, but Perry stayed in character and went through with it. The mishap was retained for the comic element it added.
5) The final scene
The last scene of Friends was truly heart wrenching to watch as the six friends parted ways to pursue their lives. However, it could not end that way, leaving viewers in tears. Matthew Perry decided to improvise a bit. In the final scene where the six cast members are leaving Monica's apartment, Rachel suggests that they go have coffee. To this, Chandler replies with his trademark sarcasm,
“Sure, where?”
The line was a sarcastic improvisation that made for the perfect ending.
