Among the title considered for NBC's brand spanking new sitcom, between 1993 and 1994, were Six Of One, Across The Hall, Insomnia Cafe, Once Upon A Time In The West Village (snappy!) and the close but not quite Friends Like Us.

The original idea for the show was going to focus on four characters with Phoebe and Chandler in supporting roles. In the early stages the creators also toyed with the idea of Chandler being gay. They changed their mind when they met Matthew Perry.

Co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman held over 1,000 auditions for each role. David Schwimmer was the first to get the job, and he didn't even have to audition - he wowed the producers with his role as a geeky kid in The Wonder Years in 1989.

Matt Le Blanc is a whizz with wood. He studied carpentry at college and won the 'Golden Hammer' award for best student when he graduated.

Producers refused to see Matthew Perry at first as he was committed to a show called LAX 2194 in which he played an airport baggage handler working with aliens. They agreed to see him when it became obvious the show would never be made.

When Matt Le Blanc turned up to audition, he had a scab on his nose and forehead: the result of the previous night's booze bender. He also had a mere $11 left in his bank account. A perfect Joey, then.

First choice for Rachel was David Duchovny's wife Tea Leoni.

During the pilot Matt Le Blanc had severe flu.

The opening credits sequence, in which the stars dance in a fountain, was shot in Warner Bros' LA lot at 4am. The water was heated, but it's temperature soon plummeted. The sextet were not dancing to I'll Be There For You, as it hadn't been written yet: instead they were jiving to funky soul.

Matthew Perry says he hates it when the theme tune gets played when he goes to sporting events. He says, "They put the camera on me and play the song and there's nothing I can do except smile a stupid smile."

Jennifer Aniston was terrified of Matt Le Blanc when she first met him. She recalls, "He was dressed in leather head to toe - one of those guys - and all you're thinking is, 'Oh, he's going to try to get me into bed.'" And she was nearly right...

Phoebe's twin sister Ursula started life as a character on US show Mad About You. Lisa Kudrow then bagged a simultaneous role on Friends and the bizarre sitcom crossover idea was hatched. Kudrow's real sister Helene Sherman served as a double for certain shots, whenever Phoebe and Ursula met.

Matt Le Blanc now admits, "Oh yeah. I did have a little crush on Jen".

Courteney Cox is known to the cast as Cee Cee.

David Schwimmer had doubts. "I figured it was just another temporary thing," he admits.

Matt Le Blanc only ever got his hair cut on the Friends set, where the stylist also coloured his few grey strands.

Ross' estranged wife Carol was played by two different people in series one.

Gunther wasn't originally a speaking part.

Episodes took anything from three to six hours to shoot. If a gag didn't work, filming stopped and new lines were fed to the actors. The audience were kept happy with pizza and bottled water.

Matt Le Blanc was once told he looked like Joey from Friends by a fan. When he said "I am", the fan laughed at him and said, "This guy thinks he's Joey"! and ran off.

No Friends ever made more money doing the show than any of the others. They started out making $400,000 per episode and ended up making $1million per show. All negotiations about salaries were done in unison. Kudrow said, "The six of us together are far stronger than just one person."

Matthew Perry developed areputationn for ruining takes with practical jokes. During one scene in which Richard (Tom Selleck) told Monica he still loved her, Perry stormed in as Chandler and yelled, "What the f**k are you doing?"

Whenever Tom Selleck made his initial on-set appearance, he received standing ovations. These would render his entrances unusable, prompting the need for later re-shoots, without the audience.

The stylish frame around the peephole in Monica's apartment was not the result of creative design. Originally a mirror hung on the door, but someone smashed it by accident during filming.

Joey's duck and the chicken weren't easy to work with. One storyline idea to get rid of them was that Joey thought that chickens could fly (out of the window...).

In The One With Phoebe's Husband, Joey's porn movie was originally going to be titled How To Suck Seed In Business. Cue network interference, leading to various further suggestions. Ultimately, it went untitled.

Between seasons six and seven, Matthew Perry lost several stone - a nightmare for the continuity team.

Friends was also banned from showing a condom wrapper on the show.

Phoebe's immortal song Smelly Cat never got released but it was made. Three different DJ's were asked to record a remix of the song but the creators hated the results.

For several episodes Ross had a pet monkey named Marcel, known among the cast as "that damn monkey" because he peed everywhere and threw crap at them. Ironically, he became the first member of Friends to get a role in a Hollywood film by starring in Outbreak.

Chandler was the only male to kiss all the Friends girls on the lips. Mind you, he was trying to cover for his secret affair with Monica. And Ross is Monica's brother.

During a third season episode in which all the characters came up with lists of celebrities they were allowed to sleep with, Chandler's included Baywatch star Yasmine Bleeth. Matthew Perry later went out with Bleeth for real. He also dated Julia Roberts, following her appearance as the vengeful Susie.

We first see Monica in her early fat guise in season two's The One With The Prom Video. The first day she donned the make-up and costume, Matthew Perry didn't recognise her.

Star Wars creator George Lucas sent the production team a letter, congratulating them on Ross' Princess Leia fantasy, which opened season three.

Silly David Schwimmer turned down Will Smith's role in the first Men In Black film in favour of Kissing A Fool (because it starred many of his former university college mates). Men In Black grosses $250million while Kissing A Fool earned acomparativelyy tiny $4million in the US. D'oh!

Both Schwimmer and Aniston blubbed for real, after recording the season three scene in which Ross and Rachel split up, after being on a break. "It took me a long time to get my bearings, I was so shaken," recalled Schwimmer.

Internet fan sites delight in gathering the most trivial 'bloopers' in the show. Among the most trainspottery are Ross' birthday seeming to fall in threeseparatee months (March, October and December). Also, Rachel treats Chandler as a stranger in the pilot show, when we later learn in flashback episodes she's actually met him before.

Friends has attracted numerous high-profile guest stars, including Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Winona Ryder. Charlie Sheen was the most nervous, though. When he turned up for his part in The One With The Chicken Pox, he brought his brother Emilio Estevez along for support.

The Friends girls lunched together every day that they were on set over the ten years.

In The One With The Jam, Joey's arm was in a sling. This was because Matt Le Blanc had dislocated his shoulder while diving on the couch (he turned white and they had to cut the scene).

Some of the characters' middle names have been revealed on the show, Chandler's is Muriel.

Rachel's middle name is Karen.

... Ross' middle name is Eustace.

Joey's middle name is Francis and...

Lisa Kudrow isn't quite as liberal as her on-screen character. She didn't lose her virginity until her wedding night at the age of 32.

When Brad Pitt walked into Monica's apartment for the first time, the crowd screamed so loudly no one could hear him.

Friends airs in over 100 countries around the globe and has been translated into various languages. With ten years worth of episodes it will probably always be on air somewhere in the world.

The cast regularly cracked up during takes. You can see Jennifer laughing for real in season seven's The One With Joey's New Brain, at Phoebe 'singing' along to Ross' bagpipes. And Schwimmer said when Ross, Rachel and Chandler tried to get a sofa up anarroww staircase it was "the hardest I've ever laughed."

Rachel and Joey's first kiss took 15 takes. Matt Le Blanc later joked, "I kept messing it up, I don't know why."

Adverts that aired during the final episode in Friends in the US cost a not insignificant $2million per 30-second slot.

Jennifer and Matt Le Blanc found it so hard to say goodbye to the set that they sat on the roof after the wrap party smoking cigarettes and drinking wine until 5am.