The Creators of Friends Reveal Brand-New Secrets About the Show

It’s been 12 years since Friends took its final bow and Ross and Rachel reunited, Chandler and Monica moved to the suburbs, and Joey went on to star in a spin-off, but no time has passed for the actors and creators of the fan-favorite sitcom, who still continue to hang out (just not at a coffee shop). “We saw everyone a few weeks ago at the Jimmy Burrows [tribute],” said co-creator Marta Kauffman. “And [co-creator] David [Crane] and I talk all the time and have breakfast every few weeks. When you spend your entire life, even those 10 years, trying to prove to yourself that you’re a writer, it’s pretty exciting [to have those relationships.]” Added Crane: “Your family is your family, and that does not ever change or go away.”

The pair were recently presented with the Writers Guild of America West’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement by two of those family members: Courteney Cox (Monica) and Matt LeBlanc (Joey). Although Crane and Kauffman didn’t go into much detail about the show while accepting their award, we caught up with them before the ceremony and uncovered brand new secrets (yes, some still exist!) about the characters, those memorable catch phrases (“How you doin’?”), and the one reunion that could still happen.

(from left) Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Marta Kauffman, Matt LeBlanc, Kevin Bright, David Crane, David Schwimmer, and Courteney Cox.

Marta Kauffman was Monica Gellar: “I’m a bit of a control freak,” Kauffman reveals about the similarities between her and Monica. “I’m the one who makes sure that if you close a pen, [it has to] click. Make sure it clicks. I’m the one who has the pencils at perfect angles. Color coding? My favorite thing in the world. I do that with characters. They’re all color coded.”

The Inspiration for Chandler and Ross: Crane’s writing and life partner, Jeffrey Klarik, joked that Mr. Heckles was most like Crane—but in all actuality, Crane admits that “my personality lands somewhere in between Chandler and Ross.” How so? “A little neurotic, a little defended by humor. I’m probably the least like Joey of all of them, but you know, when you’re writing you get in their heads. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s just channeling who they are.”

The Reunion That Could Happen: Although Kauffman doesn’t want a scripted reunion with the characters, she wouldn’t be opposed to a TV special where the actors reminisce about their favorite episodes: “I don’t know that I’d be opposed to that. I don’t know that they’d want to do it, considering they’ve spent a lot of time trying to move on and no longer be Joey and Chandler and Phoebe and Ross. I don’t know if they would do it, but I wouldn’t be opposed to them sitting around talking about it.” (Ed. Note: David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc have been pretty open with Glamour about some of their favorite memories!)

The Episodes That Stood Out the Most Are…: Though Kauffman says picking favorite episodes are a bit like asking to pick your favorite child, she has a special fondness for the birth episodes. (“I think that must be a mother thing,” she says.) For Crane, it’s the Thanksgiving episodes: “For some reason, everyone just stepped up. I mean, the one with Brad Pitt and the one with the flashback…those have a special place in my heart.”

The Truth Behind “How You Doin'”: “It was someone in the [writer’s] room,” reveals Crane. “I don’t [remember who]. But when it was first introduced, it wasn’t introduced as a catchphrase. It was [just] a line, and then it became a catchphrase as it went along.”

Backstage, Matt LeBlanc hung out on a teal couch (it should have been orange!) with Kauffman and Crane at the Backstage Creations celebrity retreat.

Favorite Lines From Friends: Klarik (who also wrote for Mad About You) says that his favorite line comes from Phoebe Buffay in the Friends pilot. (“Phoebe said something like, ‘Oh, I just lost three eyelashes that can’t be good.'”) As for Crane, choosing a favorite line is much harder: “There are fans who remember these shows so much better than we do. We were just working and writing, so [it all blends together].”

The Hardest Episodes to Write: “The first one and the last one of each season,” says Crane. “Those tend to be our best episodes, but they don’t come very easy!”

How to Make It As a TV Writer: Kauffman for the win with her kick-ass advice: “Don’t take any shit. Write what your heart believes. You don’t have to listen to other people. Listen to the problems people have with what you’re writing, but don’t write to them.”

How to Make It As a TV Writer, Part II: “Say yes to everything!” urges Crane. “I mean, within socially acceptable limits! The job that sounds like it’s not going to lead to anything will probably be the job that leads to everything. Marta and I, we had a meeting when we were still living in New York, and they showed us these black and white clips and said, ‘What would you do with them?’ And we said, ‘I dunno.’ On the flight home to New York from L.A., we came up with the idea for a sitcom that became Dream On—that became our first show, which became everything else. When we went into that meeting, we thought, ‘This is stupid,’ and then it ended up leading to everything.”

For more with the cast of Friends, including the episode David Schwimmer can’t wait to show his daughter, click here.