A video of the cast of Friends in their underwear for a promo commercial has resurfaced online, with some fans admitting they'd never seen it before.
The iconic sitcom, which premiered in 1994, went on to become one of the most popular shows, and still has legions of fans today.
Running for a decade, the lighted-hearted show about our six favorite New Yorkers made stars of the cast—Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay and Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing.
The popularity of the show was evident by the salaries the six were able to negotiate back in 2002. A New York Times article from that year stated the cast were paid $1 million each per episode.
It said: "NBC and the Warner Brothers television studio concluded the biggest deal ever for a half-hour television program last night, a one-year renewal for the comedy Friends that will exceed the per half-hour price the network paid for E.R. in 1998.
"The deal will bring back the entire six-person cast for what is being called the last season of the series, and it will pay each one a salary of $1 million an episode—a total of $22 million a season if the show produces the expected 22 episodes."
Over the years people have pored over the episodes, as it gained a new fanbase among those who were too young, or weren't alive, to appreciate it in its heyday, buoyed by its easy accessibility on streaming sites such as Netflix.
In 2018 it was named as the U.K.'s most popular show on paid-for streaming services, Ofcom's Media Nations report revealed.
As a result, fan theories, bloopers and Easter eggs are widely shared, as Friends-fever reached an all-time high in 2021, when the cast reunited for a one-off special, Friends: The Reunion.
One clip which has emerged online shows the troupe back in their humble beginnings, with a TikTok clip, from fan account @centralperksource, stating the promo ad is the "Friends first promo commercial (1994)."
In the black-and-white footage the cast are dressed all in white, in what they describe as underwear, as the camera pans along the actors as they introduce themselves.
"I'm Rachel, I'm Joey, I'm Phoebe, I'm not doing this," Cox says, as LeBlanc replies with a classic Joey-esque "c'mon."
"This is a shameless exploitative attempt to get people to watch our show," Cox continues, as Aniston asks "so?"
Perry then steps forward with the details, telling the camera: "Friends, Thursday nights right here, on NBC."
"Would you stop, they've got us in our underwear, we're never going to be in our underwear," Cox chimes in, asking: "We're not going to be in our underwear are we?"
"Friends, between Mad About You and Seinfield, Thursdays this fall," the voice-over adds, lending weight to this being one of the first commercials for the show, before the series aired.
Since being uploaded to TikTok in July, the clip has been seen 3.5 million times, and can be viewed here, as Leebelshaw246 said: "I never saw this ever, so thanks for the post."
Youri de Boer2 joked: "Ross not talking, cause he's on a break."
The awesome 47 mused: "If only they knew how this show was going explode."
Christianross02 asked: "Was that the old logo before it started?"
While Kev O'Connor added: "Even at the start they had Monica & Chandler together."
Newsweek reached out to @centralperksource for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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