FriendsProduction Designer Reveals Joey and Chandler Almost Didn't Live Across the Hall From Monica and Rachel

Mar. 15, 2025

Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and Monica in the hallway during a 1994 ‘Friends’ episode.Photo:Everett

Everett

Some ofFriends’most memorable scenes took place in the hallway between Monica and Rachel’s apartment and Joey and Chandler’s — but that almost wasn’t the case.

The beloved sitcom’s production designer John ShaffnertoldArchitectural Digestthat his initial model of the set for the New York City home of Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) included an entrance area outside the hallway.

But one of the show’s executive producers, Kevin Bright, nixed the extra space for the pilot.

“I think we should have another working space for the performance,” Shaffner says he told Bright. “And don’t you think that ultimately the boys should live across the hall?” he asked referring to Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (the lateMatthew Perry),

Monica and Rachel’s apartment in ‘The One After the Superbowl’.J. Delvalle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty

J. Delvalle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty

The rest, of course, is history, and the hallway is as recognizable to fans today as Monica’s purple-walled living room

Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) in season 10.Alamy

Alamy

However, that idea didn’t last long.“It was a moment we went, ‘Oh, [we] can’t do that. That joke will be too old,’” Shaffner recalls. “So we dropped them down a few floors and never talked about it again.”

Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston).Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

InFriends’ 1994 premiere episode, Rachel famously moves in with Monica after leaving fiance Barry at the altar. In the series’ fourth season, Monica and Rachel are forced to swap apartments with the guys after losing a trivia contest. Rachel eventually moves out of the apartment in season 6 and Chandler — who’s begun dating his future wife Monica — moves in.

WhileFriendswas filmed on a soundstage in Los Angeles, the show used footage of a real building on the corner of Grove Street and Bedford Street in Manhattan’s West Village for exterior shots.

Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler (Matthew Perry).NBCUniversal via Getty Images

NBCUniversal via Getty Images

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After Cox joined Instagram in 2019, sheshared a videoof herself visiting the iconic New York intersection.

“Goodnight guys, I’m going home,” she joked as she walked toward the building.

In the style of the long-running series’ episode titles, she captioned the post, “The One Where My Rent Went Up $12,000.”

source: people.com