10 Ways Friends Was Almost Completely Different

10. It Wasn't Meant To Be Called Friends

The title 'Friends' is one of the most recognised in the history of television. If you say Friends to somebody, their mind instantly conjures up images of the series' core six characters sitting around in Central Perk, drinking coffee and cracking wise.

Originally though, this beloved show wasn't actually intended to be titled Friends.

Friends as we know it premiered in September 1994, but the show had been in tentative development since the middle of 1993. Back then, creators David Crane and Marta Kauffmann mapped out the series and presented the idea to producer Kevin S. Bright. At that point, though, this potential new sitcom series was known as Insomnia Cafe.

Of course, Central Perk was so often a key tool in helping to frame the narrative of many a Friends episode, and thus originally the show itself was to reference this by having that Insomnia Cafe title.

Following rewrites to the initial treatment, Insomnia Cafe became retitled as Six of One, which in turn was reworked as Friends Like Us - which was then simplified as just Friends.