Friends has been on our TV screens for so long now it seems almost impossible to remember a time before it.
I genuinely can’t remember a time before it; the first episode aired six months after I was born so I at least have a legitimate excuse for my forgetfulness.
The people unlikely to forget the time before they shot to world fame though, are the people who made Friends what it is – the six actors who portrayed the lives of Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, and Joey so perfectly.
Giving us a rare insight into what life was like before Friends turned them into instant celebrities, Courtney Cox has shared a throwback picture of her with Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer.
The picture shows the six friends sitting in what looks like a private plane, holding coffee cups and smiling/waving at the camera as someone else takes the picture.
Travelling to Las Vegas before Friends had even aired in 1994, the picture shows the young faced actors enjoying their last few moments of normalcy.
Take a look below:
Cox, who played Monica on the hit sitcom, shared the never-before-seen picture of the group yesterday (May 16) on social media.
Posting on Instagram, the 54-year-old actor wrote:
The one where the six of us went to Vegas and no one knew we were F.R.I.E.N.D.S yet
#tbt #beforeitaired #lovetheseguys
Obviously, the picture quickly went viral and has since received more than 1 million likes – a number which only keeps on growing.
Instantly, people began commenting below the picture about how much they loved it, with Hollywood celebs jumping on the bandwagon and sharing their love for the photo too.
Reese Witherspoon simply wrote, ‘This is TOO good !’ while Poppy Delevingne added to that sentiment by writing, ‘WOW’.
Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe throughout the sitcom’s 10 seasons, clearly appreciated the throwback picture and exclaimed, ‘look at that!’
She continued:
Thanks again Jimmy Burrows. Love you Courteney
The last episode of Friends aired more than 15 years ago, but that doesn’t mean people still aren’t obsessed with the sitcom about six unlikely friends based in New York.
In fact, it still remains one of the most successful and talked-about programmes of the past few decades, entertaining generations of people in a way that other shows just couldn’t.
So much so that the BBC reported last year that the sitcom had beaten recent releases to top a list of the UK’s most popular shows on paid-for streaming services.
Now if you’ll just excuse me while I go and binge-watch multiple episodes.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).