Keep ahead of your fellow Friends fans by committing these little known facts to memory:

1. Original names for the show included “Once Upon a Time in the West Village”, “Across the Hall”, and “Friends Like Us” before deciding on “Friends”.

2. Original storylines focused around only six of the friends – Monica, Ross, Rachel, and Joey. Producers were so pleased with the performances of Phoebe and Chandler that they added them more prominently to the show.

3. In the first couple of episodes Chandler and Joey’s apartment number was #4 and Monica and Rachel’s apartment number was #5. However, in the later episodes, they are 19 and 20 respectively because the producers noted that 4 and 5 corresponded to apartments on lower floors and the Friends’ apartments were higher up the building.

4. Courteney Cox was originally asked to play Rachel, but she asked to play Monica instead after reading the parts.

5. None of the scenes in Friends were ever shot in New York.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lisa Kudrow says she was never really cut out to play naive young women.

Luckily, she hasn’t had to in a busy post “Friends” career that has seen her become a viable force as an actress and producer in television, Internet and independent film.

“Let’s face it, I was never a great ingenue to begin with,” said Kudrow, now 46. “I always knew I’d have to do either my own stuff or play interesting character roles.”

Kudrow gained fame playing ditzy blonde Phoebe on “Friends” for 10 years. By the time the show ended in 2004, the cast was earning a $1 million dollars each per episode.

This paycheck made Kudrow and her co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox not only the highest paid TV actresses of all time but gave them the luxury of choice in the future.

“That show did nothing but afford us opportunity forever after,” says a grateful Kudrow.

Kudrow’s latest movie is alongside Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone in the independent movie “Paper Man,” which opens in U.S. movie theaters on Friday.

“This was a better version of the (traditional) wife character,” says Kudrow. “I liked the idea of how one girl’s charming guy is a wife’s huge burden.”

GIVING BACK TO TELEVISION

Film work is just one facet of Kudrow’s busy professional life.

She recently executive produced and appeared in the genealogy TV reality series “Who Do You Think You Are?”. The NBC network has already picked it up for a second season.

It is based on the long running British documentary series of the same name where celebrities journey to trace his or her family tree.

“I’m really proud to have brought the show to the U.S. and that it’s my contribution to television,” says the actress, whose own episode was not without trepidation.

Learning about her Jewish heritage involved visiting an Eastern European concentration camp where her great-grandparents and others family members were massacred. It’s a trip she had avoided in the past, preferring to keep “an emotional distance because it’s too overwhelming to know that that kind of horror exists.”

The experience brought many feelings to the surface before Kudrow ultimately made peace with the reality of what happened to her family.

“What’s important is that I survived it and I’m here to carry on,” she said.

In carrying on her family name and heritage, the actress has made her own history in the entertainment industry.

During the “Friends” 10-year run, Kudrow got married, had a son, and starred in such films as “Analyze This,” and “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” among others.

Today, her improvisational acting chops are showcased on-line in the web series, “Web Therapy,” which is now in its third season. Kudrow plays a not-very-professional therapist who conducts sessions via web cam.

Earlier this year, Kudrow reunited with “Friends” co-star Cox as a guest on Cox’s ABC television comedy “Cougar Town.”

“At first I wondered what that would be like because it wasn’t Monica and Phoebe anymore,” she says. “But we didn’t miss a beat.”

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

The climax of US comedy Friends has been voted TV’s biggest tearjerker.

The moment when Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe handed back their apartment keys was ranked the most emotional in TV entertainment.

EastEnders claimed the biggest share of places in the top 10 with four sob-laden entries in the poll.

Albert Square’s quartet of weepies were all deaths as Ethel, Jamie Mitchell, Bradley and Tiffany bowed out of the show.

The poll of 3,000 people - to mark the launch of Freeview HD - found Brits were a nation of weepers, with 91% admitting they had shed a tear while watching a favourite show.

Surprisingly, men were more likely to blub in front of the box than their female counterparts. The poll found that 60% of women enjoy a regular cry while watching TV, with 79% of men saying they cried once a week.

The most emotional sporting moment was Gareth Southgate’s missed penalty in Euro 96, with Jonny Wilkinson’s last-gasp dropgoal to clinch the 2003 Rugby World Cup in second.

Ilse Howling, of Freeview, said: “When the football World Cup kicks off, up to 50% of the UK will have access to subscription-free HD programmes - but this time I hope there will be tears of joy.”

TOP TV MOMENTS

1. Friends - Handing back the keys

2. Blackadder Goes Forth - Final scene

3. EastEnders - Bradley’s death

4. EastEnders - Ethel’s death

5. The Royle Family - Death of Nana

6. ER - Death of Dr Mark Greene

The final episode of long-running comedy Friends has been named TV’s biggest tearjerker in a new poll.

Even as reports suggest a cast reunion for a big screen version of the sitcom, it has emerged that fans shed the most tears when the six friends ended their decade-long run on TV, reported Daily Mail online.

The highly charged moment as the pals in the American show handed back apartment keys and viewers said goodbye to Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe was ranked the most emotional moment in TV.

However, the British soap EastEnders claimed the biggest share of places in the top ten with four sob-laden entries in the poll for Freeview HD.

The poll found 60 per cent of women enjoy a regular cry while watching TV, while the men who took part proved to be an even softer touch with 79 per cent saying they cried once a week.

 Here are some of our favorite quotes from Joey, Rachel and the gang!!

“Welcome to the real world! It sucks! You’re going to love it!”
- Monica, to Rachel in The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate

“‘You’re such a nice guy’ means ‘I’m going to be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you.’”
- Chandler in The One With the Thumb

“Pheebs, who’s George Stephanopoulos?”
“That’s Big Bird’s friend.”
- Rachel and Pheobe in The One With George Stephanopoulos

“You’ll find someone. I know you will. The right woman is just waiting for you.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You found one already.”
- Carol and Ross in The One With the Candy Hearts

“Guys, guys, guess what, guess what?”
“Hmm, I don’t know…the fifth dentist caved and now they’re all recommending Trident?”
- Rachel and Chandler in The One With All the Poker

“I figured after work, I’d pick up a bottle of wine, go over there, and try to…woo her.”
“Hey, you know what you should do? Take her back to the 1980’s when that phrase was last used.”
- Ross and Chandler in The One Where the Monkey Gets Away

“Stop being so testosteroney!”
“Which, by the way, is the real San Francisco treat.”
- Phoebe and Chandler in The One With the Evil Orthodontist

“If I wanna get the money, I’m not allowed to conduct any personal experiments, if you know what I mean.”
“Joey, we always know what you mean.”
- Joey and Monica in The One Where Rachel Finds Out

“Let me get this straight. He got you to beg to sleep with him, he got you to say he never has to call you again, and he got you thinking this was a great idea?”
“Mm…hmm.”
“This man is my god!”
- Joey and Phoebe in The One Where Ross Finds Out

“Hey, hey, check it out! Guess what I got!”
“Rhythm?”
- Joey and Chandler in The One With Russ

“What are you getting so bent out of shape for? It’s not like we agreed to live together forever. We’re not Bert and Ernie!”
- Joey in The One Where Joey Moves Out

“You know what’s weird? Donald Duck never wore pants. But whenever he’s getting out of the shower, he always put a towel around his waist. I mean, what is that about?”
- Chandler in The One Where No One’s Ready

“Quick! How do you get a chick out of a VCR!?”
- Chandler in The One With a Chick and a Duck

“Monica Im quitting, I just helped an 81 year old women put on a thong and she didnt even buy it!”
- Rachel in The One With Rachel’s Crush

“Phoebe, there is no secret, okay? I didn’t propose!”
“Are you lying? Is this like that time you tried to convince us you were a doctor?”
- Ross and Phoebe in The One Where No One Proposes

“If you don’t like this one, I can find you a better one,” (looks around restaurant) “Mike, Mike!”
- Joey in The One Where Emma Cries

“Did I leave the stove on?”
“You haven’t cooked since 1996!”
- Rachel and Ross in The One With Phoebe’s Birthday Dinner

“You got a manny!?”
- Chandler in The One With The Male Nanny

“So let me get this straight. My friends die, then we get Emma, then my wife dies, then Emma, the one tiny ray of hope left in my life gets taken away from me?!”
“Now there’s your movie!”
- Chandler and Phoebe in The One With Rachel’s Other Sister

“Emma is the product of a bottle of Merlot and a 5 year old condom.”
- Monica in The One With Rachel’s Other Sister

“What is the difference between beer and lager?
“I don’t know. We could look it up.”
“Thing’s are about to get wild.”
- Mike and Ross in The One With Rachel’s Phone Number

“No, I want you to have a job that you love. Not statistical analysis and data reconfiguration.”
“I quit, and you learn what I do?”
- Monica and Chandler in The One Where Rachel Goes Back To Work

“You really think she’s hot?”
“Are you kidding? If I wasn’t married she’d be rejecting me right now.”
- Rachel and Chandler in The One With Phoebe’s Rats

“If she wants to go out there kissing guys that she barely knows, then so will I!”
- Ross in The One Where Monica Sings

“They shouldn’t be having S-E-X around the B-A-B-I-E!”
- Joey in The One With The Blind Dates