The original opening for Friends?

Wow. Forty-two seconds of pure 90's.

They made the right choice.

Blech. It just seemed so slow. The opening they used (and the name...thank God they didn't stick with "Friends like Us") was much more lively.

I love that song but it doesn't quite make sense for that show (IMHO).

I call BS.

plateau10 said:

I call BS.

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As do I. Not saying it's impossible. From the little exposure I have, I'm sure any new show goes through 100 different versions of every aspect before it gets to the final version we see on TV. This song is a horrible fit but we can say that having gotten used to the other song for 15 years.

I think it's BS because it doesn't look like the opening of a show, it looks like it was made by someone from the internet. I think the kicker for me is the last shot where it zooms in on the nameless coffee house window with what looks like just the tops of two or three people's heads. That just made no sense as a final shot to an opening credits roll.

Only way it's legit is if it was just a really really early "rough cut" of an example. Definitely doesn't look like it was a finished opening that they decided to scrap.

mrdazzo7 said:

I think the kicker for me is the last shot where it zooms in on the nameless coffee house window with what looks like just the tops of two or three people's heads. That just made no sense as a final shot to an opening credits roll.

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It's not uncommon to have the opening credits seamlessly segue into the action of the episode, and I fully expect that is what was happening there. (It's used a bit more in motion pictures, where the opening music will just fade away as the action picks up... but I've seen it used on television as well.)

I would expect that if this is real (and I have a feeling it is) it's from an early "presentation package" for the network... sort of a pilot, but not a ready-to-air full episode. Presentation packages are usually much shorter than a normal episode, but are filmed in much the same way so as to give the network a good feel for how the series will look if ordered to pilot or if they place a series order.

I'm a little dubious. It may be real, but I think it's more likely that this is something somebody on the internet crufted up from some Season 1 footage.

I remember hearing this back in the early 90's, but have never heard if it was real or not.

I think it's BS as well. I remember reading an article, way back when Friends was still pretty new, that one of the first things they shot was all the footage of the gang dancing around in the water fountain for the opening theme. One of the actors said it was awkward to be buddy-buddying around with a bunch of folks he/she had just met an hour or two before.

LoadStar said:

It's not uncommon to have the opening credits seamlessly segue into the action of the episode, and I fully expect that is what was happening there. (It's used a bit more in motion pictures, where the opening music will just fade away as the action picks up... but I've seen it used on television as well.)

I would expect that if this is real (and I have a feeling it is) it's from an early "presentation package" for the network... sort of a pilot, but not a ready-to-air full episode. Presentation packages are usually much shorter than a normal episode, but are filmed in much the same way so as to give the network a good feel for how the series will look if ordered to pilot or if they place a series order.

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If it's from the presentation, all the clips used would be from the first episode. Is anyone familiar enough with Friends to know if any of the shots used here are from later episodes?

Vendikarr said:

If it's from the presentation, all the clips used would be from the first episode. Is anyone familiar enough with Friends to know if any of the shots used here are from later episodes?

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There were definitely scenes from more than the first episode.

Funny I vaguely remember Friends starting off with a different theme song then they ended with and couldn't remember what it was. But I definitely don't remember that. I was leaning towards Hold My Hand from Hootie and the Blowfish which was also the subject of a later episode. Whatever it was I remember it didn't quite fit.

If it's a fake, it's pretty elaborate. Someone is selling a copy of the episode on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140649617879

They "bought it off eBay 13 years ago" and yet this is the first we're hearing of it?

C'mon.

lambertman said:

They "bought it off eBay 13 years ago" and yet this is the first we're hearing of it?

C'mon.

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First you're hearing of it. I've heard this before, many years back.

I like it.

Friends Like Us was definitely an early title. But this doesn't feel correct.

lambertman said:

They "bought it off eBay 13 years ago" and yet this is the first we're hearing of it?

C'mon.

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Here's a reference from 2004:

http://www.friendscafe.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7875