While the iconic “Friends” may have been set in New York City, the show was mostly filmed on a soundstage at the Warner Brothers studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Some of the establishing shots used during the series, as well as the outside of the apartment building where Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc), and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) lived, were real places in New York City.
However, most of the show’s scenes were shot at the studio lot at 3400 Warner Blvd. in Burbank. That includes Central Perk, the cafe where the gang hung out on the daily. Even when the cast members caper about during the opening credits to the tune of “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts, they weren’t playing in a real NYC fountain, contrary to popular belief. That was also on the soundstage. Most of the show, especially in the earlier seasons, was shot inside because, as producer Kevin Bright told the Boston Globe, “We find that taking the show out of the studio makes it less funny, even when we shoot on the lot outside” (via Conde Nast Traveller).
As of 2023, the iconic “Friends” sets only exist in memory, as the studio had them taken apart after the series wrapped, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Still, it seems fitting that Perry would be laid to rest near a place that had been so paramount in his life.
