Ever wonder why Monica had that “Jouets” poster above her television?
Or how she afforded to furnish her huge apartment so thoroughly and artistically?
Consider this “The One Where The Set Secrets Were Spilled.”
Credit: Gary Null/NBC
Let’s take a little tour of “Greenwich Village” A.K.A.
a bunch of sound stages on the WB lot, shall we?
Central Perk
Ah, the coffee shop.
Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
One big change, though, came at the end of the show’s first season.
“That developed in season 2.
In some episodes further down the road, you notice there were quick beats out on the street.
Danny Feld/NBCU Photo Bank via AP Images
Obviously, it was quite small, but we were able to capture a few minutes out there.”
Plus, Grande was integral in designing the Central Perk logo.
“I’m really proud of the logo,” he says.
NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
“It’s something that I had a hand in and that’s everywhere now.”
Despite slight decor changes every few episodes, the overarching vibe always remained in place.
“You know, not your typical generic coffee shop with the computers.
Paul Drinkwater/NBC
What did they used to call them back then?
I made what I like to refer to as the seventh character on the show.”
Monicas (and everyone elses at some point) Apartment
Ah, the purple walls!
NBC
“I felt like Monica’s apartment was pretty iconic,” Grande says.
“There’s one wood carving that’s kind of tucked down her hallway,” he says.
That was a really classic find."
NBC
Okay, we’re getting to it.
Funnily enough, it wasn’t the original artwork Grande selected for that space.
It hung on that purple wall and they kind of were concerned that it wastooreligious.
NBC
I found that image, took it, and reproduced it for a poster.
But its popularity doesn’t mean he’s reaping the benefits today.
“It is crazy,” says Grande.
Somebody owes me, for God’s sakes!
He did, however, take a special moment away from the series that he can cherish forever.
“The best part for me, was in the last episode of the show,” Grande explains.
That rings true, that I’m moving the last piece of furniture out of the apartment.
I got a little sentimental."
You could drop spaghetti on the carpet.
Build a fort in the living room.
Prove to a stranger you could fit inside the entertainment unit and get robbed in the process.
It was clearly a fun place to be.
Often decorated with funny cartoon drawings or urgent notes to one another (Joey, call Estelle!)
It wasn’t necessarily for any story point, but maybe something that had happened in rehearsal.
Every week that changed too."
Fictional characters, they’re just like us!
For Grande, that was an opportunity to prank the cast.
“The whole joke was that we kept filling and filling and filling it [between takes].”
“It worked out well,” laughs Grande.
The Apothecary Table
No one can forget the episode when Pottery Barn infiltrates the gang’s lives.
“In the process, they gave me the opportunity to shop anything I wanted out of there.
