LONDON — “Friends” scripts that were found decades ago in a trash can at a studio in England are going up for auction.
Two scripts from the fourth season of “Friends” found in the trash by a studio employee years ago will be auctioned off in England according to Rolling Stone. The employee who found the scripts has not been identified.
“I used to work in admin support at the studios,” the seller explained in a statement obtained by Rolling Stone. “I never saw any of the “Friends” cast, but I remember it was madly busy. There was a real buzz about the place and I did my best to help. They needed a studio audience and I helped to distribute tickets to people who won a London radio station competition to watch “Friends” being filmed. Only recently, I discovered a ticket inside one of the scripts.”
“It was part of my job to ensure everything was tidy and no rubbish was left around,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what to do with them so just put them in my office drawer. I remember wondering which member of the cast they might have belonged to. I left Fountain Studios in 1999 and when I came to clear my desk I just swept everything into a big cardboard box. I forget the scripts were there… They ended up in a bedside drawer and they’ve been there ever since.”
“Funnily enough, I’m not a big “Friends” fan. I don’t dislike the show, but I only recently watched the episodes I have the scripts for. American humor is different to ours. These scripts deserve to be owned by a big “Friends” fan,” the seller added, according to Rolling Stone.
The scripts were from “The One With Ross’s Wedding Part 1 and Part II,” according to CNN. The scripts should have been destroyed after the episodes were partly filmed in London so they couldn’t have been leaked at the time.
Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer were some of the cast that film scenes in England, according to the BBC.
The auction guide price for the two scripts has been set between $760 and around $1,020 U.S. dollars by auctioneers, according to CNN.
“They were bought along to our saleroom for valuation and we were amazed. Friends fans will absolutely love these. They sweep us back to 1998 when Ross, Monica, Joey, Chandler and Rachel traveled to England to see Ross (David Schwimmer) marry his fiancée Emily (Helen Baxendale) in London,” Amanda Butler, head of operations at the Royston firm, according to Hansons Auctioneers.
“The two scripts were found at a TV studio which is no longer there. Apparently, the cast and crew were ordered to destroy their copies so the ending wouldn’t be leaked. However, these two slipped through the net. We’re guiding them at £600-£800 but thanks to the show’s huge global appeal who knows where the hammer may fall. Friends’ final show aired 20 years ago in 2004 but it’s still watched and enjoyed by millions, Butler continued.
The scripts are expected to go up for auction Friday and are being sold with a ticket, production hoodie and a “Friends” DVD box set, according to the BBC.
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