Two scripts from the fourth season of Friends will be auctioned off in England after an unnamed studio employee found them in the trash at London’s now-defunct Fountain Studios. The hit NBC series filmed its two-part finale, “The One With Ross’s Wedding,” partly in London in 1998 and the scripts were apparently left behind.
Amanda Butler, who is handling the sale, said the scripts should have been destroyed. “Apparently, the cast and crew were ordered to destroy their copies so the ending wouldn’t be leaked,” she said in a press release. “However, these two slipped through the net.”
Friends scripts up for auction. Courtesy of Hansons.
However, an employee of the studio, who isn’t being identified, found them in a trash can a few weeks after filming wrapped. He has since kept them in a bedside drawer, but decided to sell them during a recent clear-out.
“I used to work in admin support at the studios,” the seller explained in a statement. “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.”
He added that he found the scripts “in a bin a couple of week’s after filming had finished.” “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.”
He added, “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 scripts will go up for auction on Jan. 12 and are being sold with the ticket, a production hoodie, and a Friends DVD box set. They are expected to sell for between £600 and £800, however Butler said it’s possible they will go for more. “The sky’s the limit,” she told the BBC. “If people want them they will bid for them.”
“The One With Ross’s Wedding” featured David Schwimmer‘s Ross marrying his British girlfriend Emily (Helen Baxendale). During the cliffhanger ending, he accidentally calls out the wrong name during the ceremony when he sees Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) arrive. Most of the cast shot scenes in England for the episodes, which included a cameo from Richard Branson.