During one memorable episode, broadcast live, guest star Andy Kaufman broke character during a sketch. He got into a shoving match with Michael Richards which degenerated into an on-camera brawl. It was later revealed that this was a set-up and Kaufman and some of the brawl participants and the cast were in on the gag, but most of the crew were caught completely off-guard. Melanie Chartoff discusses this in an interview with David Brody found on Youtube.
During its second season, the show became more popular than _"Saturday Night Live" (1975) which struggled in its sixth season. NBC executive Dick Ebersol tried to convince "Fridays" cast members to join "SNL" but they all turned him down. Featured cast member Rich Hall eventually joined "SNL" after "Fridays" was cancelled.
Cast members Mark Blankfield and Brandis Kemp were married in real life. They divorced in 1987.
Originally developed by the network in 1978.
This series has rarely been shown in syndication (edited episodes were shown on the USA Network for a time in the late 1980s) and was not released on home media for years reportedly because cast member Michael Richards had a contract that prevented such releases. However, on August 6, 2013, Shout! Factory released a five disc Best of Fridays DVD compilation set. The series can now be streamed on Tubi TV and Shout! Factory TV.