We’re Not Going To Like [Her]

Friends co-creator David Crane has opened up about how Monica’s story in the pilot episode caused a fight with an NBC executive, who thought what she does would make her disliked. Monica is a classic member of the Friends cast, introduced alongside all the other major characters in the very first episode. During her debut, Monica’s first storyline involving her sleeping with “Paul the Wine Guy,” a man who allegedly hadn’t had sex since his wife left him. However, it’s later revealed his story was false so he could take advantage of women.

Speaking with The Sunday Times (via TVLine), Crane revealed how an executive at NBC tried to get Monica’s first Friends storyline changed, arguing her sleeping with someone on the first date would leave a bad impression of her. The co-creator recalls how the same executive tried to sabotage the storyline with a questionnaire for a dress rehearsal audience. Check out what Crane had to say below:

The guy who was in charge [an NBC executive] said: ‘We’re not going to like Monica because [in the pilot] she sleeps with a guy on the first date.’ We made the argument that it makes her sympathetic.

The network, in trying to prove that the audience wouldn’t like Monica if she sleeps with a guy on the first date, distributed a little questionnaire to the audience at our dress rehearsal. And it was so skewed. The question was like: ‘When Monica sleeps with a guy on her first date, is she A) a slut or B) a harlot?’

Why Monica’s First Storyline Made Her A Memorable Friends Character

Crane Was Right About Her First Impression

Despite the biased questionnaire handed out to the dress rehearsal audience, Crane revealed many audience members wound up writing that Monica’s story was fine and didn’t need to be changed. It eventually aired without edits, with her becoming a key member of the group thanks to her more grounded mindset in contrast to everyone else. This led to multiple memorable episodes involving her as a voice of reason, but also episodes where dynamics were explored more thoroughly as she ends up in wild situations of her own.

Without that initial sympathy for her character, the show wouldn’t have been able to establish early on its ability to make audiences do more than just laugh at the group’s dilemmas. Doing so set the stage for Friends‘ important Monica and Chandler episodes, which helped add to their relationship as the series progressed. While the show could have pursued a different storyline to make her character more sympathetic, the one involving Paul ended up becoming a classic part of the pilot. Having it any other way would make the first episode unimaginable.

Of course, beyond her moments in the pilot, she was involved in plenty of stories throughout Friends, the multiple seasons of the show giving her time to develop. This included memorable funny moments like Monica putting a turkey on her head, to more serious ones, like her dating Richard despite their age gap. However, the seed of sympathy for her began in the pilot, something that wouldn’t have been the same had the show given her a different storyline because of NBC meddling.

Source: The Sunday Times (via TVLine)

Friends

4.5

Friends is the popular sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, released back in 1994 and ran for ten seasons. The show follows a group of six twentysomethings through their lives in New York City and their time spent between their two apartments and their local coffee shop. The show features the group navigating tricky relationships with one another and comical misadventures.

Release Date

September 22, 1994

Seasons

10

Writers

David Crane , Marta Kauffman

Directors

David Crane , Marta Kauffman

Showrunner

Marta Kauffman

Where To Watch

Max

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