The creators of ‘Friends‘ didn’t just bring the unforgettable lives of Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey to our screens, they also raised the sitcom bar very high at the time. While ‘Friends‘ is known for its iconic one-liners and timeless friendships, the show was also pushing boundaries for its time. And, as it turns out, not everyone was on board with that.
Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox, became a fan-favorite character with her obsessive cleaning habits and endearing neuroses. But before she became the iconic Monica we all know and love, there was a heated debate over how she’d be perceived by audiences. Yep, Monica’s sex life, especially her decision to sleep with a guy on the first date in the pilot episode, was under heavy contention.
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All About Monica Geller’s First Date Drama
According to co-creator David Crane, the NBC exec in charge had some old-fashioned ideas about what made a female character likable, as reported by Deadline. In a retrospective article with the U.K.’s The Times, Crane revealed that this exec argued, “‘We’re not going to like Monica because [in the pilot] she sleeps with a guy on the first date.’”
But Crane and co-creator Marta Kauffman weren’t having it. They believed that Monica’s decision actually made her more relatable and, in fact, more sympathetic.
The scene in question involves Monica’s date with “Paul the Wine Guy,” a charming co-worker who pulls at Monica’s heartstrings by telling her he hasn’t had sex in 2 years since his last breakup.
Feeling a connection, Monica decides to have sex with him— only to later discover that Paul’s story was a total lie just to get her into bed. The creators saw her as a character making a vulnerable and real choice. And guess what? The audience agreed!
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The Audience’s Verdict Was In Monica’s Favor
To prove their point, the network even handed out a questionnaire to viewers during the show’s dress rehearsal. David Crane said. “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?’”
But audiences weren’t about to slut-shame Monica; they overwhelmingly chose a third, unlisted option. Crane mentioned, “People wrote in saying: ‘No, it’s fine.’”
But that’s not the only time the audience had the final say in Monica’s love life. In the same interview Kauffman mentioned audience also helped to shape Monica and Chandler’s love story. He stated, “we thought it would be a one-night stand. But they received such a strong reaction from the audience in London that it actually altered where we were going with the storyline.”
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