‘Friends’ Co-Creators Recall Standing Up to NBC Executive
‘Friends’ Co-Creators Recall Standing Up to NBC Executive Who Objected To Monica Sleeping With Someone On A First Date https://t.co/jpZTAg0Qn9
- Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) August 18, 2024
NBC executive wanted to change Monica’s pilot plot, which featured her sleeping with someone on a first date.
“The guy who was in charge 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?’”
However, the audience chose a third, unlisted, none of the above option. “People wrote in saying: ‘No, it’s fine’,”
Another instance where the audience helped shape the sitcom’s plotlines - that of Monica and Chandler’s relationship.
“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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