“We’re Not Going to Like Her.” Monica's Story in the First Episode of Friends Was So Controversial for the Network That a Questionnaire Called the Character “Harlot”
A director from NBC pushed for Monica's first storyline to be changed in Friends. Because of this storyline, a questionnaire called the character a “harlot.”.
Friends is an iconic sitcom that is largely regarded as perfect among fans. Many people would not change anything in this production, but the opinion of fans of the TV series was initially not shared by the director of NBC, who did not like the first plot of Monica in the comedy TV show.
During an interview with The Times, David Crane, co-creator of Friends, talked about how an NBC director objected to Monica's storyline, arguing that if the character spent the night with a man after their first date, it would give the wrong impression to viewers (via TVLine). Crane claimed that this director tried to influence the audience's opinion during the dress rehearsal by surveying them.
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?'.
The questionnaire presupposed a negative attitude toward the character, which the audience reportedly disagreed with anyway. From Crane's story, it seems that many people wrote that there was nothing wrong with Monica's storyline and no changes were required.
The creators of Friends managed to put their best foot forward and played up Monica's story in the way they themselves wanted. The decision turned out to be the right one, as the character played by Courteney Cox became an important part of the pack and won the audience's sympathy as a character who connected all the friends with each other.
