The reason Jennifer Aniston almost had to leave Friends
A new book focusing on the iconic comedy reveals unknown details about its creation and history
Next September will be 25 years since the premiere of Friends (1994-2004) in the United States, but there are still curiosities to discover about the series. The book Generation Friends by Saul Austerlitz, to be published on September 17, reveals unknown details about the creation and history of the iconic comedy.
Preorder your copy of GENERATION FRIENDS here! https://t.co/v2Z3aOiLvI @DuttonBooks pic.twitter.com/mLQYw6GOZE
— Saul Austerlitz (@saulausterlitz) April 10, 2019
Entertainment Weekly has advanced several excerpts of this work, among which one stands out that reveals why Jennifer Aniston was close to abandoning the production of her that launched her to fame in her first season.
Rachel Green enseñando todo sobre la vida. pic.twitter.com/5n05fKLmT3
— Nick (@nickrojasd) August 22, 2019
The casting team wanted the actress to play Rachel Green, but she had already recorded several episodes of another comedy called Muddling Through. If this series had been successful, Friends would have lost one of its protagonists during its first season. With doubts, CBS premiered it on Saturday night in the summer of 1994. Warren Littlefield, NBC producer, spoke with Preston Beckman, vice president of programming, to ask him to do what he could to make it a flop. "Kill her," he said referring to the other Aniston series.
Jennifer Aniston - Herman's Head ( TV series 1992-93 ) pic.twitter.com/KZiVIhoHWs
— Holly (@holaniston) April 9, 2016
The method that the chain that emitted Friends used was the counterprogramming. In the same strip on Saturdays they released several television movies that adapted the romantic novels of Danielle Steel. These contents probably would have achieved a greater audience on another day of the week, but the objective was to overshadow Muddling Through, so that it was canceled and did not continue filming. They succeeded and this allowed the continuity of Rachel in Friends.
Rachel green moods. pic.twitter.com/LPGGmcLg5A
— 🎥🍿 (@moviegifs4) August 17, 2019
AN OLDER CHARACTER
Saul Austerlitz's book tells the story of the one who came close to being the gang's seventh friend. NBC commissioned the pilot to Marta Kauffman and David Crane, but among the suggestions that the network made to the creators of the series was that they include an older character in the cast. The company was concerned that without him fiction would not appeal to mature audiences. They suggested that someone meet Ross (David Schwimmer), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and company at Central Perk to give them advice.
Kauffman and Crane agreed and tried to introduce a character named Pat the cop. They modified the script and there was even a casting to choose their interpreter, but they hated the change. They agreed with NBC to get rid of this idea in exchange for promising that they would give importance in the plots to the parents of the six leads and to look for guest stars to attract the elderly audience.
OTHER CURIOSITIES OF FRIENDS
In the previews of Generation Friends that Entertainment Weekly has published, other curiosities of the gestation of comedy are also revealed. They offered the role of Monica Geller to Janeane Garofalo (Bites of Reality) before Courteney Cox took it, thinking that the character would have a great maternal instinct and would be a tougher and more sarcastic woman.
Another detail that would have changed Friends as we know it is that at first its creators considered that the couple that would star in the central romance of the production would be the one formed by Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Monica.
Until the arrival of HBO Max, the Warner platform where Friends will move, we will be able to see the 10 seasons of the successful 'sitcom' in the catalog of Netflix, HBO and Amazon Prime Video.
