FriendsCreators Reveal Questionnaire Network Gave Audience About Monica Sleeping with Someone on a First Date

Mar. 15, 2025

Courteney Cox as Monica Geller in ‘Friends’.Photo:Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

The creators ofFriendstried to stand up to an NBC executive who went to great lengths to try and shame the character of Monica Geller for sleeping with a co-worker on their first date.

In a retrospective interview for the U.K. outletThe Times, the creators of the hit ’90s sitcom,Marta KauffmanandDavid Crane, revealed that they had to stand up forCourteney Cox’s character against an NBC executive before the pilot episode even aired.

In “The Pilot,” chef Monica sleeps with a co-worker whom the group calls “Paul the wine guy” (John Allen Nelson) on their first date after he shares that he hasn’t had sex with anyone since his last breakup, which was two years prior.

While recapping the events of the date with another co-worker, Monica discovers that Paul’s story was a lie to get her into bed.

Crane, 67, recalled toThe Times: “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.”

Courteney Cox as Monica Geller in ‘Friends’.Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Unnamed executives at NBC disagreed so adamantly that Crane said they went to great lengths to prove the co-creators wrong.

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“In trying to prove that the audience wouldn’t like Monica if she sleeps with a guy on the first date, [the network] distributed a little questionnaire to the audience at our dress rehearsal,” Crane continued.

“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 dress rehearsal audience chose “none of the above,” even though it wasn’t an option.

The cast of ‘Friends’ during their 2021 reunion special.Terence Patrick

“And people wrote in saying, ‘No, it’s fine,’ " Crane concluded on the subject.

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Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox in 2006.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

“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,” Kauffman, 67, said.

“The cliché is that British people are incredibly reserved, but they were so welcoming [of the couple],” Crane added.

source: people.com