Simple Reason Original Friends Couple Got Scrapped
Ross and Rachel weren't always meant to be the IT couple on Friends. In fact, the creators thought that the other two characters might be the focus of the show.
In an interview for TODAY, co-creator David Crane shared that Joey and Monica were supposed to become a thing early on.
The reason they didn't was that the end-result characters were different from the ones originally conceived.
Joey was supposed to be even more of "a ladies' man" than he ended up being, and Monica was going to be "a tough(er) chick."
The dynamic would have been interesting to watch, but when Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc landed their respective roles, the characters instantly became "softer and realer."
Crane recalled that they decided that Matt and Courteney didn't give off "the right energy," so the creators (thankfully) decided to go in a different direction. Still, it is fun to imagine what their couple could have looked like!
This is exactly what David Crane and Marta Kauffman were thinking when they came up with the idea for the season 3 episode, The One With The Flashback.
The episode takes place a year before the events of the pilot and explores the possibility of Monica and Joey having a fling.
Monica is immediately attracted to Joey, but, the latter jumps the gun and strips naked in her apartment a little too soon, evidently ruining any chance of them ever getting together.
That is all for the better, otherwise, we would never have gotten Mondler, and they are one of the best TV couples to this day!
Joey tried to hit on Rachel in the pilot episode, but later on, he refrained from making moves (at least in a serious way) on any of the three women around him.
Joey treated the girls like sisters, and that was a refreshing perspective for a ladies' man character. That was essentially what allowed Joey to truly become part of the group, and not just a creepy neighbor of Chandler's.
Monica grew into the mother of the group role, always taking care of everyone and being the perfect hostess (which we know was important to her).
Monica and Joey's dynamic strayed far from the original concept, and Friends was all the better for it!
Source: TODAY