They Were On A Break: We Could've Gotten Joey & Monica Instead of Ross & Rachel
It's been 18 years since Friends came to an end after its successful 10-year run, but fans are still talking about the hit sitcom, and the show's romantic relationships are the hot topic, as usual.
After all, the chemistry between the main characters was undeniable, and this helped shape their stories throughout the seasons.
Thanks to that, we got the iconic couplings like Rachel and Ross and Monica and Chandler. However, not many people know that the showrunners had different plans for Monica initially, and if they had followed them, we could've gotten Joey and Monica instead of Ross and Rachel!
In the series, Joey, who's played by Matt LeBlanc, was introduced to the audience as a good guy, who also happened to be a ladies' man. His flirtatious antics were put to the side, however, when it came to his three friends – Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica.
He was like their brother, which showed that his heart was in the right place. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't have made an interesting match with any of the leading ladies. Just imagine how delightfully unconventional would Joey and Phoebe be together, for instance.
However, according to the creator of the show, David Crane, that would've been too easy and there were other plans for him and the rest of the characters originally. He revealed to TODAY that while Rachel and Ross were meant to be from the start, Monica and Chandler's coupling wasn't part of the original idea. In fact, they envisioned Joey and Monica together when the show was in the early development stages.
See, the thing is, Monica's character was initially written with Janeane Garofalo in mind. She was supposed to be tougher and more sarcastic and snarky. And according to co-creator Jeffrey Klarik, they thought including a dynamic between this "tough chick" and the ladies' man would be a great idea on paper.
But after Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc were cast, it didn't feel right when they saw the characters embodied by actual people as they both seemed more real and soft. As you know, this was ultimately changed, making Rachel and Ross the main couple of the show.
Looking back, it seems like they made the right decision trusting their instincts and not building a love story between Monica and Joey. While there's no denying they had chemistry, it would definitely be strange to picture them together now. However, it would've been interesting to see how it would've panned out on the show nevertheless!