The One With the Thing: All Episodes Talk

[OtterMommy]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

Um, Rachel?????

Good point, but it is ROSS AND RACHEL!!!  At that point, the show had spent how many season telling us that they were the most amazing love story of all time?  (Also, I doubt that Susan--or Carol--would go to the wedding with the goal of breaking it up and running off with the groom....)

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

Good point, but it is ROSS AND RACHEL!!!  At that point, the show had spent how many season telling us that they were the most amazing love story of all time?  (Also, I doubt that Susan--or Carol--would go to the wedding with the goal of breaking it up and running off with the groom....)

Meh. I am much more a Monica/Chandler fan, myself.  :-)

[OtterMommy]

10 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Meh. I am much more a Monica/Chandler fan, myself.  :-)

Me too...my ROSS AND RACHEL!!!! was meant to be pure sarcasm!

[WendyCR72]

4 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

Me too...my ROSS AND RACHEL!!!! was meant to be pure sarcasm!

Ah, my bad there! Reading it again, finally caught that.

[AriAu]

For some reason, the TV in the kitchen in our office was off of CNN and on to an episode of Friends and on to the screen walks Chandler's dad. Don't know what it is, but I had to stop and watch......Kathleen Turner is just perfectly campy in the episode at Viva Las Gegus. Cracked me up.

[Starry Eyes]

On 1/6/2016 at 2:39 PM, Inquisitionist said:

Did she answer an ad?

From what I have come to the conclusion throughout the years and I've watched Friends over and over again until I've memorized almost every line, I think Monica was the one who stated that Phoebe answered an ad for a place to live, and she moved in right before the very beginning.  Hope this helps..

[mojoween]

When Rachel had her disastrous interviews with Mr. Zelner and he hired her anyways (which...no), she said “I’ll see you Monday!”

Now I'm curious if she left Bloomingdales directly to Ralph Lauren because that means she didn’t give two weeks notice.

I know, it’s stupid, it just irritates me how cavalierly on sitcoms people constantly leave jobs.

[Katy M]

20 hours ago, mojoween said:

When Rachel had her disastrous interviews with Mr. Zelner and he hired her anyways (which...no), she said “I’ll see you Monday!”

Now I'm curious if she left Bloomingdales directly to Ralph Lauren because that means she didn’t give two weeks notice.

I know, it’s stupid, it just irritates me how cavalierly on sitcoms people constantly leave jobs.

A lot of your larger don't want your two weeks notice and escort you off the premises as soon as you give your notice anyway.  If she'd witnessed that at Bloomingdales it would make sense that she wouldn't worry about giving notice. 

[chocolatine]

I'm rewatching the show on Netflix for the first time since it stopped airing, and I'm now thinking about a lot of details that went over my head the first time.

Specifically about Carol/Ross/Susan/Ben, do you guys think Carol accidentally got pregnant towards the end of the marriage, before she was completely sure that she wanted to be with Susan? Or did she get pregnant deliberately *after* she'd decided to leave Ross? Like, did she and Susan make a sinister plan to get Carol pregnant so that they would have a child to raise together? I know the show was a comedy and the latter scenario would have been too dark, but it does seem suspicious time-line wise, doesn't it?

[WendyCR72]

52 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I'm rewatching the show on Netflix for the first time since it stopped airing, and I'm now thinking about a lot of details that went over my head the first time.

Specifically about Carol/Ross/Susan/Ben, do you guys think Carol accidentally got pregnant towards the end of the marriage, before she was completely sure that she wanted to be with Susan? Or did she get pregnant deliberately *after* she'd decided to leave Ross? Like, did she and Susan make a sinister plan to get Carol pregnant so that they would have a child to raise together? I know the show was a comedy and the latter scenario would have been too dark, but it does seem suspicious time-line wise, doesn't it?

Doubt it was the latter or why tell Ross at all? Carol #1 (who was played then by Anita Barone, don't forget, the actress that broke the news was not Jane Sibbett!) seemed bemused/surprised by the whole thing, too.

[Bort]

Not to mention that Carol and Susan could’ve just done in vitro or artificial insemination with an actual Bobo the sperm guy since they clearly would have rather not had Ross involved at all.

[RainbowBrite]

The timeline for Ross and Carol to have conceived a baby makes very little sense to me - especially with the timeline created in the first episode.

[Jax7917]

Just watched the Rachel and Joey episodes. I agree with others who said that they thought Joey's feelings for Rachel seemed natural, but once it came time for Rachel to develop feelings for Joey, it just became very contrived. They built up Rachel liking Joey for many episodes, and can barely wait to sexually attack him, yet once they finally became a couple and have sex, Rachel couldn't do it. You would think by that time, she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of him. So they go all out to make the couple happen, having them tell Ross and admit to him how strong their feelings are for each other, yet they give up on their relationship after what... one hour? I get that their relationship was probably frowned upon by the viewers, but the whole story line was cringeworthy. And also, when Rachel and Ross first got together, she was hysterical laughing every time Ross tried touching her.. which is the same thing that happened with Joey. Yet with Joey, she couldn't get past it? 

[Danny Franks]

6 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

Just watched the Rachel and Joey episodes. I agree with others who said that they thought Joey's feelings for Rachel seemed natural, but once it came time for Rachel to develop feelings for Joey, it just became very contrived. They built up Rachel liking Joey for many episodes, and can barely wait to sexually attack him, yet once they finally became a couple and have sex, Rachel couldn't do it. You would think by that time, she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of him. So they go all out to make the couple happen, having them tell Ross and admit to him how strong their feelings are for each other, yet they give up on their relationship after what... one hour? I get that their relationship was probably frowned upon by the viewers, but the whole story line was cringeworthy. And also, when Rachel and Ross first got together, she was hysterical laughing every time Ross tried touching her.. which is the same thing that happened with Joey. Yet with Joey, she couldn't get past it? 

It's so jarring. Why put in all that stuff about Ross making his peace with Rachel and Joey, about how crazy Joey is for her, and how he believes she feels the same way only to.... erase it all with some daft slapstick in the next episode?

Some of the worst writing the show ever offered, in my opinion. And I know it was partly about Ross/Rachel fans being upset, and about Joey getting a spinoff, but it still sucks the life out of season 10 for me. It's a major emotional beat that built over several episodes and a season cliffhanger (albeit, as stated, with less than stellar writing on Rachel's side of things), and it just drops with a pathetic whimper, only to never be mentioned again. They should have had the balls to just write them in a relationship for a handful of episodes, maybe establish in the end that it was about lust more than romantic love, and have them both move on. And it could have ended with some genuine character growth for Joey, as he decides that he actually wants to find the real thing, instead of empty hookups and flings.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Danny Franks

[Jax7917]

Did phoebe and David only date for 1 episode ? In a later season they made it seem like he was the love of her life , but from what I see .. they had 1 episode together . 

[Katy M]

10 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

Did phoebe and David only date for 1 episode ? In a later season they made it seem like he was the love of her life , but from what I see .. they had 1 episode together . 

Well, they had the few dates before he went to Minsk. then, they had a five minute date when he was back for a visit.

[helenamonster]

I always thought David was painted as the one who got away. That if he hadn't moved to Minsk he and Phoebe would have been the loves of each other's lives. They just could never get the timing right.

[VCRTracking]

On 2/12/2018 at 10:29 AM, Jaclyn88 said:

Just watched the Rachel and Joey episodes. I agree with others who said that they thought Joey's feelings for Rachel seemed natural, but once it came time for Rachel to develop feelings for Joey, it just became very contrived. They built up Rachel liking Joey for many episodes, and can barely wait to sexually attack him, yet once they finally became a couple and have sex, Rachel couldn't do it. You would think by that time, she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of him. So they go all out to make the couple happen, having them tell Ross and admit to him how strong their feelings are for each other, yet they give up on their relationship after what... one hour? I get that their relationship was probably frowned upon by the viewers, but the whole story line was cringeworthy. And also, when Rachel and Ross first got together, she was hysterical laughing every time Ross tried touching her.. which is the same thing that happened with Joey. Yet with Joey, she couldn't get past it? 

 

On 2/12/2018 at 4:53 PM, Danny Franks said:

It's so jarring. Why put in all that stuff about Ross making his peace with Rachel and Joey, about how crazy Joey is for her, and how he believes she feels the same way only to.... erase it all with some daft slapstick in the next episode?

Some of the worst writing the show ever offered, in my opinion. And I know it was partly about Ross/Rachel fans being upset, and about Joey getting a spinoff, but it still sucks the life out of season 10 for me. It's a major emotional beat that built over several episodes and a season cliffhanger (albeit, as stated, with less than stellar writing on Rachel's side of things), and it just drops with a pathetic whimper, only to never be mentioned again. They should have had the balls to just write them in a relationship for a handful of episodes, maybe establish in the end that it was about lust more than romantic love, and have them both move on. And it could have ended with some genuine character growth for Joey, as he decides that he actually wants to find the real thing, instead of empty hookups and flings.

 

I think they knew if Joey and Rachel had sex, it would be the "point of no return" for them. Even if they broke up later, they could never go back to what they were.

Ross was in love with the girl Rachel was in high school and Joey fell in love with the woman Rachel had become. Rachel crushed on Joey because she saw him rehearse and play his soap opera character. It was always a shallow thing in her case. She didn't fall for the sweet guy who took care of her when she was pregnant. She thirsted after an actor playing a fictional doctor! I wish she admitted it that was the reason they broke up instead of her uncontrollably slapping him when they were about to have sex. People say Rachel was too good for Ross but Joey was too good for her.

For whatever reason Dermut Mulroney never worked out so his character was completely forgotten and they went with Rachel's infatuation with Joey for the cliffhanger.

It did make for one of Ross's best moments IMO when he talks to Joey:
 

Quote

 

Ross: Hey, what are you talking about? I'm fine!

Joey: It's okay, Ross, alright? I totally understand. Of course you're not fine. You're.. You're Ross and Rachel.

Ross: Except we're not. I mean, we haven't been a couple in like, six years. Oh my god, is that right? Has it been that long?

Joey: That's what I hear, yeah.

Ross: This is crazy. I mean, six years? And because of me you guys aren't gonna be together? Can I ask you something? Really, what is this thing with you and Rachel?

Joey: Come on, I mean, you know me, you know...

Ross: Joey.

Joey: I'm crazy about her.

Ross: And she feels the same way?

Joey: I think so.

Ross: Well, then, maybe it's time we all moved on.

Joey: Yeah, but, Ross, I mean, you're not okay with it.

Ross: No, but I wanna be. Hey, I will be. Besides, I'm with Charlie, right? Oh my god, I'm still with Charlie, aren't I? I mean, she didn't see the dance, did she?

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by VCRTracking

[SosaLola]

I often see Ross being criticized in Tumblr for being a sexist jerk. I have been watching Friends on Netflix and honestly I find Chandler and Joey way more sexist and horrible to women than Ross. 

In The One with the Five Steaks and Eggplant, a woman calls Chandler and Joey’s apartment by mistake. She wants to talk to a guy named Bob. Chandler pretends to be Bob and asks her out. His plan is to swoop in and rescue the poor lady when “Bob” stands her up. 

Ross, the supposedly “sexist jerk”, is horrified by Chandler’s behavior and calls him on it. He tells Chandler that he’s being evil and that he shouldn’t deceive the woman like that. Ross demands that Chandler tells the woman the truth. She wants Bob, not Chandler. 

I never see the anti-Ross crowd discuss this episode. Ross in this episode shows a lot of respect for women while Chandler was nothing but a creepy, deceiving Nice Guy. 

I say that and Chandler is my favorite Friends character. 

[Katy M]

58 minutes ago, SosaLola said:

I say that and Chandler is my favorite Friends character. 

Chandler's my fave also, but I also don't like that episode, and the one where he's sleeping with that woman who has a husband and two other boyfriends, or whatever.  Or the one where he's all gaga over Monica's cousin, but I think we can agree that Ross is ickier in that one.  she's your cousin, dude.  All in all, as far as treatment of women are concerned, I have to say, while they all have their moments, overall Joey is the worst.

[SosaLola]

Oh, yeah, Joey is the worst of the three when it comes to women. 

[Dandesun]

I always thought that Ross was a much better friend than he was a boyfriend. And, yeah, everyone had some questionable behavior when it came to dating. As shitty as Chandler's ploy was to sleep with the woman who accidentally called his apartment, it got turned on him in the end. There he was thinking he had pulled off this masterful move setting the woman up, swooping in to be the sweet guy to make her feel better and bragging about his prowess in bed and guess what? He was a lousy lay after all and a complete and utter regret for her.

I didn't mind him sleeping with the woman who had the husband and the boyfriends, that was her deal and, apparently, they all knew about each other. Chandler was the one who couldn't deal with the idea of not being the only one she was seeing. Not to mention the stuff with Kathie. Chandler got freaked out over his girlfriend simulating sex on stage in her play and then latched onto Joey's 'if they're hot on stage they aren't hot off stage' theory and just unloaded on her because of his own paranoia. And then, of course, whatever the hell he had going on with Janice.

I do wonder, though, just when Chandler would have seen anything remotely resembling a healthy monogamous relationship. Not from his parents, hell, he met Ross and Ross was obsessed over Rachel but then met Carol and fell in love... and then cheated on him with another woman and divorced him. I sit here going, how the hell did he and Monica figure it all out? I loved Chandler and Monica but based on their track records (actually Monica did all right for herself when it came to relationships, she had her clunkers but between Pete and Richard she had two loving, supportive relationships that ended due to very specific boundaries that could not meet in the middle.)

As for Joey,  you'd think he'd be little more aware given the sheer number of sisters but, yeah, he had at least one sister who shot her husband so I'd say Joey's view on relationships is probably a bit skewed, too.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Dandesun

[Nellise]

19 hours ago, Dandesun said:

I sit here going, how the hell did he and Monica figure it all out? I loved Chandler and Monica but based on their track records (actually Monica did all right for herself when it came to relationships, she had her clunkers but between Pete and Richard she had two loving, supportive relationships that ended due to very specific boundaries that could not meet in the middle.)

They actually commented on this a bit when they got into a fight and Chandler was like "this is what we do, I mess up and you fix us." And Monica tells him she's done being his coach. So like you said, Monica knew how to have good relationships and she pretty much dragged Chandler along until he was able to figure it out on his own.

[Crs97]

Yes, Nellise.  I love how that ends when he proposes and she tells him he isn’t ready yet to know how to deal with a mature relationship on his own.  They were good together!

The best part of the bad proposal was her incredulity that he took advice from three divorces and Joey.  Ross’ and Joey’s reactions were perfect.

[Bort]

Hell, part of Ross's problem when he was spiraling out on Mark jealousy was that it was Chandler and Joey feeding him advice. Colossally bad advice.

[Dandesun]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

The best part of the bad proposal was her incredulity that he took advice from three divorces and Joey.  Ross’ and Joey’s reactions were perfect.

The reactions were hilarious.

Ross: Hey!

Joey: She has a point.

Ross: Yeah but still... cheap shot.

[Danny Franks]

18 hours ago, Dandesun said:

The reactions were hilarious.

Ross: Hey!

Joey: She has a point.

Ross: Yeah but still... cheap shot.

The running gags about Ross getting divorced were really enjoyable.

"Ross. The Divorce Force!"

"If you don't try, you might not get married at all this year."

"Oh sorry. I hear divorce, I immediately go to Ross."

[Dandesun]

"I hear divorce bells."

"If you have to call me a name, I prefer Ross, the Divorcer. It's just cooler."

I liked the divorce jokes a hell of a lot better than the incessant 'we were on a break' nonsense.

[mojoween]

When Ross and Rachel go to dinner with her dad Ross says Dr. Green left like a four percent tip so Ross puts a twenty on the table.  When Dr. Green gets pissed he says that dinner was two hundred dollars so the tip would be about 14%. 

I was ready to get all het up about that until I remembered nineties, and 15% was a pretty good tip amount.  Although at any time tipping four percent on a two hundred dollar bill is shitty.

I also got palpitations thinking about an ass sticking me with a surprise two hundred dollar restaurant bill that at no time in my twenties could I have paid without credit card debt.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Danny Franks said:

The running gags about Ross getting divorced were really enjoyable.

“Ross is dating someone? Does she HAVE a wedding dress?”

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

So, TOW the Dollhouse is on, and it’s a snow day—why are a bunch of adults playing with dollhouses? At first it was just Monica and Phoebe, so that’s only half weird, but then Chandler, Ross and Rachel get in on it too. 

[Crs97]

The dollhouse didn’t bother me because I would have played with it if it had shown up in my apartment.

[Madding crowd]

I think they were just happy that Monica got her dollhouse and then Phoebe showed up with her fun aromatherapy house-I would play with it too!

[helenamonster]

I was cleaning out my old bedroom the last time I was at my mom's house and stumbled upon some old Lego sets. I'm a grown-ass person but I absolutely sat down and started putting those things together. Sometimes it's fun to feel like a kid again.

[Nordly Beaumont]

2 minutes ago, helenamonster said:

I was cleaning out my old bedroom the last time I was at my mom's house and stumbled upon some old Lego sets.

You know you've watched Friends too often when you think that sentence is going to end "stumbled upon some handcuffs."

[JessDVD]

I apparently started typing this months ago and will go ahead and post it, in addition to what I actually came to post, which is below this paragraph: I didn't even know that Chandler and Monica ended up getting together before but I of course had heard about Ross and Rachel OTP 4eva!!! back when the show was airing. I feel like if the writers wanted us to view R & R as any kind of OTP, it might have served them well to write them as liking each other more than once or twice a season. I was similarly disappointed when I got to the end of S7/beginning of S8 and Rachel gets pregnant, that we didn't even really SEE it, other than the flashbacks in the one with the flashbacks.

Anyway, what I actually came here to say is that I finally have picked back up finishing S10 after a horrid winter of sickness and general busyness during the time when I would normally watch a couple episodes each day. Today's included Thanksgiving and the ones where Chandler/Monica are applying for adoption and meeting with the social worker and then meeting the pregnant lady in Ohio. My observation is that "Mondler" is such a nicely written couple and I really can't believe that there's such a "R&R OTP" around when C&M are clearly, clearly the superior couple. Chandler is still awkward and Monica is still shrill but I think they both, especially Chandler, have matured a lot over the 10 seasons and I almost cried a little bit when Chandler was talking the pregnant lady into still choosing them. (I did cry a little bit when they got the call on Thanksgiving) I really like seeing a stable married couple, when it seems like so many TV shows that I've watched can't ever seem to have a stable, normal married (or even just 'together' not married) couple.

In other news, I now know the canon behind the animated gif I've used of Joey saying "I'm not even sorry" after eating his date's dessert.

[Dandesun]

Okay, so you know the episode where Joey has Phoebe set him up with her friend and they go out to dinner? They get their dessert and Joey's all 'Excuse me, there seems to be some red crap all over my cheesecake.' Aside from the fact that I cannot fathom why Joey would think 'coulis' is a monkey and that it comes with dessert. (And, seriously, which writer had a thing for monkeys? Because we got Marcel, and then the Superbowl episodes where Marcel was the monkey for whatever beer. And then Joey thinks some random word is a monkey. What's the deal?)

Anyway, this all ties in. My family was out to dinner at a nice local Italian place and I don't even remember what the dessert was. It may very well have been cheesecake. But they did have a raspberry coulis on the plate to make it look all nice. My youngest nephew goes: What's with the ketchup?

 

I'm inclined to think Joey would have asked that rather than gone with the monkey bullshit. But now I do tend to laugh at that scene thinking of my nephew's indignant question regarding ketchup and dessert. Also, he was about six when this happened but the episode was definitely in the later seasons and Joey was beyond idiotic at that point. Maybe not 'I'm getting a monkey with my dessert' idiotic but still...

[Jax7917]

On 4/10/2018 at 4:10 PM, JessDVD said:

I apparently started typing this months ago and will go ahead and post it, in addition to what I actually came to post, which is below this paragraph: I didn't even know that Chandler and Monica ended up getting together before but I of course had heard about Ross and Rachel OTP 4eva!!! back when the show was airing. I feel like if the writers wanted us to view R & R as any kind of OTP, it might have served them well to write them as liking each other more than once or twice a season. I was similarly disappointed when I got to the end of S7/beginning of S8 and Rachel gets pregnant, that we didn't even really SEE it, other than the flashbacks in the one with the flashbacks.

Anyway, what I actually came here to say is that I finally have picked back up finishing S10 after a horrid winter of sickness and general busyness during the time when I would normally watch a couple episodes each day. Today's included Thanksgiving and the ones where Chandler/Monica are applying for adoption and meeting with the social worker and then meeting the pregnant lady in Ohio. My observation is that "Mondler" is such a nicely written couple and I really can't believe that there's such a "R&R OTP" around when C&M are clearly, clearly the superior couple. Chandler is still awkward and Monica is still shrill but I think they both, especially Chandler, have matured a lot over the 10 seasons and I almost cried a little bit when Chandler was talking the pregnant lady into still choosing them. (I did cry a little bit when they got the call on Thanksgiving) I really like seeing a stable married couple, when it seems like so many TV shows that I've watched can't ever seem to have a stable, normal married (or even just 'together' not married) couple.

In other news, I now know the canon behind the animated gif I've used of Joey saying "I'm not even sorry" after eating his date's dessert.

I just saw this and realized I wrote a very similar post in a different thread .. I 100 % agree with this . I think Monica and chandler were one of the most stable couples I have ever seen on television .. and the writers made it work . I mean I get that they can't have every couple be stable but the show so badly wanted us to root for r & r , yet made Monica and chandler so much cuter of a story . As I wrote in the other thread , they just screwed up the writing with Ross and Rachel because after they broke up .. they really just became friends like the rest of them were and they lost a lot of their chemistry mainly due to the show turning what they had into a pretty much platonic friendship other than the once a season that they teased one of them having feelings for the other , before they dropped it an episode later 

[mojoween]

You know how you will often see that iconic roles were almost played by someone else (like Stuart Townsend as Aragorn or Sean Connery as Gandalf in LOTR)?

Has anyone heard any scuttlebutt about other actors considered for Friends?  I would be curious to hear what might have been, if that was ever leaked out.

[AriAu]

I had always heard that Monica was almost Rachel...I mean Courtney Cox was offered the role of Rachel. I  had also heard that David Schwimmer was the only one they considered for Ross and was the first one cast. I also had heard a rumor that Jane Lynch was almost Phoebe....that is a bad image for me, altho we know she could have brought the weird.

Here are a couple interesting articles...if they are to be believed.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/g9866040/actors-nearly-cast-friends/

http://www.hollywood.com/tv/actors-you-didnt-know-almost-starred-in-friends-60423353/#/ms-22519/14

[Crs97]

I had heard Leah Remini tell the story before that she thought she was close to being offered the part of Monica until she saw Courteney Cox enter the building.

[Bort]

6 hours ago, AriAu said:

I  had also heard that David Schwimmer was the only one they considered for Ross and was the first one cast.

The producers did a pilot a year or so before Friends where David Schwimmer was up against Jon Cryer and Jonathan Silverman for a part, opposite Helen Slater, which ultimately went to Silverman. The pilot didn’t get picked up, the producers went on to conceive Friends and were familiar with Schwimmer, so that’s why he was cast first. And I guess why Silverman got that token guest role in the first season. 

[Katy M]

7 hours ago, kariyaki said:

The producers did a pilot a year or so before Friends where David Schwimmer was up against Jon Cryer and Jonathan Silverman for a part, opposite Helen Slater, which ultimately went to Silverman. The pilot didn’t get picked up, the producers went on to conceive Friends and were familiar with Schwimmer, so that’s why he was cast first. And I guess why Silverman got that token guest role in the first season. 

I could totally see Jonathan Silverman as Ross.

[Nellise]

Most of those people listed I think would've been terrible except for a few: I think Tea Leoni could have been a good Rachel, and Craig Bierko could have possibly done Chandler (but I think he's kinda got the crazy eyes so not sure how long that would've worked for).

 

I wonder if they ever considered Snaro for Ross. He looked and sounded just like him.

[Jax7917]

I'm surprised Courtney got offered the part of Rachel and turned it down for Monica .. not because Monica was not a great character , but because Rachel's character  had the lead romantic storyline going into the show which would have been seen as the " main character ". 

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

Before it evolved into the true ensemble we know it as, Monica was the de facto everywoman lead on Friends. Joey was going to be her eventual love interest. 

[Jax7917]

Yeah they all seemed like main characters except phoebe .. she always felt like a side character that was rarely the main storyline 

[wendyg]

Actually, I think it was that Jennifer Aniston was offered Monica and felt more in tune with Rachel. I don't think I'd have been watching the show with Jane Lynch and Craig Bierko. I *definitely* wouldn't have been watching it with Tea Leoni.

[Crs97]

I heard Courteney Cox was first offered Rachel.

[Bort]

That's the story I've always heard. That Courteney Cox was offered Rachel and she wanted to be Monica instead. And given that Courteney was probably the most well-known of all the actors cast at the time, I'm inclined to believe it.