What could prevent the success of everyone's favorite sitcom "Friends"?

It can be difficult to imagine the history of serials in which there is no sitcom "Friends", one of the most popular on the planet. Nevertheless, this series really could not have appeared. The first series was rated poorly, casting actors was not easy, so the success of the Friends was a real luck. The audience might well not get acquainted with the characters that are now loved in many countries.

Monica might look very different

There is no doubt that the series would not have been so successful, had it not been for the good match of the protagonists to each other. Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc are matched to their roles perfectly. At the same time, each of them had reasons that could prevent them from joining the group of actors, which would transform the whole essence of the series. For example, the role of Monica wanted to take a completely different actress, and it was not even Ellen Degeneres, as many think. Initially, Rachel's role was offered to Courtney Cox, but she herself said she wanted to be Monica. Courtney simply transformed the essence of this character, and although other actresses were auditioned too, she was taken after all. Now no fan could even imagine someone else in her place.

Matthew Perry wanted to do a different series

Perry was originally planned for the role of Chandler Bing, but he had another job at that time: he was doing the LAX 2194. It was a series about the luggage department at the Los Angeles airport in 2194. Perry was in futuristic clothes, and around him were aliens, this was the essence of the show. He read the script for "Friends", and he really wanted to act, but the fantastic TV series was already his work! Fortunately, the show turned out to be unprofitable, so the contract was canceled and Perry was able to get the role of Chandler Bing. It's fine, because it's hard to imagine another actor in his place.

Jennifer Aniston might not be Rachel

The role that became the basis of a career for an actress, she could not get. The owners of the channel offered the role of actress Jamie Hertz, which did not suit the creators of the show. Fortunately, the actress was not approved, but the role began to try Aniston. Despite the fact that she had a contract with another show at the time, she was able to get a role. She became the perfect Rachel Greene and gained well-deserved fame. It's amazing to think that everything might look completely different.

The rest of the team also had problems

The role of Joey Tribbiani was not written so funny, but LeBlanc broke his face before audition and came with a plaster on his nose. Therefore, the screenwriters decided that he would play well with the simpleton. Kudrow immediately wanted to take, because she already had a lot of fans after her role in the series "Mad Without You." However, with the director she had a difficult relationship - from another project, he fired her. Therefore, Kudrow feared that he would not let her play. Finally, David Schwimmer was immediately chosen for the role of Ross, he was not even offered to come to audition, but he did not want to play. Then he wanted to found a theatrical company in Chicago and was not interested in filming. The actor has already tried to work on television and was disappointed in her. He went to the set just because of respect for the director and then decided to stay in the project.

The first series had terrible ratings

Strangely enough, the first episode of the new series was not too fond of the audience. In May 1994, before the actual premiere, the first series was watched by a special group of spectators, who gave low marks. The main reason was that the characters did not arouse sympathy. According to the report, Monica liked many, but the characters Rachel and Joey were unattractive. Many people thought that the show was not very interesting or original, there was no intellectual message in it. It was a failure.

The channel also did not like the channel

After such assessments, the channel suggested making some changes to the structure of the series. It was decided that people would not want to watch the series about young people, they needed an older hero who would bring their mature point of view into what is happening to the heroes. The screenwriters refused, because the stories seemed to them quite universal. Nevertheless, several older characters in the series still have: the parents of Rachel or Geller. The creators of the series admit that they always wanted to work on a show about six friends, and they would not change it anyway. Now you can say for sure that this was the right decision, but then no one knew.

The series could be canceled because of immorality

In addition to the fact that the channel owners had their own views on the plot, there was another problem: one of the leaders felt that the show was showing inappropriate relationships. Nowadays it's hard to believe, nevertheless in the nineties films about the relations of youth were not yet common. The characters had to be alive, causing sympathy. At the same time Monica's relationship with Paul caused questions. Some thought that this is extremely loose behavior. In addition, we had to cut out some jokes, for example, about how Ross used the pads of his ex-wife as a shoe insoles.

The broadcast started because there was nothing more to show

The reason why "Friends" appeared on the screen, despite all the problems and fears, is extremely simple: the channel simply had an empty place in the broadcast schedule. The channel did not like this series at all, but it was necessary to show something on Thursday evening. The channel owners did not even suspect that the show would be a real hit, attract a huge number of spectators and get the highest marks. Nevertheless, as a result, "Friends" turned out to be a real cultural phenomenon.

A surprisingly popular show

Despite all the concerns of the channel's leaders, "Friends" immediately became a huge success. This show was part of the traditional evening program of Thursday. The last series of the series in 2004 saw fifty-two million viewers! Each star of the series then began a busy career. The actor of the second plan who played Gunter was also popular. And let the leaders think that nothing will come out of this series, an unexpected surprise came out.