continues to be regarded as one of the greatest TV shows ever, and that’s thanks, in big part, to the writers changing their minds about a couple of ideas that would have completely ruined the show. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, aired from 1994 to 2004 for 10 successful seasons, with the audience following the main characters through many ups and downs in their personal, social, and professional lives. Although over a decade has passed since came to an end, behind-the-scenes secrets continue to be revealed, and some of these show that the series could have been ruined at different points.

took viewers to New York City to follow a group of friends formed by Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross, as they did their best to balance all areas of their lives while dealing with everything adulthood threw at them. After a variety of adventures and a couple of fights between the main characters, gave satisfying endings to each member of the group (though Joey’s happened in ), and after all these years, it has maintained its place as one of the best TV shows ever made, but had the writers not changed their minds about five particularly terrible ideas for the characters and the show’s story,

would have been completely ruined – and here are those ideas.

5 Friends Almost Moved The Gang To Minnesota In Season 4

New York City was the main setting of , which allowed the writers to put the characters in situations that could only happen in a big city, and while the group left their beloved city a couple of times, they always returned home. However, the would have taken the whole group to another state, which would have completely changed the series and would have most likely ruined it.

Among the many behind-the-scenes secrets revealed in Saul Austerlitz’s book is that, in order to surprise the audience for the finale of season 4, the writers considered moving the group to Minnesota.

The idea was that Chandler would have had to move to Minnesota for work, but as the writers realized that splitting the group would have been controversial and would have negatively impacted viewership, they decided that the rest of the group would have followed Chandler. Of course, this would have been a new start for everyone, with each character settling down in a new city, getting new jobs, and adapting to a new environment, and the writers were so serious about this idea that they even considered reshooting

now with the characters in front of a frozen fountain. Moving the main characters out of New York City would have meant no more Central Perk, Gunther, Ugly Naked Guy, uncomfortable encounters with Janice, and Monica and Joey’s apartments, all of them distinctive elements of . Ultimately, the idea was rejected by David Crane, and instead, season 4 ended with Ross saying Rachel’s name at the altar instead of Emily’s and Monica and Chandler sleeping together.

4 Chandler & Phoebe Were Just Supporting Characters In Friends’ Original Plan

Although spent a lot of time focusing on the chaotic , the writers did their best so all characters shared the spotlight, but that almost wasn’t the case as . The original plan for was for Monica, Joey, Ross, and Rachel to be at the front and center, with Chandler and Phoebe showing up from time to time, which wouldn’t have exactly made them feel like part of the group. Had Chandler been just a supporting character in , his romance with Monica probably wouldn’t have happened, and if it had, it wouldn’t have had the same impact, as what made their relationship so special was the strong friendship they had before getting together.

Phoebe is already the outsider as she’s not related to any of the main characters nor did she go to school with any of them, but she’s still a key element in the group. Phoebe’s quirks, sense of humor, and eccentricity made her a fan-favorite and allowed her to connect with each of her friends in different but heartwarming ways, and had she been a supporting character, her dynamics with the rest would have been very different. Last but not least, Chandler and Phoebe are the funniest characters in the group, bringing comic relief in some of the tensest moments in the series and being at the center of some of

’ best gags, and not having all that might have resulted in the series not being as entertaining as it is.

3 Monica & Joey Would Have Become A Couple

Ross and Rachel were the main couple in , but Monica and Chandler quickly won over the hearts of viewers and become fan-favorites, but "Mondler" almost didn’t happen. Originally, Joey and Monica were similar in the sense of both being flirty and dating various people, so the writers planned on pairing them up at some point. Joey hitting on his friends was alienating him from the group and dating Monica was only going to make the problem even bigger, so Matt LeBlanc suggested that Joey treated his female friends as if they were his little sisters, that way he would feel like part of the group.

The idea of was briefly explored in the episode “The One With The Flashback” and Joey briefly dated Rachel in ’ final season, further proving that Joey dating his friends was a terrible idea.

Monica and Joey getting together would have also meant that Joey would have stopped being a “ladies' man”, which is one of his best-known characteristics, and it would have also impacted Chandler’s storyline as his marriage to Monica probably wouldn’t have happened. Ultimately, Monica and Chandler formed a family, while Joey found his “lobster” in his spinoff series.

2 Friends Almost Broke The 4th Wall With Sean Penn

had various guest stars throughout its 10 seasons, and the show almost broke the 4th wall with one of them: Sean Penn. had a bunch of running gags and patterns that were key to its popularity, but breaking the 4th wall was never part of the show’s style and sense of humor, yet it almost did in season 6, when Sean Penn’s Eric was introduced. Matthew Perry revealed in his memoir that he came up with a scene where he would have been wearing his infamous pink bunny costume but as himself while talking to Sean Penn.

Perry would have asked to talk to Penn and revealed that he was looking to move into more dramatic work, with Penn replying “”. Although Perry said the idea got “a great laugh” at the table read, the truth is that it doesn’t sound that funny and to be funny.

1 Phoebe Almost Didn’t End Up With Mike

Phoebe had the most tragic backstory in , but that only made her ending perfect. Phoebe came from a broken family – with her adoptive mother killing herself, her stepfather in jail, her father not being involved at all and her biological mother not making an effort to know her and Ursula – and lived in the streets for years, so it was truly heartwarming to see her happy with Mike at the end of the series and ready to have the loving family she never had.

However, according to Hank Azaria, with his character, David, and he didn’t know that David moving to Minsk was going to be the end for them. While Phoebe and David loved each other, the connection between Phoebe and Mike was a lot more evident, and he matched not only her sense of humor but also the vibe of the whole group, and he gave Phoebe the love and stability that she needed and could have never had with David.