Had Friends continued beyond its 10 year run, there's a very good chance that Rachel and Marcel the monkey would have struck up a complex, will-they-won't-they physical relationship, marked by Marcel's reluctance to commit and the issues relating to his personal hygiene habits. Because as the show got longer and the writers ran out of ideas for how to spin the Rachel/Ross relationship, they indulged in some liberal swinging between characters that was unnecessary and in some cases a little tacky. Joey was blunted by his adoration of Rachel, when their unrealised sexual tension (think about the erotica book episode in particular) was far funnier and far more endearing. It was much better to realise that Joey wasn't capable of functioning when confronted with a real woman who was willing to go toe-to-toe with him, rather than an airhead or a disposable lay, and his vulnerability - which hinted at more complex issues - was very engaging. But then he fell for Rachel, became a simpering, overly sympathetic moron and ended up splitting up with her because he couldn't have sex with her. And this is the same character who had tried to get rid of his excess sexual energy by flirting with Chandler not so long before that point. In the long-term, it was that development that made Joey fail as a spin-off. That show should have been about Joey actually making it in Hollywood, and being as promiscuous and comedic as he had been in the early episodes: sort of like a cleaner Californication. Instead, we got the dregs of the character, written by people who clearly learned too much from the run in Friends when Joey became a bit of a hopeless drip. Thanks guys.
