10 Ways Friends Was Almost Completely Different
8. Phoebe And Chandler Were Designed As Supporting Characters
It's absolutely impossible to think of Friends as anything but being about the six characters spotlighted across the show's ten-season run.
When looking for a perfect example of how to truly balance an ensemble cast, Friends is indeed that perfect example. No one character ever felt marginalised or short-changed when it came to spreading out the screen time, the great lines, or the episode-driving plot points of Friends.
All of this, then, makes it unbelievable to think that Friends was initially meant to be based around just the four of Rachel, Ross, Monica and Joey.
As has been discussed by several cast members of the years, the formative plan for Friends was for the characters of Phoebe and Chandler to merely be supporting players while the tales of the other four played out. To think that these two mainstay favourites could have been relegated to the same amount of screen time as a Gunther, as the Geller parents, or even Janice is completely insane.
Thankfully, changes were made and Phoebe and Chandler were deemed to be just as pivotal a piece of the Friends puzzle as Rachel, Ross, Monica and Joey.