Highlights
- Only two episodes of Friends were banned from TV during its ten-year run, one for being too explicit and another for featuring a same-sex wedding.
- Matthew Perry disliked a storyline on Friends where Chandler went to a male strip joint and successfully had it removed from the show.
- Matthew Perry's favorite Friends episode is "The One With The Blackout" from the first season because it showcased the talent and quality of the show's writing, directing, and acting.
The late Matthew Perry appeared in many films and TV series during the course of his career, from his film debut in 1988 with A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon to his last role in the mini-series The Kennedys After Camelot. However, he’ll always be best remembered for his role as Chandler Bing in the beloved sitcom Friends. Throughout the show’s ten seasons, Perry stole the hearts of viewers with his wholesome and charismatic personality.
During its ten-year run, only two Friends episodes were banned from TV. An episode featuring Perry and Matt LeBlanc was banned in the UK for being considered too explicit. Another episode of Friends was banned in many countries back in the 90s because it featured a same-sex wedding. However, one storyline had to be written off the show because Matthew Perry didn’t like it!
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Matthew Perry Hated A Strip Club Storyline On Friends And Asked The Writers To Scrap It
Matthew Perry did many wild things while Chandler Bing over Friends’ ten seasons, including kissing his co-star Matt LeBlanc on one memorable occasion. However, he revealed that there was one scene he outright refused to film, so the writers had to remove it from the show completely.
During an appearance at What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Perry was asked whether there were any Friends storylines he wasn’t completely happy with. "There was a storyline on Friends where Chandler went to a male strip joint because he really liked the sandwiches," the actor responded. "And I called up and was like, 'Let's not do this one.'"
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Ultimately, Perry succeeded in having this strange storyline cut from the show. Given that the actor contributed to writing some of Chandler’s most famous lines over the years, it makes sense that the writers would follow his advice against filming this one particular scene.
Matthew Perry Almost Passed On The Chance To Audition For Friends
It’s hard to imagine anyone but Matthew Perry playing Chandler Bing on Friends. But, believe it or not, the actor almost passed out on this opportunity to be on another (failed) sitcom!
In a 2015 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Perry revealed that, back in 1994, he was desperate to find a new gig because he had “no money.”
Ultimately, he ended up accepting the first role he got, which was not Friends. “This happened to be the year that Friends was shot, but I was off the market because I had taken a job on a pilot called LAX 2194 that was about baggage handlers at L.A. Airport in the year 2194,” the actor explained.
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While he was filming the pilot for LAX 2194, he got a hold of the script for Friends, which he thought “was hilarious and great.” Upon reading the script, he thought he’d be great for the role of Chandler. However, he couldn’t audition because he was already tied to this other project.
“There was this part that was perfect for me and it was making me crazy that I couldn't go up for it because [of] the baggage handlers show,” he explained. “I was losing my mind.”
Ultimately, an executive at Fox watched the LAX 2194 pilot, which he called “the worst thing we've ever seen in our lives,” and the project was canceled. Perry recalled that the executive said, “He is available. You can hire him for your little show called Friends Like Us that then became Friends.” And the rest is history.
This Was Matthew Perry’s Favorite Friends Episode
With 10 seasons and over 230 episodes, there are a lot of options fans can choose from to decide which was their episode. Some of the most popular episodes of the entire series are “The One Where Everyone Finds Out” and The One With The Prom Video,” which also happens to be Jennifer Aniston’s favorite episode.
However, for the late Matthew Perry, the best episode of Friends is one of the earliest ones. During an interview with the bookstore Indigo to promote his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir, the actor revealed that he’d always loved the season 1 episode “The One With The Blackout” for a rather heartwarming reason.
“My favorite Friends episode was in the first season – it’s like episode six. We did an episode that was during a blackout in New York City, and I was stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre and very excited about that – and then the other five actors were doing really, really funny things in Monica and Rachel’s apartment,” Perry explained.
“That was when I first realized that everybody on this show was great – and that every episode was sort of like a mini-movie. It was that well-written, well-directed, and acted. Just one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
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