Friends' Season 4 Big Twist Could Be Very Different (& Very Disappointing)

What makes a good sitcom? Well-written characters. Does it matter where the characters live and how their surroundings influence them? Of course.

The producers of Friends must have understood that as they came very close to ruining the show, but fortunately, they didn't.

When the first season of Friends was released back in 1994, it was an instant success. Focusing on the lives of six friends from New York, it featured a few locations such as Monica and Chandler's apartments and Central Perk that became iconic and inescapably associated with the show. The cult series lasted for 10 seasons in total, and there were many twists over the years, but it looks like there was one particular twist that could ruin the show early on — but luckily, that idea never made it past the script.

According to Saul Austerlitz's book Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era, the ending of Season 4 could see the beloved characters move to a place much different from their cozy New York location.

At the time, the writers were seriously considering relocating the six friends to a new home in Minnesota. This could have made several new plot lines possible, while also destroying the show's distinct NY feel and the consequent seasons as we know and love them today.

The idea was that Chandler would have had to move to the Midwest because of his work (and what is his job, actually?), and the rest of the characters would have followed suit so as not to lose touch with him. This means that the six friends would have had to build new relationships and careers in a new place, there would have been no iconic apartments, Central Perk, and Ugly Naked Guy anymore. Everything would have been different, including the opening theme that was intended to be reshot to match the new location.

Fortunately, David Crane, the creator of Friends along with Martha Kauffman, intervened and dismissed this idea. Instead, the show refocused on Monica and Chandler secretly getting together and Ross' wedding going awry, and the result was the Friends we all remember and love so much.

In fact, the relocation twist was implemented in the ninth season when Chandler had to go to Tulsa for work. But it was done on a much smaller scale as nobody else moved there, and the twist did not affect the show's overall plot.

Source: Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era by Saul Austerlitz