Friends’ iconic themes involved the coffeehouse, the group of six reckless friends, and New York City. Though most of the focus was mostly on the interchanging connection among the six adults, the series managed to incorporate lots of guests and their own roles in generating interesting plots. In particular, the show was infamous for including subplots that navigated the ongoing scenarios during their time. One such genius twist in the storyline was how they smoothly slipped from an off-screen pregnancy of Lisa Kudrow to her going through the same in season 4. 

Importantly, another such subplot had similarities with the show’s location, the Mid-Atlantic state. It was related to the devastating 9/11 attack. 

How Friends changed the goofy Chandler joke

The 9/11 attacks in 2001 sent the country into shock. More so, it was the center of the show’s shooting location. In an effort to be sensitive and mindful, the show’s producers made a smart switch in one of their scenes. In the 3rd episode of season 8 titled The One Where Rachel Tells …, Chandler and Monica head to their honeymoon. The original subplot followed the newlywed couple getting arrested and detained at the New York airport. Chandler could not help but joke about bombs after spotting the rule about bomb jokes being illegal. 

He was then supposed to chime in, saying, “You don’t have to worry about me ma’am, I take my bombs very seriously.” But they immediately scrapped this part of the script. Considering the situation in the country, the crew reshot with a different plot. The episode then featured the childish excitement of the couple spotting another newlywed couple and hoping they could become friends. 

While they salvaged this episode efficiently and had it on air just a month after the 9/11 attacks, the other change in plots was not as smooth as this one.

The one where Monica was pregnant…

The Friends cast members already saw Kudrow embrace her pregnancy on screen, though the number of kids in real and reel life was much different. Courteney Cox’s pregnancy was not so easy to blend into the plot. The last season revolved around getting settled and wanting to have children for the show’s strongest pair. But Monica’s character sketch did not allow her to have kids naturally.

This proved to be a challenge for the cameramen. Cox’s real-life tummy bulge was hidden with some ingenious camera techniques and a choice of colors for outfits. They made sure she did not have many close-up shots. At the end of the show, it was a happy ending for Monica and Chandler as they adopted twins. 

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