Matthew Perry refused to star in a storyline featuring him sneaking into a gay bar

[TMC]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ok-claims.html

• Author Saul Austerlitz says Friends star Matthew Perry shut down gay bar scene
  In a new book he claims writers wanted Chandler to sneak in to get a tuna melt
  But Perry blocked the plot line and it was shelved, according to recent interviews
  Generation Friends: An Inside Look At The Show That Defined a Television Era behind-the-scenes of of the long-running sitcom

Friends star Matthew Perry refused to do a scene that saw his character sneak into a gay bar to get his favorite sandwich, a new book reveals.

An idea by the writers to have Chandler Bing, played by Perry, visit a gay bar because he liked the tuna melts they served, was said to have been rejected by the actor.

Throughout the long-running 1990s show, Chandler - who was straight - became the butt of regular jokes by other characters who suspected he was gay.

But a new book going behind-the-scenes of one of television's most popular sitcoms has shed some light on how Perry, 50, shut down this particular potentially controversial plot line.

'Perry said no, and the story was shelved,' author Saul Austerlitz said in his book.

It is not clear whether the actor refused to perform the scene due to its problematic premise or for another reason.

Generation Friends: An Inside Look At The Show That Defined a Television Era, sees Austerlitz retell how scenes came about during 10 years of the NBC phenomenon.

Austerlitz conducted exclusive interviews with the show's creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, director James Burrows, executive producer Kevin Bright, as well as writers and cast members for his work, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the show's premiere.

Despite being one of the first TV shows to feature a same-sex wedding, Friends has been criticized by LGBT groups over the way characters mocked Chandler's perceived feminine mannerisms.

How the writers dealt with Chandler's awkward relations with his transgender father, played by Kathleen Turner, has also been viewed with retrospective criticism.

Ross, played by David Schwimmer, being unable to cope with having a male nanny was also the punchline to an episode that 'had not aged well', according to critics.

And during the show's lesbian wedding the brides were not actually allowed to kiss.

Austerlitz also writes that the idea of Monica, played by Courtney Cox, and Chandler getting together 'began as a whim' and the writers' room was split over whether to actually go ahead with the storyline.

He writes: 'When the second season was being planned, one of the writers tossed out an idea: 'What if we get Chandler and Monica together?''.

'The thought was intended less as a permanent shift in the gravity of the series and more as a fun plot line, good for a few episodes before the status quo snapped back into place.'

One writer called the idea 'a little desperate', and it wasn't brought back up until the staff started working on season 4 when someone suggested it as a funny end to Monica's drunken night of self-doubt after the wedding of brother Ross, to Emily in London.