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‘Friends’ Producers Were Shocked By The Reaction To The Lesbian Wedding Episode

Friends co-producer Marta Kauffman was prepared for a huge uproar from viewers after they aired the famous lesbian wedding episode.

Carol, the ex-wife of David Schwimmer’s character Ross Geller, married her partner Susan in the season two episode back in 1996, and Marta recalled how she, along with the cast and crew, expected a backlash.

At the time the sitcom, which also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc, was averaging more than 30 million viewers each week, and there were growing fears that many would be alienated by the scenes.

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“When we did the lesbian wedding episode of Friends, everybody was up in arms,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “(Network) NBC put 104 operators on (the phones) for fear of getting a million phone calls. They got two.”

Despite the huge success of the show, and repeated calls for a reunion, Marta has insisted that the sitcom will never make a comeback.

“Oh, oh, don’t even. I don’t know how many ways we can say no,” she laughed.

Earlier this year (16), the main cast – minus Matthew Perry, who was working on a play in the West End in London, England – attended a tribute to former Friends director James Burrows.

“We would do anything for Jim Burrows because he really gave us the opportunity of a lifetime,” Jennifer said at the event. “We experienced friendship, family, heartbreak, babies, everything, together. And we also had a wonderful experience with the world loving us as well.”

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