While Friends was considered progressive for its time, the classic '90s sitcom faced its fair share of network backlash. Co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman recalled once having to brave an NBC executive who wanted to change Monica Geller's (Courteney Cox) pilot plot, which involved her sleeping with someone on a first date.

"The guy in charge said, 'We're not going to like Monica because [in the pilot] she sleeps with a man on the first date.' We made the argument that it makes her more likeable," Crane told The Times in the UK in a retrospective article about the series.

In "The Pilot," chef Monica sleeps with a coworker nicknamed "Paul the Wine Guy" on a first date after he tells her he hasn't had sex with anyone since his last breakup two years ago. As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that he lied to get her into bed.

"The network, in an attempt to prove that the audience wouldn't like Monica if she slept with a guy on the first date, gave out a little questionnaire to the audience during our dress rehearsal," Crane said. "And it was so skewed. The question was something like, 'If Monica slept with a guy on her first date, is she a) a slut or b) a whore?'"