Throughout the years, Friends fans have speculated Chandler Bg was origally gay. Even Lisa Kudrow thought so. So was he?
Contents:
- GAY TV HISTORY: THE STRAIGHTENG OF CHANDLER BG
- HERE'S WHY SOME 'FRIENDS' FANS THK CHANDLER WAS ORIGALLY MEANT TO BE GAY
- GAY-UNIENDLY MATTHEW PERRY REFED A ‘FRIENDS’ STORYLE WHICH HAD CHANDLER SNEAKG TO A GAY BAR, ACRDG TO NEW BOOK
- MATTHEW PERRY REPORTEDLY REFED TO DO A FRIENDS SCENE VOLVG A GAY BAR
- TV LEGENDS: WAS CHANDLER ON FRIENDS ORIGALLY MEANT TO BE GAY?
- HOW MATTHEW PERRY KILLED A GAY STORY FOR HIS CHARACTER ‘FRIENDS’
- WAS CHANDLER BG ORIGALLY GAY ON FRIENDS? EVEN LISA KUDROW THOUGHT SO
GAY TV HISTORY: THE STRAIGHTENG OF CHANDLER BG
This weekend Friends fished filmg a rnn episo, slated to appear on HBO Max at some pot, which has me thkg about jt how close the show me to featurg what uld have been the most proment gay s character history. Shownners me this close to makg the Chandler character gay, only pullg back after they st Matthew Perry. But spe havg straightened Chandler out, creators Marta Kffman and David Crane gave the st... * chandler bing gay episode *
We all know this gay uple. FriendsThis weekend Friends fished filmg a rnn episo, slated to appear on HBO Max at some pot, which has me thkg about jt how close the show me to featurg what uld have been the most proment gay s character history.
Shownners me this close to makg the Chandler character gay, only pullg back after they st Matthew Perry. But spe havg straightened Chandler out, creators Marta Kffman and David Crane gave the st and crew explic stctns to reta the gay vibe: “wre gay, ” they told everyone, “and play straight.
I wonr, lookg back now, if they had allowed Chandler to be gay — or bi, or any other flavor of queer — would that have been better?
HERE'S WHY SOME 'FRIENDS' FANS THK CHANDLER WAS ORIGALLY MEANT TO BE GAY
Acrdg to a behd-the-scen book, Matthew Perry reportedly refed to do a Friends scene volvg Chandler a gay bar. * chandler bing gay episode *
When Friends premiered, dienc stantly picked up on the gay unrton. I was bg through newspaper archiv om the mid-90s, and a surprisg amount of the verage is voted to slow, patient explanatns that Chandler isn’t gay — really, we promise.
GAY-UNIENDLY MATTHEW PERRY REFED A ‘FRIENDS’ STORYLE WHICH HAD CHANDLER SNEAKG TO A GAY BAR, ACRDG TO NEW BOOK
In the latt TV Legends Revealed, learn whether Chandler was nceived of as gay until Matthew Perry was st and the character was re-wrten. * chandler bing gay episode *
On top of that, Chandler’s d as queer a way that would have been faiar to dienc of the time — not only bee he’s sassy and sarstic, but bee he also nforms to a gay trope that was observed by his lleague, Jerry Sefeld: “Sgle, th, and neat. Throughout the show’s n, Chandler was the nstant butt of gay jok — always assumed to be “that, ” as the show tend to say rather than g the word “gay. ” He also had a plex relatnship wh his parent, whose handlg is plited to discs: Intified on the show as a gay man who performed drag, the character was scribed by shownners terviews as a transgenr woman.
But if he had been gay … would that have been better?
MATTHEW PERRY REPORTEDLY REFED TO DO A FRIENDS SCENE VOLVG A GAY BAR
The weirdly queerphobic show would have had a story about Chandler Bg sneakg to a gay bar. * chandler bing gay episode *
For one thg, spe the “wre gay, play is straight” directive, the show seems a b wobbly when to gay humor, returng over and over and over to the same joke: It would be funny if someone was gay. For another, I thk ’s bt that the first proment recurrg gay character on a US primetime s was played by a queer person.
Matthew Perry might’ve been able to handle gay Chandler (or maybe not) but Ellen’s groundbreakg Puppy Episo set a strong tone for gay s characters by pictg a posive g-out.
TV LEGENDS: WAS CHANDLER ON FRIENDS ORIGALLY MEANT TO BE GAY?
The One Where Nana Di Twice: Directed by Jam Burrows. Wh Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc. Moni and Ross mourn the loss of their grandmother. Chandler is shocked to fd that people thk he is gay." data-id="ma * chandler bing gay episode *
Before Ellen’s g-out, ss tend to treat gay characters as a crisis, wh “what do we do about this” Very Special Episos.
Gay episos that followed on other shows seemed to take the cue, and queerns was sudnly a e for celebratn on TV stead of agatn.
The creators of Friends got a sort of send chance at gay Chandler on their next show, Veroni’s Closet.
HOW MATTHEW PERRY KILLED A GAY STORY FOR HIS CHARACTER ‘FRIENDS’
That’s not to say that Friends uldn’t have done the same — if anythg, their more sensive handlg of the Josh character on Veroni’s Closet shows that a more nuanced take than “lol he’s gay” was wag the wgs. ” As was, Friends seems to stggle wh gay edy, repeatedly dippg to the same “haha someone’s gay” well, whereas other gay ics of the time like Stt Thompson and Bob Smh were dog far more nuanced and funny tak on queer life the '90s.
Ultimately, I spect — if I had to gus — that at the end of the day, “wre gay and play straight” is not, fact, the most eful of prompts.
WAS CHANDLER BG ORIGALLY GAY ON FRIENDS? EVEN LISA KUDROW THOUGHT SO
Seattle-based journalist Matt Bme, however, believ the show uld have end very differently if the creative team’s origal plans for Chandler, played by Matthew Perry, had been a new vio report, Bme ― who is the thor of the 2015 book “Defg Marriage” and the host of “Culture Cise, ” an acclaimed YouTube seri ― lv to thly sourced but persistent reports that the creators of “Friends” had tend for Chandler to be a gay man, but changed him to a straight character after Perry was st.
He also breaks down a number of gay jok ― many of them crgeworthy by morn standards ― prented the show at the character’s expense as evince of a funct plot le. “No, Chandler isn’t gay, ” he said at the time.