Nancy McKeon executives for the title role in the TV sitcom adaptation of the 1988 film "Working Girl"; the role, played by Melanie Griffith in the movie, instead went to then unknown Sandra Bullock for the TV series. In 1994, both McKeon and Courteney Cox auditioned for the role of Monica Geller on "Friends." The role went to the latter. When asked in interviews about the auditions, McKeon said, "I have no hard feelings. The role went to the right person. Courteney was brilliant. Now, I can't see anybody playing the role, not even myself." In 1995, she starred in her own
Monica Geller based the six main characters on some of their own friends and family; Monica is based on Kauffman herself. Observing that each main character was originally written as a "one-note stereotype", Jonathan Bernstein of "The Daily Telegraph" identified Monica as the group's "uptight fun-killer". When "Friends" first aired, the majority of its earliest episodes revolved around Monica, via whom each character appears to be interconnected; "Friends" stars the character's brother, her best friend, her former roommate and her two neighbors socializing in Monica's apartment. In the pilot, Monica is dumped almost immediately after sleeping with her new date Paul on