Monica Geller would eventually become popular staples of the show. Several months before "Friends" premiered, NBC had conducted a research report, the results of which determined that Monica was the only character to have been remotely well received by test audiences. When "Friends" first aired, critics initially perceived Monica – who was immediately established as the show's "mother hen" – and Cox as the series' main character and star, respectively. Critics have been largely receptive towards both Cox and her character; the "Los Angeles Times" holds Cox's acting responsible for disproving the stigma that attractive women are incapable of delivering comedic performances.
Monica Geller to "The Hollywood Reporter", Hollywood professionals voted Monica the 47th best fictional female character. ChaCha collectively ranked Phoebe, Rachel and Monica the 11th, 12th and 13th best female television characters of all-time, respectively. Maria Tallarico of "Cosmopolitan" observed that a number of Monica's storylines, specifically one in which the character unintentionally has sex with a high school senior, "probably wouldn't fly on TV today". Writing for Mic.com, Samantha Allen believes that Monica helped "set the standard for how sitcoms could and would talk about sex" by both engaging in casual sex and dating a much older man. According to Dustin