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
Monica Geller the crew attempted to conceal Cox's pregnancy using a combination of baggy, loose-fitting costumes and props instead. However, at times the actress' growing belly was still detectable by viewers in spite of the crew's best efforts. At the beginning of season one, Monica is 25 years old. Rita Loiacono of SheKnows Media believes that Monica is the show's most fully realized character from the very beginning of the series because her "quirks were developed to a tee." Like several strong female sitcom characters who were popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Monica possesses a natural maternal instinct, constantly "vocalising a