Friends almost never came to be. The reason? According to Marta Kauffman, who was one of the creators of the show, the then president of NBC, Don Ohlmeyer thought Monica Geller was way too easy to get into bed and even asked audience members if they though Monica was a whore. In the pilot, Monica has sex with a guy on the first date and at the time that was enough to almost not a get a yes for an order for the show. Oh, the question also asked the audience if they thought Monica was a trollop. Huh? I bet everyone was wondering whether that was some kind of flower. Who uses trollop?
Senator John MaCain, when calling his wife a whore.
ReplyDeleteOops. My bad. He actually called her a C U Next Tuesday in 1992. Not a prostitute exactly.
ReplyDeleteI prefer trixie
ReplyDeleteMost women are called whores if they don't put out on the first date these days.
ReplyDelete"Who uses 'trollop'?"
ReplyDeleteLovers of English Victorian novels? Oh, sorry, I thought you said "Trollope."
oh good grief...
ReplyDeleteDon Winfred Ohlmeyer. Wife named Muffy. The guy who fired Norm Macdonald from SNL for being "not funny." Oh wait, no, it was for making very funny jokes about Don's good pal, Mr. OJ Simpson.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew something worse about Don Winfred than that they call him Captain Happy Hour or something.
Paul the wine guy was a decent man! Oh wait..he wasn't, he banged her friend from work as well. I kno too much about friends.
ReplyDeleteThis is old news.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe Friends started almost 20 years ago?
ReplyDeleteAnd trollop is a great word. It's the fancy way to accuse a lady of being a filthy whore.
"Who uses trollop"
ReplyDeleteThose who don't use harlot?
@B Profane, At this very moment I am reading CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? by Trollope, the only Victorian novel with its own Pet Shop Boys song. It's about a woman who jilts her fiance, then gets engaged to someone else, then -- well, I won't say what happens. But can I forgive her? (I read it years ago and forgave her.)
ReplyDeleteOhlmeyer also forced Lorne to fire Sandler, Spade and Farley in order to squelch the "Frat Pack" misogyny era at SNL, so not all of his decisions were bad.
ReplyDelete@Barton--I'm sorry, I'm not actually allowed to namecheck Trollope. I blew my back out on the pitch in the middle of my Victorian novels class, somewhere between Eyre and Middlemarch. Never made it to Trollope.
ReplyDeletetrollop is a great word. It's the fancy way to accuse a lady of being a filthy whore.
ReplyDeleteThis!
Today they cancel shows after the pilot if the audience DON'T think at least one of the participants is a trollop. Ah, how the world as changed.
ReplyDeleteI loved the story that Sandler told on Letterman that he had to explain to Chris Farley they had been fired from SNL.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer "Harpie"
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ReplyDeletePersonally I prefer "harlot" as noted above but "trollop" will do in a pinch.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I prefer "happy"
ReplyDeleteTrollop is a great word, you use that one when there are small ears around. So much nicer (sounding) than the alternatives. I also use "skeeze", that's a good one.
ReplyDeleteTrue story: yesterday at school, a maintenance person had left a garden hoe on the sidewalk. The short person saw it and said "Stupid ho". I laughed long and loud. Perfect opportunity to quote N.M.
@timebob (hi!) do you have a link? I'd like to see that.
ReplyDeleteI use trollop. I love words. My favoite part of a Reader's Digest was always More Picturesque Speech.
ReplyDelete@Em-niccccce. Love it
ReplyDeleteI prefer skank or tramp for women. HeWhore for me - just kinda rolls off the tongue. My teen informs me that she refers to them as "Slack" friggin hate that. And guys are nobs I kinda miss my teens when we refered to the easy girls as "closing time gals"
That should have read "HeWhore for MEN". Stupid phone!
ReplyDeleteI love the word trollop, especially if combined with "filthy!" I also enjoy "harlot." The older pejoratives are much, much classier sounding.
ReplyDelete@EmEyeKay / timebob - Me too!
ReplyDeleteI googled it but just saw a quick blurb where Sandler mentioned it on Conan right after NBC fired him.
Here is a link to the Vanity Fair article on Friends if anyone is interested.
hi @em :)
ReplyDeletelol i got the story all backwards it was actually Conan Sandler told the story and Adam's manager had to explain it to Adam.
http://perezhilton.com/2010-01-21-nbc-fired-adam-sandler-too
This is what people mean when they say network suits fuck up good shows. I am betting the president of NBC has had cheap meaningless sex in his life...
ReplyDeleteFor years now, my best friend calls me a scurvy whore & I call her a scandalous trollop - all out of love of course. ;^}
ReplyDeleteAnd of the 3 main female characters on Friends, Monica was the least "whore-ish" in my opinion.
@ Barton Fink - I read the 6 volume Trollope series last year - loved it!
ReplyDeleteI just never cared for this show.
I love the word man-whore. Men can be whores too. I actually know quite a few man-whores and it's disgusting and cheap. I'm now going to use the word man-trollop. It sounds classier for an unclassy man.
ReplyDeleteDoxy?
ReplyDeleteI'm so old I remember when they wouldn't let Mary Tyler Moore play a divorced woman--she had to be single because divorce was too scandalous for those days.
ReplyDeletehuh if sleeping with someone on the first date makes you a trollop..Well just refer to me as Trollop from now on !!
ReplyDeleteOh man, "scurvy whore" is awesome. That just sounds so gross, toothless and dirty.
ReplyDelete^Scurvy whore IS awesome. Scurvy is a fabulous word, period.
ReplyDeleteYou have cool friends, @Dixie!
I really enjoyed the Vanity Fair article so thanks Leliana for posting!
ReplyDeleteLoosey Goosie?
ReplyDeleteWhat?!? I'm the only person who says, "hussie?!?"
ReplyDeleteI lurves me crazy words. In a previous life (before running around like a lunatic taking care of a house, husband, baby and piano studio), I was an avid reader.
Ooooo - Enty: Can you start a book recommendation thread?!?! OMG. That would rock my pathetic world.
So they thought Monica got around town on Friends?!?! That's funny. My impression of her is just being uber uptight. Like, when I'm being totally OCD about something, I think, "Could I BE more Monica Gellar?" - in my best Chandler Bing voice, natch.
I always thought Phoebe was the trollop.
ReplyDeleteHarlot is a pretty word, as is trollop, so much better than say...two bit chippy.
I also like lady of the evening.
Lol well we've known each other since we were 14 & are both turning 30 this year. I'd say she's properly earned the right to call me that!
ReplyDeleteLike, when I'm being totally OCD about something, I think, "Could I BE more Monica Gellar?" - in my best Chandler Bing voice, natch.
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT!!!!!!
And I agree with @Del about Phoebe. She was still my favorite character though, heh.
ReplyDeleteIs a trollup more like a shallot or a truffle???????
ReplyDeleteSo did the prez also ask the audience if the man she slept with on the 1st date was a whore?
ReplyDelete^I believe the report stated he was an awesome stud and deserved a fist bump.
ReplyDelete@Susan - I always picture an old lady clutching her pearls to her bosom when I hear the word hussy.
ReplyDeleteI love me some Trollope. Most of my married friends slept with their hubbies on the first date. The times, they have changed, and thank goodness for it.
ReplyDeleteSusan - My friends and I use hussy all the time (hussy means a girl who chases guys in uniform).
ReplyDeleteMy dream is to one day be able to use "jade" or "doxy" in a coherent tale. Or even strumpet.
I don't think I would have missed it. Or, really, any of the people on it.
ReplyDeleteTrollop to me is an elegant word, sounds much nicer than slapper. Slapper makes me think of nasty, hurried sex.
ReplyDelete@SusanB, I'm jealous. I takes me forever to read through any of those books because every sentence is filled with snarky or sentimental things. He might be my favourite writer, and the legions of sleazy women having meaningless sex in his name are just an added bonus. (Oh wait, they aren't named after him. Damn.)
ReplyDeletewell, well, well..how else can you judge whether or not you are wasting your time? I have dated hot, hot guys only to be disappointed when the lights were low..I was a tart..but what a tart I was.
ReplyDeletethis is funny. i called a sick last week who was watching friends, like non-stop. she said to me, "you know, monica was quite the whore" and we counted how many guys she slept with. when you add them up,and remember that they include a high school boy and one of her parents friends; she seem look kind of sluty.
ReplyDeleteFirst episode of Friends I ever saw was when Monica went to a Hootie and the Blowfish concert and sleeps with one of them. Trollop. Second episode I ever saw was the same one, in mid-season rerun. Trollop again. So there you go.
ReplyDelete(My real comment is that bg [above] has an excellent sense of perspective and the rare skill to see subtext. You are AWESOME.)
The only thing I have to add to this conversation is that when one of my exes was cheating on me in college, I blew up at him and called his gaggle of womenz all stupid tarties! I was pretty mad at the time, but the thought of using the word tarties in a serious argument just makes me giggle now!
ReplyDelete