{"id":2260351,"date":"2026-01-31T22:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2260351"},"modified":"2026-01-31T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:30:08","slug":"nbc-strategically-derailed-jennifer-anistons-cbs-sitcom-to-free-her-up-for-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/nbc-strategically-derailed-jennifer-anistons-cbs-sitcom-to-free-her-up-for-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC Strategically Derailed Jennifer Aniston’s CBS Sitcom To Free Her Up For Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Even if she didn’t love every part of the show<\/a>, Jennifer Aniston will always be remembered for her signature role as Rachel Green on NBC’s “Friends.” But, the executives over at the rainbow network almost didn’t get her for the beloved sitcom.\u00a0To help solidify that iconic talent lineup on “Friends,” NBC decision-makers actively conspired to derail a CBS series that Aniston was performing on at the time.<\/p>\n

NBC’s scheduling strategist at the time, Preston Beckman, was given marching orders from his bosses at NBC to ensure Aniston would have full availability for “Friends” when it was discovered that she was already signed on to another program. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, Beckman revealed, “When we picked up ‘Friends,’ Jennifer Aniston was in second position. She was on a CBS comedy, ‘Muddling Through,’ and they had six episodes of it. We heard that they were putting the show on Saturday nights while we were in a current meeting.”<\/p>\n

The practice of hiring actors already cast in other on-air shows is called “second position.” But while second position actors are typically only cast for a pilot, the network felt confident enough in “Friends” becoming iconic<\/a> that they\u00a0decided to eliminate the problem of her previous contractual obligation entirely.<\/p>\n

Read more: 15 Seinfeld Episodes That Have Aged Terribly<\/a><\/p>\n

Counter-programming helped kill Muddling Through<\/h2>\n
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