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Monica E.Geller Bing
CHARACTER

First appearance	The Pilot

Last appearance	The Last One, Part 2

Number of episodes	236

Portrayed by	Courteney Cox

Information
Name	Monica Elizabeth Geller-Bing

Nicknames	Mon, Harmonica, Crazy Plate Lady (by Amy), Felula (middle name by Phoebe^[1]), Candy Lady,^[2] Big Fat Goalie, Marsha (by Phoebe), Monican [(by Pheobe)], Sweetums (by Chandler,^[3]

Date of birth	April 22, 1969

Occupation	Chef at Iridium (S1-2) Waitress at Moondance Diner (S2-3) Head chef at Alessandro's (S4-9) Head chef at Javu (S9-10)

Relatives	Biological: Jack Geller (father) Judy Geller (mother) Ross Geller (brother) Althea (maternal grandmother) Ben Geller (nephew) Emma Geller-Green (niece) Adoptive: Jack Bing (son) Erica Bing (daughter) Marital: Carol Willick (ex-sister-in-law) Emily Waltham (ex-sister-in-law) Rachel Green (sister-in-law) Chandler Bing (husband) Nora Tyler Bing (mother-in-law) Charles Bing (father-in-law)

“	I know!	”
—Monica's catchphrase.

Monica E. Geller-Bing (born April 22, 1969) is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by Courteney Cox. Monica was known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places.

BackgroundEdit

Early lifeEdit

Monica is Ross' younger sister, and the daughter of Jack and Judy Geller. Monica, like the rest of her family, is Jewish. She had a slightly difficult childhood, characterized by the bickering which took place between her and her brother (some culminating in memorable events such as the Geller Cup, which took place every Thanksgiving). She also had (and still has) a difficult relationship with her parents, who unconsciously favor Ross over her on various occasions. (Her father did try to fix this by giving her his Porsche in The One Where Rosita Dies.)

High school was a difficult time for Monica, who gained a substantial amount of weight and peaked at 255 pounds. She did have a few friends, including best friend Rachel Green. For prom, she even had a date: Roy Gublik. Her first kiss, however, was (by accident) Ross.^[4] She met Chandler Bing at her parents' house on Thanksgiving Day, 1987. She initially had a crush on him (even became a chef because he told her that he liked her macaroni) until she overheard him referring to her as Ross' "fat sister." The shock was so great for her that she became determined to take off all her extra weight by the next time he would see her. She accomplished this goal by Thanksgiving, 1988.^[5] She unintentionally got back at him by dropping a knife and severing one of his toes during a faux attempt to seduce him.

After college, Monica pursued life in New York as a chef at Iridium. She also lived with Phoebe Buffay, across the hall from Chandler. She would later date, marry, and raise two kids with him. Phoebe moved out because she was worried that their friendship would suffer due to Monica's obsessive tidiness. She had a crush on Joey Tribbiani when he first moved in with Chandler, although he repelled her by stripping naked in her apartment the day they met^[6] while she made him lemonade.

Season 1Edit

In the first episode, Rachel goes to Monica after leaving Barry at the altar. Rachel decides, more or less without any consultation with Monica, to move in with her. During the season, Monica and Rachel once again become best friends. In fact, Rachel lives with Monica for another four years. Monica also hosts Thanksgiving for the first time that year. This fails, as everyone wants to do something else and the food burns.

Season 2Edit

The season doesn't start very well for Monica. Ross is dating Julie, not knowing that Rachel has fallen for him. Monica likes Julie, which causes problems between her and Rachel. Monica loses her job and she remains single for quite some time. When Monica sees that Ross intended to take Rachel to their high-school prom when Rachel's date, Chip Matthews didn't turn up, she feels proud and is very pleased to see her brother and best friend start a romantic relationship. When she caters a party for a friend of her father, Richard Burke, she falls in love with him. This is the start of a long-term relationship, with a lot of troubles: They had to face revealing their relationship to Monica's parents, who don't like the idea of them dating because of the age difference.^[7] Richard bonds with Chandler and Joey, which interferes with his quality time with Monica. The problem is solved when it's revealed that they see him as a father.^[8] Monica has no choice but to take a job at Moondance Diner, where she has to wear a blonde wig, rollerskates and massive fake breasts. In the season finale, Richard admits that he doesn't see kids in their future because he dislikes the idea of his life 'just beginning' when their children go to college since he would be an old man. Monica, who wants to have children, breaks up with him. Later, she describes getting over him as one of the hardest things she ever had to do.^[9]

Season 3Edit

It is at the Moondance Diner that Monica meets Julio, a waiter, who loves to write poems. Julio writes a poem about an empty vase, which Monica and her friends believe is a metaphor for Monica. Julio admits that the poem is about the vapidity of American women in general, and Monica dumps him because of this.

When Rachel and Ross break up, Monica becomes very distraught.^[10] She (along with Phoebe, Joey and Chandler) also finds herself caught in the crossfire when the bitter exes constantly bicker.

Monica meets Pete Becker, a man who made billions from designing a widely-used software. Pete courts her, but Monica insists that she is not attracted to him. He eventually offers her the head chef position at a restaurant he has bought. Monica won't take the job, because she thinks he still has feelings for her and doesn't want to hurt him. Pete kisses her when she tries to leave, and Monica finally becomes attracted to him. They date for a couple of months, until Pete's obsession with becoming the next Ultimate Fighting Champion leads Monica to call it off.^[11]

When Monica becomes despondent due to being single once more, Chandler offers to be her boyfriend ... which she finds laughable. While on vacation in Montauk, he tries to convince her to tell her why she's so opposed to him being her boyfriend and he also attempts to help her to realize that he would make a good boyfriend. Little does she know tha

t a few seasons later they would sleep together in London and get married and raise two children.

Season 4Edit

When Monica has to visit the eye doctor, she gets a surprise: Timothy Burke, the son of Richard, works at his father's practice. They become attracted to each other and decide to date. When she invites him to celebrate Thanksgiving together, they break up because it's too weird for Monica.

When Monica writes a terrible restaurant review, the owner tracks her down and confronts her. After she shows him how to cook, she is offered the job of head chef. She decides to take the job, and is instantly hated by the staff because she is replacing their relative. Monica hires Joey for the sole purpose of firing him in front of his co-workers so she will come across as someone they shouldn't mess with. The plan works, and the staff decide to treat Monica with respect.

In a escalated contest between Monica, Rachel, Joey and Chandler, Monica bets the apartment. Rachel and Monica lose the contest, and they are forced to switch apartments with Chandler and Joey. Monica ends up sleeping in a ball on the floor in Chandler's former room, due to the fact that it's too small for her bed. A few months later, Monica and Rachel win their old apartment back by sharing a one-minute kiss in front of Chandler and Joey.

In the season finale, Monica becomes depressed at Ross and Emily's rehearsal dinner. For one thing, Ross is getting married for a second time while Monica doesn't even have a boyfriend. Not only that, but her mother chips away at Monica's ego by suggesting that she'll never get married. Finally, a random drunk guy mistakes Monica for Ross' mother. Deciding that a night of meaningless sex will make her feel better, Monica searches for Joey.^[12] When Chandler attempts to console her, telling her he thinks she is the most beautiful woman he's seen, Monica throws herself at him and spends the night with him. The next day, things are quite awkward between them. When they meet up at the wedding, they agree that sleeping together was a stupid thing to do. But this is not enough to keep them from agreeing to meet up again after the wedding.

Season 5Edit

Chandler and Monica agree that they won't have sex again once they get back to New York, but decide there's no reason they can't keep doing it as long as they're in London. But every time they try to find a place to be together, they are interrupted. Upon their return to New York, they initially agree to stick to their "not in New York" rule. Moments after Chandler leaves her apartment, Monica starts to follow after him. She stops just before reaching the door, only to have Chandler re-enter her apartment and say, "I'm still on London time. Does that count?" Monica enthusiastically agrees that it counts, and they kiss.^[5]

Chandler and Monica decide to hide their relationship from the others, but eventually everyone finds out. Joey is the first to discover the relationship, and he is also the only one to actually figure it out without either hearing them or seeing them together. When Chandler and Monica return from a disastrous weekend get-away, they both tell Joey that they saw Donald Trump waiting for an elevator. The hotel calls and leaves a message for Chandler, announcing that they found an eyelash curler in his room. When Monica mentions that she lost her eyelash curler, Joey puts the evidence together and realizes that Monica and Chandler are involved. The couple drag him into a bedroom and beg him to keep their secret, which he agrees to.

Rachel finds out about the relationship when she overhears a conversation between Monica and Chandler on the phone. Phoebe, who is standing in Ugly Naked Guy's apartment, discovers the relationship when she sees Chandler and Monica having sex in the ladies' apartment across the street. Rachel and Phoebe decide to mess with Monica and Chandler to expose their relationship and to pay them back for keeping it a secret, resulting in an escalating game of chicken where Phoebe and Chandler pretend they want to sleep with each other and hope that the other will back out first. When things get as far as a kiss, Chandler breaks and tells Phoebe he can't have sex with her because he's in love with Monica. Monica hears this and tells him that she loves him, too.^[13]

Ross finds out when he's showing his boss, Donald, his new apartment ... which just happens to be the place where Ugly Naked Guy used to live.

Monica and Chandler decide to take a trip to Vegas to celebrate their anniversary. This doesn't go really well at first: Phoebe accidentally lets it slip that Monica had lunch with Richard Burke, which makes Chandler mad. Chandler and Monica make up and start gambling in the casino. They make the ultimate bet: If Monica throws a hard eight, they'll get married. When Monica throws a hard eight, they start making plans to get married. They steal a blue sweatshirt from the hotel gift shop so that Monica will have something new, borrowed, and blue, before they go to a wedding chapel. They are waiting their turn to go in and get married when they see a very drunk Ross and Rachel stumbling out of the chapel.

Season 6Edit

Instead of getting married, Chandler and Monica decide to move in with each other. Their decision forces Rachel to move out of the apartment and to live with Phoebe. The couple argue about what they should do with the spare bedroom: Chandler wants to turn it into a game room, while Monica wants to turn it into a guest room. (Monica wins, of course.) Things become tense during Thanksgiving dinner, due to the fact that Monica's parents (who don't know that Monica and Chandler are dating) don't like Chandler. Chandler's plan is to be very charming and to make them like him, then tell them that he is dating Monica and that he is living with her. He sucks up to the Gellers, who don't like Chandler because Ross told them that Chandler smoked pot while in college. Ross finally admits that he was the one who was smoking pot and that he falsely accused Chandler to protect himself. The Gellars take a liking to Chandler and thank him for standing by Ross during his "drug problems" and for "taking on Monica as well."

Chandler wants to propose to Monica during a romantic dinner, but the evening is ruined by Richard Burke. Things become worse when Chandler says that he doesn't want to get married at all, wanting to throw Monica off the track so his marriage proposal will be a surprise. Richard shows up at the restaurant where Monica works and declares his love for her, saying that he wants to marry her. Monica becomes conflicted, torn between the two men who love her. Her confusion is ended when Joey tells her about Chandler's plans, and she accepts Chandler's proposal.

Season 7Edit

Monica and Chandler start to prepare for their wedding, which causes all kinds of problems:

Monica's parents have spent her wedding fund on the beach house. Monica attempts to convince Chandler to use his savings to pay for her dream wedding, which is something he initially refuses to do. The problem is resolved when Chandler tells Monica about his dreams for them, and Monica realizes that she doesn't want a wedding. Instead, she wants the same thing Chandler does: a marriage.
They can't take a good engagement picture, because Chandler always looks weird. This problem is solved when he is replaced by Joey.
They can't find a decent minister for the wedding, which leads to Joey agreeing to become officiated so he can marry them.
Monica finds the dress of her dreams, but another bride-to-be wants the same dress. The other bride books The Swing Kings for her wedding reception, and she is only willing to let Chandler and Monica have the band for their reception if Monica gives up her dress. The problem is resolved when Monica puts Chandler's dream ahead of her own, exchanging her dream dress for Chandler's dream band.

The wedding itself is a bit problematic as well:

Chandler's parents can't get along.
Chandler panics when he hears someone refer to him and Monica as "The Bings," triggering his fear of marriage and causing him to go into hiding.
Phoebe finds a pregnancy test in the garbage in Monica's bathroom, assuming that Monica is pregnant.
Joey is stuck at the set of the movie he's shooting, and he almost misses out on his chance to perform the ceremony.

Season 8Edit

Monica and Chandler are finally married, and Monica gets out of control as she unwraps all the wedding presents without Chandler. While Rachel's pregnancy has just began, Monica is very excited to learn that her brother is the father of her best friend's child (Meaning she will be a blood-related aunt to the child). After she and Chandler go on their honeymoon and meet another married couple, Craig and Jenny, Monica stresses about the fact that they gave her and Chandler a fake phone number. (It turns out that Craig and Jenny did, in fact, give them the correct number.) While Rachel is at the end of her pregnancy, Monica and Phoebe bet on when the baby will be born. Monica always bets that it will be very soon, losing lots of money to Phoebe. Ross and Rachel join in on the bet, and Monica loses to them as well. While Rachel is in labor, Monica and Chandler decide they want to have a child and try to make one in a janitor's closet.

Season 9Edit

Monica and Chandler are determined to have children. After trying for a year, they decide to visit a fertility clinic. Heartbroken over the fact that the chances of them conceiving a child are slim to none, they discuss their options.

Season 10Edit

Having decided to adopt a child, Monica and Chandler meet Erica. In the final episode, Erica gives birth to twins: a boy and a girl. Monica and Chandler name the boy baby Jack, after Monica's father, and they name the girl baby Erica, after the woman who helped them to become parents. Wanting to provide their children with the ideal family life, Chandler and Monica move into a house in Westchester. In the last episode, Monica is very happy to see her brother and best friend get back together for good.

PersonalityEdit

This section is (partially) copied from Wikipedia. There may be an updated version available.

Monica is known as the mother hen of the group, hosting them at her apartment most of the time and for special occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Monica is perhaps most notorious for her obsessive cleanliness (classifying places by cleanliness, where 'Monica-clean' is even cleaner than 'Health-Department-clean'^[14]). She is also known to talk abnormally loudly (such as in The One With The Apothecary Table) and for her bossiness and unnatural organizational skills (such as The One On The Last Night). Phoebe and Rachel also call her high-maintenance.^[15]

Cleanliness and OrderlinessEdit

"Neat Freak" Monica is comically obsessive about the state of her apartment. She loves cleaning, describing a dry-cleaning establishment as her Disneyland. This personality trait becomes progressively exaggerated as the series progresses. Examples of this tendency include:

She categorizes towels into 11 sections, examples being "everyday use," "fancy," "guest," and "fancy guest."^[16]
She labels everything, from dishes to photographs. She even numbers the mugs in her kitchen so that if one of them goes missing, she will know which one is missing.
She tries acting like a kook. She pretends that she doesn't care that she has left her shoes in the living room, only to be rendered unable to sleep because she's left to wonder if she should go out and get them.
She becomes anxious when Rachel moves the green ottoman while cleaning the apartment. Chandler says to Rachel, "Thank God you didn't try to fan out the magazines. I mean, she'll scratch your eyes right out."
She has admitted to purchasing car-cleaning supplies because there was a dirty car parked out front of the building. She washed it, and six others.^[17]
Friends - Monica Geller and the vacuum(00:24)
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When Monica tries to force Rachel to go to the eye doctor, Rachel knocks over a box of cereal in an attempt to distract Monica. Monica pretends that she isn't bothered by this, only to turn around and whine to Chandler about it before she leaves with Rachel. (Chandler agrees to clean up the mess.)^[18]
On Rachel's last night in the apartment, she fails to pack when she is supposed to. She defends herself by claiming that packing her belongings is a gift for Monica. Monica is happy to hear this, and she even apologizes for not getting Rachel a gift.
She is obsessive to the point that she cleans her cleaning supplies, using a Dustbuster to remove dirt from a vacuum cleaner and wishing there was a smaller vacuum to clean the Dustbuster.
When Phoebe says they can't meet because she is "cleaning and organizing" her apartment before Mike moves in, Monica "forgets" and goes to Phoebe's apartment with her label maker.
After her birthday party, Rachel offers to help Monica clean up. Monica replies, "Are you kidding? You had your party. Now I'll have mine!"^[19]
When she finds out that Phoebe has brought rats to Rachel's birthday party, Monica is rendered shell-shocked and she mutters to herself, "So this is what a stroke feels like."
When Rachel tells Phoebe about her kiss with Gavin, Monica asks how she didn't see it when it was on her balcony. Phoebe replies, "It was after the party. You were probably ironing the wrapping paper." Monica looks offended, but then replies, "Oh, yeah," reminiscing happily.^[20]
Chandler cleans the apartment as a surprise for Monica. Ross sees him doing this and says that Monica will kill Chandler if everything is not back in exactly the same place. Monica returns home after a hard day at work and notices that the apartment is different, even though it appears the same.
Monica discovers that none of Chandler's CDs are in the right cases when he states, "If I can't find the right case, I just put it in the nearest one." Monica responds nervously, "Okay. No need to panic. Deep breaths, everyone. I'll just have to spend some time putting them back in the right cases."
In The One With The Stain, Monica comes home to find that the apartment has been cleaned ... but not by Chandler. Monica asks, "Oh, no. Was I cleaning in my sleep again?" Chandler replies, "I got a maid." Monica nervously says, "I hope that by 'maid', you mean 'mistress.' 'Cause if some other woman was here cleaning, then --" Chandler tells her, "Honey, I know you don't like to relinquish control." Monica argues, " 'Relinquish' is just a fancy word for 'lose'!" When she becomes anxious about the maid, she tells Chandler, "Usually when I'm this anxious, I clean!"
In The One With Rachel's Other Sister, Rachel and her sister, Amy, have a fight. Rachel accidentally breaks a plate from Monica's and Chandler's wedding china, causing Monica to nearly faint.
In The One Where Ross is Fine, Monica and Chandler are given a binder about adoption, which is perfectly neat and organized. Monica whispers to Chandler, "I think I just had a tiny orgasm." She also forces Chandler wash his hands before he touches the binder because, "It's so pretty and white."
When Monica and Chandler discuss having a baby, Monica panics that the baby's stuff will take up so much space that there will be no room for the "ribbon drawer," causing her to scream, "Where will all the ribbons go?!" Chandler suggests they make a baby right now before Monica changes her mind, and Monica says she might have to fake it because she's, "a little shook up."
One of the reasons why Monica is able to keep such a clean apartment is because she has a secret closet full of junk. She is deeply ashamed of this, calling herself "sick." She will not allow Chandler to put anything in the closet because he might mess it up.^[21]
When Chandler is searching for a job, Monica spends "eight hours with [her] label maker," organizing a file system in which she has researched and written about tons of different job fields. Chandler ends up picking the first one and apologizes for all her wasted hard work, to which Monica replies that it was immensely fun and she doesn't mind at all.
At one point, Monica is excited about organizing all the photos. She shows Rachel a prototype: a picture of her old dog at her birthday party. Monica says she can find the picture under "birthdays," "dogs," or "dead." When Monica asks Rachel to pass her the box of organized photos and Rachel accidentally spills them, Monica freaks out.
While dating Monica, Richard makes the bed as a surprise for his girlfriend. Monica remakes it, explaining that the label should be on the other side and going into detail about the other mistakes.
When Ross dates a girl with an unbelievably messy apartment and finally breaks it off with her, Monica shows up at her door with a bucket full of soap suds and a broom. She asks the woman if she can clean her apartment, saying she won't be able to sleep if the woman doesn't let her clean it. When the door is slammed in her face, Monica decides to clean the door frame instead.
In "The One With The Two Parties," Monica hosts Rachel's birthday party and has everyone write down their most embarrassing memory. She repeatedly reminds everyone to put the covers back on the markers, or they'll dry up.

CompetitivenessEdit

Monica is highly competitive, allegedly throwing a plate in a fit of rage during a game of Pictionary and claiming "rules help control the fun!"

When Joey and Ross were casually tossing a ball back and forth, Monica joined in and threw the ball too hard at Ross to which he exclaimed, "Monica, stop throwing the ball so hard! We're on the same team." Sometimes, however, she takes her competitive nature too far. One dramatic example of this was when Monica impulsively gambled her and Rachel's apartment during a trivia game created by Ross. When she and Rachel then lost the final question, they were forced to swap apartments with Chandler and Joey. However, they won their apartment back several months later by agreeing to kiss for one minute.

Monica also demonstrates athletic prowess, which, coupled with her competitive streak, makes her formidable, especially in foosball. During the group's trip to Barbados, Monica became obsessed with beating Phoebe's boyfriend, Mike, at table tennis, and the two became engaged in a marathon match, lasting hours. Sometimes, however, Monica becomes too rough.

While attempting to give Chandler a sensuous massage, she hurts him to the point of his crying out. Later during the episode she becomes very upset that she "loses" at giving massages until Chandler says, "You give the worlds best worst massages," which immensely cheers her up.^[22] Moreover, she held firm in an arm wrestle against Chandler.^[23] Also, in their youth, Monica broke Ross' nose when a game of touch football turned ugly in an attempt to win the "Geller Cup." The cup was thrown into a nearby lake. What Ross didn't know was that Monica jumped into the lake to retrieve it.^[24] In the series finale, while trying to rescue the birds Joey bought, she managed to destroy the foosball table, without using tools for most of the process.

Monica's competitiveness could stem from her constant attempts to make her parents proud of her, and for her to be praised, as opposed to living in Ross' shadow all the time. It could also stem from her childhood and teenage insecurities, particularly as her best friend, Rachel, was a popular school diva with several boyfriends, whereas Monica was obese and relatively unliked.

BossinessEdit

Monica is notoriously bossy, and she is often referred to as such by her friends. Her controlling behavior is best seen in her relationship with Chandler, where she frequently wins the upper hand in their disputes. After becoming a couple, Chandler asks, "So I really don't get to win [arguments] anymore?" Monica replies, "How often did you ever really win, anyway?"

Chandler has notably won a dispute with Monica. After finding that her parents have squandered her wedding fund, Monica turns to Chandler for help. He reveals that he has a considerable amount of money, and he is outraged when Monica wants to spend the entire fortune on the wedding. Chandler refuses, and Monica later apologizes.^[25]

The following are more examples of Monica's controlling behavior:

When she becomes Phoebe's wedding planner, she drives the bride insane by barking orders military style. She ruins the rehearsal dinner by rushing Phoebe through her speech and making sure everything is spotlessly perfect, even if no one likes it. Phoebe becomes fed up and fires Monica in front of everyone.^[26] Instead of apologizing to Phoebe for ruining the rehearsal dinner, Monica returns the headset to her and plays the role of a "martyr." When things go wrong, Phoebe eventually re-hires Monica.
Monica and Phoebe co-ordinate Rachel's surprise birthday party. Monica takes charge of everything except cups and ice, for which she gives Phoebe responsibility. To pay Monica back, Phoebe surprises her by bringing hundreds of plastic cups (which she even decorates with) and various types of ice, including crushed, cubed, and dry mystical.^[27]
While Monica and Phoebe are living together, Monica apologizes to Phoebe for leaving lipstick on the phone. When Phoebe tells her that she didn't, Monica replies, "Oh. Well, then it must have been you."^[6]

RelationshipsEdit

Rachel GreenEdit

One of Monica's closest friends was Rachel, her friend since they were 6. In their high school years, it is revealed that Rachel was a popular cheerleader with a string of boyfriends, while Monica was her less attractive and overweight best friend. They lost contact for a number of years, but became close again when Rachel left Barry Farber before their wedding and chose to move in with Monica. It is revealed that Monica didn't expect to become close friends with Rachel again: During a flashback episode,^[6] set shortly before Rachel's scheduled wedding to Barry, Monica and Rachel have a chance encounter that results in Monica remarking: "Ten bucks says I'll never see that woman again in my life."

During the period that they lived together, Rachel is revealed to be an exceptionally good roommate. As Monica tells Phoebe, Rachel has sweet little quirks, such as folding back the pages in catalogues of things she thinks Monica would like. She also leaves messages on the mirror when Monica takes a shower, and lets Monica borrow her hundred-plus pairs of boots. Monica grows very concerned when she overhears Rachel and Ross furiously arguing after she discovers that he slept with another woman, and cries when she hears an emotional Rachel break up with a devastated Ross.

Their living situation lasts for the first 5 seasons, until Chandler moves in with Monica during Season 6. Rachel's moving out brings the two women to tears. When Chandler and Monica decided to get married, Rachel became Monica's maid of honor.

While saying goodbye to Monica after deciding to move to Paris, Rachel cries hysterically. Monica breaks down as well.

Joey TribbianiEdit

Monica meets Joey in the hallway, as he is leaving Chandler's apartment after discussing the possibilities of becoming his new roommate. Monica takes a liking to Joey, but loses interest when he strips naked in her apartment after assuming that she wants to have sex with him.

In Season 7 episode 'The One With The Truth About London,' Phoebe reveals that Monica was looking for Joey instead of Chandler on the night that she and Chandler slept together.

In season 1, Monica states that Joey, "has a nice butt, just not a great butt," while flicking through a pack of cards at Central Perk.

Ross GellerEdit

Main article: Ross Geller

Ross is Monica's brother, and he is a year older than her. They had some of the same friends in high school, such as Rachel Green and Will Colbert.

Although they have become quite affectionate towards each other, a great deal of competition which existed between them as children has found its way into their adult lives. When they were children, Ross often played older-brother pranks on Monica which were too much for her. Although she has since forgiven him, they often fall back into childish brother/sister arguments. In many episodes, Ross and Monica resort to an odd childhood gesture whereby they knock their fists together with their thumbs pointing outward (as an alternative to "the finger"), a habit which Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe have picked up. Ross has also said growing up with Monica, "If you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat!"^[27]

As adults, although occasionally they act like immature kids towards each other, Ross is one of Monica's best friends. Ross is the typical overprotective brother. When he finds out that Chandler and Monica are together, he tells Chandler that he will kick his ass if he (Chandler) ever hurts Monica. This is so out-of-character for the mild, wimpy Ross that Chandler can't take him seriously.

ParentsEdit

Although their parents favor Ross over Monica, it's their mother who tends to be more critical of Monica. Judy often finds flaws in Monica's apartment (such as dirty places or objects); refuses to answer her calls; and discredits her altogether as her daughter, referring to Ross as her only means to have grandchildren.

Some notable examples of Monica feeling neglected by her family include the following:

Her parents do not want her to make the toast at their 35th wedding anniversary party. Monica makes the toast, which does not go well at all. Ross makes it up to Jack and Judy with an impromptu toast, which makes people cry;^[28]
Her old bedroom room was turned into a gym by her parents;^[29]
Her parents confess that they spent her wedding fund to purchase a beach house when she was 23, despite the fact that they were supposed to close the fund by the time she was 30.;^[25]
Her old mementos are destroyed by a flood in her parents' garage because the boxes they are stored in have been used to block the water. Ross' belongings, on the other hand, have remained in perfect condition. To make up for this, Jack gives Monica his Porsche 911, to Ross' indignation;^[30]
Her mother does not meet her for lunch with the excuse that she is out of town. This claim is proven to be a lie when Judy is able to babysit Emma for Ross and Rachel.^[31]

Monica has always been closer to her father because of her mother's neglections. It's Jack who visits Monica to check on her when she breaks up with Richard.^[32] He is also the one who tells her to ignore her mother's cynical comments, adding how proud he is of her independence.^[33] He often refers to her as his "Little Harmonica." It might have been this closeness with her father that inspires Monica and Chandler to name their son Jack. (By Jewish tradition, she is not supposed to do this).

Romantic RelationshipsEdit

See also: Relationships#Monica

Since the first season, Monica has wanted to settle down with a husband and have kids.^[34] Her desire for kids is so strong that she even considers a sperm donor.^[35]

Richard BurkeEdit

In Season 2, Monica becomes involved in a long-term relationship with Richard, a friend of her father. Richard, her eye doctor, is 21 years older than she is.^[36] The relationship is ended by Monica because of a conflict of interest: Her desire to have children clashes with Richard's desire to avoid having any more, as he already has an adult son and a daughter. In The One Where Monica And Richard Are Just Friends, Monica and Richard run into each other at a video rental store and decide to have a "friends with benefits" relationship, which doesn't last long. In "The One With The Proposal, Parts 1 and 2," Richard confesses his undying love for Monica and reveals that he has changed his mind about having children with her. Although briefly conflicted, Monica decides to marry Chandler.

Pete BeckerEdit

Pete Becker is a millionaire who invented Moss 865 and manages a large computer corporation. Monica meets him at the Moondance Diner, where she is a waitress and he is a customer. Although she wants to stop seeing Peter because she's not physically attracted to him, they share a kiss that makes her change her mind. When he takes part in the Ultimate Fighting Champion tournament, a feat which he fails abysmally to achieve, Monica breaks up with him because she can't stand seeing him getting beaten up.

Chandler BingEdit

Main article: Monica-Chandler Relationship

From the fifth season 'til the end of the show, Monica and Chandler are in a relationship. They get married in the finale of season 7 and adopted children in the final season.

CareerEdit

Originally, Monica is a poorly paid chef at a restaurant called Iridium. After accepting a promotion at a restaurant called Café des Artistes, she is fired for accepting a gift from a food distributor.^[37]

She remains unemployed for a while before being offered a job at a 1950s-themed restaurant called the Moondance Diner. At this time, Monica reveals that she worked at the famous Cafe des Artistes when she said, "I was a sous-chef at Cafe des Artistes. How can I take a job where I have to make something called Laverne and Curly Fries?" At the Moondance, Monica wears a blond wig, roller skates and massive fake breasts. She meets millionaire Pete Becker, one of her boyfriends, at the Moondance. Pete uses his money to open a restaurant and appoints Monica as head chef. After the relationship fails, Monica begins a short-lived catering business with Phoebe.

For a time, Monica works for an unnamed food company that hires her to come up with recipes and make them, using substitute food products. One such product is Mockolate, a chocolate substitute that never takes off due to its repulsive flavor and the fact that it causes painful urination.^[38]

During this time, to avoid taking a job in the Moondance Diner, she buys shares in the stock market using the few savings left in her bank account ($127), despite not knowing anything about how it works. She buys shares from companies only because of their names, not knowing what the companies do or how successful they are.

Monica is eventually hired as head chef at a local restaurant, Alessandro's, putting an end to the catering business. At first, her employees dislike her because three of them are the children of the previous head chef, coupled with a fairly vicious review she publishes in a local newspaper about the restaurant. Monica hires Joey as a waiter, solely to fire him, thereby appearing to be a tough boss. It works, as her problems with her employees are reduced.

She leaves Alessandro's when Chandler's firm requires him to relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma. When she contacts a job-hunter about Tulsa restaurant openings, she receives a job as head chef at Javu, an upscale restaurant in Manhattan.^[39]

Age and BirthdayEdit

To keep with the line of the series of both Friends and Joey (TV series) being 1 year for each season, Monica's age should have been: 1 (25-26), 2 (26-27), 3 (27-28), 4 (28-29), 5 (29-30), 6 (30-31), 7 (31-32), 8 (32-33), 9 (33-34), 10 (34-35).

ProductionEdit

When Courteney Cox Arquette landed on the cast of Friends, she was asked to play the role of Rachel Green but she thought she should take the role of Monica Geller instead. Maggie Wheeler also auditioned for the part but ended up playing recurring character Janice Litman Goralnik (née Hosenstein) instead. Actress Jami Gertz was offered and declined the role of Monica before Friends went into production.

The role of Monica was originally conceived as the oldest of the friends, but was changed after Cox was cast. This is ironic because Cox is older than the rest of the Friends actors except Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe.

Monica's apartment was one of the main focal points of the series. Many critics of the show began to question how Monica could ever afford the apartment on a chef's salary, so the writers of Friends came up with the explanation that she illegally sublet the apartment from her grandmother, who had moved to Florida. In the series finale, Chandler remarks to his newborn child, "Thanks to rent control, it was a friggin' steal." Many decorators and fans have attempted to recreate the look of Monica's apartment by creating iconic items from the set of Friends. The website http://cooltvprops.com is one example - it offers an exact replica of the peephole frame found on the inside of Monica's apartment door, as well as several posters that are featured prominently in Monica's apartment.

Early in the series, the writers were going to have a relationship between Monica and Joey rather than Chandler. This can be picked up on the fact that she had a crush on Joey when he first moves in and is even sneaked in when it's revealed that Monica was looking for Joey on the night of Ross' wedding, not Chandler.

During the show finale in Season 10, Courteney Cox had to revert to baggy clothing to hide her pregnancy, which would have paradoxically coincided with her trouble getting pregnant and reason to adopt revealed earlier in Season 9.

TriviaEdit

Her mother commonly forgets about her. Examples include her thinking she would be childless if Ross died; saying Rachel is like the daughter she never had (The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song); and ignoring Monica at her wedding after learning she is not pregnant.
She is always teased about her weight when she was younger. In 'The One With The Prom Video,' she says, "The camera adds ten pounds," and Chandler asks, "So how many cameras were actually on you?"
She claims that she is allergic to cat hair, but in another episode mentions she once owned a cat. In the episode, "The One With The Cat", she is able to pet and be around Phoebe's cat with no apparent allergic reaction.
She utters the first line in the show: "There's nothing to tell. He's just some guy I work with." Her last line is answering Rachel's offer to have coffee before they leave: "We got some time."
She is the only female member of the group who has never been pregnant, despite being the only one who tried to concieve.
During the series, Monica had sex with 14 men.
Monica's is sometimes reffered to as "Monica E. Geller", indicating that her middle name begins with "E". Her full middle name is unknown.