There are so many examples of popular TV shows that formed great spinoffs — for example, Breaking Bad spawned Better Call Saul ; All in the Family gave us The Jeffersons and many others; and Young Sheldon came from The Big Bang Theory . It’s surprising, then, that Friends — one of the best sitcoms of all time — inspired just one series (a failed spinoff at that) in Joey . Turns out, things could have been different if not for one big “no” from Jennifer Aniston .

Joey , starring Matt LeBlanc , premiered four months after Friends ’ “The Last One” in 2004. However, it turns out the New York Knicks-obsessed, food-loving soap opera actor was not the first character NBC wanted to center a spinoff around. According to executive producer Kevin Bright, it was J

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