Although pairing off sitcom characters is always a risky venture, especially when a show already has one successful couple, Monica and Chandler quickly became a fan-favorite romance, with viewers loving the chemistry between Courteney Cox and Matthew Perry. Their relationship would evolve as the complete opposite of Ross and Rachel’s: long-kept secret from the other roommates, and healthy and strong until the series ended with them married, parents of adopted twins. But then, in the second half of the season’s hour-long finale - the one with Ross’s ill-fated London wedding weekend with Emily - another duo surprisingly hooked up, much to the glee of audience members: Monica and Chandler.
As Friends wrapped up its fourth season in May of 1998, Ross and Rachel’s on/off relationship still provided the show’s emotional core, with the other four roommates serving as the platonic Greek chorus to the couple’s climactic kisses and “on-a-break”-dom.
