‘Friends’ Creators Nixed Airport Security Scene From the Episode That Aired Right After 9/11
Not every storyline on every show ages well. Friends creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane have expressed regret over including some topics into their NBC sitcom, including their treatment of Chandler Bing’s transgender father and the extremely controversial character “Fat Monica.”
But one storyline did get axed from the show before it aired without fans even knowing about it. Right after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001, an episode of Friends was supposed to feature an airport scene and bomb jokes that would have been in poor taste.
Producers wisely decided to change the episode before it aired. But UK fans found the deleted scenes on the DVD release and posted them online for all to see.
Chandler and Monica get into a rivalry with another honeymooning couple
The episode in question is from season 8 episode 3, “The One Where Rachel Tells Ross.” Chandler and Monica go on their honeymoon and get into a rivalry with another couple who keeps getting perks ahead of them, including being upgraded to first-class seats on the plane and finagling a room upgrade in the same hotel Monica and Chandler are staying in. It becomes a contest between the couples.
But the original episode doesn’t show Monica and Chandler arriving at the hotel at all. Instead, they get detained in the airport for joking about bombs, Insider reported.
Chandler jokes about bombs in an airport
All Friends fans know that Chandler Bing is a real jokester, so it’s no surprise that he was cracking funny lines at the airport. The only problem? His brand of humor would not have been appreciated right after 9/11, which is when the episode was supposed to air.
In the original version that aired October 11, 2001, Chandler teases airport security about a sign that prohibits joking about bombs or hijacking. “You don’t have to worry about me, ma’am. I take my bombs very seriously,” Chandler says.
His comment leads to him and Monica getting sent to an interrogation room. After being released, Monica gets a call from Phoebe and Joey about a busted apartment door, prompting her to yell, “I want you to stand there and wait for the entire place to blow up!”
Monica and Chandler get sent back to the interrogation room of the airport and never make it to their hotel.
There were plenty of other deleted scenes on ‘Friends’
The cringe-worthy airport scene isn’t the only one that got left on the cutting room floor, though not for the same reasons. Several other scenes got axed because of time restraints or because they weren’t necessary for the storyline.
One of the funnier scenes is in season 4, episode 8 “The One With Chandler in a Box” when Ross insists he came up with the idea for the action flick Die Hard. “Don’t make me show you the napkin,” he says. This bit becomes even funnier when Bruce Willis shows up as Elizabeth’s day during season 6.
Meanwhile, a scene from the Friends finale shows Chandler and Monica arriving at the hospital to meet their twin babies being born there, only to walk into the wrong room — and a different baby coming into the world. The camera doesn’t show what they see, but we do get a glimpse of their horrified faces.
