In this day and age, where streaming services like Netflix have ushered in revivals from many beloved shows, the possibility of a new Friends season has become probable. However, for the time being, that’s all wishful thinking. Still, it doesn’t hurt to speculate what Season 11 would’ve been like had the show never stopped airing when it did.
Here, we’ll be assuming that Joey’s individual spin-off never came to be, since an eleventh season would’ve rendered that show pointless. With that in mind, we’ve come up with these 10 storylines that the next season of Friends could have had, with chances of some even overlapping one another.
Rachel Looking For A New Job
Sure, the eventual reconciliation between Ross and Rachel was the real talk of the town when the finale aired, but in-universe Rachel did give up a pretty good job up to be with Ross. This also meant that she was effectively unemployed.
She’d already been having difficulties finding a new job until Mark offered her one, which means we could’ve been in for a good stretch of episodes where Rachel would’ve been seen struggling to find work. An even better scenario would’ve been for Rachel to try and charm Mr. Zelner into hiring her back, much as Ross had done.
Ross And Rachel’s Readjustment As A Couple
Everybody loved how these two got back together in the most perfect way, but life isn’t all hunky-dory despite what sitcoms might make you believe. There was already enough reason for this couple to break up before, and their problems wouldn’t have evaporated so easily.
With Emma now in the mix, Ross and Rachel would’ve had new hurdles to face since they couldn’t just break up like before, which means we would’ve been in to see this couple be mature about their issues and show a different side of their characterizations.
Phoebe And Mike Trying For Kids
Phoebe had mentioned in a throwaway line during the finale how she wanted a whole truckload of kids, which was supposed to be a nice way to leave fans interpreting their future. However, we definitely would’ve seen their attempts to be parents come about in a supposed Season 11.
Knowing Phoebe, she would most likely have come up with some weird way to conceive based on one of her many dabbles with psychics or herbal doctors. Both she and Mike would’ve made for some hilarious episodes trying to figure out how being future parents would work out.
Joey’s Growing Film Career
Since we’ll be assuming that Joey never would’ve moved out to Los Angeles if Friends had gone to its eleventh season, we’re going to speculate that his career aspirations would have improved in New York itself.
Joey would have bee seen landing more film roles and moving away from soap operas. This would also have given rise for many other celebrities to show up on Friends, with Joey’s bumbling attempts to make things work clashing with his co-stars. We could’ve seen Joey truly make it in the big leagues now that he was going to focus on his acting more than ever.
Monica And Chandler’s Suburban Life
Talking about adjustments, Monica and Chandler were in for their biggest one ever with their life in the suburbs. This would’ve been the most significant change on the show, as the setting for the episodes would’ve needed an overhaul.
The subplots that came with this move might have seen Chandler sneaking out to meet with Joey to remember his bachelor days, and Monica learning that she wasn’t exactly the perfect mom she always thought she was and learning on the go how it was to raise children.
The Build-Up To Ross And Rachel’s Wedding
We have no doubt that Ross and Rachel’s wedding would’ve been shown on the show had it continued, as this was an event every fan wanted to see. Simply having a wedding without any hiccups was never the Friends way, so the show could have dedicated the season to the big day.
Between managing Emma during this time, and Rachel’s hunt for a job, the build-up would’ve been littered with hurdles to overcome. And considering Ross’s paranoia about being the “Divorce Force,” the show would have a number of ways to show Ross overcoming this insecurity.
Joey Learning To Respect His Relationships
We’ve seen hilarious moments on similar shows where a character who couldn’t commit learned how to do so, and Joey would have also needed this lesson going forward. Being the only friend left without a love interest, we could have seen him gain some self-reflection over why it was that way.
This way, Joey would’ve been shown actually respecting the women he was involved with, rather than date and break up with them as was always shown to do so. He did deserve that one true love, and the eleventh season could’ve gone some way in maturing Joey in this regard.
Erica Moving In With Monica And Chandler
The show had made Erica feel more welcome than most would’ve anticipated, and it seems a guarantee that she’d return in the next season had there been one. This had the potential to open scenarios like Erica changing her mind and hoping to take her kids back, or Monica and Chandler attempting to help her get on her feet.
While it’s a long shot, we might even have seen Erica become a main character on the show and interact with the rest of the friends on a usual basis by moving in with Monica and Chandler.
The Growing Estrangement Between The Friends
The characters were at a mature point in their lives by the tenth season, and it was high time to have more grown-up storylines going forward. To this end, we think it’s a lock-on that Friends would have shown the characters slowly becoming distant with one another as time went by.
This could’ve been a season-long angle where it became apparent that they weren’t all as tight as they used to be since they’d moved away from one another, and the end of the season could have shown the friends once again becoming much closer.
The Friends Realizing They’re Getting Older
This arc would’ve gone along well with every other we’ve mentioned here so far, as getting older and moving on was the point of the series to begin with. As the friends would’ve gotten married, had kids, and progressed in their careers, they could’ve been shown realizing that younger people had come forward.
Of course, the most hilarious outcome out of this storyline would’ve been to see Joey freak out over his “deal” with God over becoming older, but each one of these characters can be seen having a hard time coming to terms with their age.
