Do you think if Joey and Rachel were introduced as a couple earlier on, maybe after the first time Ross and Rachel broke up, people would have been more willing to give them a chance?
I know now there are a lot of people that liked Rachel and Joey together but when the show was being released, the storyline was deeply disliked.
Do you think it was because it was introduced too late into the game, Ross and Rachel had too mcuh history and people were really invested in seeing them together at the end?
I feel like Joey would have absolutely gone with Rachel to Paris and try out acting in Europe, he would've supported her moving on instead of holding her back. They felt so right together but in the writing you can tell that their relationship was being used as a catalyst to get Ross and Rachel back together and there was no honest attempt at having them be a proper couple. Maybe the writers did try to have them as a proper couple but the backlash was too much so they sabotaged the relationship.
It makes me think of how I met your mother where Ted and Robin was supposed to be end game but the writers saw how well Barney and Robin went together so they decided to keep them together. But maybe the fans of HIMYM also really liked the coupling so there wasn't as much backlash.
Anyway, I wonder what would've made their relationship stick, what did the writers need to do to make people want to root for them instead of wanting Rachel back with Ross?
