After Friends, Courteney Cox And Jennifer Aniston Butted Heads In A Canceled TV Show

The "Friends" cast became stars at a very young age thanks to their sitcom becoming nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. But just because the ensemble was young at the time the show took off, that doesn't mean they didn't struggle to make their name. Before "Friends" Matthew Perry starred in a short-lived sitcom that's almost impossible to watch today (alongside multiple other sitcoms that never made it beyond a single season), while David Schwimmer similarly fronted an ill-fated sitcom that co-starred a "Happy Days" veteran. Matt LeBlanc, who played Joey Tribbiani, might have had the toughest time, having appeared in a horror war movie with an unbelievable premise in which he's on-screen for roughly three seconds.

In LeBlanc's case, his acting woes seemed to continue even after he was catapulted to mega-stardom by "Friends." The actor's blockbuster debut, "Lost in Space," turned out to be a major sci-fi flop that failed to revive a classic TV show and even after "Friends" ended, LeBlanc struggled to make his "Joey" spin-off work. Meanwhile, his former co-stars Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston have done pretty well for themselves.

Aniston has arguably become the biggest star from the group, having forged a successful movie career and attaining a level of stardom that goes beyond even the uber-fame that came with starring as Rachel Green in "Friends." But for a while, Cox wasn't far behind, with her role as Gale Weathers in the "Scream" franchise and her successful ABC/TBS series "Cougar Town" which ran for six seasons. What you may not have heard as much about, though, is "Dirt." What is "Dirt?" Well, it's not one of Cox's most successful post-"Friends" projects, but that's not entirely her fault. What's more, it reunited the actress with Aniston, who appeared in an episode prior to the show's cancellation.

"Dirt" was executive produced by Courteney Cox and her then-husband David Arquette and starred Cox as Lucy Spiller, editor of Los Angeles-based tabloid magazine DirtNow. Spiller is in charge of a team of reporters and paparazzi, including Ian Hart's photographer Don Konkey and Alexandra Breckenridge's reporter Willa McPherson. The editor is a workaholic who's absolutely ruthless in her pursuit of salacious stories, and has become adept at manipulating celebrities in order to get the "dirt" she needs. Despite her conniving ways, she's drawn to young actor Holt McLaren (Josh Stewart) resulting in a love triangle between Lucy, Holt, and his girlfriend Julia Mallory (Laura Allen).

The show premiered on the FX network on January 2, 2007 and ran for 13 episodes, capping off the season with a cameo from Cox's former "Friends" co-star Jennifer Aniston — who had also paid her dues prior to "Friends" by starring in a sitcom led by a "Big Bang Theory" star. In the episode "Ita Missa Est," Aniston appears as rival tabloid magazine editor Tina Harrod, who arrives at DirtNow to apply for a job, prompting Lucy to feel threatened. Harrod is actually a former friend of Lucy, and the pair even had a brief romantic entanglement in the past. The character was actually referenced throughout the first season, but didn't appear until the season 1 finale, marking her only appearance in the show overall.

The episode contains a goodbye kiss between the characters, which predictably became a much bigger deal than it should have been in the real tabloids. In an interview with People, Aniston was asked about the reaction, saying, "It's a good-bye kiss. I don't honestly think people want to see Rachel and Monica have at it [...] I think I won a bet. I told Courteney, 'How many days will it take to come out? 'Lesbian kiss! Lip-lock!” It was a record: about a week." Still, it seems the actress had a good time otherwise, with Aniston adding, "We had a ball. It was completely fun. I forgot just how much fun we have together in the work world."

"Ita Missa Est" marked Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston's first post-"Friends" collaboration. The sitcom had wrapped up three years prior to the 2007 debut of "Dirt," and the FX show was Cox's first semi-successful project during those years. Sadly, it didn't last too long but that was at least in part due to the 2007 writers strike.

After the show was renewed for a second season, seven episodes of that season were shot before the writer's strike began and production on the series was halted. Unfortunately, while the seven season 2 episodes did air, FX canceled "Dirt" shortly afterwards, announcing in June 2008 that the series wouldn't be returning. In truth, the ratings hadn't been holding either, and the critical response wasn't much better, with season 1 earning a paltry 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and season 2 earning only a slightly better 46%.

Thankfully, this wouldn't be Aniston and Cox's last collaboration, as the former guest-starred in the second season of Cox's sitcom "Cougar Town" — on which the wider "Friends" cast also reunited. This time, the pair butted heads once again but it wasn't quite as fraught as their "Dirt" episode. Aniston played a therapist named Glenn with whom Cox's Jules forms a bond before she discovers that Glenn's mother-son relationship — which she found so relatable — was actually a mother-dog relationship. This time they also skipped the kissing.