The Canceled Sitcom That Featured A Friends Character As A Guest Star

The "Friends" ensemble became so synonymous with their sitcom characters that it was hard to imagine them as anyone else. When David Schwimmer showed up in "Band of Brothers," for example, most viewers were thinking, "What is Ross doing in World War II?" In Lisa Kudrow's case, however, Phoebe Buffay actually did turn up in other shows. Specifically, she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom "Hope and Gloria," which like "Friends" aired on NBC, but unlike "Friends" only lasted for two seasons before it was canceled.

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe currently enduring a protracted downfall, allow me to guide your attention to an on-screen universe far less well-known but arguably just as important: the Phoebe Buffay-verse. If any member of the "Friends" cast was going to get their own shared timeline outside of that seminal 90s sitcom it was Lisa Kudrow's charmingly eccentric massage therapist, who often claimed to be psychic and at one point believed the spirit of her deceased mother had been transferred into a cat. All of that kookery was treated with barely concealed incredulity by the rest of the gang, but it turns out Phoebe did possess a unique gift that allowed her to transcend the boundaries of her own show.

In February 1996 Kudrow guest starred on an episode of "Hope & Gloria," a sitcom starring Cynthia Stevenson as recently-divorced television talk show producer Hope Davidson and Jessica Lundy as hair stylist Gloria Utz. The two friends lived opposite each other in a Pittsburgh apartment building and helped each other through the difficulties of life. Created by former "Cheers" showrunners Bill & Cheri Steinkellner, "Hope & Gloria" couldn't survive beyond two seasons despite a "Friends" crossover that was clearly designed to boost its ratings but only served to expand the Buffay-verse.

Almost all the "Friends" cast appeared in dodgy sitcoms prior to starring in their hit NBC series. David Schwimmer starred in a short-lived sitcom alongside a "Happy Days" veteran and Matthew Perry similarly starred in a sitcom that's impossible to watch today. But Lisa Kudrow is the only member of the ensemble to reprise her "Friends" role in a short-lived sitcom after "Friends" had already debuted (unless you count the cancelled "Joey" spin-off but the less said about that the better).

When it debuted, "Hope & Gloria" aired between "Mad About You" and "Seinfeld" and unsurprisingly fared quite well in that prime Thursday night "Must See TV" timeslot. After it was moved to Sunday and then Saturday timeslots, however, ratings suffered, which is surely part of the reason season 2 of "Hope & Gloria" included a "Friends" crossover.

In season 2, episode 14, "A New York Story," the girls take a road trip to the Big Apple. While there, they visit a coffee shop which would have been immediately familiar to "Friends" fans. Yes, Hope and Gloria actually visit Central Perk, where they encounter Phoebe trying to finish a wordsearch. After Gloria becomes convinced that Phoebe played a character on "All My Children," Hope asks Phoebe to pretend to be the actress, which she does, even giving Gloria an autograph (though she signs it as Phoebe Buffay).

Interestingly enough, "Friends" has a couple of links to "All My Children," adding another layer to this 1996 sitcom crossover. James Michael Tyler's Gunther once claimed to have played a character on the 1970s sitcom and there was a rumor that all the "Friends" main cast were all named after families from "All My Children" (though that rumor has since been debunked).

Obviously crossovers are not a rare thing in TV history, especially when it comes to popular shows that can give fledgling series a boost by lending out their characters. But in Lisa Kudrow's case, the Buffay family seem to be the connective tissue that holds the surprisingly expansive "Friends" shared timeline together.

Prior to the debut of "Friends," Kudrow played Phoebe's aloof, ditzy sister Ursula Buffay in 23 episodes of "Mad About You." At the time, however, Ursula didn't technically have a sibling as her "Mad About You" appearances aired before "Friends" debuted in 1994. Ahead of that historic premiere, however, co-creator David Crane asked his husband — a writer on "Mad About You" — to borrow Ursula for his then-new sitcom about a group of six New York 30-somethings. After he got the green light, Crane connected Kudrow's former "Mad About You" character with Phoebe by making them identical twin sisters, and since "Mad About You" also crossed over with "Seinfeld," that essentially means "Seinfeld" and "Friends" are in the same universe. That means Kudrow has played the Buffay sisters in three separate sitcoms, incidentally linking "Friends" to another show in the process.

Unfortunately, unlike "Seinfeld," "Mad About You," and "Friends," "Hope & Gloria" was not a big success. The series premiere brought in 22.8 million viewers, but by its final episode that number had dropped to a mere 4.7 million. Clearly, then, a Phoebe cameo couldn't save the show, which like so many swiftly-cancelled sitcoms, is now on the verge of becoming lost media. "Hope & Gloria" isn't available to stream anywhere and can only be seen in the form of low-quality episodes on YouTube. At least we'll always have the comforting purgatory of "Friends."