Fans couldn't get over George Clooney's memorable cameo in Friends season 1. The sitcom was known for its ample amount of big-name celebrity cameos, but Clooney's was extra special. Here's the story behind Clooney's role and why it wasn't an ER crossover like many viewers believed.
Clooney portrayed Dr. Michael Mitchell in the Friends season 1 episode "The One With Two Parts: Part Two". After spraining her ankle from falling off of the balcony in the previous episode, Rachel went to the hospital. Since she didn't have health insurance, she asked Monica to switch names with her. While at the hospital, Rachel set up a double-date for herself and Monica with the two doctors that worked on her ankle. One of the doctors was played by Clooney, who agreed to the offer but was horrified by Rachel and Monica's actions while on the date.
When Clooney made his Friends cameo in 1995, he was a growing superstar on NBC's medical drama, ER. The series premiered just a few days before Friends debuted on the same network, and the two shows served as fundamental programming on the hefty schedule. Since Clooney played a doctor on Friends, many viewers thought he was reprising his role as Dr. Doug Ross with an ER crossover. There was also the factor of cameoing alongside his ER co-star Noah Wyle, but the duo were playing entirely different characters on Friends, so there wasn't an official crossover. The cameos were just a fun opportunity for NBC to interweave some of the stars from their most popular shows.
Even if a segment of viewers didn't watch ER, almost everyone was familiar with Clooney and his role as a "hot doctor on that medical show." To throw a nod at ER's increasing popularity, Friends found the chance to give Clooney and Wyle a cameo that poked fun at their NBC gigs. The cameo was truly a network stunt that benefited both programs while serving up a fun storyline for all involved. The fact that Clooney and Wyle played doctors with new identities was also a way to give a nod to Rachel and Monica switching their names.
Clooney remained a series regular on ER until 1999 before making other appearances on the series in 2000 and 2009. The actor decided to leave in order to focus his time on film roles, which worked out very well in his career. He never reappeared on Friends, but he did make a lifelong connection with Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel on the sitcom. Years after her character asked the doctor out on a double-date, she married Brad Pitt, an actor who became close friends and avid co-stars on various projects with Clooney. Clooney and Aniston's paths crossed on a number of occasions, but they will always have that 1995 episode of Friends in common.
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