David Crane and Marta Kauffman’s “Pals” is likely one of the nice haunt sitcoms of all time. Constructed round six immensely interesting and proficient younger actors, the sequence supplied a peppy portrait of twentysomething/thirtysomething Technology X ennui. Its characters weren’t essentially aimless, however they undoubtedly did not have it collectively. What they did have was one another, which was a weekly Should-See TV balm for the souls of many a Gen X-er going by way of related tsuris within the Nineties and 2000s.
Whereas viewers all around the world may relate to the struggles of Monica (Courtney Cox), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Ross (David Schwimmer), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), there have been elements of those characters’ lives that had been a tad exhausting to swallow. Positive, many people knew what it was prefer to wrestle to get by in a bustling metropolis like New York Metropolis (I lived there in the course of the peak of the sequence’ recognition), however none of us may ever hope to slug it out whereas residing in a stunningly spacious house within the West Village. As somebody who did a good quantity of house hopping throughout that interval, I’ll let you know that if a dealer (which I could not afford within the first place) confirmed me a flat akin to Monica and Rachel’s place, I’d’ve punched them within the face for attempting to humiliate me. That is a wealthy particular person’s house.
How wealthy? That is a query many individuals have requested over time, and whereas we will not provide you with precise numbers for fictional lodging, we are able to ballpark it. Put together to be astonished.
Monica and Rachel didn’t pay market worth for the house
Based on Architectural Digest, Monica’s “shabby stylish” and “countrycore” house would’ve set off a bidding warfare the second it hit the market. So how did Monica land such prime Manhattan actual property? Her grandmother illegally sublet it to her!
Per the present’s canon, the house is rent-controlled, which suggests the unit’s hire will increase had been moderately incremental to not drive the un-moneyed tenant (on this case Monica’s grandmother) out of her residence and, probably, onto the streets. This implies Nana, who’d retired to Florida, occupied this house for fairly a while, and, as a senior citizen accumulating Social Safety within the Sunshine State (as was her proper as a as soon as hard-working American), in all probability did not have to cost her granddaughter market worth for the unit.
When you issue this in, you are within the too-good-to-be-true realm of Hollywood leisure, like Adam Sandler’s unemployed protagonist in Paul Thomas Anderson’s beloved “Large Daddy” residing in a Manhattan loft as a result of he banked a large settlement off a minor accident. At this level, you need to in all probability simply shrug and benefit from the fantasy, which is simple to do as a result of “Pals” was a constantly hilarious present with only a few dud episodes. However you continue to have to know, proper? Spoiler: Monica and Rachel would’ve by no means sniffed a Manhattan house of that caliber.
Monica and Rachel fell $200,000 in need of with the ability to afford their house
In 2024, Architectural Digest cited the real-estate concierge firm Intelligent, which used present Division of Labor statistics to find out that occupants Rachel and Monica — who labored, respectively, as a chef and a waitress on the sequence’ outset — earned $120,000 a 12 months mixed. They then zeroed in on house 12A at 136 Waverly Place within the West Village as a stand-in for the unit (estimated to be someplace between 1,125 and 1,500 sq. ft) and determined Monica and Rachel would’ve needed to pull down no less than $321,429 mixed to afford the hire straight-up. In the event that they needed to buy the unit, they’d need to make $782,379 to cowl the $2.65 million it could go for on immediately’s market. Clearly, any member of the “Pals” solid may afford to purchase all the constructing these days.
Had Crane and Kauffman taken a practical strategy to “Pals,” they might’ve positioned Monica and Rachel in a railroad house someplace in Alphabet Metropolis, which might’ve lent the present a decidedly gritty air that in all probability would not have appealed to individuals who like their community sitcom settings to be aspirational. Contemplating the circles the “Pals” gang traveled in, there additionally would’ve been extra job turnover and copious cocaine use. Once more, as a result of I lived in New York Metropolis on the time, I’d’ve beloved this. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that NBC would possibly’ve frowned at such an outline.