On sitcoms, recurring characters can be just as significant as the show’s stars; Janice Hosenstein, who played Maggie Wheeler on “Friends,” was a prime example of this. Janice appeared in and out of every season of the popular sitcom as Chandler Bing’s (Matthew Perry) on-again, off-again lover, bringing the laughs with her at every turn. In contrast to Gunther (James Michael Tyler) and Jack Geller (Elliott Gould), Janice made an astounding 19 guest appearances over the course of 10 seasons.
Janice, who was well-known for her nasally voice and catchphrase “Oh. My. God,” was the adorably annoying ex from whom Chandler could never get away, much to the delight of the audience. Janice was truly a sweet, sincere, and loving person, and the audience absolutely adored her, despite the way he played her off as an inconvenient and bothersome annoyance. It’s difficult to imagine the “Friends” show without one of the best “Friends” ex-girlfriends. No other “Friends” ex has appeared in all 10 seasons, and many people overlook the fact that Chandler knew Janice for a long time before Season 1 introduced viewers to their relationship.
Janice’s romance with Chandler begins quite early on Friends
Janice made her debut as Chandler’s girlfriend in Season 1, Episode 5 (“The One With the East German Laundry Detergent”). Prior to the commencement of the show, the two were dating, but Chandler was ready to break things off with Janice that very episode. He repeatedly tried to cut things up with her, but every time Janice sobbed and cried, he gave in and changed his mind. When Chandler found himself helpless in the face of her grief, he repeatedly tried to end their relationship before turning to Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow).
Phoebe was an expert at ending relationships, so she promised to assist Chandler in putting an end to their relationship with Janice once and for all. Janice sat down with the eccentric masseuse at the coffee shop, and although the viewers couldn’t hear their talk, everything proceeded without a hitch, and Janice left without incident. Though he ended up inviting her to the group’s New Year’s Eve party in Episode 10 (“The One With the Monkey”), Chandler just wasn’t quite ready to move on from his ex. Before the night was out, he broke up with her a second time.
The romance between Janice and Chandler from Season 1 was still going strong, though. Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) took Chandler on a blind double date in episode 14 (“The One With the Candy Hearts”), when he was taken aback by Janice’s attendance at dinner. The two ended up having a nice time, having a drunken night together, and waking up next to each other the next morning. Janice concurred after Chandler informed her that he didn’t want to get engaged once more. She acknowledged that she had always known Chandler would return to her, and boy, had she been correct.
Janice decides that her and Chandler are done, she moves on
In Season 2, Chandler learned that he was just like his downstairs neighbour, Mr. Heckles, and that he had dumped Janice for petty reasons (Larry Hankin). Janice agreed to meet him at Central Perk after he called her to try to get back together. Janice was pregnant, much to his and everyone else’s surprise. She acknowledged to Chandler that she was a “married lady” as well. Although Janice’s wedding date is never specified, we know it took place between Season 1’s finale and Episode 3 of Season 2. (“The One Where Heckles Dies”). Gary Litman, also known as the Mattress King, who ran a business with the same name, ended up being the lucky one. Janice and Gary had a daughter together, but Gary eventually cheated on her, bringing her back into Chandler’s life.
Chandler encountered a mysterious woman online in the Season 2 finale (“The One With Barry and Mindy’s Wedding”) who revealed to him that her husband was having an affair. He ultimately fell for his online love, and they decided to meet up at the coffee shop. Naturally, it was Janice who was the woman. The two reconnected while Janice and Gary were still together, and it was without a doubt the most invested Chandler had ever been in their relationship during the course of the 10 seasons. In reality, the couple dated for a considerable amount of time, lasting well into Season 3.
In Season 3 Janice makes a life-changing decision
In Season 3, Chandler and Janice enjoyed their most successful relationship to date, with the former even requesting that his girlfriend, who was married, move in with him. The two remained together and exchanged their first “I Love Yous” after Janice declined Chandler’s proposal since she was a little nervous. Things for the couple later in Season 3 took a dramatic turn when Janice made a decision that ended her relationship with Chandler.
We saw a Mattress King commercial in Episode 7 (“The One With the Race Car Bed”) where Gary leveraged his divorce as a marketing gimmick. The attractive prices in the advertisement attracted Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), who went shopping with Phoebe and bought a queen bed at the store. A red race car bed was unintentionally delivered to her apartment due to a mix-up, which prompted Monica and Joey to return to the Mattress King to express their displeasure. Joey observed Janice having a sexual encounter with her divorced husband while they were there. After Joey told Chandler about the infidelity, Janice acknowledged kissing Gary twice.
She confessed to Chandler her love for both Gary and him and her confusion over what to do. Chandler urged Janice to try again in her marriage after relating a tale about how much he despised the man who ended the union of his own parents. In Episode 8, she consented, and the couple permanently parted ways (“The One With the Giant Poking Device”). But the couple wasn’t quite through with their romance yet.
Janice finds another Friend in Ross, which ends faster than it started
Janice finally made a return in Season 4, Episode 15 (“The One with All the Rugby”) after 24 episodes without making an appearance, after stumbling into Chandler and Rachel Greene (Jennifer Aniston) at a nail salon. Chandler was not interested in catching up with Janice for the nth time, despite Janice being attached to him after believing it was fate that they had reconnected. Chandler informed Janice that he had to relocate to Yemen for work in order to prevent their reconciliation. She assisted him with packing before dropping him off at the airport, where he later flew to the Middle East. As a result, Chandler and Janice’s romance was permanently over, and for the remainder of the series, they remained apart. That didn’t stop Janice from reappearing though.
Janice reappeared in Season 5, Episode 12 (“The One With Chandler’s Work Laugh”), but this time she had her sights set on a different acquaintance. Ross was in a depressive state when he came into Janice while wandering the streets of New York after learning that his ex-wife Emily (Helen Baxendale) was remarrying. The two ended up in bed together. Ross had a great time with Janice, but in an unexpected turn of events, she broke things off with him because she considered him to be too whiny and unpleasant. When she ran into Joey after leaving Ross by himself in Central Perk, she said, “I suppose that’s two out of three,” and she then burst out laughing. Thankfully, Janice was unable to achieve the trifecta, and we doubt Joey would have permitted her to.
But Janice is like a haunting memory, she’s never fully gone
Although Janice’s love relationship with Chandler and Ross was officially over in Season 5, the show’s creators understood they couldn’t get rid of the endearing character. She continued to appear intermittently for five more seasons, frequently colliding with a member of the group at the worst possible time. When Janice was brought into the same hospital room Ross and Rachel were in during the Season 7 finale (“The One Where Rachel Has A Baby, Parts 1 and 2”), we learned that she had remarried and was pregnant. Aaron Goralnik, Janice’s first child, was born after she wed Sid Goralnik (Maurice Godin). After Rachel gave birth to Emma, she had a heart-to-heart with her and warned her that she should exercise caution as a single mother since fathers are rarely as wonderful as they constantly claim to be.
Later on in Season 9, Janice ran into Chandler at the fertility clinic that he and Monica were visiting to try to conceive. Janice gave Chandler a helping hand before he made his “deposit,” and they had a good talk during which she assured her ex that he and Monica would make a wonderful family.
Janice was last seen in Season 10 when she came across Monica and Chandler as they were looking for a home on Long Island. She and Sid turned out to be interested in purchasing the home that Chandler and Monica desired next door, so they devised a scheme to get rid of her. Chandler pretended to still be interested in Janice, claiming that he was happy that she would be living next door and that he still wanted her. The perfect conclusion to Janice’s 10-season saga came when she gave Chandler one final kiss before leaving because she was too afraid to make an offer on the other house.
