Other than the six members of the Central Perk gang (and Gunther), there really weren't too many other series regulars on Friends, the highly popular sitcom based on a group of pals living in Manhattan. However, there was one individual that kept popping up virtually anytime Chandler's life started going well: Janice.
For a recurring character who only appeared in 20 of the shows 236 episodes, Janice's relationship with the gang and more specifically, Chandler, added a surprisingly interesting and in-depth sub-plot to the show with her character getting a very conclusive story-arc. But while all of that may be true, she ultimately didn't end up with Chandler - and here's our list of 5 reasons why she should've (and 5 why Monica was the right choice).
Janice: They both used emphasis/Oh my God!
Oh my God, could this answer be any truer? One of the main characteristics of Chandler's personality throughout the show was the fact that he emphasized nearly everything he said (quite often to enhance the punchline of a joke he was telling).
They even had an entire segment of an episode where the rest of the gang made fun of him for it. As it turns out, the woman he ended up despising by the end of the series was very much like Chandler in that respect, seeing as how every word out of her mouth was whiny and pronounced dramatically.
Monica: Balanced Chandler out
Monica and Chandler may have created one of the most adorable couples in sitcom history, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that they were polar opposites of one another.
While Janice was incredibly similar to Chandler and their relationship created an overload of incessant noise, Monica was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and was able to bring balance to Chandler's goofy, sarcastic personality - and vice versa. Chandler's nonchalant and passive attitude helped to tone down Monica's manic and obsessive tendencies to a much more tolerable level for audiences.
Janice: Chandler wanted to stay with her
Even though Chandler ended up with Monica, neither one of the members of the Friends power-couple believes that they're soulmates or that they were destined to end up together, and audiences should never forget that there was a certain point in time when Chandler wanted to end up with Janice.
It occurred in season 3 when Janice was in the middle of a divorce and decided to leave Chandler to go back with her husband - Chandler begged relentlessly to get Janice to stay, to the point of stealing her high-heel away. He may have not been able to stand her once she returned, but there was a brief moment where Chandler genuinely wanted to end up with Janice forever.
Monica: Never cheated on Chandler
With a big tally in the win-column for Monica that occurred during the exact same episode as the instance above, Monica has always been faithful to her childish counter-part. But in the season 3 episode where Janice admits that she's leaving Chandler to go back to her husband, she's ultimately found out in the first place because Joey spots her kissing her husband, the Mattress King, in his office.
To make it even worse, Chandler confronted her about the 'kiss' and Janice says, "in the park?" She admits to cheating just those two times but those two were already two more than Monica ever did.
Janice: Might've been able to have biological kids with him
One of the most emotional, and tragic, side-stories of the Friends series was that Monica and Chandler, the shows poster couple and one of the best duos of the group, couldn't biologically have children together.
However, we do know Janice was able to have children since she did so with other men during the show. It's true that Chandler was also infertile, but 1 out of 2 odds is better than 0 out of 2.
Monica: Adopted children together
Since Monica and Chandler genuinely loved one another and wanted to spend their lives together, the fact that they ultimately couldn't conceive a child together was certainly an emotional blow. Luckily, it was nothing more than a slightly deterring speed-bump on their road to starting a family.
Couples are justified to want to start their own families and do so with their own partners, but for people such as Monica and Chandler who have inhospitable environments and low-motility adoption is a wonderful solution that helps a lot of children find homes that they need. Nice job, Mondler, this was a heart-warming moment.
Janice: She kept showing up
How I Met Your Mother, another classic sitcom set about a group of friends in New York City, taught us the lesson that the universe has a plan and that things are constantly in motion to make sure people are in the right place at the right time.
For Chandler, it certainly seemed like that meant Janice because no matter where he was she kept popping up. For Monica, it wasn't really fair - she lived across the hall so they were always hanging out anyways. But when it came to Janice, there was virtually no safe place for Chandler to hide as she made an appearance in every single season of the series.
Monica: She supported Chandler quitting his job
This may not seem like a big one, but for a couple that was trying to start a family, it's actually a very big deal. In season 9 when Chandler quits his job in Tulsa, Monica doesn't hesitate for a second because it means that she'll get to have her husband back all the time.
Not only that, she was more than happy to help Chandler with his job search and ultimately gave him the idea for his new career in advertising. This was a sitcom so any real-world consequences were always going to be played down a bit, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an actual woman looking to have a child and an unemployed husband at the same time.
Janice: Chandlers jokes/Janice's laugh
Even if Chandler finally reached a point where kissing Janice made his testicles shoot up into his stomach, they were arguably the best match for one another for one simple reason - Chandler's copious amounts of jokes combined with Janice's laugh.
As we stated, there was a point where Chandler genuinely seemed to love Janice, and that included her signature nasally, cackling laugh. If things had stayed that way and the couple had never broken up, it's fairly conclusive to say that the two of them could've kept each other entertained for the rest of their days.
Monica: Became brothers with his best friend
Call it more of a perk (a central perk, if you will) than an actual conscious choice, but the fact that Chandler became brothers-in-law with his best friend and college roommate when he tied the knot with Monica had to have been a wonderful kicker. When it came to Janice, she already had a child with her ex-husband and made it clear from her cheating fiasco that she had a lot of baggage and wasn't exactly bringing anything other than drama to Chandler's life.
Arguably, if Chandler hadn't fallen in love with Monica and ended up just messing around with his best friend's little sister he probably would've found himself in a much more dramatic boat. Luckily, Chandler did fall in love with his neighbor-across-the-hall and ended up with a brother as a cherry on top.