Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom Friends (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of the show's 236 episodes, from its premiere in 1994, to its finale in 2004. A chef known for her cleanliness, competitiveness and obsessive-compulsive nature, Monica is the younger sister of Ross Geller and best friend of Rachel Green, the latter of whom she invites to live with her after Rachel forsakes her own wedding. The two characters spend several years living together as roommates until Monica begins a romantic relationship with long-time neighbor and friend Chandler Bing, whom she marries. Unable to conceive children on their own, Chandler and Monica eventually adopt twins Erica and Jack and move out of their apartment into a larger house in the suburbs.

"The Pilot"—also known as "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate", "The First One", and "The One Where It All Began"—is the pilot episode and series premiere of the American television sitcom Friends. The episode premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. It was written by the show's creators, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and directed by James Burrows. The pilot introduces six twenty-something friends who live and work in New York City: Monica Geller, a single sous chef in her mid 20s who is illegally subletting her grandmother's apartment; Ross Geller, Monica's older brother, a paleontologist whose marriage recently ended after he learned his wife, Carol, is a lesbian; Rachel Green, Monica's spoiled, self-centered, high-school best friend who has just left her fiancé at the altar and is financially cut off by her father; Chandler Bing, Ross's college roommate and best friend who lives across the hall from Monica; Joey Tribbiani, a struggling Italian-American actor and Chandler's roommate; and Phoebe Buffay, a laid-back, hippie-ish masseuse, singer and guitar player.