"Friends" Forced to Reshoot

Even NBC's hit comedy Friends is getting reworked following the tragedies, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Producers have reshot the third episode of the season, which takes place entirely in an airport and features Monica ( Courteney Cox Arquette) and Chandler ( Matthew Perry) arriving several hours before their honeymoon flight.

"A lot of it had to do with how ridiculous it was for crazy, obsessive Monica to want to get there three hours in advance," Friends executive producer David Crane tells the Inquirer. "Two weeks ago, that would have been ridiculous. It's not ridiculous now. Everybody's doing it now. A lot of the comedy in it didn't feel funny, so we reshot the story line."

The episode is still scheduled to air October 11. But it's an odd moment for Friends--a happy-go-lucky series usually only offensive for its portrayal of New York as a city where young people can find or afford a 3,000-square-foot apartment.

The move was just one of many to take place as a shaken Hollywood continues rethinking, reworking and rescheduling in the wake of last week's attacks. Among the latest changes:

• The West Wing (news - web sites) creator Aaron Sorkin has asked that NBC postpone his show's season premiere, which is still scheduled for next Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. Network sources told the paper that the request did not have to do with any specific content in the episode, but Sorkin just had a general concern with how viewers will respond to the Oval Office drama given its political tone. The networks have already postponed their fall season premieres, but no word on whether the Peacock is willing to delay it any further.
  
• Although CBS originally hoped to salvage the pilot episode of its new CIA series The Agency, it ain't happening. The network has pulled its premiere episode, which included a reference to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and a bomb being planted at Harrods department store in London. Next Thursday's premiere will be an already-shot episode revolving around a plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro (news - web sites). The pilot episode will likely never see the light of day.
  
• Disney on Wednesday postponed its scheduled December release of Bad Company, an action-comedy starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. The film, directed by Joel Schumacher, revolves around a CIA operation and features a band of terrorists as the villains. The film will now come out sometime in 2002.
  
• Up-and-coming New York-based band the Strokes have halted distribution of their debut album for RCA in order to remove a song called "New York City Cops." The tune, a third-person tale about a couple on the run, featured the refrain, "New York City Cops/They ain't too smart." The band decided to remove the track and record a new one over the weekend--a far less offensive song called "When It Started." The album's release has now been pushed back from next Tuesday to October 9.

  "It's not a 'Cop Killer' song in any sense," says band spokesman Jim Merlis. "But they know, having been in New York City, that it's just inappropriate right now."