A Canceled Mayim Bialik Show Was Crucial For Jennifer Aniston
Long before Mayim Bialik became a household name for her role as Amy Farrah Fowler on "The Big Bang Theory," she was an up-and-coming child actor best known for playing a young Bette Midler in "Beaches." After the 1988 film, job offers for Bialik began rolling in, including a sitcom called "Molloy."
Though it only lasted seven episodes, "Molloy" was an important stepping stone for Bialik and her co-star, Jennifer Aniston. The series follows tween Molloy Martin (Bialik), who moves across the country to live in Los Angeles with her father and his family after her mother dies. It marked the television debut of the then-21-year-old Aniston, who played Courtney, Molloy's bratty older stepsister.
"Molloy" wasn't well-received, but luckily for Bialik, she had another pilot waiting in the wings. "Basically, when 'Blossom' came along, it was what I wanted to do, and I was really committed to doing it," a 15-year-old Bialik told The Washington Post in 1991. Even if "Molloy" had been picked up, Bialik would have stuck with "Blossom." "I would have said I'm not going to do ['Molloy'] because I'm not happy."
"Blossom" aired from 1991 to 1995, launching Bialik into the (admittedly short-lived) upper echelons of teen stardom. The "Molloy" cancellation also had a silver lining for Aniston. It freed up her schedule to join a little show called "Friends" in 1994. But first, she had to kiss a few more proverbial frogs in the network television world.
Aniston starred on three sitcoms before Friends
Jennifer Aniston nabbed a part on "Molloy" three months after moving to Los Angeles to make it as an actor. When it was canceled after a few episodes, she leapfrogged to different jobs. First up was the TV spin-off of "Ferris Bueller," where she played Ferris' spoiled sister. The series was canceled after 13 episodes.
Next, Aniston tried her hand at sketch comedy in "The Edge." The series starred Julie Brown, Wayne Knight of "Seinfeld" fame, future director Paul Feig, and Tom Kenny, who would go on to voice SpongeBob SquarePants. It couldn't compete with shows like "Saturday Night Live" and "In Living Color" and was canceled after one season.
Aniston's final failed sitcom before "Friends" was 1994's "Muddling Through," a mother-daughter comedy on CBS. By that point, Warren Littlefield, the president of NBC's entertainment division, had his eyes set on Aniston for "Friends" and exercised some of his TV influence. "Warren Littlefield turns to me and said, 'Kill it!'" Fox Senior Strategist Preston Beckman recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "So I did." Littlefield cast Aniston while she was still under contract for "Muddling Through."
"Molloy" may not have left a lasting impression, but Mayim Bialik looks back fondly at the show for setting the course of her and Aniston's careers. In 2015, she posted a behind-the-scenes photo of "Molloy" to Facebook.