Honestly I don’t remember it before then, and the other characters seemed to act like this was a personality quirk that only Chandler had.
As an aside, I found it really funny when Pheobe was talking about her “BFF” and the other characters were staring at her blankly so she had to explain it to them.
I do not recall ever hearing that prior to Chandler Bing.
The character of Chandler is basically not a character at all; Perry was one of the first cast member they picked and, aside from being asked to drop a few Canadian accent markers, the character was pretty much just meant to be Perry. So it’s possible that this is a verbal tic Perry himself brought to the role.
I believe in the first seasons, it was actually Ross who said that sarcastic phrase. A long time ago I happened to catch some reruns and was surprised when Ross said it. I guess switching the phrase to Chandler was part of the tweaking in the first season. Anyone know for sure if it was Ross’s saying first?
The emphatic ‘BE’ is very much Matthew Perry’s personal thing. If anyone did it before him they never made integral into their personality that I can recall either. Some comics I recall frequent emphasis of words in a similar way, but more as part of a joke, not ordinary dialogue, and not with the consistency that he did, along with other mannerisms we associate with the character and the actor.
ETA: It would be interesting if Ross had the line first. I think he and others used the technique sarcastically in the show also.
I had some automated tools look through the Friends transcripts at Friends Transcripts to see if I could find the line I remember Ross saying versus Chandler. These are some possibilities:
https://fangj.github.io/friends/season/0205.html
<p>ROSS: Could you be less enthused?</p>
https://fangj.github.io/friends/season/0403.html
Chandler: Could we be more white trash?
…
Chandler: Could there be more Kims?
I’m not sure if the one from 0205 is the one I’m remembering. I can see the scene in my head–Ross is standing behind the couch in Monica’s apartment–but I can’t remember the context. Ross’s line doesn’t seem sarcastic. I’m wondering if his delivery had the same cadence as the sarcastic lines that Chandler would say. That may be why I’m attributing the saying initially to Ross.
The** be** is bolded in Chandler’s lines in the second script. I didn’t notice any other bolding in either script, although they may not be consistent that way. Maybe the first time Chandler did it on the show he was mocking Ross.
I was a huge Friends fan. Chandler was first to say it that way, as I recall - maybe even in the series premiere - and Ross later once or twice mimicked him.
When I was in college in the mid 80’s I had a friend that used that phrase quite regularly in conversation. His most frequent use was, “could you be more obtuse?” usually directed at another one of our friends.
My friend grew up in New England.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian - I recall Matthias, Son of Deuteronomy of Gath using the whiny “how could it BE any worse…” line which is close.
He doesn’t put any Chandlerian emphasis on the word “be,” though - listen at 2:58 here: life of brian - clip - the stoning scene - YouTube
Have people listened to this SNL sketch from 1998 with Matthew Perry teaching a course on sarcasm?:
It’s not a million miles away from Don Adams.
That’s funny, he’s much more low-key sarcastic in that skit than Friends.