# Janice on Friends? Not Fran Drescher, was it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 1999, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324 "1999-12-24T03:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/1 "1999-12-24T03:38:00Z")
My whole family is convinced that Fran Drescher played Janice on Friends. I know that can’t possibly be right, they don’t even _look_ alike. So who was it? * * * Cessandra It’s frightening how many crazies think that world is going to end in a few days. All of us smart people know that it’s not ending until next year. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/2 "1999-12-24T03:49:00Z")
That would be Maggie Wheeler. How could _anyone_ mistake _anyone_ for Fran Drescher? ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/3 "1999-12-24T03:50:00Z")
Fran’s voice is just a tinge more annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/4 "1999-12-24T03:58:00Z")
I knew it! Now, the question is, should I tell my family and be ridiculed for being right? Or just keep it to myself and laugh at them all night? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 1999, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/5 "1999-12-24T05:41:00Z")
Well, you could print off this page [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Wheeler,+Maggie](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Wheeler,+Maggie) and simply leave it out for them to find. * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/6 "1999-12-28T14:22:00Z")
If you really want to freak out your family, Cess, there’s a rumor that Fran did hardcore before she made the big time. I’ve seen pictures of the alledged performance, and the resemblance is remarkable. No, it’s not her head cut-n-pasted on Linda Lovelace, either. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/7 "1999-12-28T15:06:00Z")
## Just for some more useless information (I’m full of it, ya know) but the girl who played Janice also was in the first season of _Ellen_. She was one of Ellen’s friends. “Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.” ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 1999, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/8 "1999-12-28T17:27:00Z")
Wasn’t Ellen’s show originally called _These Friends of Mine_ or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/9 "1999-12-29T07:18:00Z")
MPSIMS: Elaine also tried to fix her up with George in an old Seinfeld episode. I was shocked to discover that she doesn’t really talk like Janice. * * * ~Kyla “You couldn’t fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electrified fooling machine.” ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/janice-on-friends-not-fran-drescher-was-it/12324/10 "1999-12-29T13:44:00Z")
Gilligan–yes. This was the first season, when the show was just a clone of “Seinfeld.”