Marcel the monkey from 'Friends' is set to be a TV star again
Marcel was always bound for great things.
It's been a lot of years since we spent any time with Ross Geller's pet capuchin monkey on Friends -- she's actually a female named Katie with her own IMDb page. But that may change once Y: The Last Man, a Brian K. Vaughn comic book adapted for TV, hits FX.
It's not yet certain that Katie will make the final cut, but FX CEO John Landgraf confirmed it was her during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, per The Hollywood Reporter. He first noticed -- and recognized -- Katie as he looked through early cuts of Y.
In a subsequent check-in with Katie's trainer, THR was able to confirm her involvement in the show. It's been a long time since that first season of Friends, which premiered in 1994, but Katie -- who must have been so young back then! -- is apparently in her mid-to-late 20s.
In Y: The Last Man, Katie is once again playing the opposite sex. The comic follows Yorick Brown (played by Barry Keoghan in the series) as he comes to grips with a world where an infectious disease has wiped out every man on the planet, save for Yorick himself and his monkey friend, Ampersand (Katie) -- apparently the only other male mammal that survived.
It's worth noting that Katie may not appear on the series when all is said and done. As THR notes, a shuffling of showrunners on Y: The Last Man has opened up the possibility that Katie will be replaced by a computer-generated performer.
That said, Friends is still a beloved series in 2019. With so many options on TV and streaming services these days, a capuchin monkey gone viral could be the kind of marketing win that helps Y: The Last Man stand out.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
