On January 18th, 1996, the "Friends" episode, "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" aired on NBC. Airing within the shows second season, the episode is often credited with containing the first lesbian wedding depicted on American primetime television. In the episode, Ross's ex-wife Carol Willick, marries her partner, Susan Bunch in a ceremony officiated by gay-rights activist, Candace Gingrich. The episode was the highest-rated television program of that week, with approximately 31.6 million viewers. "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman said that NBC expected thousands of phone calls and hate mail from angered viewers, but only actually received four complaints by telephone.
