Mr. Meatball Man

I agree that when you really think about it, it shouldn't have been a huge shock that the show was cancelled. But for the people behind the show, it was a combination of how abrupt it was and the fact that they've been doing this for ten years. Now, they have to say goodbye, the whole crew has to find new jobs, and people are scrambling to make sense of their careers now since the writer's strike is going on. And there was literally no time to prepare since it was done after the show wrapped production for the year. With the way everything turned out, the best time to end the series would have been last year. Adam graduated high school, Erica got pregnant, it's the last appearance of Murray. There was nothing else the show had to do after that. It makes me wonder why ABC even bothered bringing the show back if they were going to dump it like this. Also, this is pretty much a rule of thumb at this point, but when main cast members leave, that's the end of the series. At most, it gets one more season where things are slightly off and then it just ends. It's crazy how The Goldbergs went out almost exactly how Mom went out, and they both premiered the same year (2013).

I'm not going to blame the writers because there was probably no heads-up given that the show was getting cancelled. Usually, with long-running shows, they at least get some kind of warning, or it's decided early on that this current season will be the last one. I remember when Modern Family was airing its tenth season and there were rumors circulating that it would be the last one. They ended up negotiating for one more season, but since there was a good chance season ten would be it, they at least knew they had to prepare a series finale just in case. ABC probably gave the writers and producers no indication that the show was in danger, there were no rumors circulating. That interview the showrunners did in August had them sounding really confident about the show's future, like they were entering a brand new era. The network could have at least told them earlier that the show was getting cancelled so they had time to rewrite things and make a real series finale. Hayley Orrantia found out the show was getting cancelled a day before she filmed her final scenes, and they didn't even film anything as the entire family because all their scenes were separate.

I find it interesting that they did this episode and it never came up again. The only character that consistently had trouble paying for things was Joey, and Rachel and Phoebe rarely did (except for that episode where Joey got Phoebe a job on Days of Our Lives). Monica had issues with money in season two, but it wasn't like she was broke and couldn't afford to pay rent or take care of herself. Ross was unemployed for a year and not once did it ever come up that he was having issues with money.

Does anyone else feel like it was ridiculous for Rachel to give Ross that letter and expect him to read it right then and there? It's 18 pages (front and back) and it was 5:30 in the morning. When the hell did Rachel even write that? On the same night? How much time passed between Ross breaking up with Bonnie and Rachel writing it? It can take hours for the average person to reply to a text or a DM, it would literally take days for Ross to read that letter thoroughly, analyze every part of it, and come to a conclusion. I don't know, that whole episode was proof that Ross and Rachel no longer made sense as a couple.

Yeah, that's the one. It plays when Rachel's boarding the plane. I keep thinking it's the song that plays at the end of the episode, but that's a Jefferson Airplane song. The finale was pretty good. I wouldn't call it one of the best episodes of the series, but it was a respectable way to wrap everything up. Maybe a few things that bothered me (they really tried hard with the stupid Joey jokes), but not enough to ruin the episode. Actually, that got me thinking. When Joey asked if the apartment has always been purple, was that just another stupid joke or was it a meta joke? Like one of those things fans would wonder about for years and the show's making fun of itself?

Yeah, I mixed them up with Pearl Jam. Friends was the first show to license a Pearl Jam song, not Led Zeppelin. All the producers had to do was ask the band. You know why I thought it was Led Zeppelin? Because The Sopranos was the first show to license their music. I never liked this plot. Why couldn't Phoebe let Joey sleep? He could have killed them both if he didn't stay awake.

Wasn't Friends the first show to license a Led Zeppelin song? Before that, their music had never been used on television. I know the show was huge back then, but looking at this thread, their music budget must have been enormous. Some sitcoms that use licensed music have to replace it for streaming because of how much it would cost to clear it now. It's like how hip hop in the 80s used to have hundreds of samples on an album which would be impossible to clear now. I know The Adventures of Pete & Pete wasn't on DVD or streaming for a long time because of how much money it would cost to clear the music they used on the show.

I don't know, the whole Cassie thing didn't bother me as much as it did other people. At least it gave us that great scene where Ross was trying to rationalize it in his head. Also, I really liked the Joey plot. My favorite moment was when Monica asked him if there was anything to work with and Joey doesn't say anything. He just gives her a blank stare. That always kills me.

I think Joey was a Mets fan at one point. Him and Janice went to see them play on their day of fun. But since the Yankees were the better team back then, they changed it. I'm surprised they were able to include dialogue about the Subway Series. I know the episodes are filmed in advance, but that was only by a couple weeks and it was really specific dialogue about what happened in the series.

Maybe a new network will offer to pick up the show, but the cast will be completely over it by that point? 🤣

I was watching TOW Rachel is Late the other day and this part killed me. "Get out! Get out, get out, get out!" .......... "Let's." Also, Ross talking about being a seahorse. 🤣🤣

I watched "Amadoofus" this morning and these lines stood out to me. "Why do I keep agreeing to these things?" "I really need to stop coming back home." When the writers are aware that Brea serves no purpose on the show anymore and she doesn't even want to be around these people, I think it's time to write her off. Jackie was never heard from or mentioned again after season six, but they love Brea so much, they keep bringing her back for pointless cameos? Also, didn't they already make this joke earlier in the season, about Brea missing midterms because Beverly tricked her into coming back home to see Adam?

I always thought Joey was screwed over when it came to relationships. Every time he was interested in a woman beyond sex, she either didn't like him back, turned into someone else, or couldn't commit. It's almost like the show admitting that Joey wasn't meant to have a real relationship, even though he believed he would go the distance if the right woman came along. I know Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow pitched the idea that Joey and Phoebe were having a hidden sexual relationship in the later seasons, but the writers didn't like it. I know this doesn't answer the original question, but Joey and Phoebe made too much sense to not at least give it a shot.

Yeah, her hair was really short in season four. I think Monica was at her best in the earlier seasons, when her voice was deeper and she was neurotic, but not to a ridiculous degree. They made her more insane over time, but I feel like that ruined her character. She couldn't handle that as well as Ross did. On top of that, her voice got higher and that made her delivery worse. Like when she says "Chandler has two copies of Annie!" I just feel like slapping her. Honestly, Ross is the only character who benefitted from becoming more exaggerated. Everyone else just irritated me.

They always show that on Nick at Nite. But as I've stated multiple times before, Monica was horrible in that episode. Speaking of Monica, you know which line I always hated? "You're gonna do some feet flirting!" I don't know if the line itself is bad or the delivery is awkward, but it never worked for me. It sucks all the air out of the room whenever I hear it. At least Ross saves the scene when he asks Phoebe about the toe ring.