Worst of Friends: Your Least Favorite Moments

[JNM5505]

No, you see. The only thing I can associate with the old USSR that has to do with science is sending monkeys into space. /snark

But understandable on why they chose Minsk over St. Petersburg or Moscow.

Also, a couple other things I forgot to mention in my previous post regarding TOW Cheesecakes.

If the cheesecake was delivered from Chicago, wouldn't it rot in that thousand mile journey? Why on earth would anyone get cheesecake from Chicago, a thousand miles away, when New York has famous cheesecakes right down the block? It just seems so unusual and random. It didn't even contribute to the plot. What would have been funny is if Chandler and Rachel decided to take a road trip to Mama's Little Bakery.

Was Stuart a character that appeared in season one? I can't remember the details as I've seen early episodes only once or twice. But I feel like he was a character that had appeared in season one. Also how do Monica and Ross have all these cousins, I didn't even know Jack and Judy had siblings. The Wikia for the show seems like it's the details of someone's fanfic.

[Joana]

If there's a country this show was weirdly obsessed with, it's the Netherlands. There were several instances spread out over several seasons of people coming from there and/or speaking Dutch. 

[Dr.OO7]

Speaking of cousins, what in God's name was with that godawful plot of Ross lusting after Cassie? To the point of actually making an advance to her and feebly explaining, "I haven't had sex in a very long time", in response to her horrified reaction.

Just. . .ugh!

[Inquisitionist]

16 hours ago, kinnej5 said:

If the cheesecake was delivered from Chicago, wouldn't it rot in that thousand mile journey? Why on earth would anyone get cheesecake from Chicago, a thousand miles away, when New York has famous cheesecakes right down the block? It just seems so unusual and random. It didn't even contribute to the plot.

You've never had perishables delivered by express mail?  There are ways to make them hold up quite well.  It's been a while since I saw this episode, but I think the point of having it shipped was for it to be found and stolen by the Friends.

[JNM5505]

16 hours ago, Camille said:

Speaking of cousins, what in God's name was with that godawful plot of Ross lusting after Cassie? To the point of actually making an advance to her and feebly explaining, "I haven't had sex in a very long time", in response to her horrified reaction.

Just. . .ugh!

I think... it was supposed to be a lead-up to when Ross and Rachel had sex a few weeks later.

But weird way to lead up. Ew.

[Bort]

I think all of it was just to get to the joke of Phoebe also lusting after Cousin Cassie. 

[JNM5505]

Already getting the Ross/Rachel vibes.

The writers can't seem to decide between Joey/Rachel and Ross/Rachel.

I'm glad they had her get knocked up by Ross. Plus it ties a neat little bow in that Bing/Geller/Green circle.

Also, the episodes between the holiday armadillo and the one where they all turn 30 are boring AF this time around! Am I the only one? They seem like filler episodes.

Edited August 31, 2018 by kinnej5

[Jax7917]

I don't enjoy the flashback , or  " what if " episodes . I just think there's too many of them and they all seem like fillers . 

[JNM5505]

Not only that, but as the seasons progress, there are more and more glaring errors. I understand the writers probably didn't expect the show to run ten seasons and they probably got wonderful ideas as time went by, such as Rachel and Chandler knowing one another or Monica and Joey almost happening in London. But that ruins what was established many seasons earlier, what we knew about Monica/Chandler hooking up in London is ruined, or the fact that Rachel and Chandler did know each other already. They met at least twice before the series premiere.

I don't like that "what if" episode from season six either. If the writers wanted to go with Rachel/Joey, instead of waiting another two seasons, we've gotten vibes for one season already. Just put them together already! I don't remember any other "what if..." from that episode or any other "what if..." episodes.

Oh, and I watched TOW They All Turn Thirty last night. Am I the only one to notice Rachel's short hair in Ross' birthday scenes and her long hair in Monica's birthday scenes? Ross is older than Monica, right?

[Inquisitionist]

11 minutes ago, JNM5505 said:

Oh, and I watched TOW They All Turn Thirty last night. Am I the only one to notice Rachel's short hair in Ross' birthday scenes and her long hair in Monica's birthday scenes? Ross is older than Monica, right?

Yes, Ross is two years older (I think) than Monica.  I hadn't noticed that hair continuity problem, but will look for it.

[Bort]

The Rachel/Chandler introductions never really bothered me. They first met at that Thanksgiving their senior year. Then they met again when she and Monica crashed the party at Ross and Chandler's dorm. Then again at the following Thanksgiving. She remembered him for both of those occurrences. She didn't see him again until six years later, a year before the first episode, and Monica didn't even reintroduce him, she just referred to him as "my friend." He looked pretty different from the previous times she'd seen him with those trendy Flock of Seagulls/Miami Vice looks, plus Rachel had transformed into a rather vacuous Long Island socialite. Then she finally met him again in the first episode, when she had just run out on her wedding, and was probably a bit preoccupied. So taking all that into account, I don't find it odd that she didn't seem to remember him.

2 hours ago, JNM5505 said:

I watched TOW They All Turn Thirty last night. Am I the only one to notice Rachel's short hair in Ross' birthday scenes and her long hair in Monica's birthday scenes? Ross is older than Monica, right?

I'm pretty sure Rachel had long hair in the Ross flashbacks. 

[Nellise]

I actually don't have much of a problem with Rachel not remembering Chandler except that she's the one that remembered the Thanksgiving where Monica cut off Chandler's toe. It's more that Chandler didn't recognize her in the year before one when he knew she was the one Ross was in love with forever. That sort of breaks their "Bro" code from the college episode. Although, I guess at the time, Ross was married so maybe bro-codes go away then.

Edited August 31, 2018 by Nellise

[wendyg]

Joana, one word: YEMEN.

[Dr.OO7]

What the hell was with Joanna's relentless bullying of Sophie? We saw absolutely nothing that warranted such horrible treatment. And the worst part is, she did it so matter-of-factly, in the same tone of voice as if she were merely chatting with her.

[Nellise]

2 hours ago, Camille said:

What the hell was with Joanna's relentless bullying of Sophie? We saw absolutely nothing that warranted such horrible treatment. And the worst part is, she did it so matter-of-factly, in the same tone of voice as if she were merely chatting with her.

I always thought that's what the joke was: there was no obvious reason for it and that Joanna did it so matter-of-factly. It's sort of the same as the bullying of Jerry/Gerry/Larry/etc on Parks and Rec, there was no reason for it to be so over the top vicious which was why it was funny although a lot of people disliked that too.

[Madding crowd]

The payback to that storyline was when Joanna got hit by a car and Sophie came in with a big smile on her face. Rachel guessed she hadn’t heard the bad news and she says “Yes I did” with a big smile. 

[Danny Franks]

On 30/08/2018 at 7:35 AM, Camille said:

Speaking of cousins, what in God's name was with that godawful plot of Ross lusting after Cassie? To the point of actually making an advance to her and feebly explaining, "I haven't had sex in a very long time", in response to her horrified reaction.

Just. . .ugh!

The thing is, it doesn't strike me as that unlikely that Ross would be attracted to Cassie. He hadn't seen her since she was a teenager, and they clearly weren't that close. The fact she's now Denise Richards should have made an impact. But it was him actually thinking that he could, or should, make a move on her that was just bizarre. 

They could have done far more with that storyline, around the idea of Cassie unknowingly doing things that were driving Ross crazy, and not knowing why he was being so weird. 

I don't really mind the continuity lapses, when it comes to the flashback episodes. This is a show that aired back when people didn't really binge watch, and Chandler making a gag in season 1, only for it to be retconned in season 8 is no big deal to me. I can happily write that off as the characters forgetting, or mis-remembering stuff.

[slf]

On 8/30/2018 at 1:35 AM, Camille said:

Speaking of cousins, what in God's name was with that godawful plot of Ross lusting after Cassie? To the point of actually making an advance to her and feebly explaining, "I haven't had sex in a very long time", in response to her horrified reaction.

Just. . .ugh!

Friends thinks incest is funny? There were several icky moments between Ross and Monica as well, and Rachel dated that one guy who was way too close to his sister. I know there were other instances they just aren't immediately coming to mind.

Edited September 3, 2018 by slf

[JNM5505]

Speaking of Ross/Monica, there was so, so, so many glaring continuity errors in that episode. I'm not talking about Rachel and Chandler. There is so much wrong (excluding the incest itself) that leads up to Ross thinking he's kissing Rachel.

- Didn't Ross and Chandler live in a dorm? A dorm for two students? So why did he say a bed, when it's either his or Chandler's?

- Where did Ross and Chandler even sleep el oh el?

- The whole thing with Miss Sun, The Universe Revolves Around Me ––– erm, I mean Ellen Pompeo ––– #sorrynotsorry for saying that ––– made no sense! Why couldn't Ross hook up with her? And who was that other chick? Didn't they just meet? I didn't realize the bro-code was already so embedded in their friendship already!

- If Chandler didn't know he called Monica fat until that Thanksgiving episode in season 5, then why did she gloat about having lost four pounds eleven years earlier?

Edited September 3, 2018 by JNM5505

[Bort]

2 hours ago, JNM5505 said:

Speaking of Ross/Monica, there was so, so, so many glaring continuity errors in that episode. I'm not talking about Rachel and Chandler. There is so much wrong (excluding the incest itself) that leads up to Ross thinking he's kissing Rachel.

- Didn't Ross and Chandler live in a dorm? A dorm for two students? So why did he say a bed, when it's either his or Chandler's?

- Where did Ross and Chandler even sleep el oh el?

- The whole thing with Miss Sun, The Universe Revolves Around Me ––– erm, I mean Ellen Pompeo ––– #sorrynotsorry for saying that ––– made no sense! Why couldn't Ross hook up with her? And who was that other chick? Didn't they just meet? I didn't realize the bro-code was already so embedded in their friendship already!

All this was explained in the episode. Chandler put Rachel in his own bed, but Ross thought she was in HIS bed, when it was actually Monica.

Ross and Chandler had their bro code pact to not pursue girls the other was interested in, which was Ellen Pompeo and that other girl, that they both knew back when they were in school -- and broke the pact back then anyway.

[Nellise]

11 hours ago, JNM5505 said:

- If Chandler didn't know he called Monica fat until that Thanksgiving episode in season 5, then why did she gloat about having lost four pounds eleven years earlier?

 

Even though Monica was portrayed as being happy while fat, it was acknowledged as issue for her (she was sent to fat camp, and her doctors had apparently said something to her since she was aware of potential heart issues with her size). So for someone with weight issues, even losing 4 lbs is a big deal and really wasn't related to Chandler. It was only after Chandler called her fat she decided to make a drastic change. I think the idea is that young Monica was significantly bigger than they showed, but they were somewhat limited in making Courtney Cox look heavier without also making her look completely ridiculous.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Nellise

[Meushell]

18 hours ago, Nellise said:

Even though Monica was portrayed as being happy while fat, it was acknowledged as issue for her (she was sent to fat camp, and her doctors had apparently said something to her since she was aware of potential heart issues with her size). So for someone with weight issues, even losing 4 lbs is a big deal and really wasn't related to Chandler. It was only after Chandler called her fat she decided to make a drastic change. I think the idea is that young Monica was significantly bigger than they showed, but they were somewhat limited in making Courtney Cox look heavier without also making her look completely ridiculous.

That’s an interesting idea. Did they ever give a weight? That might not mean anything though. TV shows seem to underestimate how much an overweight woman would actually weigh, probably for the sake of the actress. I don’t think there is anyone to offend though if they applied a realistic weight to a fat suit character.

[Nellise]

9 hours ago, Meushell said:

That’s an interesting idea. Did they ever give a weight?

The only time I can think of that they mentioned a specific weight was when Monica and Ross were talking about wrestling as kids and Ross says something like "that's because you weighed 200 pounds!" as the reason Monica always beat him. Ross was probably exaggerating, but Monica also didn't try to correct him if he was.

[Meushell]

18 hours ago, Nellise said:

The only time I can think of that they mentioned a specific weight was when Monica and Ross were talking about wrestling as kids and Ross says something like "that's because you weighed 200 pounds!" as the reason Monica always beat him. Ross was probably exaggerating, but Monica also didn't try to correct him if he was.

Based on her height, 5’5”, that would be about right. 200 pounds isn’t as large as a lot of people think.

[JNM5505]

Joey's beginning to piss me off now. I don't know, it always seem to happen around the time Mike Hannigan comes along.

[Mr. Meatball Man]

TOW Emma Cries is an irritating episode. I get that Ross is frustrated by the whole situation, but I didn't think it was fair that he was treating Joey like he proposed to Rachel on purpose. I get that Joey should have just told Rachel what was going on in the beginning, but I think Ross was more upset at the fact that Rachel said yes to Joey, because it meant that she was only interested in Ross as a father and not a husband/boyfriend. And since he couldn't take out his frustration on Rachel (because it would have made him look awful), he decided to transfer it to Joey who was an easy target. 

 

I just wish Joey or someone else had called Ross out on it. 

[Danny Franks]

On 07/09/2018 at 5:22 AM, Mr. Meatball Man said:

TOW Emma Cries is an irritating episode. I get that Ross is frustrated by the whole situation, but I didn't think it was fair that he was treating Joey like he proposed to Rachel on purpose. I get that Joey should have just told Rachel what was going on in the beginning, but I think Ross was more upset at the fact that Rachel said yes to Joey, because it meant that she was only interested in Ross as a father and not a husband/boyfriend. And since he couldn't take out his frustration on Rachel (because it would have made him look awful), he decided to transfer it to Joey who was an easy target. 

 

I just wish Joey or someone else had called Ross out on it. 

Ross being unreasonably and creepily possessive over Rachel, a woman he's not even dating? Surely not!

The most annoying thing about Ross/Rachel, in retrospect, is that the rest of the characters treat it as some sacred, unimpeachable relationship that will always be there. They dated for about a year, had a horrible break up that came close to destroying the group, and then managed to become friends again. This is not a relationship any real friends would be putting on a pedestal, or encouraging them to revisit. It just aches of the writers having the characters endorse the 'shippers, and I really don't care for that.

Six years later, Joey or Phoebe shouldn't be saying "but you're Ross and Rachel" with such reverence.

[Jax7917]

36 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

Ross being unreasonably and creepily possessive over Rachel, a woman he's not even dating? Surely not!

The most annoying thing about Ross/Rachel, in retrospect, is that the rest of the characters treat it as some sacred, unimpeachable relationship that will always be there. They dated for about a year, had a horrible break up that came close to destroying the group, and then managed to become friends again. This is not a relationship any real friends would be putting on a pedestal, or encouraging them to revisit. It just aches of the writers having the characters endorse the 'shippers, and I really don't care for that.

Six years later, Joey or Phoebe shouldn't be saying "but you're Ross and Rachel" with such reverence.

I agree with all of your posts ! 

Why any of the friends would root for Ross and Rachel 6-7 years after they broke up   after they all had to walk on eggshells after the breakup is beyond me . No one would want them back together . Despite the writers trying their hardest , Ross and Rachel did not have an epic relationship . Monica and chandler did . 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Jaclyn88

[Crs97]

I really wish Monica had said, “You are my brother and I love you, Ross.  Rachel, you are my best friend and I love you.  The two of you together bring out the worst in each other.  Either figure out why you are toxic together and fix it or move on because I’ve had enough.”  

[Meushell]

Rachel gives Hugsy, a bear she knows Joey treasures, to Emma. Then she tries to bully him letting Emma have it, then finally manipulates him into giving it to Emma. 

[helenamonster]

On 9/11/2018 at 11:29 PM, Meushell said:

Rachel gives Hugsy, a bear she knows Joey treasures, to Emma. Then she tries to bully him letting Emma have it, then finally manipulates him into giving it to Emma. 

Counterpoint: Joey is a grown ass man and Emma is a baby.

And Joey stole Hugsy from another kid in the first place.

[Bort]

In the end, Joey doesn’t cave and keeps Huggsy anyway. He had him all through the spinoff. 

[Meushell]

10 hours ago, helenamonster said:

Counterpoint: Joey is a grown ass man and Emma is a baby.

And Joey stole Hugsy from another kid in the first place.

His saying he stole Hugsy in the first place just felt like the writers justifying Rachel’s behavior. Unless Joey was still a child himself, I just don’t see him deciding to just steal a bear from a kid. 

As for his age, so what? Emma being a baby means that Rachel gets to steal from others? Why? Take the bear away, and Emma isn’t going to care for long precisely because she is a baby. Her being upset at first is entirely Rachel’s fault. She caused the whole issue in the first place. 

9 hours ago, kariyaki said:

In the end, Joey doesn’t cave and keeps Huggsy anyway. He had him all through the spinoff. 

That’s good to know.

[Nordly Beaumont]

Not that it matters in the discussion, but Hugsy was a penguin.

[Meushell]

34 minutes ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

Not that it matters in the discussion, but Hugsy was a penguin.

LOL. I don’t know why I was picturing a bear.

[millennium]

Not so much a moment as a lingering disdain:  I hate Gunther.  

 

 

On 9/12/2018 at 11:48 PM, helenamonster said:

Counterpoint: Joey is a grown ass man and Emma is a baby.

And Joey stole Hugsy from another kid in the first place.

Friends gave Joey a pass on all kinds of reprehensible behavior on the pretense that he is childlike: sponging off Chandler, treating women like sex toys, etc

Edited September 19, 2018 by millennium

[strippedhalo]

I am generally a fan of Phoebe, but The One Where They All Turn 30 was on last night, and I ran into a huge suspension of disbelief problem. So Phoebe had never seen her birth certificate, fair enough. But she didn't know her own age OR her middle name? I know she was young when her mom died, but like... early-teens-young, not toddler-young, right?

[Nordly Beaumont]

9 hours ago, strippedhalo said:

I know she was young when her mom died, but like... early-teens-young, not toddler-young, right?

For some reason 15 stuck in my head. I looked on Wikipedia and it said:

It is revealed that the woman Phoebe believed was her mother, Lily Buffay, committed suicide when Phoebe was about 14

So yeah, way too old to not know her middle name or how old she is! I never thought about that. 

[VagueDisclaimer]

So “The One With The Free Porn” is rerunning this morning and though it was good for a couple laughs, what grown men watch porn together in an every day setting? This isn’t a bachelor party, this isn’t novelty porn, this isn’t a bunch of horny teens that are sneaking cable at one of their buddy’s houses. This was two guys hanging out and just watching porn all day, beside one another. I mean, outside of a set up for their own porn, that’s not really how things work. 

[Nellise]

3 hours ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

So “The One With The Free Porn” is rerunning this morning and though it was good for a couple laughs, what grown men watch porn together in an every day setting? This isn’t a bachelor party, this isn’t novelty porn, this isn’t a bunch of horny teens that are sneaking cable at one of their buddy’s houses. This was two guys hanging out and just watching porn all day, beside one another. I mean, outside of a set up for their own porn, that’s not really how things work. 

Porn can be funny to watch with friends, especially the stuff that was made back then. They actually tried to have plots and make them kind of real movies. Porn also wasn't nearly as accessible then as it is now, so it didn't seem all that weird for them to keep it on since it was FREE PORN!

[Dandesun]

I have watched porn with friends because it can be absolutely hilarious. I always ask weird questions. "What is in that foam they are licking off of each other? I hope it's not toxic because people are going to be hella sick! Why is that guy dressed like a clown. What is this club?! Holy crap, her hair is amazing and holds up to an actual pounding. Why don't they advertise the hair products?"

It is kind of funny that they made that one joke during a Thanksgiving episode that implied Chandler jerked off to cookbooks but there was no hint of any masturbation during the round the clock free porn.

*shrug*

[Danny Franks]

They did have Chandler masturbating to porn when he was staying in a hotel in Oklahoma. When Monica arrived unexpectedly, and he changed the channel, leaving her thinking he got off to shark attack shows. It was a very silly subplot, because surely it would occur to her that he'd switched the porn off, in his panic at being caught?

[Crs97]

That subplot was ridiculous, but I love the exchange:

“Let me be a part of this.”  

“Let me be a part of this!!”

[VagueDisclaimer]

16 hours ago, Dandesun said:

I have watched porn with friends because it can be absolutely hilarious. I always ask weird questions. "What is in that foam they are licking off of each other? I hope it's not toxic because people are going to be hella sick! Why is that guy dressed like a clown. What is this club?! Holy crap, her hair is amazing and holds up to an actual pounding. Why don't they advertise the hair products?"

It is kind of funny that they made that one joke during a Thanksgiving episode that implied Chandler jerked off to cookbooks but there was no hint of any masturbation during the round the clock free porn.

*shrug*

Sure, I’ve watched porn with friends too, but it’s not several days of marathoning it, which is what I found more bizarre. And yeah, porn usually has that masturbatory purpose and the lack of reference to that kinda made it more unbelievable to me as well. I just don’t see two guys marathoning porn just for fun without any other fun(not with each other, though, hey, that’s definitely a plot for gay porn).

[Dandesun]

I did, at least, appreciate that the girls were like 'do we really have to have this on while we're eating?' And why didn't ANYONE comment about all the hair? Because some of that looked like 80s porn and... come on, people!!

[mojoween]

This isn’t as much of a worst of rather than a reminder that I don’t like Monica and/or bad writing.

When Rachel moved out Monica was adamant that the beautiful guest bedroom was not going to become a game room.  But then, when Phoebe gives them Ms. Pac-Man as a wedding present (which is ridiculous in and of itself, because retro games are hella expensive), Monica loves the game and wants Chandler to move it to the guest bedroom.

Although it did give us “I don’t suck, it sucks.  YOU suck” which was funny.

[Jewlmc]

How about the episode with Monica's "Soulmate"??? Ugh. I loathe the way Pheobe and Rachel  treated Chandler. 

[Jax7917]

The doctor on the episode when phoebe delivered the triplets was not funny at all . He was obsessed with Fonzi .. okay ? That was one of the cases of the writers trying too hard in my opinion . 

[WendyCR72]

On 11/13/2018 at 8:54 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

The doctor on the episode when phoebe delivered the triplets was not funny at all . He was obsessed with Fonzi .. okay ? That was one of the cases of the writers trying too hard in my opinion . 

The first doc Phoebe rejected for looking too young was played by TJ Thyne, who went on to play Dr. Jack Hodgins on Bones for its run.

[mojoween]

In no universe would anyone look at the word Gucci and think it was pronounced “gucky.”  Jennifer should have thrown her script at the writers and said no.