Worst of Friends: Your Least Favorite Moments

[sophiagreen]

I don't like the connetion between season 7 and season 8. Everything goes on so fast. Monica just gets married, but the next moment, Rachel is pregnant.  I feel a little hasty.

[RainbowBrite]

4 hours ago, sophiagreen said:

I don't like the connetion between season 7 and season 8. Everything goes on so fast. Monica just gets married, but the next moment, Rachel is pregnant.  I feel a little hasty.

As Monica states, Rachel always steals her thunder!

 

I thought it might be fun to see how everyone else feels on the topic of the friends' worst boyfriends/girlfriends.

I'll start with Joey's: The fruit basket lady. On a superficial level, she was just NOT who Joey would be interested in. Sending Joey all those fruit baskets was also just weird.

Edited July 7, 2017 by RainbowBrite

[sophiagreen]

On 2017/7/7 at 9:23 PM, RainbowBrite said:

As Monica states, Rachel always steals her thunder!

 

I thought it might be fun to see how everyone else feels on the topic of the friends' worst boyfriends/girlfriends.

I'll start with Joey's: The fruit basket lady. On a superficial level, she was just NOT who Joey would be interested in. Sending Joey all those fruit baskets was also just weird.

lol!!! Indeed, so Rachel!!

[Nordly Beaumont]

On 7/7/2017 at 8:23 AM, RainbowBrite said:

I'll start with Joey's: The fruit basket lady. On a superficial level, she was just NOT who Joey would be interested in.

I totally agree! I'm not sure if any of the guys would have dated her, really. I like Paget Brewster, but man did I hate Kathy! I hated how she was written, how she was acted, and dear gawd, I hated that haircut!

I actually liked Chandler with Janice for awhile (before he gave her the shelf paper). But of course, Monica was Chandler's lobster!

Mona for Ross. Not Rachel! If Rachel had met Joshua at a different time in her life (and his), I think they could have made a good couple.

For Phoebe, I liked David better than Mike. But can understand how she went with Mike, she knew him a whole lot better than she knew David. David was cool because he was around so little, he didn't have time to make mistakes or be a drag.

[RainbowBrite]

16 hours ago, Nordly Beaumont said:

I totally agree! I'm not sure if any of the guys would have dated her, really. I like Paget Brewster, but man did I hate Kathy! I hated how she was written, how she was acted, and dear gawd, I hated that haircut!

I actually liked Chandler with Janice for awhile (before he gave her the shelf paper). But of course, Monica was Chandler's lobster!

Mona for Ross. Not Rachel! If Rachel had met Joshua at a different time in her life (and his), I think they could have made a good couple.

For Phoebe, I liked David better than Mike. But can understand how she went with Mike, she knew him a whole lot better than she knew David. David was cool because he was around so little, he didn't have time to make mistakes or be a drag.

I'm not including the major final pairings (Ross/Rachel, Chandler/Monica) to keep it more interesting:

For Chandler, Janice is my favourite ...my least favourite would be Rachel's boss Joanna (the handcuff lady)

For Ross, Mona would probably be my favourite and Charlie and Emily are tied for least-favourite. Charlie was soooo boring, and Emily didn't appeal to me right from the beginning (with the exception of the "there's a deer just outside eating fruit from the orchard!")

For Rachel, again she didn't date that many  guys but I guess Gavin was ok?...my least favourites are Danny (the Yeti) and Paolo.

For Monica, Richard is my favourite with Pete coming in a close second (until the whole UFC debacle). My least favourite would be the high school student (ICK).

For Phoebe, I like both Mike and David, although I agree that David didn't really stay around long enough to do anything wrong. My least favourite would be the creepy psychologist.

[Bort]

This is the "Worst" thread, though. So I would have to say my least favorite love interest was Young Ethan. First, although I guess it might've been the point, the actor didn't look anywhere near 17: receding hairline, super-hairy chest… And second, ew. 

[NicoleQueen]

Rachel and Monica moving their stuff back into their apartment when Joey and Chandler were living there - Monica was the one to accept gambling the apartment and the boys won it fairly twice and yet, they just moved their stuff like that! It was a dick move IMO.

Charlie and her ex-boyfriend getting back together and kissing in front of Ross. And that was after the ex tried to make Ross give up his relationship for a job opportunity!

A lot of instances in the later seasons where Rachel and Phoebe would act as if Chandler was the worst person Monica could have gotten together with.

Ross and Rachel's turbulent relationship (which I don't mind) getting better treatment from their friends than Monica and Chandler's stable and supportive relationship.

Richard appearing at Monica's restaurent and telling her he was working with blind kids in Africa and Monica going "What are you doing to me?!" as if that made Richard the perfect candidate for her to be with. (I know Chandler still wasn't ready for kids but she broke up with Richard because he didn't want kids at his age.) Actually, the entire "Chandler or Richard" debate was entirely too contrived. Chandler was trying to make himself appear anti-marriage but multiple episodes before that had shown Monica being careful with talking about kids in front of Chandler because she knew he wasn't ready but in the sense that she knew it would just take time for them to get to that point, not that it was never going to happen. Now suddenly she is willing to overlook all their progress together and consider Richard?

[slf]

On 7/16/2017 at 8:44 AM, NicoleQueen said:

A lot of instances in the later seasons where Rachel and Phoebe would act as if Chandler was the worst person Monica could have gotten together with.

The humor just got mean in the later seasons. Phoebe in particular had a lot of moments when I couldn't understand why anyone hung out with her.

[Jax7917]

What made zero sense to me was that there was a whole episode about Rachel stealing Monica's thunder and Monica was rightfully pissed , but then at Monica's wedding , Rachel came out with being pregnant and Monica kept begging her to take another pregnancy test at the wedding and even spent time in the bathroom with her taking it . if my friend told people or me that she was pregnant the day of my wedding , and then continued to make the day about her , I'd be really annoyed . Especially after I got into a whole fight about stealing my thunder a few weeks before that . It was just weird timing that they had to come out with making Rachel pregnant . 

[MadyGirl1987]

50 minutes ago, Jaclyn88 said:

What made zero sense to me was that there was a whole episode about Rachel stealing Monica's thunder and Monica was rightfully pissed , but then at Monica's wedding , Rachel came out with being pregnant and Monica kept begging her to take another pregnancy test at the wedding and even spent time in the bathroom with her taking it . if my friend told people or me that she was pregnant the day of my wedding , and then continued to make the day about her , I'd be really annoyed . Especially after I got into a whole fight about stealing my thunder a few weeks before that . It was just weird timing that they had to come out with making Rachel pregnant . 

That bugged me to! I get being pregnant is a big thing and they wouldn't want to make Monica too hard on Rachel in case she seems cruel and piling on a pregnant woman, but someone should have said something about Rachel upstaging Monica YET AGAIN. I would be furious if I was Monica. I mean, does Rachel even apologize to Monica or say something to the effect she doesn't want to take away attention from the wedding? She doesn't seem to care when what she does affects others. It's  stuff like that, along with how the relationship of Ross and Rachel brings out the worst in them, which leads me to really dislike Rachel.

I will say that at least it's not as bad as this story I read about a while ago.

Edited August 8, 2017 by MadyGirl1987

[princelina]

I do not like the fact that it seems that Chandler always has sex while wearing socks and a t-shirt.  Yuck.

[NicoleQueen]

Carole and Susan acting like Ross was just a sperm donor they picked out to make them a kid and not telling him or consulting with him on major things like Ben's last name.

[Quof]

Quote

Chandler always has sex while wearing socks and a t-shirt.  Yuck.

Did you want to see shirtless Matthew Perry? 

[RainbowBrite]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 4:35 PM, Quof said:

Did you want to see shirtless Matthew Perry? 

Kinda?

[WendyCR72]

On 8/10/2017 at 5:35 PM, Quof said:

Did you want to see shirtless Matthew Perry? 

Season 4 Matthew Perry/Chandler? Sure! The then-ONS with Monica was a missed opportunity! (I thought Matthew Perry looked great in S4.)

[CaliforniaLove]

Quote

Season 4 Matthew Perry/Chandler? Sure! The then-ONS with Monica was a missed opportunity! (I thought Matthew Perry looked great in S4.)

Season 4 Chandler was definitely the cutest Chandler!! Season 1-3 Joey was the cutest Joey, and by the time the series ended, I found Ross to be the better looking of them all. Anyway, while I don't think Rachel & Ross were healthy after about 2 episodes into their actual relationship, just no to Rachel & Joey. They should've hooked up Phoebe & Joey (love Rudd, but never quite felt "Phoebe & Mike"), had Rachel go on the filange laden plane, and then we never would have had the atrocity that was "Joey"...the show. 

[SmithW6079]

The whole "Phoebe is pregnant with her brother's children" story line was just too creepy and disgusting to me. I hated every scene with Phoebe, her brother, and his wife, and found nothing cute or heartwarming about it.

Edited August 27, 2017 by SmithW6079

[BBHN]

Until Phoebe gave birth, and realized what giving up the babies meant, which...sniff.

Also the episode where the babies are delivered was funny.

[chitowngirl]

I hate where Ross is set up on a blind date by Phoebe and Joey and is stood up and tells the waiter he was hoping to have sex tonight. Really? On a blind date?

And when Joey is reading for Jeff Goldblum and he reads the stage direction out loud. He has read scripts before.

[Crs97]

On 7/16/2017 at 9:44 AM, NicoleQueen said:

Richard appearing at Monica's restaurent and telling her he was working with blind kids in Africa and Monica going "What are you doing to me?!" as if that made Richard the perfect candidate for her to be with. (I know Chandler still wasn't ready for kids but she broke up with Richard because he didn't want kids at his age.) Actually, the entire "Chandler or Richard" debate was entirely too contrived

One thing I appreciated about the storyline was that Monica said that, but then immediately told Richard he was too late.  Then when she visits Richard after Chandler says he never wants marriage her comment is "Please don’t even talk to me about fair! Fair would’ve been you wanting to marry me back then! Or fair would’ve been Chandler wanting to marry me now!"  So while Richard's return was contrived, they didn't play it like Monica was in love with both of them at the same time, like the groom is interchangeable.

On 8/7/2017 at 10:00 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

What made zero sense to me was that there was a whole episode about Rachel stealing Monica's thunder and Monica was rightfully pissed , but then at Monica's wedding , Rachel came out with being pregnant and Monica kept begging her to take another pregnancy test at the wedding and even spent time in the bathroom with her taking it . if my friend told people or me that she was pregnant the day of my wedding , and then continued to make the day about her , I'd be really annoyed . Especially after I got into a whole fight about stealing my thunder a few weeks before that . It was just weird timing that they had to come out with making Rachel pregnant . 

I forgot about this.  I mentioned this in the other forum years ago and got clobbered for it; I totally agree and am very happy I am no longer at a table for one!

[ZuluQueenOfDwarves]

To be fair to Rachel, didn't Monica kind of drag it out of her? WHY Monica would do so is a weird, OOC moment from the writers, but Rachel was doing her damnedest to keep a lid on it. 

[Crs97]

Well, I thought taking the test in the bride-to-be's bathroom and leaving the test in her small trash can wouldn't exactly guarantee her the privacy she wanted.

[Madding crowd]

She only dragged it out of her because they thought Monica was pregnant and Chandler and Monica's parents mentioned it at the wedding. 

[Bort]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

Well, I thought taking the test in the bride-to-be's bathroom and leaving the test in her small trash can wouldn't exactly guarantee her the privacy she wanted.

That's just one of those things that totally happened for plot contrivance. Rachel lived ACROSS THE HALL. It was completely unbelievable to me that she'd not do that test in her own bathroom.

[chitowngirl]

All would have been fine if Phoebe hadn't PULLED USED TISSUES OUT OF THE GARBAGE TO USE!!!!

[Bort]

And if Monica hadn't uncharacteristically left the bathroom with NO TISSUES OR TP.

[supposebly]

4 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

And if Monica hadn't uncharacteristically left the bathroom with NO TISSUES OR TP.

I think that was the most OOC moment to make that contrivance happen. She of the 11 towel categories would have multiple tissue categories in her bathroom. With backups.

[Crs97]

One of the worst moments was Rachel telling Monica that Mrs. Geller loves Rachel  as the daughter she never had.  The idea that Mrs. Geller would say that is already horrific, but that Rachel would repeat it at all, much less to Monica, is just beyond.

[MadyGirl1987]

43 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

One of the worst moments was Rachel telling Monica that Mrs. Geller loves Rachel  as the daughter she never had.  The idea that Mrs. Geller would say that is already horrific, but that Rachel would repeat it at all, much less to Monica, is just beyond.

Honestly, Rachel never struck me as someone who is particularly empathetic or thinks of others very much so I could totally see her saying that not thinking/caring how Monca would feel.

Also, ITA about how horrible Mrs. Geller treated Monica. I hate how horrible she is to Monica through the series. There were bad instances of both parents treating her poorly, usually as an afterthought to Ross(ie. Using her boxes to stop the flooding) but at least there were sweet moments from her father and he seemed to have a higher estimation of her then her mother(i.e. When he came to spend time with her when she was depressed over breaking up with Richard).

[Magnumfangirl]

I always though Christina Pickles was miscast as Ross and Monica's mom.  She was playing Harm's mom on JAG at the same time and she was totally wrong for that role, too.  The best and most believable parent on Friends was Marlo Thomas.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Magnumfangirl

[Maharincess]

On 8/31/2017 at 0:44 PM, ZuluQueenOfDwarves said:

To be fair to Rachel, didn't Monica kind of drag it out of her? WHY Monica would do so is a weird, OOC moment from the writers, but Rachel was doing her damnedest to keep a lid on it. 

What does ooc mean?  I can't say it enough... I miss words so much. 

[supposebly]

Sorry, it means out of character. It's one of the few I actually know....:)

[Maharincess]

1 hour ago, supposebly said:

Sorry, it means out of character. It's one of the few I actually know....:)

No, don't be sorry! I'm sure everyone except for me knows what that means. It just seems like every day there's a new acronym and I really miss whole words. 

It's not you it's me. 

[VagueDisclaimer]

The lack of Teri Garr with Phoebe getting married or her brother and his kids always bothers me. She talks about her stepdad but not the mom she reconnected with or the brother she was surrogate for? Even having her sister make a random appearance would've worked. 

And while I NEVER side with Ross and his OTT reactions to things, the rerun of "The One Where No One's Ready" is on and I kinda hate everyone in this episode, except for maybe Phoebe. Ross was having an important night, clearly warned everyone about this well in advance, and they couldn't get it together and devolved into ridiculous antics. Of course, Ross loses a huge amount of my sympathy after he rips into Rachel  and it was yet another example of why that relationship was a really terrible one. That said, it just really pings one of my own personal pet peeves regarding being late and people's lack of respect for other's time and showed everyone in a very poor light. 

[WendyCR72]

On 9/3/2017 at 0:17 PM, Magnumfangirl said:

I always though Christina Pickles was miscast as Ross and Monica's mom.  She was playing Harm's mom on JAG at the same time and she was totally wrong for that role, too.  The best and most believable parent on Friends was Marlo Thomas.

Christina Pickles did excel at "picky, judgmental mama shrew", though. I used to watch Silk Stalkings (stop judging me!!!), and she also played the same kind of mom to the female lead (I think her name was Janet Gunn; the actress, that is) after the original leads left. Come to think of it, this was also at the same time as Friends as this was in 1996 or so.

Except that JG's  character did get to tell her (CP's character) off and throw her out. Too bad Monica never got to do that! But Friends was a sitcom, so...)

[kiddo82]

Ross acting like bald Bonnie was some grotesque swamp creature with halitosis.  Granted, this one has layers as he was still into Rachel and Bonnie was just a rebound but still an ew move.  Yes, physical appearance and attraction are important but it's hair.  It grows back.  It's not like she got some giant permanent tattoo on her face and it's not like he couldn't have had a conversation with her about it.  Also, bald Christine Taylor is still hotter than most people with hair.  Rachel was wrong to manipulate her into doing it for Rachel's own benefit but Ross' reaction to Bonnie's appearance was totally dickish.

Edited September 9, 2017 by kiddo82

[FRI3NDS]

I think once Monica and Chandler got married the series took a nose dive. Monica and Chandler  constantly trying to have a kid storyline got old fast.  

One thing that always irks me is how Monica basically kicks Rachel out of the apartment with no kind of real notice so she can move Chandler in. Monica wasn't even concerned about where Rachel would find a place to live.

[slf]

A few days ago I caught a snippet of an episode where Chandler and Monica are interviewed by a woman who wants them to adopt her baby. She mistakenly thought Chandler and Monica were a doctor and minister and Monica bulldozes over Chandler's attempts to correct the woman who specifically cites their professions as the reason she chose them. That is.....ick. Like it was played for laughs but that is such a monumental thing; this woman is giving up her baby and wants to make sure he/she is going to a good family. Starting off with a deception? I don't remember if she's the woman whose baby they adopt but if she is...yikes.

[Madding crowd]

They did end up telling her the truth and adopting her baby but I agree it was awful for Monica to want to deceive her this way. It would have been so easy to just say You have the wrong information. 

[RainbowBrite]

On ‎9‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 10:33 PM, FRI3NDS said:

I think once Monica and Chandler got married the series took a nose dive. Monica and Chandler  constantly trying to have a kid storyline got old fast.  

One thing that always irks me is how Monica basically kicks Rachel out of the apartment with no kind of real notice so she can move Chandler in. Monica wasn't even concerned about where Rachel would find a place to live.

I'm always so torn when Monica tells Rachel that Chandler would be moving in; I understand that it is Monica's apartment (illegally subletting from her Grandmother) but Rachel had been living there for 6 years. Monica shouldn't have unilaterally decided Rachel would obviously be moving out if Chandler was moving in.

[helenamonster]

What's interesting to me now, as someone currently in her 20s living in New York, is that a significant other moving into an apartment no longer means that the other person has to move out, at least not in my social circles. I know several couples that live together and also have another roommate (usually the close friend of one of them). If anything, it's encouraged the other person stay living there. Getting to split rent between three people instead of two? Awesome! (Side note: none of my friends have an illegal sublease in a rent-controlled apartment. At least not that I know of.)

In general, watching Friends as a millennial is equal parts frustrating and jealousy-inducing. They had such giant apartments! Sometimes all to themselves! In freaking Greenwich Village! Imagine!

[FRI3NDS]

23 hours ago, helenamonster said:

What's interesting to me now, as someone currently in her 20s living in New York, is that a significant other moving into an apartment no longer means that the other person has to move out, at least not in my social circles. I know several couples that live together and also have another roommate (usually the close friend of one of them). If anything, it's encouraged the other person stay living there. Getting to split rent between three people instead of two? Awesome! (Side note: none of my friends have an illegal sublease in a rent-controlled apartment. At least not that I know of.)

In general, watching Friends as a millennial is equal parts frustrating and jealousy-inducing. They had such giant apartments! Sometimes all to themselves! In freaking Greenwich Village! Imagine!

Right? And when Rachel was dating Ross those two were with Monica at her place all the time, practically living there.  Monica was okay with it for the most part save for that one episode. But she wants to live with Chandler with nobody else there. Ok then.

[Bort]

For that matter, why did Rachel have to move out the nanosecond Chandler moved in? What was wrong with moving Chandler in, letting Rachel stay there until she found a decent place and not making her so desperate, she ended up living with crazyass Phoebe?

[FRI3NDS]

57 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

For that matter, why did Rachel have to move out the nanosecond Chandler moved in? What was wrong with moving Chandler in, letting Rachel stay there until she found a decent place and not making her so desperate, she ended up living with crazyass Phoebe?

It was like Monica was so desperate to have a man she could finally control move in with her. Chandler had to give up so much of his stuff and habits like the big white dog and the BarcaLounger and smoking for her. Monica had no such compromises. 

[Quof]

Quote

What was wrong with moving Chandler in, letting Rachel stay there until she found a decent place and not making her so desperate, she ended up living with crazyass Phoebe?

Monica "Take as long as you need. There's no rush."

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

Monica "Take as long as you need. There's no rush."

Yeah, I know, but Rachel was still acting like she was on a time crunch. Maybe she didn't want to live with Chandler?

[FRI3NDS]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

Monica "Take as long as you need. There's no rush."

Lol yet when Rachel clearly wasn’t ready to move out and reneged as she needed more time, Monica eventually threw her out the same day.

[Quof]

She didn't renege because she needed more time, she reneged because she was being a spiteful beyotch. 

[WendyCR72]

Rachel was working her way up in fashion by the time Monica/Chandler wanted to move in together. I get why it seemed like she was tossed out, but then I always found it unrealistic, once she stopped working at Central Perk and broke into fashion, that she wouldn't have looked for her own place at some point.

I honestly don't think Monica did anything wrong overall.

[RainbowBrite]

18 hours ago, FRI3NDS said:

Lol yet when Rachel clearly wasn’t ready to move out and reneged as she needed more time, Monica eventually threw her out the same day.

I think it was definitely strange that there was such a tight deadline for Rachel to move out. Why did she have to leave the day Chandler moved in? Why was Monica pushing her out so quickly? I get that it's a sitcom and it thrives on conflict, but the logical thing seems to be if Rachel had been able to stay for a while, until she found her own place, then she could also have seen that Monica & Chandler were successfully living together (she told Monica that the reason she wasn't moving out was that she didn't believe M&C were really going to go through with living together).