Guest Stars: Monica's Beautiful Guest Room

[sev]

A place to chat about guest appearances.

 

I was just watching S08 TOW Joey's Interview and realized the interviewer is Dr. Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander).

 

[Milk-Eyed Mender]

Is there any other sitcom out there that depended so heavily on big name guest stars and cameos? The Brady Bunch, maybe? I didn't mind the casting of actors like Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis and Christina Applegate because they actually had reasonably meaty story arcs. But Robin Williams and Billy Crystal wandering through Central Perk or George Clooney and Noah Wylie hanging out in Monica's apartment -- I found that very jarring, frankly. On the other hand, I felt Like Jon Lovitz, Alec Baldwin, Brooke Shields and Freddie Prinze Jr fit perfectly into the Friends universe or their characters did, at any rate. More than 10 years on and I'm still depressed that Ross fired Freddie's "Sandy."

[fireice13]

To be fair to George Clooney and Noah Wyle, they appeared on Friends in its first season which was also ER's first season. At that point in time, they weren't as famous. 

[humdrum]

 

Is there any other sitcom out there that depended so heavily on big name guest stars and cameos?

 

I'm thinking "Will & Grace". 

 

A couple of my all time favorite guest stars are Reese Witherspoon and Christina Applegate as Rachel's sisters, esp. the latter as Amy.  Joey's comment about Amy being the hottest girl he's ever hated (paraphrased) always cracks me up!

[TOWTooMuchTV]

The crossover episodes were kind of fun - I liked when Jamie (Helen Hunt) and Fran (Leila Kenzle) from Mad About You showed up at Central Perk and "recognized" Phoebe, thinking she was Ursula.

[leighroda]

First, I love the name of this thread!

Second, I love the Rachel's sisters episodes, it would have been amazing if they could have coordinated the 3 of them for an episode. I also love the episode with Brad Pitt... And his hatred of carbs.

[WendyCR72]

To be fair to George Clooney and Noah Wyle, they appeared on Friends in its first season which was also ER's first season. At that point in time, they weren't as famous.

 

And how funny that Friends and ER made their respective casts household names, premiered in the same year/season (1994-1995), aired on the same night...and both shows had a Rachel Green(e).

[sev]

First, I love the name of this thread!

Well, the alternative would have been Guest Stars: "Hey, you're at Joey's." *drops spaghetti on the floor*

;)

[Inquisitionist]

Rewatching TOW Ross's Wedding and TOA Ross Says 'Rachel', I must chime in with kudos for Tom Conti as Emily's father.  I'd only ever seen him in dramatic roles before this, but I was impressed by his comic timing and physicality.  The pansy way he started punching at Jack Geller as they argued over wedding expenses killed me.  Jennifer Saunders as his new wife was inspired casting as well. 

[Bort]

I loved Emily's dad and step–mom. The biggest bummer for me was the way they started writing Emily as a shrew because then she definitely had to go and then we didn't get to see her parents anymore. I would've loved to, they were hysterical.

[Inquisitionist]

Caught the one with Bob Balaban as Phoebe's father.  I find him to be a bit one-note as an actor, but that note worked well for the character of Frank Buffay.

[blubld43]

Tom Selleck.......and I could NEVER get on board with the idea that Monica dumped a handsome doctor because he wasn't all SQUEE about having children.  Would not happen in real life.

[Janet Snakehole]

Eh, I liked Richard, but she was really serious about wanting to be a mom. I think that is the most logical deal breaker in a relationship, not being on the same page as your partner about kids. Someone will end up resenting someone eventually.

I just watched the episodes with Bruce Willis. I thought he and Rachel were a weird pair, to say the least.

Also, I love Paul Rudd, but didn't really like Mike. He seemed too normal for Phoebe. I think I heard he didn't really enjoy his time on the show

Edited January 3, 2015 by Janet Snakehole

[evilmindatwork]

Tom Selleck.......and I could NEVER get on board with the idea that Monica dumped a handsome doctor because he wasn't all SQUEE about having children.  Would not happen in real life.

 

Well, to be fair, the character of Monica really wanted children. I think if someone knows that they really want a child, they wouldn't be willing to spend a lot of time on a relationship not headed in that direction. I may be biased because I really dislike the character of Richard. 

 

My favorite guest star was probably Brad Pitt. I just thought he had good comedic timing and awesome chemistry with the rest of the cast. 

 

My least favorite was, unbelievably, because I usually love him, Paul Rudd. He was just so blah in the series. 

Edited January 17, 2015 by evilmindatwork

[panthergirl13]

OK, tonight we watched The One Where Rachel Quits with the EVEN THEN amazing Mae Whitman. 

[Inquisitionist]

Thanks for the tip, panthergirl13.  I'd had no idea!

[againstthewind]

I loved Tom Selleck - he was by far my favorite significant other or guest star on the show. While I understand why the relationship ended, I think Monica was better with Richard than with Chandler, and I love how Richard sort of grounded all of the characters. Also, it's Tom freaking Selleck.

 

Finally, this scene - 

 

Monica: Do you ever think about the future?

Richard: Yup.

Monica: Am I in it?

Richard: Honey, you are it.

Edited February 9, 2015 by againstthewind

[helenamonster]

I was watching "The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner" the other day, and I just love that the actress who played Leslie was the voice behind Tommy on Rugrats. There are a couple lines she has where she kind of slips into the Tommy register and it just makes me weirdly happy.

[Bouffe]

Tom Selleck, Brooke Shields and Brad Pitt were my favourite guest stars. They just seemed to be so perfect for the respective storylines and so perfect with the rest of the cast! Pitt's comedic timing was amazing!

 

Bruce Willis gets an honorable mention. I had only seen him in action movies up until then, and his comedic timing had me rolling more than once.

 

My least favourite was Paul Rudd, which I adore. He just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the cast.

[helenamonster]

Eh, I didn't like Bruce Willis's appearances. They seemed to be trying too hard to deviate from his image as an action guy and it never really landed, at least for me.

[Inquisitionist]

I enjoyed Isabella Rossellini showing up as herself at the coffee house.  Also, Gary Oldman as Joey's scene partner in the WWI movie. I wish we had seen more of Marlo Thomas as Rachel's mother.

[Dandesun]

Gary Oldman... I just love him. Any time we've had a wee bit too much, either my sister or I do the "I'm wearing two belts!" line.

 

Also, I loved Jeff Goldblum's appearance. Everything about his character cracked me up, the cell phone thing, the notes he gave Joey, the whole 'I plant seeds...' thing. 

 

I liked Paul Rudd a lot... I just didn't think that Mike and Phoebe were IT. I really wished she had ended up with David. That being said, Mike's reactions to the various Friends were pretty great. He played low key with all of their stuff. But it seemed kind of odd that he loved Phoebe who was clearly insane by then and had no patience for the rest of them. (Although his reaction shot at Monica's hair in Barbados always makes me laugh.)

Edited February 9, 2015 by Dandesun

[Bouffe]

I liked Paul Rudd a lot... I just didn't think that Mike and Phoebe were IT. I really wished she had ended up with David. That being said, Mike's reactions to the various Friends were pretty great. He played low key with all of their stuff. But it seemed kind of odd that he loved Phoebe who was clearly insane by then and had no patience for the rest of them. (Although his reaction shot at Monica's hair in Barbados always makes me laugh.)

You are very right about all of this! He had quite the deadpan face whenever he faced an insane situation with any of the Friends.

[Tiggertoo]

I've been re watching the series and, second time around, I still don't get why Phoebe would pick Mike over David. Paul Rudd's character was so boring. He did not fit well with the cast. I still can't believe that David was in Barbados proposing and he got dumped for Mike. Never got what Phoebe was supposed to have seen in Mike.

[Aprilshowers]

I've been re watching the series and, second time around, I still don't get why Phoebe would pick Mike over David. Paul Rudd's character was so boring. He did not fit well with the cast. I still can't believe that David was in Barbados proposing and he got dumped for Mike. Never got what Phoebe was supposed to have seen in Mike.

 

Could not agree more. David was Phoebe's true match. They should have went with them. Mike did seem a little odd with the group, I don't think he ever really fit in.

[Milk-Eyed Mender]

I don't know if the cast ever had much say in their lines or character development, but I sure hope Lisa Kudrow groaned loudly and gave major eye roll when asked to say "cause a pimp spit in my mouth," upon meeting Mike's parents for the first time. I think David dodged a bullet, honestly.

[Dandesun]

I don't know if the cast ever had much say in their lines or character development, but I sure hope Lisa Kudrow groaned loudly and gave major eye roll when asked to say "cause a pimp spit in my mouth," upon meeting Mike's parents for the first time. I think David dodged a bullet, honestly.

 

I mean, it did lead up to the line where she told Mike she'd never met a boyfriend's parents before and he came back with 'But you have met humans before...'

 

Phoebe was always weird and had a messed up childhood and family life and probably would have been looked down on by Mike's parents even without the pimp spitting in her mouth.

[Inquisitionist]

ETA:  Sorry, belongs in a different thread.

 

But so that I don't waste your time, I recently saw the episode where Giovanni Ribisi first shows up as Phoebe's half-brother, Frank, Jr.  The story he told about how their dad loved walking on stilts was pretty cool.  I'm glad they brought him back in later episodes.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Inquisitionist

[Quof]

Giovanni actually appeared before being cast as Frank Jr.  He was the guy who accidentally dropped a condom in Phoebe's guitar case, then ran back to retrieve it, yelling "Christine, I got it!"

[Inquisitionist]

You know, I vaguely remember that now!

[Inquisitionist]

Above I noted my admiration of Tom Conti in the role of Emily's father.  Today I read that this part was initially offer to Sir Paul McCartney.  Talk about stunt casting!  Has anyone heard that before?

[WendyCR72]

On 1/16/2015 at 7:10 PM, evilmindatwork said:

Well, to be fair, the character of Monica really wanted children. I think if someone knows that they really want a child, they wouldn't be willing to spend a lot of time on a relationship not headed in that direction. I may be biased because I really dislike the character of Richard.

This, including disliking Richard. Tom Selleck does nada for this chick! (Which makes me extra happy Chandler got the girl in S6!)

Yes, I know. I'll see myself out now.  :-)

[Bort]

I knew that Elizabeth Daily (who played Leslie, Phoebe's ex-partner) did a lot of cartoon voice work but I didn't know that she had also been an 80s pop singer. A fact I discovered while watching Summer School -- one of her songs played over the testing montage. And there was a video:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Tom Selleck never did anything for me (with or without his iconic mustache*) but I thought that his breakup with Monica was one of the most realistic things they did on the show because kids/no kids is a deal breaker if you want to get married and spend the rest of your lives together. That isn't the kind of issue where you can compromise. You either have kids or you don't. Monica really NEEDED to have kids. Richard didn't want to have any more kids. Their relationship was going to end, either then or twenty years later with a lot more resentment.

Even though I didn't find him attractive, I thought that he and Monica had a pretty good relationship until that point so the age difference didn't bother me.

* Tom Selleck discusses his mustache:

[Vanessa1214]

On 9/14/2016 at 2:54 PM, kariyaki said:

I knew that Elizabeth Daily (who played Leslie, Phoebe's ex-partner) did a lot of cartoon voice work but I didn't know that she had also been an 80s pop singer. A fact I discovered while watching Summer School -- one of her songs played over the testing montage. And there was a video:

The song is not great, but she's adorable. She reminds me of Shakira in this video. 

[Jax7917]

I love Chandler and Monica together, but I did like Richard and her together too. What I liked about Monica and Chanandler Bong was that they were able to stay together for a fewseasons without breaking up or having too much manufactured drama. They were sweet together. I did like the earlier seasons a little better though because I liked the concept of them all being single in the city with different quirks and problems they each brought to their own relationships (especially Chandler). The dynamic of the show changed once they got together.