Friends - General Discussion

[Guest]

This topic replaces the old Friends forum which has been vaulted at the location below:  http://forums.previously.tv/forum/422-friends-v/

[Danny Franks]

Hmm. I can understand archiving forums that are barely active, but the Friends one had a fair bit going on in it. Never mind.

Anyway, I'm just rewatching TOW the Truth About London, and I have to say, I don't really think it ruins anything about Chandler and Monica. That Monica was originally looking to sleep with Joey really doesn't cheapen her sleeping with Chandler, because she thought she wanted something purely physical, without any deeper feelings. Joey could provide that, Chandler couldn't. But when she got there, and Chandler kept saying nice things, she seemed to be overcome by desire for him, not just for sex.

Hell, they even say "well, our friendship is ruined" "eh, we weren't that close anyway", which suggests to me that they both understood this wasn't a purely physical, friends-with-benefits, hook up.

It's understandable that Chandler was upset finding out, but I don't really get why fans of the show were/are.

[mojoween]

When Rachel started tearing the pictures off the wall when Monica made all the holes I just noticed Monica is reading a book called “Like a Hole in the Head” and I don’t know if that was deliberate or not but I hope so.  It’s very subtle if so!  It made me laugh anyways.

Edited January 8, 2019 by mojoween

[Mr. Meatball Man]

On 1/3/2019 at 8:19 AM, Danny Franks said:

Hmm. I can understand archiving forums that are barely active, but the Friends one had a fair bit going on in it. Never mind.

Anyway, I'm just rewatching TOW the Truth About London, and I have to say, I don't really think it ruins anything about Chandler and Monica. That Monica was originally looking to sleep with Joey really doesn't cheapen her sleeping with Chandler, because she thought she wanted something purely physical, without any deeper feelings. Joey could provide that, Chandler couldn't. But when she got there, and Chandler kept saying nice things, she seemed to be overcome by desire for him, not just for sex.

Hell, they even say "well, our friendship is ruined" "eh, we weren't that close anyway", which suggests to me that they both understood this wasn't a purely physical, friends-with-benefits, hook up.

It's understandable that Chandler was upset finding out, but I don't really get why fans of the show were/are.

I agree. I never had an issue with Monica initially wanting to sleep with Joey. The problem I have with this episode is the fact that Phoebe was the one who instigated the situation. Her telling Monica to reveal to Chandler that he wasn't her first choice that night in London was one of the worst things she ever did in the series. There was no reason for her to do that and it legitimizes the theory that she became a worse character as the show went on. 

 

The episode would have been exactly the same if Monica revealed it by accident, or she said it intentionally just for a quick laugh because she thought Chandler would find it amusing. Having Phoebe be the one to do it was an OOC moment for her. If Joey had never talked Chandler down, the wedding would have been off, Chandler's relationship with Monica would have deteriorated and he would probably stop being friends with Joey. All this could have happened and it would have been Phoebe's fault for stirring the pot and causing unnecessary drama. 

[Danny Franks]

17 hours ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

I agree. I never had an issue with Monica initially wanting to sleep with Joey. The problem I have with this episode is the fact that Phoebe was the one who instigated the situation. Her telling Monica to reveal to Chandler that he wasn't her first choice that night in London was one of the worst things she ever did in the series. There was no reason for her to do that and it legitimizes the theory that she became a worse character as the show went on. 

Well, Phoebe is often a pretty terrible person, particularly to Chandler (who she doesn't seem to like at all, as we've discussed before). That increasing meanness was used as a joke far too often. My own theory on it is that the writers thought Lisa Kudrow did a great job with the mean bits she had when Phoebe was pregnant, so just kept writing them afterwards.

I can suggest in-show logic for her to be so casual about this, though - Phoebe was promiscuous, to an extent that I never really noticed when watching the show originally. I mean, she sleeps with a lot of guys, and on almost as casual a basis as Joey does (that she never slept with any of the three guys is kind of surprising, in retrospect), and even has a line about "putting out gets you love" at one point. She may simply not think it's a big deal that Monica wanted to sleep with Joey, and her own way of looking at relationships might mean she thought it was just a funny anecdote that could be relayed without anyone getting hurt.

Of course, she was wrong, and although I can't recall exactly how the episode goes, I doubt she showed remorse for it. But it did give Joey a chance to be sincere and serious, when he was talking to Chandler, and I always appreciated when the writers treated him like an actual person rather than as a cartoon character.

[Rockstar99435]

On 1/9/2019 at 7:19 AM, Danny Franks said:

Well, Phoebe is often a pretty terrible person, particularly to Chandler (who she doesn't seem to like at all, as we've discussed before). That increasing meanness was used as a joke far too often. My own theory on it is that the writers thought Lisa Kudrow did a great job with the mean bits she had when Phoebe was pregnant, so just kept writing them afterwards.

I can suggest in-show logic for her to be so casual about this, though - Phoebe was promiscuous, to an extent that I never really noticed when watching the show originally. I mean, she sleeps with a lot of guys, and on almost as casual a basis as Joey does (that she never slept with any of the three guys is kind of surprising, in retrospect), and even has a line about "putting out gets you love" at one point. She may simply not think it's a big deal that Monica wanted to sleep with Joey, and her own way of looking at relationships might mean she thought it was just a funny anecdote that could be relayed without anyone getting hurt.

Of course, she was wrong, and although I can't recall exactly how the episode goes, I doubt she showed remorse for it. But it did give Joey a chance to be sincere and serious, when he was talking to Chandler, and I always appreciated when the writers treated him like an actual person rather than as a cartoon character.

My theory about Phoebe and Chandler is that Phoebe is subconsciously jealous of Chandler's success/wealth. Both Chandler and Phoebe were abandoned by their shitty parents, but because of their wealth, Chandler was able to go to a good school, get into a good college, have his college paid for, and get a good job. Phoebe on the other hand, ended up homeless at fourteen and, given her stories about living with a pimp, was most likely forced into prostitution as a teenager. The show always played Phoebe's back story as humerous, but her life was super tragic and it's a tv miracle that she ended up as well-adjusted as she did. IMO, Phoebe is meanest to Chandler and Ross because the two of them were given so many priviledges and advantanges that she would have killed for but instead of being greatful, they both whine and complain about their lives a lot.

[Bort]

I wouldn't really call Chandler abandoned. His parents got a divorce, his father moved away and tried to keep in touch but a resentful Chandler wasn't receptive to it. That's not abandonment, that's Chandler's issues with his father's lifestyle.

[Rockstar99435]

To be fair to Chandler, his Dad (1) cheated on his mom (2) with their employee* (3) who either lived at their home or was there regularly and then (4) announced the cheating and (5) that their family was ending (6) at Thanksgiving (7) with the affair partner present and (8) still acting as their employee. That would be tramatic for Chandler even if his Dad broke up their family for the pool girl instead of the pool boy. 

*Which makes her a shitty boss as well as a shitty spouse and parent.

[WendyCR72]

Yeah, Chandler wasn't exactly thrilled with his dad's lifestyle, but I agree that both mom and dad put him through the proverbial emotional ringer. As an aside, I really think the actor playing "Kid Chandler" did a great job in the flashback episode when he found out about dad and the houseboy.

[mojoween]

It could be because I no longer like *her*, but it irritates me that they used Susan Sarandon as a DOOL actress.  It feels like a slap in the face (no pun intended!) to actresses who made their living on the soap for decades.  Couldn’t they have used one of them?  Since Friends is a made up show, they could have had say Marlena Evens play Jessica.  (Edited to add - do I mean Marlena Evans or Deirdre Hall?  I’ve totally blanked)

On an unrelated note, the writers should have done more research.  Because either Ross was a medical marvel, or Jack’s dog chewed through Judy’s diaphragm and they had to get married because Ross was born out of wedlock.

Due to the timeframe when Ross would have been an infant, I highly doubt Jack and Judy were trying to get pregnant before they got married and they turned to science to help Judy because they thought she was barren.

Edited January 16, 2019 by mojoween

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

It could be because I no longer like *her*, but it irritates me that they used Susan Sarandon as a DOOL actress.  It feels like a slap in the face (no pun intended!) to actresses who made their living on the soap for decades.  Couldn’t they have used one of them?  Since Friends is a made up show, they could have had say Marlena Evens play Jessica.

I no longer like Susan Sarandon much, either. But [and I know it is splitting hairs, and I agree with your point overall!], she did get her start on soaps in the early '70s.

[Danny Franks]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

On an unrelated note, the writers should have done more research.  Because either Ross was a medical marvel, or Jack’s dog chewed through Judy’s diaphragm and they had to get married because Ross was born out of wedlock.

Due to the timeframe when Ross would have been an infant, I highly doubt Jack and Judy were trying to get pregnant before they got married and they turned to science to help Judy because they thought she was barren.

Of the two, I will always believe that "they thought she was barren!" over the birth control mishap. Because it just fits with the way Jack and Judy utterly adore Ross, to the point where Monica is often an afterthought. Although Jack is much nicer to her than Judy is, and he also has the odd moment where he absentmindedly upsets Ross (like forgetting about Ben's existence).

I do have to say, one of my favourite Jack Geller moments is when he goes to visit Monica after she breaks up with Richard and hasn't been able to sleep. He just comes across as this warm, comforting, fatherly presence and, before we know it, Monica is finally asleep. So Jack puts his feet up to smoke the lit cigar and watch the Civil War documentary.

[Gulftastic]

One thing that has just occurred to me. Monica's nickname when she was a field hockey goalie was 'Big Fat Goalie'. The book 'The BFG' came out in 1982. Do you think the writers intended the initials to match?

[Crs97]

Was I supposed to be on Rachel’s side when Ross got mad that she said heartfelt goodbyes to every friend but him at her goodbye party?  Because I wasn’t, and I wasn’t swayed by her angry speech to him that he should have realized she couldn’t say goodbye because he meant too much to her.

[mojoween]

On 1/24/2019 at 10:30 PM, Crs97 said:

Was I supposed to be on Rachel’s side when Ross got mad that she said heartfelt goodbyes to every friend but him at her goodbye party?  Because I wasn’t, and I wasn’t swayed by her angry speech to him that he should have realized she couldn’t say goodbye because he meant too much to her.

I was only because Ross flipped out and then wouldn't even let her explain herself.

I know it was discussed a lot on the full forum but it was just on again the other day.  When Ross threw Rachel’s shoes and yelled at her in TOW No One’s Ready...

she should have made him drink the fat.  Then continued to catch up on her correspondence.  Then never spoken to him again.

Edited February 3, 2019 by mojoween

[cherrypj]

On 1/3/2019 at 8:19 AM, Danny Franks said:

Hmm. I can understand archiving forums that are barely active, but the Friends one had a fair bit going on in it. Never mind.

You're not wrong. The collapse of threads, I think, has led to the collapse of this entire topic. It's very odd to put things I don't like alongside things I do.

[Lazlo]

I very recently binge watched the whole show on Netflix over a few weeks.

It is interesting to see some of the very early aspects that got phased out over time. Like in the first two episodes we see Monica talking to her friends at work the restaurant she works at ('Iridium') even has its own establishing shot. Even though she stays working at Iridium until well into Season 2 we never see Monica at her original work again after those couple of episodes.

Another weird thing from Season One that got dropped was referring to people by a combination of their name and some distinguishing feature: Paul the Wine Guy, Fun Bobby, Young Ethan, Brian from Payroll, Fake Monica and of course Fat Ugly Naked Guy.  

[VagueDisclaimer]

The rerun of The One in Barbados is playing right now. The way they connected Ross/Charlie in intelligence was positive, because I always felt Ross needed a woman he couldn’t feel so superior to and who could easily cut him down in ways he couldn’t fight back on(The way Ross always denigrated Rachel’s career choice was horrible, even if ”Jurassic Parka” was clever). But the way they connected Joey/Rachel in stupidity still pisses me off, because Rachel was portrayed as spoiled and sheltered, sure, but she was never stupid and childish. It is a huge reason I was never in favor of that pairing. Rachel shouldn’t be talked down to for a relationship, but she also shouldn’t have to be dumbed down. 

[Bort]

9 minutes ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

The way Ross always denigrated Rachel’s career choice was horrible, even if ”Jurassic Parka” was clever

Yeah, I laughed at Jurassic Parka but boy, Ross was an asshole about that. And wrong, too, because The Devil Wears Prada was a huge hit when it came out several years later.

[Madding crowd]

Rachel and the others did nothing but put down Ross’ job so I don’t see it as poor Rachel. Actually, outside of Monica and Phoebe, the others had their jobs put down through out the series. 

[tennisgurl]

I never understood why the gang always made fun of Ross`s job so much. I mean, he was a paleontologist! He ended up as a tenured professor at NYU! He was living the dream! Thats an awesome job! I mean, Jurassic Park had come out by then, did people just not like dinosaurs in the late 90s/early 00s? Or was it just because being smart or into science wasnt cool yet?

I mean, its not as dignified and prestigious as being a masseuse, or a semi unemployed actor, or whatever it was that Chandler did...

[Madding crowd]

Chandler was a transpondster! Lol

[Nordly Beaumont]

9 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

Chandler was a transpondster!

"That's not even a word!!!"

[tennisgurl]

19 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

Chandler was a transpondster! Lol

HE CARRIES A BRIEFCASE!!!

[Danny Franks]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I never understood why the gang always made fun of Ross`s job so much. I mean, he was a paleontologist! He ended up as a tenured professor at NYU! He was living the dream! Thats an awesome job! I mean, Jurassic Park had come out by then, did people just not like dinosaurs in the late 90s/early 00s? Or was it just because being smart or into science wasnt cool yet?

I mean, its not as dignified and prestigious as being a masseuse, or a semi unemployed actor, or whatever it was that Chandler did...

Friends did sometimes have an anti-intellectual streak to it, and while the jokes and reactions were funny, the thinking underneath them wasn't really. The science = boring and nerdy thing was not a good look, but Ross reacting with affront was. David was also a twitchy, weird, 'scientist guy'. Crapbag gave up being a boring lawyer to run a piano bar. Chandler was gainfully employed (to the point that he had a pretty sweet looking office) doing a job that, while not very interesting, was clearly significant to the company, but none of them ever bothered to learn what it was. And then they have him go into advertising, as though that's more worthy of his time.

I'm sure there are plenty of other examples of the show making fun of intelligence and learning. It was never as insidious as a lot of other sitcoms, but it was definitely there.

[Bort]

7 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Chandler was gainfully employed (to the point that he had a pretty sweet looking office) doing a job that, while not very interesting, was clearly significant to the company, but none of them ever bothered to learn what it was. And then they have him go into advertising, as though that's more worthy of his time.

Chandler probably would've stayed at his boring transpondster job had they not made him transfer to Tulsa. 

[readster]

5 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Chandler probably would've stayed at his boring transpondster job had they not made him transfer to Tulsa. 

Or the stupid fact he fell asleep and the manager took him seriously on his "yes". Out of all the characters, Chandler had the most consistent and decent paying job through the entire series. Ross change from the museum to college professor was a mess. Why he got let go was his boss being a moron and him having a bad day on top of that. The writers acted like teaching at a college was like teaching middle school. Why the hell wasn't Ross ever working on papers at home or having more group meetings. Even his parking situation was bullshit for a punch line one episode. The only people who's jobs made sense from one day to another were Joey, Monica and Phoebe's. Since acting, massue and chef jobs can be great for a few years and the next you are picking up spare change. Rachel went from down and out waitress to mini executive way to fast in the course of 3 years was even confusing. 

[Danny Franks]

29 minutes ago, readster said:

Or the stupid fact he fell asleep and the manager took him seriously on his "yes". Out of all the characters, Chandler had the most consistent and decent paying job through the entire series. Ross change from the museum to college professor was a mess. Why he got let go was his boss being a moron and him having a bad day on top of that. The writers acted like teaching at a college was like teaching middle school. Why the hell wasn't Ross ever working on papers at home or having more group meetings. Even his parking situation was bullshit for a punch line one episode. The only people who's jobs made sense from one day to another were Joey, Monica and Phoebe's. Since acting, massue and chef jobs can be great for a few years and the next you are picking up spare change. Rachel went from down and out waitress to mini executive way to fast in the course of 3 years was even confusing. 

I quite appreciated, when going back to watch the first couple of seasons, that Joey had some odd jobs, like selling Christmas trees and being a perfume sprayer (if that's the term), to actually earn some money while he wasn't booking any acting jobs. That was an aspect that fell by the wayside, other than the brief time he worked at Central Perk, in season 6 (I think).

I never really got why Monica, a trained chef, was working as a fry cook in that dumb, theme diner. She was all about relatively fine dining, and really shouldn't have been that stuck for a job in 90s Manhattan.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Danny Franks

[readster]

2 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

I never really got why Monica, a trained chef, was working as a fry cook in that dumb, theme diner. She was all about relatively fine dining, and really shouldn't have been that stuck for a job in 90s Manhattan.

Completely agree, it wasn't like she was blacked balled either. How she didn't have a lot in the bank either didn't make sense as she apparently had no outstanding debt and her place was rent controlled. Even how she got the new job, the entire staff treating her so badly was just in poor taste too. She was the head chef and the owners saw she was a better cook than the brother that was fired. Yet, it took Monica and Joey playing up her firing him for them to shape up and fly right. It was obvious the other staff hated her because it was a family member who was fired. However, a legit business owner would have been: "Let this be a lesson to you. Do your job and make our customers happy or you can join your brother." 

[VagueDisclaimer]

I admired the show for not going the easy route for pregnancy with Monica and Chandler and that they decided on adoption, but all the details were so severely bungled and I hated how every step was a bad punchline. Yes, it’s a sitcom, but...be better? The one where they meet the other couple that did adoption and they reveal that to their unknowing son, the one where they act like crazies I’d never give a kid to in front of the social worker, the one where they outright lied to the pregnant woman and the adoption agency but get the kid anyway bc Chandler gave a little speech as if they’d been trying to have a kid more than the other not lying couples on the waiting list, the one where they didn’t know the baby was actually twins even though medical reports would’ve been shared and confirmed that over and over? Frankly, the doctor and reverend deserved a more compelling speech to get passed over for these dolts. 

[readster]

1 hour ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

I admired the show for not going the easy route for pregnancy with Monica and Chandler and that they decided on adoption, but all the details were so severely bungled and I hated how every step was a bad punchline. Yes, it’s a sitcom, but...be better? The one where they meet the other couple that did adoption and they reveal that to their unknowing son, the one where they act like crazies I’d never give a kid to in front of the social worker, the one where they outright lied to the pregnant woman and the adoption agency but get the kid anyway bc Chandler gave a little speech as if they’d been trying to have a kid more than the other not lying couples on the waiting list, the one where they didn’t know the baby was actually twins even though medical reports would’ve been shared and confirmed that over and over? Frankly, the doctor and reverend deserved a more compelling speech to get passed over for these dolts. 

Yeah, the entire story line was just one bad joke after another right up to the twins being born. Even Chandler's panic about the possible father being a killer. Because yes, of course the woman wouldn't have been interviewed about the history leading to the pregnancy. 

[VagueDisclaimer]

9 minutes ago, readster said:

Yeah, the entire story line was just one bad joke after another right up to the twins being born. Even Chandler's panic about the possible father being a killer. Because yes, of course the woman wouldn't have been interviewed about the history leading to the pregnancy. 

Right? And not for nothing, they weren’t worried about what Erica was passing on? The girl didn’t know she was having twins or that you couldn’t get pregnant from anal sex. 

[readster]

14 minutes ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

Right? And not for nothing, they weren’t worried about what Erica was passing on? The girl didn’t know she was having twins or that you couldn’t get pregnant from anal sex. 

At times you are surprised she knew how to put on a bra. 

[Bort]

Yeah, you’d think Monica and Chandler would worry about how stupid their kids were going to be. 

[cherrypj]

The One Where Rachel Finds Out has Chandler at his stumbling best. 

Chandler: Come on, Ross? Remember back in college, when he fell in love with Carol and bought her that ridiculously expensive crystal duck?

[Everyone looks at him. He realizes he just spilled the beans about Ross's crush on Rachel.]

Rachel: What did you just say?

Ch: [panicked] ahem... um... Crystal duck.

R: No, no, no.... the, um, the... 'love' part?

Ch: [stuttering incoherently] F-hah.... flennin....

Edited February 25, 2019 by cherrypj
C: converts to a smiley face!

[Danny Franks]

5 hours ago, cherrypj said:

The One Where Rachel Finds Out has Chandler at his stumbling best. 

Chandler: Come on, Ross? Remember back in college, when he fell in love with Carol and bought her that ridiculously expensive crystal duck?

[Everyone looks at him. He realizes he just spilled the beans about Ross's crush on Rachel.]

Rachel: What did you just say?

Ch: [panicked] ahem... um... Crystal duck.

R: No, no, no.... the, um, the... 'love' part?

Ch: [stuttering incoherently] F-hah.... flennin....

I always loved Joey's reaction to that. Back before he was really dumb, he was much quicker on the uptake, and you see him reacting before Chandler has even finished speaking. Then he leans back with an 'oh shit, he said it' look on his face. Then eventually says "that's good, rub your head. That'll turn back time."

Compare that to later seasons, where he'd react to something several seconds after everyone else. 

[Jax7917]

On 2/2/2019 at 7:07 PM, mojoween said:

I was only because Ross flipped out and then wouldn't even let her explain herself.

I know it was discussed a lot on the full forum but it was just on again the other day.  When Ross threw Rachel’s shoes and yelled at her in TOW No One’s Ready...

she should have made him drink the fat.  Then continued to catch up on her correspondence.  Then never spoken to him again.

I know everyone hated Ross on "The one where no one's ready", but I was on Ross' side. He told all of them a time they had to be ready and it was a really important night for him.. And they were all really selfish in taking their sweet time, even Rachel. Why would you first pick out what to wear for your boyfriend's big event at the time you're supposed to already be there? 

[Jax7917]

One thing that kind of annoyed me was that the show only made Monica and Ross Jewish when they felt like it. I was watching an episode the other night ( I forgot which one) and Monica was wearing a necklace with a cross on it. Me and me husband both saw it and were like, um isn't she supposed to be Jewish? There are also a bunch of holiday episodes where they celebrate Christmas and only have Christmas decorations in her apartment. I know every roommate she had wasn't Jewish, so I get the decorations, but I don't know, I just felt like they were only Jewish when the story line called for it. 

[EVS]

I love that my kids and some of their friends have become fans of the show thanks to Netflix.  

This conversation happened in my home a few weeks ago:

My husband made a comment about a coworker’s “Flock of Seagulls” haircut. 

My 23 year old son and his girlfriend: What’s a Flock of Seagulls haircut?

Husband: Flock of Seagulls...the band....I Ran...

Kids: They’re from Iran?

Husband: No, it’s one of their songs. (sings) I ran, I ran so far away..

Kids: OK, but what’s a Flock of Seagulls haircut?

Me: Chandler’s hair in college.

Kids: Thank you. Mom knows how to translate for us!

[MadyGirl1987]

On 2/28/2019 at 8:08 AM, Jaclyn88 said:

I know everyone hated Ross on "The one where no one's ready", but I was on Ross' side. He told all of them a time they had to be ready and it was a really important night for him.. And they were all really selfish in taking their sweet time, even Rachel. Why would you first pick out what to wear for your boyfriend's big event at the time you're supposed to already be there? 

Yes! I always get so stressed out watching that episode on Ross’ behalf. This isn’t like he’s worried about being late to a party, it’s a work thing his bosses will be at. The group always act like they have no respect for his job, though, so I guess this  is just another example of that. If I were Ross I would have been like, “thanks for nothing, don’t bother coming after all” and went to the event on my own.

[Bort]

I always wondered why everybody was going to see paleontology speeches, anyway. Rachel, yes because she was Ross's girlfriend, but everyone else? Did they want to go because it had an open bar? Because otherwise...

[Jax7917]

One thing that also annoys me is that Ross and Rachel slept together to obviously have Emma.. and Ross seemed to feel absolutely nothing for Rachel afterward. But when he slept with her during the two part finale episodes, the sex meant so much to him and he realized how in love with her he was. I just felt like it was very thrown together and made no sense. It always seemed like R & R were strictly friends throughout most of the series. Their romantic relationship dwindled after the whole Emily fiasco and they never really got that romantic chemistry back in my opinion.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Jaclyn88

[VCRTracking]

I had seen Matthew Perry in a number of things before Friends. Most memorably as Carol Seaver's boyfriend Sandy on Growing Pains. Funny or Die's "A Very Special Episode" series takes a look back at the time Sandy gets in a car crash after drinking and driving:

[mojoween]

Matthew was also a tennis player who was going to shoot himself and/or his domineering father on “Beverly Hills 90210.”  Luckily Brandon was there to save the day!

Because I am an old lady, when I saw that 90210 ep I was like “hey that’s the kid who Carol dated on “Growing Pains!”

[Jax7917]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

Matthew was also a tennis player who was going to shoot himself and/or his domineering father on “Beverly Hills 90210.”  Luckily Brandon was there to save the day!

Because I am an old lady, when I saw that 90210 ep I was like “hey that’s the kid who Carol dated on “Growing Pains!”

I remember that episode 😂.. back in season 1 when all the episodes were back to school specials . 

I feel bad for anyone who turned down the role for any of the parts on friends . The 6 of them hit the jackpot . I wonder had there been other actors , if The Show would have taken off the way it did . 

[Dancing Queen]

On 3/1/2019 at 11:01 AM, MadyGirl1987 said:

Yes! I always get so stressed out watching that episode on Ross’ behalf. This isn’t like he’s worried about being late to a party, it’s a work thing his bosses will be at. The group always act like they have no respect for his job, though, so I guess this  is just another example of that. If I were Ross I would have been like, “thanks for nothing, don’t bother coming after all” and went to the event on my own.

It's a bottle episode with five of the friends hanging out like they always do while the sixth is thisclose to having a panic attack, and it really doesn't work for me.  I always yell at Ross to take a cab and tell everyone to meet him there, but he never does.  😉  Sitcom characters rarely set reasonable boundaries with each other, but the whole episode just stresses me out - I can't enjoy the friends hanging out because Ross is so upset, and I don't get the satisfaction of watching Ross take a reasonable step to solve his problem like a grown-up.

[helenamonster]

17 hours ago, Jaclyn88 said:

I feel bad for anyone who turned down the role for any of the parts on friends . The 6 of them hit the jackpot . I wonder had there been other actors , if The Show would have taken off the way it did . 

My friend and I were talking about this the other day, and I think almost every main cast member had something where if things had gone a different way, they wouldn't be on Friends. If I'm remembering correctly, Jen was signed to another pilot when she auditioned for Friends and they had first option on her--meaning that if the pilot got picked up, she would have been contractually obligated to stay with that show and couldn't have done Friends. LeBlanc had done another pilot that would have been slated for fall '94, though whether or not it would have gotten picked up, we'll never know, as it also starred OJ Simpson and was therefore scrapped when he got a lil busy that summer. Lisa was in final callbacks for Roz on Frasier, and then there's the weirdness of Jen and Courteney actually originally auditioning for the roles that went to the other one.

Friends is one of those things that benefitted from the exact right people being available at the exact right time. Obviously it's hard to say if it would been successful with other actors, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

I'm sure there were people who turned down roles and kicked themselves for a little bit though. Just like there was a different woman in the Spice Girls who was replaced by Emma Bunton (Baby) when she wasn't demonstrating the same level of dedication as the other four (wouldn't put the group first/quit her job/go on the dole like the rest of them). She was a talking head for a minute in a Spice Girls documentary and she seemed...mildly salty.

[Heathen]

On 3/4/2019 at 2:17 PM, helenamonster said:

My friend and I were talking about this the other day, and I think almost every main cast member had something where if things had gone a different way, they wouldn't be on Friends. If I'm remembering correctly, Jen was signed to another pilot when she auditioned for Friends and they had first option on her--meaning that if the pilot got picked up, she would have been contractually obligated to stay with that show and couldn't have done Friends. LeBlanc had done another pilot that would have been slated for fall '94, though whether or not it would have gotten picked up, we'll never know, as it also starred OJ Simpson and was therefore scrapped when he got a lil busy that summer. Lisa was in final callbacks for Roz on Frasier, and then there's the weirdness of Jen and Courteney actually originally auditioning for the roles that went to the other one.

Friends is one of those things that benefitted from the exact right people being available at the exact right time. Obviously it's hard to say if it would been successful with other actors, but I'm glad it worked out the way it did.

I'm sure there were people who turned down roles and kicked themselves for a little bit though. Just like there was a different woman in the Spice Girls who was replaced by Emma Bunton (Baby) when she wasn't demonstrating the same level of dedication as the other four (wouldn't put the group first/quit her job/go on the dole like the rest of them). She was a talking head for a minute in a Spice Girls documentary and she seemed...mildly salty.

1. LOL

2. She's probably better off, considering how the Spices have done. Victoria Adams is the only one who has really been successful post-Spice, and that's probably because she married David Beckham, IMO. The others seem to have been overcome by personal problems.

[slf]

On 2/20/2019 at 4:27 PM, Madding crowd said:

Rachel and the others did nothing but put down Ross’ job so I don’t see it as poor Rachel. Actually, outside of Monica and Phoebe, the others had their jobs put down through out the series. 

On 2/20/2019 at 7:06 PM, tennisgurl said:

I never understood why the gang always made fun of Ross`s job so much. I mean, he was a paleontologist! He ended up as a tenured professor at NYU! He was living the dream! Thats an awesome job! I mean, Jurassic Park had come out by then, did people just not like dinosaurs in the late 90s/early 00s? Or was it just because being smart or into science wasnt cool yet?

I mean, its not as dignified and prestigious as being a masseuse, or a semi unemployed actor, or whatever it was that Chandler did...

People mocked Ross because he constantly talked about dinosaurs, liked to assert what he clearly thought was his superior intellect over others (the over enunciation, correcting other people's grammar, trying to argue someone into agreeing wih him, etc.), and considered his job to be the most important.

Everyone in the group had jokes made about their professions but Ross was insufferable about it so he got the most jokes.

[Madding crowd]

They all talked about their jobs like real people do. Joey talked about getting/not getting acting roles,Rachel talked about the hot guys she met thru her job, Monica talked about being a chef. Ross was passionate about dinosaurs like Monica was passionate about cooking.