Friends - General Discussion

[Nellise]

24 minutes ago, partofme said:

I couldn’t stand Kathy even though I really liked Paget on Criminal Minds.  Also hated Richard, Pete, Mona and Mike.

The best Paget isn't even a character, it's Paget on Drunk History. I don't like Richard because he's literally her father's best friend, ewww, and Tom Selleck was really bad at selling jokey lines. Pete was ok (and shallow note, Courteney looked amazing during those episodes), but they obviously made him into a cartoon to get rid of him. Mona and Mike were both the same in the they were written as blah even though both actors are capable of way more. I always thought Ross would be kicking himself five years later when he realized what he gave up in Mona, someone who actually liked who he was unlike Rachel who always put down his interests.

[Hiyo]

Quote

Not really. She could visit him at his place, they could meet at restaurants.  He just couldnt hang out with Monica at her apartment.  

Considering how much time the group spent hanging out at Monica's, it would have been a huge adjustment for all of them.

As someone upthread mentioned, a more reasonable request would have been for Ross to not be alone with Rachel.

Quote

it was unfair for the writers to dismiss Emily as the jealous paranoid wife after relegating her to Disposable Love Interest.

It wasn't unfair, Emily was basically a guest on the show. I don't think she deserved a more graceful exit than any of the other guests on the show, and to be honest, I'm not really losing much sleep over how her character was treated or whatever. I mean, at least she didn't pull out a gun and shoot a pigeon on the window sill...

 

[Catfi9ht]

I watched Scream 2 tonight and there were quite a few Friends jokes I didn't remember.

David Arquette talks about David Schwimmer playing him in the Stab movie. Corteney's character talks about how it not her naked body. It's Jennifer Aniston's with a Photoshop of her head.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I liked Kate because, aside from Rachel, it’s the only woman we ever saw Joey actually fall for. And I loved that storyline because it was several episodes of what seemed to be a serious dramatic play, only for it to end with “I’m gonna get on this spaceship!…” That kills me every time.

I love that part, and recite that whole little monologue whenever I think of it. I think it's one of the cleverest things the show ever did - it was so bizarre and out of nowhere after the little bits of the play we'd been seeing. And Joey's reaction to his part of the critic's review:

"Joey Tribbiani is NOT the worst thing in this play"

"YES!"

[rubaco]

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Obviously I can see that Sean Penn is a great actor, but THAT was a bad storyline.  

Totally worth it, though, for "You're blurry, but you still look like Ursula. You're Blursula."

[FilmTVGeek80]

20 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I also liked how the video pointed out how the gang treated Emily as an interloper from more or less the very begging. Sure, they were right to point out that Ross was rushing things, but beyond that? They never really gave Emily a chance. And after the wedding debacle, their sympathy was all for Ross—not a smidgen of empathy for Emily, who was the humiliated one in the whole mess. And it’s astounding how they all acted like Ross shouldn’t cut Rachel out of his life; it’s all fine and well to stay friends with an ex, but when you say her name at your vows instead of your bride’s, it’s time to cut ties.

And for all the crap they gave Emily about being paranoid and controlling, it’s not amiss to point out that how mature and calm she was when when she realized that Ross was right, she couldn’t spend the rest of her life keeping him away from Rachel, which led her to conclude that the marriage wasn’t going to work out.

But oh no, even during that scene, everyone was all “Poor Ross, poor Ross, he’s getting a divorce again!” Just once I would’ve liked one of them to say: “Well what did you expect? You used the poor girl as a rebound!”

I’m seriously trying to figure out how any of them treated Emily as an interloper from the beginning. Like Katy M pointed out Monica was all for that relationship and pushed him to say ILY. And, during the time she was doing that, I don’t remember anyone really saying ‘maybe this is too soon.’ They were all friendly and nice during Rachel’s fake party. I, also don’t remember any of them making a big stink about him getting married too fast. Maybe a couple of comments, but it wasn’t a big issue.

I do think they had some sympathy for Emily. And I don’t think it’s astounding they had an issue with her wanting him to cut her out of his life completely. It would have been reasonable to not want him to see Rachel - maybe for awhile - or as someone elss said, not to be alone with her, but expecting him to never be in the same room with her for the rest of their lives was unreasonable. And while they didn’t like the Rachel thing, they didn’t really turn on her until she ramped up the controlling behavior by having him move and sell off everything Rachel ever touched. 
 

Her acknowledging how paranoid she had been behaving doesn’t somehow make the others wrong that she had been paranoid and controlling. No one who isn’t paranoid says out loud that they feel like they need to be around you all the time to keep an eye on you.

Of course, they had more sympathy for Ross at that point. They had reached the point of not liking her because of her paranoid behavior, Ross was their loved one, and they had seen how sorry he was and how he bent over backwards to appease Emily. No, they didn’t kick him when he was down right after they broke up. They waited until after constantly making jokes about his three divorces.

Lastly, Ross didn’t treat Emily like a rebound. If anyone was a rebound, it was Bonnie. Both he and Rachel had been seeing other people for months before he met Emily. And, up until the slip up in the vows, he was all into his relationship with Emily.

[Madding crowd]

It’s also natural for people to take the side of their loved one or friends in the case of a breakup. They may even act like they hate the person because they are sympathetic to their friend. Eventually everyone moves on and people are more cool headed toward the person who broke up with their friend/brother.

[Bort]

36 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

It’s also natural for people to take the side of their loved one or friends in the case of a breakup. They may even act like they hate the person because they are sympathetic to their friend. Eventually everyone moves on and people are more cool headed toward the person who broke up with their friend/brother.

Which they didn’t even have to be because Emily lived in England and it’s not like they ran into her once in awhile. I think she occasionally visited to see her uncle but once Rachel got the Ralph Lauren job, even that slight likelihood of running into her evaporated into almost nothing.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Something that always makes me randomly laugh is the way that Joey would imitate Susan Sarandon's character Cecilia Monroe's character on "Days of Our Lives", in this halting, British accent, "JESS I CA LOCK HART!"  before Cecilia corrected him and gave him acting lessons.

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Bort]

“I can do a British accent? That’s going on the résumé!”

[Ms Blue Jay]

Joey can also do a Jamaican accent

 

[Bort]

Joey is a really good friend. Who else would kiss Rachel’s mom so that neither she or Rachel’s dad see each other?

[Ms Blue Jay]

Yeah sure, but not sure if Joey needs that much motivation to kiss people....he could have done anything else, but the kiss was his choice.  LOL.  Though, at least he didn't do what Ross did (make out with Mrs. Bing) or what Chandler did (hook up with EACH of his best friend's sisters).  But I agree, Joey's a pretty damn good friend, one of the best of the 6.  It's an interesting battle, who are the best actual friends of the group to the other 5?  I think Joey and Monica are two of the best, but then I think about how Chandler basically let Joey live rent free for years and supported his acting career.  Phoebe is the worst.  Ross is pretty good.  Rachel is okay.  

Joey also confronted Chandler about Janice cheating.  That was good.  Did Joey also tell Chandler about Ross kissing Mrs. Bing?  I read about it, and no, Ross confessed himself.  Good on him!  But it looks like Joey forced him to.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[mojoween]

I JUST noticed that when small Monica comes up to the table after small Ross, wearing their mom’s dress, spilled his make believe tea, Monica had a cleaning rag and wipes up the make believe spill.

[Bort]

5 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yeah sure, but not sure if Joey needs that much motivation to kiss people....he could have done anything else, but the kiss was his choice. 

Not sure what else Joey could’ve done to distract Mrs. Green, as Dr. Green was literally walking out the door that second. Besides, after the deal with Ross and Mrs. Bing, he seemed pretty adamant about no moms. “Sisters are okay, maybe a hot-looking aunt, but not a mom. Never a mom!”

[Bort]

If I were Ross, I would’ve sent a note or something to the apartment manager of Rebecca Romijn’s building because that shit wasn’t just messy, it was health hazard unsanitary.

[Dandesun]

But Joey wasn't actively hitting on Mrs. Green, or expressing any interest or making any comments about whether she was hot. The kiss was pure distraction and it worked! It was a pure desperation move and it kept her occupied while they quickly ushered Mr. Green out. Rachel didn't seem particularly thrown by it and there was never any mention made of it again.

Ross and Mrs. Bing kissing was a significant plot point for that particular episode. And the plot point there was more about Chandler and his mom rather than Ross. I blame Mrs. Bing for that one more simply because Ross seemed quite drunk and she didn't despite the number of shots going around.

And, yeah, Joey wasn't the one to tell Chandler because he thought that was Ross' place to do so and kept getting after him to tell Chandler the truth.

I do think Joey is one of the better actual friends.

[mojoween]

When Chandler and his weirdo boss are at the strip club, I swear sitting behind them drinking is Brian Smith (former Amazing Race contestant and he also played Zach on The Big Bang Theory).

I checked the episode guide and that episode aired in December 2001, so the timeline could fit (he was on TAR on 2004).

Edited February 1, 2022 by mojoween

[Katy M]

So, I was just watching the 5 steaks and an eggplant episode.  It's Season 2, so Monica should probably be 26.  They're at the concert and run into someone she used to babysit, who is now a lawyer.  If you graduate HS at 18, college at 22 and law school at 25, that would be the earliest you could be a lawyer.  Why was Monica babysitting someone who was at most 2 years younger than her?  The fact that she said he was 8 says to me she should be 4 years older than him because most of my friends started babysitting at 12 or 13.  He didn't have to be a lawyer to get them backstage. He could have been a manager, a roadie, just had backstage passes for some reason.  Or, on the other hand she didn't have to be his babysitter.  He could have been a kid who lived a couple of houses down from them.  Just seems weird nobody did the math on that.  Then again, I've probably seen this epi 4 or 5 times and it never bothered me until this time.

[Bort]

It’s bothered me a lot since I noticed the math. If Monica and Rachel were old enough that Rachel apparently fooled around with the kid’s dad (soooo many things wrong with that one as well) and he was 8, he’d still be in high school, not a lawyer.

[princelina]

I was always too busy being bothered that they couldn't just get separate checks at dinner 😄

[Bort]

Getting the establishment to split the check for a bunch of people back then was a bigger deal, they didn’t have computers for their orders like places do now.

But the splitting the check evenly six ways was still weird. I went out with friends in groups a lot when I was younger, we always just paid for what we had, because of that exact situation: some people got cheaper things than others. Usually the big difference was the stuff from the bar, as some were bigger drinkers.

[partofme]

1 hour ago, princelina said:

I was always too busy being bothered that they couldn't just get separate checks at dinner 😄

That definitely would have been easier, but I work in nyc(or at least did before covid, now its wfh) and I've been out with coworkers who almost always like to split the bill evenly, which has always annoyed me.

[princelina]

I just felt they were good enough friends to say "I just got the soup because I can't afford the big dinner - here's my $10"

[bluegirl147]

4 hours ago, partofme said:

That definitely would have been easier, but I work in nyc(or at least did before covid, now its wfh) and I've been out with coworkers who almost always like to split the bill evenly, which has always annoyed me.

I'm  having lunch with friends tomorrow and when we go out we always say separate checks.

I used to have a friend that I had dinner with and she always had a few glasses of wine.  No way would I have split the check with her when all I was drinking was iced tea.

[Bort]

If you look at the scene, Ross, Monica and Chandler are all drinking wine while the others just have water. I actually kind of get annoyed that Ross does the check splitting and it doesn’t occur to him to think, “I had $50 worth of food/drink and my share is only $30.”

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, princelina said:

I just felt they were good enough friends to say "I just got the soup because I can't afford the big dinner - here's my $10"

This was in the first season, right? So at that point Joey was still pretty new to the group, and Rachel, while she knew Monica and Ross (and Chandler, according to later seasons' retcons), hadn't seen them in years and still probably felt new to the group as well. And Phoebe lifts right out, so maybe she wasn't comfortable with it, either.

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Getting the establishment to split the check for a bunch of people back then was a bigger deal, they didn’t have computers for their orders like places do now.

But the splitting the check evenly six ways was still weird. I went out with friends in groups a lot when I was younger, we always just paid for what we had, because of that exact situation: some people got cheaper things than others. Usually the big difference was the stuff from the bar, as some were bigger drinkers.

I watch the Drew Barrymore Show and somebody in the audience asked how to handle this question with coworkers who "always want to split the bill evenly" even though she doesn't drink.  I can't believe that people still do this.  Also people need to speak up and say no way!

Actually now that I think about it, I was in this situation 10 years ago.  A coworker sent out a notice that said we're not doing that anymore and we'll all pay our own way from now on.

I agree with good friends, it shouldn't be an issue.  

Edited February 11, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Getting the establishment to split the check for a bunch of people back then was a bigger deal, they didn’t have computers for their orders like places do now.

There were even restaurants that said you couldn't split the check or you had to get pre-approval because it was too much of a hassle to do it after.  If they know in advance, then they can write out separate checks as food is ordered but it's too complicated after. 

As you say, software works so much better now.

 

2 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I watch the Drew Barrymore Show and somebody in the audience asked how to handle this question with coworkers who "always want to split the bill evenly" even though she doesn't drink.  I can't believe that people still do this.  Also people need to speak up and say no way.

Oh the peer pressure of "why are you such a penny pincher" is so real.  This happened to me in my first adult job at a holiday dinner.  Nice restaurant but I was on an entry level salary so even not drinking and only getting a salad, it was going to be a splurge. About half of my coworkers and their spouses bought appetizers and drinks and steak.  The rest of us had salads and no alcohol.   My bill was double what I anticipated it to be.

But I was new to my office and I was afraid to upset the balance so I sucked it up.  The other "cheap" people were already more established so I don't think they thought twice about the inequity. 

[Hiyo]

China streaming platforms censor Friends lesbian storyline.

Censors deleted conversations about and appearances by Ross's ex-wife, Carol.

Censors also reportedly removed a scene of Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) kissing on New Year's Eve and altered dialogue in the show's Chinese-language subtitles, such as changing a line about women having "multiple orgasms" to "women have endless gossips."

So far, it seems most of these changes were made just to season 1, as that's the only one to have debuted on several streaming platforms in China (an uncensored version of Friends was previously available on Chinese streaming platforms from 2012 to 2013).

Edited February 13, 2022 by Hiyo

[mojoween]

Man, Phoebe should have been on thin ice a lot with this group, especially Monica.

She blabbed to Chandler about Monica having lunch with Richard.

She blabbed to Chandler that Monica really wanted to have sex with Joey first.

She yelled for Monica to give a speech when Chandler was trying to hide Harmomica’s drunkenness.

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

[RealHousewife]

On 2/11/2022 at 7:06 PM, Irlandesa said:

There were even restaurants that said you couldn't split the check or you had to get pre-approval because it was too much of a hassle to do it after.  If they know in advance, then they can write out separate checks as food is ordered but it's too complicated after. 

As you say, software works so much better now.

 

Oh the peer pressure of "why are you such a penny pincher" is so real.  This happened to me in my first adult job at a holiday dinner.  Nice restaurant but I was on an entry level salary so even not drinking and only getting a salad, it was going to be a splurge. About half of my coworkers and their spouses bought appetizers and drinks and steak.  The rest of us had salads and no alcohol.   My bill was double what I anticipated it to be.

But I was new to my office and I was afraid to upset the balance so I sucked it up.  The other "cheap" people were already more established so I don't think they thought twice about the inequity. 

So true. The truly cheap people are the moochers who want people who aren't eating/drinking as much to foot their bills. Luckily I haven't dealt with much of this anywhere other than the workplace. At one job we were pressured into monthly parties. I'm a vegetarian and go through phases where I try to eat healthy. I'd spend all this money and eat a little off a veggie tray. It was ridiculous.

2 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Man, Phoebe should have been on thin ice a lot with this group, especially Monica.

She blabbed to Chandler about Monica having lunch with Richard.

She blabbed to Chandler that Monica really wanted to have sex with Joey first.

She yelled for Monica to give a speech when Chandler was trying to hide Harmomica’s drunkenness.

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

Still relatively new to Friends, but it seems like Pheobe is the friend you love who means well but you won't share secrets with because she can't keep them. 

[Katy M]

37 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Man, Phoebe should have been on thin ice a lot with this group, especially Monica.

She blabbed to Chandler about Monica having lunch with Richard.

She blabbed to Chandler that Monica really wanted to have sex with Joey first.

She yelled for Monica to give a speech when Chandler was trying to hide Harmomica’s drunkenness.

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

She knew Monica and Chandler thought they were meeting at different times for a movie.  

She let Monica sing karaoke with her see though shirt with no bra on without telling her.

On 2/11/2022 at 8:06 PM, Irlandesa said:

Oh the peer pressure of "why are you such a penny pincher" is so real.  This happened to me in my first adult job at a holiday dinner.  Nice restaurant but I was on an entry level salary so even not drinking and only getting a salad, it was going to be a splurge. About half of my coworkers and their spouses bought appetizers and drinks and steak.  The rest of us had salads and no alcohol.   My bill was double what I anticipated it to be.

But I was new to my office and I was afraid to upset the balance so I sucked it up.  The other "cheap" people were already more established so I don't think they thought twice about the inequity. 

That's ridiculous, but I can see how you wouldn't want to rock the boat.  If everyone got an entree that was within $2-3 price range (like the difference, not suggesting you could get an entree for 3 bucks) and a soft drink, I don't think it would be worth it to nickel and dime it to death.  But, in your situation, just like situation on the show, that was so obviously lopsided, it should have been split out.

Even if they just asked to split he check Ross/Monica/Chandler and Phoebe/Joey/Rachel, it probably would have come out fairly fair.

On the flip side, though, doesn't Chandler pretty much bankroll Joey?  What difference did it really make to him?

[LexieLily]

14 minutes ago, Katy M said:

On the flip side, though, doesn't Chandler pretty much bankroll Joey?  What difference did it really make to him?

I know that Chandler bankrolled Joey's career (headshots, the acting class that taught Joey the 'Jamaican' accent, etc.) but I hope Chandler made Joey pay for his own Joey special every Friday night!  

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Katy M said:

50 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Man, Phoebe should have been on thin ice a lot with this group, especially Monica.

She blabbed to Chandler about Monica having lunch with Richard.

She blabbed to Chandler that Monica really wanted to have sex with Joey first.

She yelled for Monica to give a speech when Chandler was trying to hide Harmomica’s drunkenness.

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

Expand  

She knew Monica and Chandler thought they were meeting at different times for a movie.  

She let Monica sing karaoke with her see though shirt with no bra on without telling her.

Easily my least favorite Friend. Not even close.

[Bort]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

She let Monica sing karaoke with her see though shirt with no bra on without telling her.

Except Monica ended up loving the attention her see-through shirt got her, so I don’t fault Phoebe on that one.

[Katy M]

35 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Except Monica ended up loving the attention her see-through shirt got her, so I don’t fault Phoebe on that one.

But, IIRC, she thought the attention was for her singing.  Not because they could see her nipples.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

But, IIRC, she thought the attention was for her singing.  Not because they could see her nipples.

Yes, but once Chandler told her what it was really for, she hopped right back up there.

[Kawaiiko]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

You wonder why they didn't tell Phoebe off more often because sometimes she could BITE.

[Ms Blue Jay]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

Man, Phoebe should have been on thin ice a lot with this group, especially Monica.

She blabbed to Chandler about Monica having lunch with Richard.

She blabbed to Chandler that Monica really wanted to have sex with Joey first.

She yelled for Monica to give a speech when Chandler was trying to hide Harmomica’s drunkenness.

I’m sure there were more.  They really should have lifted her right out!

She could be really awful.  Just straight up awful for no reason.  It also feels like lazy writing like writers lying back in their chairs reclined like "Let's make Phoebe do it" .  "Let's make Phoebe spill a terrible secret to create conflict".  Not exactly organic conflict. 

Is anyone watching Love is Blind Season 2?  There's a man who believes in science trying to date a woman who doesn't believe in evolution.  It's like Ross and Phoebe trying to date. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Kawaiiko]

1 minute ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

"Let's make Phoebe spill a terrible secret to create conflict". 

cough cough telling chandler that monica wanted to hook up with joey in london cough cough

[Katy M]

On the other hand, Phoebe kept the secret that Ross and Rachel were still married.  A secret she really should have spilled the beans on after giving Ross 24 hours to do it himself.

[Bort]

Phoebe also sat on the secret of Chandler planning to propose to Monica.

[princelina]

57 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Phoebe also sat on the secret of Chandler planning to propose to Monica.

But she almost lost him the ring by acting like an ass in the jewelry store.  (And I know she went with him to get it back but I don't find anything about that bit even slightly believable, whereas I can totally believe she did a crap job of watching the ring!)

She also insisted on singing outside of Monica's restaurant.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Oh god, she got really so obnoxious in the later seasons. It's like she regressed in maturity.  Sure, she got into a committed relationship with Mike finally, but she could be a jerk. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[bluegirl147]

17 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

Easily my least favorite Friend. Not even close.

Mine too.

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

She could be really awful.  Just straight up awful for no reason.  It also feels like lazy writing like writers lying back in their chairs reclined like "Let's make Phoebe do it" .  "Let's make Phoebe spill a terrible secret to create conflict".  Not exactly organic conflict. 

I think they pictured her to be the zany sidekick character which is OK in small doses but she was a main character so they had to have to her do more things.

9 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Oh god, she got really so obnoxious in the later seasons. It's like she regressed in maturity.  Sure, she got into a committed relationship with Mike finally, but she could be a jerk. 

Like her changing her name to  Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock.  

[chitowngirl]

She was the worst when she badgered Ross for Sting tickets when he didn’t even know him, their kids just went to the same school. ROSS CAN!! 🤮

She was at her best when she’d memorize Paleontology stuff to mess with him! 😆

[princelina]

3 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

Like her changing her name to  Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock.  

Mike handled that masterfully 😄

And I did love when she messed with Ross, but that's because he was so funny when he got all upset!

[Snow Apple]

Some of my favorite moments involve Phoebe, but so are some of the most annoying moments too. 

Like giving the children's charity her wedding money and taking it back. She could have taken back some of the money, not all of it.

But I love the episode when she learned that she mugged Ross. I also like the bicycle and chocolate chip cookie episodes too.

[Katy M]

8 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Like giving the children's charity her wedding money and taking it back. She could have taken back some of the money, not all of it.

No, she shouldn't have taken some of it back.  She should have just lived with her decision.

I hate Phoebe when she's at her most hypocritical.  Like all her furniture has to be one of a kind, and then she tells Rachel to threaten to move out if they don't buy all the stuff at Pottery Barn.

Or when she yells at Rachel for using a corporate massage parlor (for lack of better thing to call it) while all the time she is working there.