Friends - General Discussion

[Madding crowd]

There was also the one where Joey got her some walk on parts on his soap opera and they had to fire her for ruining the scenes. 

[supposebly]

On the other hand, she was an exceptional agent for Joey. She got him a lot more auditions in a short time than Estelle ever did.

I think there are quite a few examples where she was a good friend. For example, the way she broke the news about Paolo to Rachel was very gentle. 

[princelina]

On 12/29/2020 at 3:56 AM, Quof said:

My nominee for dumbest plot line every - the Holiday Armadillo.  Ben was 5, not 5 months.   Leaving aside all of the other stupidity, how did he not recognize his own father's voice and barely covered face? 

It's very stupid but also very funny so I excuse it.  My nominee for dumbest plotline ever = the suave older doctor continuing to hang out chatting with Ross in their underwears whilst their girlfriends argue over condoms in the bathroom.  When he has a great apartment of his own.  It's not even funny.

On 12/31/2020 at 2:09 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm with you.  I was listing a whole bunch of sitcoms and usually I love the "wacky one" who always says the most outrageous things: Sophia Petrillo on "Golden Girls", Jazz on "Fresh Prince", Fez on "That 70s Show".  etc. etc.  But guess what my two exceptions were?  Phoebe and Kramer!  😄  They are not for me.

Haha I always hate the "quirky" one 😄 

 

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, princelina said:

It's very stupid but also very funny so I excuse it.  My nominee for dumbest plotline ever = the suave older doctor continuing to hang out chatting with Ross in their underwears whilst their girlfriends argue over condoms in the bathroom.  When he has a great apartment of his own.  It's not even funny.

Going home in his underwear makes more sense?  What doesn't make sense to me is why Rachel and Monica share condoms. Why didn't they buy their own and keep them in the night stand in their room?  Why didn't Richard or Ross have any or that matter?  they were the ones that would be wearing them.

[Ms Blue Jay]

17 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I liked Phoebe in the episode where she temped as Chandler’s secretary. I thought she did well at helping him realize that his co-workers were his subordinates and weren’t his friends anymore. 

I randomly like Phoebe too ; sometimes, it's not like I always dislike her.  But man, I easily dislike her the most.  She can be such an asshole.  It's just not my idea of being a friend.  Sometimes it appears like she actively despises Ross and Chandler.  Kind of the opposite of what the title of the show implies.

I don't really think any of the other 6 show that kind of animosity towards any of the others the way Phoebe does to R&C.  Yes, Ross and Monica are siblings, yes Ross and Rachel are exes, but there's real love there.

The scene with Phoebe breaking the news about Paolo was good, but that's Season 1. (Same with Phoebe working with Chandler, actually.) In Season 7-9 they'd probably have Phoebe say something flippant to Rachel like, "Yeah of course he liked me better, look at me."  I'm kidding, but they really decided to lean into Phoebe being a jerk because they thought it was soooo ohohohoho funny.

Phoebe has some good lines and Lisa has some good line deliveries that are stuck in my brain forever.  I'll try and think of some examples.  One is where she's raging about her father but then quickly bucks up and says "Fortunately, I'm past it."

Edited January 5, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

7 hours ago, princelina said:

Haha I always hate the "quirky" one 😄 

That's funny.  I thought of so many more examples where I love the wacky one, too.  I really do like that type ... EXCEPT for here and on Seinfeld.   I can probably think of more examples but for now they're my exceptions.  Maybe because these are my two favourite shows and/so the baseline for those shows is exactly my type of humour.  And anything that goes awry of it isn't.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[perkie1968]

Last night we watched the one where Ross and Rachel take a break.  Holy moly, i had forgotten how truly awful Ross was here.  I was a huge Ross/Rachel fan and for the most part, loved Ross/DS and felt DS got short changed a lot in terms of Emmys and stuff.    But Ross is such an absolute jerk in this episode.  The showing up at her work with food and getting pissed that she's pissed that he's disrupting her day was mind blowing.  If someone's boyfriend showed up at my work like that, the receiving person would get a talking to from the boss about inapropriate behaviour in the workforce.  People have gotten fired for less.   He had zero respect for her as a person, as an employee.  GUH.

Eh, it's just a show, but this one rubbed me the wrong way.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

Oh, you're far from alone!!!    Ross was deeply uncomfortable with Rachel finding fulfillment and happiness in an arena that didn't involve him.  That's pretty bad. 

[chitowngirl]

And don’t forget all the crap he sent her on her first day at work...

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, perkie1968 said:

Eh, it's just a show, but this one rubbed me the wrong way.  

This was the episode that sunk Ross for me.  The writers tried to salvage him (a bit) later on - mainly by trying to make Rachel look bad - but that didn't work with me.  Ross was whiny, manipulative, jealous and deeply insecure.  

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, perkie1968 said:

Last night we watched the one where Ross and Rachel take a break.  Holy moly, i had forgotten how truly awful Ross was here.  I was a huge Ross/Rachel fan and for the most part, loved Ross/DS and felt DS got short changed a lot in terms of Emmys and stuff.    But Ross is such an absolute jerk in this episode.  The showing up at her work with food and getting pissed that she's pissed that he's disrupting her day was mind blowing.  If someone's boyfriend showed up at my work like that, the receiving person would get a talking to from the boss about inapropriate behaviour in the workforce.  People have gotten fired for less.   He had zero respect for her as a person, as an employee.  GUH.

Eh, it's just a show, but this one rubbed me the wrong way.  

He had sex with her at his job, so apparently that's just the way he thinks work works.  

[princelina]

7 hours ago, Katy M said:

Going home in his underwear makes more sense?  What doesn't make sense to me is why Rachel and Monica share condoms. Why didn't they buy their own and keep them in the night stand in their room?  Why didn't Richard or Ross have any or that matter?  they were the ones that would be wearing them.

No - what makes sense for me is that he says to her, "We are adults and having sex next door to your roommate and brother is uncomfortable and stupid when I have a great apartment where we can be alone."  IMO he should have said it right when she said "Why don't we stay at my place tonight?" but I'll give him the one mistake.  The fact that it kept happening totally ruined the character for me.

And for their other suitors I totally agree about the condoms - especially when the bathroom was on the other side of a shared apartment 😄 

Edited January 5, 2021 by princelina

[FormerMod-a1]

And even if they didn't want to go back to Richard's place for some reason, why not have one of them just run down to a drug store?  Come on!

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

And even if they didn't want to go back to Richard's place for some reason, why not have one of them just run down to a drug store?  Come on!

Yeah, that's kind of the point in living in NYC, the convenience and ubiquitousness of all night stores like that.  I live in a city much smaller than NYC and I live above such a store.

I think they basically did this plot to promote safe sex, and abstaining when you don't have protection.  So, I'm fine with it and I never hated the plot.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Snow Apple]

4 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

This was the episode that sunk Ross for me.  The writers tried to salvage him (a bit) later on - mainly by trying to make Rachel look bad - but that didn't work with me.  Ross was whiny, manipulative, jealous and deeply insecure.  

Only when it comes to Rachel. Otherwise I find Ross hilarious. But yeah, I can barely watch the episodes when the plot calls for him being nuts regarding Rachel.

Although there was one scene when they realized he was normal before Carol dumped him and how he's so messed up now.

As for Phoebe, I don't dislike her all the time. She had good and funny moments too. I liked the scene where Ross gave her that bicycle and she was really moved by the gesture.

[Quof]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

And even if they didn't want to go back to Richard's place for some reason, why not have one of them just run down to a drug store? 

Hell, you know Joey had a gross of condoms, just across the hall. 

[kiddo82]

9 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

And don’t forget all the crap he sent her on her first day at work...

Tangentially related but the Barber Shop Quartet singing to Julio that "no one likes a butt munch" cracks me up every time.  

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Tangentially related but the Barber Shop Quartet singing to Julio that "no one likes a butt munch" cracks me up every time.  

And you're also bad in be-e-ed!

[princelina]

6 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Yeah, that's kind of the point in living in NYC, the convenience and ubiquitousness of all night stores like that.  I live in a city much smaller than NYC and I live above such a store.

I think they basically did this plot to promote safe sex, and abstaining when you don't have protection.  So, I'm fine with it and I never hated the plot.

I didn't actually hate the plot - it just made me hate Richard 😄 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 1/5/2021 at 9:39 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Phoebe has some good lines and Lisa has some good line deliveries that are stuck in my brain forever.  I'll try and think of some examples.  One is where she's raging about her father but then quickly bucks up and says "Fortunately, I'm past it."

I thought of another one.  After Phoebe cuts Monica's hair to look like Dudley Moore's, she says This is how he wears it.   That line is ALWAYS running through my mind! 😄

 

I'm not going to defend the plot, though.  Monica says she wants her hair cut like Demi Moore, the actress from "Disclosure, Indecent Proposal, Ghost" and says that the hair is a lot shorter than what was discussed.  Demi's hair is very short in Ghost, and shorter than Dudley's.  It's a bob in Indecent Proposal.  And it's very long in Disclosure.  The whole thing is kind of confusing but the point is moot (or a moo point) because Phoebe didn't know who she meant anyway.  

I thought of another one.  When Phoebe is deciding between the hot teacher and the hot firefighter, she describes the firefighter as "Burly.  So very burly."  With a wistful look in her eyes.  That's also funny.

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/aba07888-9258-4c47-978d-dbe18012e187

Edited January 7, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:21 AM, Madding crowd said:

Phoebe bugged me when she had cravings for meat and insisted on eating meat while she was pregnant. I’ve been a vegetarian since age 8 and did not crave or eat meat while I was pregnant. She also was against fur until she thought she looked good in a fur coat. 

I had this happen to a friend of mine though.  Her baby was a protein fiend and when she was pregnant all she wanted to eat was red meat and eggs, food she didn't like before or after the pregnancy.  

[Bort]

I also liked the plot line with Phoebe where she got played by the guy she was dating. Joey summed it up best: “Let me get this straight. He got you to beg to sleep with him, he got you to say he never has to call you again, and he got you thinking this was a great idea?”

[ifionlyknew]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

I also liked the plot line with Phoebe where she got played by the guy she was dating. Joey summed it up best: “Let me get this straight. He got you to beg to sleep with him, he got you to say he never has to call you again, and he got you thinking this was a great idea?”

Was that before or after she was dating two guys at the same time and they found out about each other?

[Ms Blue Jay]

11 hours ago, ifionlyknew said:

Was that before or after she was dating two guys at the same time and they found out about each other?

Season 2:  Joey:  "This man is a god."

Season 3:  Phoebe dates two extremely gorgeous guys and they find out.

 

Phoebe: saying "Relax, please"

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/991c9bd7-5a08-4e7a-8b96-7f0d2414a09d

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[ifionlyknew]

The show did have some great lines. Some were just throw away lines where if  you weren't paying attention  you missed them. When they were watching the triplets and one of the babies put her legs behind her head Rachel says something like I wish I could do that and Phoebe says Oh I still can and Rachel says how are you not married.  

[Hiyo]

Is there a way for us to start sub topics on here? 

[Ms Blue Jay]

Monica:  Are you interested in Joey?
Phoebe:  On the one hand, Mother May I?

 

Tag:  Phoebe, that's such a pretty name.
Phoebe:  If you like that you should hear my phone number.

 

Phoebe:  (Meets Brad Pitt as Will)
(Looks to God):  Well done.

[ifionlyknew]

8 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Phoebe:  (Meets Brad Pitt as Will)
(Looks to God):  Well done.

Have to agree with her.

 

Later in the same episode:

Rachel:  Do you have a problem with me?

Will: I dunno know. Do I? Do I?

Phoebe: I think you do.

[Ms Blue Jay]

11 minutes ago, ifionlyknew said:

Phoebe: I think you do.

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Snow Apple]

I still love, and use, Phoebe's line in the first episode: "Aww, I wish I could but I don't want to."

[Ms Blue Jay]

[chitowngirl]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

Is there a way for us to start sub topics on here? 

We used to have them and then the Board was overhauled and Friends got reduced to a single thread.  You can request a Full Forum in the New Show Request topic, but this forum probably doesn’t get enough traffic for one.

[WendyCR72]

Shows no longer on the air and with lower traffic got reduced to single threads. The Friends forum was downgraded for those reasons.

[Hiyo]

Interesting, as there are some shows that are off air that seem to get less traffic but still have subforums (like One Life to Live), or shows that are still on but also get less traffic but also have subforums (like The Real World). Oh well...

Topic? That pizza line was a great delivery but there was also another one from the same episode that also had a great delivery:

Phoebe: There he is! There he is!

Monica: Where?

Phoebe: Right where we've been looking all night...

[ifionlyknew]

1 hour ago, Hiyo said:

Interesting, as there are some shows that are off air that seem to get less traffic but still have subforums (like One Life to Live), or shows that are still on but also get less traffic but also have subforums (like The Real World). Oh well...

Topic? That pizza line was a great delivery but there was also another one from the same episode that also had a great delivery:

Phoebe: There he is! There he is!

Monica: Where?

Phoebe: Right where we've been looking all night...

This was a very funny episode. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before but I love when after the women have dropped a pillow off the balcony at some point later in the show someone knocks on the door, Chandler opens the door and the person hands him the pillow. He just takes it and shrugs.  Makes me laugh every single time.

[Hiyo]

From what I understand, Jennifer Annisto wasn't supposed to drop the pillow, but just kept going and didn't stop or break character.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I really like the whole Roger plot.  I think that it's incredibly clever and Fisher Stevens was so good in the role.  His lines are so funny.

I think Phoebe says something like "My friends have a liking problem with you....... in that, they don't."

[Kawaiiko]

On 1/5/2021 at 11:50 AM, WinnieWinkle said:

This was the episode that sunk Ross for me.  The writers tried to salvage him (a bit) later on - mainly by trying to make Rachel look bad - but that didn't work with me.  Ross was whiny, manipulative, jealous and deeply insecure.  

YES. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Sure, Ross had a good heart sometimes, like when he helps Rachel get ready (when she has the broken rib). But most of the time, to quote Rachel, he was a "petty, petty, small" man.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, YoukaiMoe said:

On 1/5/2021 at 11:50 AM, WinnieWinkle said:

This was the episode that sunk Ross for me.  The writers tried to salvage him (a bit) later on - mainly by trying to make Rachel look bad - but that didn't work with me.  Ross was whiny, manipulative, jealous and deeply insecure.  

YES. I agree with this wholeheartedly. Sure, Ross had a good heart sometimes, like when he helps Rachel get ready (when she has the broken rib). But most of the time, to quote Rachel, he was a "petty, petty, small" man.

Gonna stick up for Ross a bit here. His behavior that led to their breakup was bad, no doubt, but I disagree that overall the writers tried to salvage him by making Rachel look bad.

While in general the Friends characters were well-defined, the writers could be very inconsistent with their portrayal depending on the story. And I don't just mean over the course of the series (which has been oft-discussed here), but episode to episode. When Friend A was being petty, stupid or selfish, Friend B was reasonable, smart or kind. Then when it was Friend B's turn to be bad, Friend A was the reasonable one. It's perhaps more obvious with Ross and Rachel with the relationship stuff, but they all had their turn - and it happened with R/R in matters not involving their relationship. Sometimes Rachel was written as pretty dim, even actively anti-intellectual, when it came to book-learnin' ("Did you know that something really boring happened to someone really ugly in the Middle Ages?") - unless it was some other character's (usually Joey's) turn to be clueless. Then suddenly Rachel was all erudite. (Chandler had this problem, too.) And Ross, even after he went off the deep end, would magically transform back into the voice of reason when one of the others was doing something silly. And Phoebe - she shifted at will from a naive, sensitive space cadet to a street-toughened hardass.

So, I don't think Ross was a "petty, petty, small" man most of the time. He just was when it was his turn, as determined by the writers.

It's to the actors' credits that they made it work so well, and sold whichever "version" of them was needed, but watching episodes back to back in syndication over the years has really made this tendency stand out.

(that got way longer than i intended 😕 )

[Kawaiiko]

31 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Gonna stick up for Ross a bit here. His behavior that led to their breakup was bad, no doubt, but I disagree that overall the writers tried to salvage him by making Rachel look bad.

While in general the Friends characters were well-defined, the writers could be very inconsistent with their portrayal depending on the story. And I don't just mean over the course of the series (which has been oft-discussed here), but episode to episode. When Friend A was being petty, stupid or selfish, Friend B was reasonable, smart or kind. Then when it was Friend B's turn to be bad, Friend A was the reasonable one. It's perhaps more obvious with Ross and Rachel with the relationship stuff, but they all had their turn - and it happened with R/R in matters not involving their relationship. Sometimes Rachel was written as pretty dim, even actively anti-intellectual, when it came to book-learnin' ("Did you know that something really boring happened to someone really ugly in the Middle Ages?") - unless it was some other character's (usually Joey's) turn to be clueless. Then suddenly Rachel was all erudite. (Chandler had this problem, too.) And Ross, even after he went off the deep end, would magically transform back into the voice of reason when one of the others was doing something silly. And Phoebe - she shifted at will from a naive, sensitive space cadet to a street-toughened hardass.

So, I don't think Ross was a "petty, petty, small" man most of the time. He just was when it was his turn, as determined by the writers.

It's to the actors' credits that they made it work so well, and sold whichever "version" of them was needed, but watching episodes back to back in syndication over the years has really made this tendency stand out.

(that got way longer than i intended 😕 )

Well, there is definitely truth in there somewhere. 🙂

[Ms Blue Jay]

I agree that Ross became petty and irrational when it comes to Rachel.  I think it's pretty true to life, that everyone has someone out there that makes them a little psycho.  He pretended he annulled their marriage, for Christ's sake.  He was loco cocopuffs over her.  He didn't act right.  He hid the phone number in Season 3 (?) and again in Season 10 (?).  He was nutso.

But sure, often times he was the Voice of Reason or like the Dad of the group.  He tried to do the right thing and he tried to get people to do the right thing.  But with Rachel he was often like Evil Ross.

[Mr. Meatball Man]

On 1/3/2021 at 11:14 AM, perkie1968 said:

We're going through the all the seasons right now, since my dd is now old enough to watch them.  We're halfway through season 3.  The one episode that I don't get and truly hate is the one with Barry and Mindy's wedding.  I actually left the room and let my dd watch it on her own though came back at the end to complain about it.  

1- why is Rachel in the wedding party.  I get that she's supposed to be Mindy's best friend, but why would Barry, whom she dumped at the altar not that long ago, want her there.

2- Why is Ross one of the ushers when he's known Barry and Mindy for 5 minutes?  

3- Why were Monica and Richard invited?  

Maybe I missed or forgot the explanations but ugh with this one!

I like that episode, but Rachel singing "Copacabana" near the end was really corny. It felt like I was watching a completely different show. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

18 minutes ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

I like that episode, but Rachel singing "Copacabana" near the end was really corny. It felt like I was watching a completely different show. 

Totally.... I never rewatch that episode.  A lot of Season 3 is weird for me.  The One Where No One is Ready is great though.

[Mr. Meatball Man]

17 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Totally.... I never rewatch that episode.  A lot of Season 3 is weird for me.  The One Where No One is Ready is great though.

To me, season three was when Friends started losing some of its innocence. Ross and Rachel breaking up was the turning point, and I don't think the show was ever the same after that. Doesn't make it a bad thing, but it's like the show had different periods. The first four seasons were when the main characters felt like kids. Seasons 5-7 had the characters settled into adult life, but still acting childish at times. Seasons 8-10 were when the characters became fully grown, with wisdom and maturity (relatively). Every couple years was like the show transitioning into a new period of life. 

Season three was also the last season that didn't end with a one-hour finale, so it definitely looks weirder upon revisiting. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, Mr. Meatball Man said:

To me, season three was when Friends started losing some of its innocence. Ross and Rachel breaking up was the turning point, and I don't think the show was ever the same after that. Doesn't make it a bad thing, but it's like the show had different periods. The first four seasons were when the main characters felt like kids. Seasons 5-7 had the characters settled into adult life, but still acting childish at times. Seasons 8-10 were when the characters became fully grown, with wisdom and maturity (relatively). Every couple years was like the show transitioning into a new period of life. 

Season three was also the last season that didn't end with a one-hour finale, so it definitely looks weirder upon revisiting. 

I guess you're right.  Season 3 they were suffering some growing pains of trying to figure out where to take the stories of the characters.  Season 3 also had Matthew Perry extremely underweight from his drug issues.  I think Season 4 is good and Season 5 is especially hysterical.  Maybe the writers found their groove, and the whole Emily storyline and Monica/Chandler secretly sleeping together were both inspired in my opinion.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Danny Franks]

I just happened to catch TOW The Sonogram at the End today, and the scene with Ross, Carol and Susan in the hospital still bugs me. The gall of Susan and Carol to suggest that the kid should have the surname Willick-Bunch infuriates me.

They've acknowledged that Ross is the father, Susan has no claim to this child other than as the partner of its mother, yet she expects it to have her surname? Then she gets snotty about Ross expecting his child to have his surname. I get that the show was doing work to show a lesbian couple as a viable family unit, but they treat Ross as though he's the interloper when he's the wronged party.

It was totally the wrong way to approach the storyline. It should have been written as Susan tentatively putting out the suggestion she'd like to be involved in the naming of the baby, and Ross initially being resistant but then coming around to it because he has to accept Susan will be a parent to his child too. But Susan was never tentative about anything, as I've said before. The character was utterly unsympathetic and if she'd been a man, her actions would have made the entirety of the audience hate her.

[princelina]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:59 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

 The One Where No One is Ready is great though.

Oh this one makes me so angry!  Totally team Ross 😄 

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, princelina said:

Oh this one makes me so angry!  Totally team Ross 😄 

Not me. He comes over hours before they need to be ready and yells at them and they all end up ready in plenty of time.  So, he should have just come over later and everyone would have been happier.

[Bort]

That one just bugs me because I can’t fathom why anyone but Rachel is going to some black tie paleontology lecture of Ross’s.

[ifionlyknew]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:59 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

The One Where No One is Ready is great though.

 

7 hours ago, princelina said:

Oh this one makes me so angry!  Totally team Ross 😄 

I'm not normally an anxious person but that episode I swear it felt like it was happening to me.  I am someone who is on time, well actually usually early, and watching Ross impatiently waiting for his friends to get ready made me nuts.   It was a very good episode and had some great lines but honestly it makes me uncomfortable watching it.