Friends - General Discussion

[Artsda]

I was watching rerun of Vegas episode the other day and when it aired never thought twice about the permanent marker on Rachel's face. 

Now I watch and I'm thinking full coverage foundations would have covered that and there's a Sephora inside Caesar's Palace. Lol

[chitowngirl]

I just wondered how they got it off because they came down to breakfast like nothing was ever there.

[Artsda]

Yes and when Ross called they said it wasn't going to come off. I've had long lasting lipstick last longer. Lol 

[Snow Apple]

And so what if it didn't come off? It's Vegas, baby!

[LexieLily]

TOW All The Cheesecakes is rerunning this week and it reminded me that Phoebe and Joey had a standing once-a-month dinner date where they talked about the other four. What I wouldn't have given to have heard their talk after Ross and Rachel's break-up. Lol. 

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, LexieLily said:

TOW All The Cheesecakes is rerunning this week and it reminded me that Phoebe and Joey had a standing once-a-month dinner date where they talked about the other four. What I wouldn't have given to have heard their talk after Ross and Rachel's break-up. Lol. 

I would have liked to see the awkwardness when Joey knew about Mondler and Phoebe didn't.  We all know Joey isn't exactly cool when talking about stuff where he doesn't want anyone else to know.

[LexieLily]

I don't think it would have taken very long for Phoebe to worm it out of him, lol. 

[peacheslatour]

34 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I don't think it would have taken very long for Phoebe to worm it out of him, lol. 

You just have to middle name him.

[scarynikki12]

I can't remember, did Phoebe specify how long it had been going on? If not I would assume it started in the wake of learning Joey kept the Chandler and Monica relationship a secret.

[LexieLily]

11 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

I can't remember, did Phoebe specify how long it had been going on? If not I would assume it started in the wake of learning Joey kept the Chandler and Monica relationship a secret.

I looked up the transcript and no, she never said. Just that they meet "about once a month to discuss the rest of you guys." 

[Avabelle]

Rewatching the first season and it has such a Seinfeld vibe to it. 
 

Joey missing Phoebes birthday party to take Ursula out was so mean. Phoebe looked so hurt and although he got dumped in the end I wish we’d seen him say sorry to her for missing it. 

[chitowngirl]

In The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant, Monica sees someone she used to babysit and is now a lawyer. She is about 26-27. Wouldn’t that be the age of a lawyer?

[Bort]

45 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

In The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant, Monica sees someone she used to babysit and is now a lawyer. She is about 26-27. Wouldn’t that be the age of a lawyer?

Yeah, that was dumb. If he was 8 when Monica babysat him in high school, he should still be in high school himself.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

In The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant, Monica sees someone she used to babysit and is now a lawyer. She is about 26-27. Wouldn’t that be the age of a lawyer?

Plus, how insentitive were they? Chandler had been paying Joey's rent for a while by that point. The whole thing was just dumb. 

[Snow Apple]

The New Year's resolutions episode is on and I like all their storylines except for Phoebe's ridiculous guitar lessons.

[partofme]

11 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, that was dumb. If he was 8 when Monica babysat him in high school, he should still be in high school himself.

I’m a non-practicing attorney, I graduated when I was 24.    Maybe Monica was 13 and he was 10 when she babysat him?

[Bort]

Just now, partofme said:

I’m a non-practicing attorney, I graduated when I was 24.    Maybe Monica was 13 and he was 10 when she babysat him?

Monica said he was eight. And then there was the comment about some of the babysitters fooling around with his dad, Rachel apparently being one of them? I would really like to think that they were 16-17, rather than 13. It’s gross either way but 13 is really gross.

[Katy M]

19 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Monica said he was eight. And then there was the comment about some of the babysitters fooling around with his dad, Rachel apparently being one of them? I would really like to think that they were 16-17, rather than 13. It’s gross either way but 13 is really gross.

But that would make MOnica 8 years older than him and an 18 year old lawyer.

[Bort]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

But that would make MOnica 8 years older than him and an 18 year old lawyer.

Right, that’s my point. It makes no sense.

[voiceover]

“TOW Rachel is Late” is in my Top 10, because it’s pure hilarity.  Jen gives her best performance, and Lisa has the best lines (“I’ll hold her nose, you blow in her mouth, and the kid’ll just [pop!] right out”; “I’ll call Zurich and move some money around”; and “Good God, man — don’t anger it!”)

I could probably just rewrite the script here.  I won’t, but I could.

[mojoween]

Wait I thought Rachel’s credit cards were all through her dad?  Why would the company be calling her due to lack of activity?

[Bort]

Rachel’s name was still on them, although I don’t know why they would have updated contact information.

[Wildcard]

"The One with the Embryos" is probably my favorite episode of the series and one I continually watch. One thing that has always bugged me is that in the Lightning Round  - why didn't Monica and Rachel just take a guess on Chandler's job and move on to the next question?  (Writing this - I do realize I need a hobby 😀)

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Wildcard said:

"The One with the Embryos" is probably my favorite episode of the series and one I continually watch. One thing that has always bugged me is that in the Lightning Round  - why didn't Monica and Rachel just take a guess on Chandler's job and move on to the next question?  (Writing this - I do realize I need a hobby 😀)

Even after Rachel said he was a transponster, monica just said that wasn't a word, and they kept trying to come up with the answer.  Transponster should have been counted as the answer and Ross asked the next question.

[Bort]

I don’t understand why the game ended in a tie, precipitating the lightning round,  when there were still more questions on the board.

[mojoween]

Now obviously Julio needed to be returned to the little girl, but why did Ross have to be such an ass about Phoebe thinking her mom was the cat?

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Now obviously Julio needed to be returned to the little girl, but why did Ross have to be such an ass about Phoebe thinking her mom was the cat?

Because it was kind of silly to begin with...and once it became clear that the cat belonged to the girl, it was even more ridiculous, and selfish on Phoebe's part to prolong it. And she was kind of an ass about it, too. Totally Team Ross on that one.

[Bort]

Phoebe didn’t prolong it, nobody told her, not until Ross stomped in and yelled at her.

Ross was an ass for the same reason he’s an ass all the other times. He believes he’s right and doesn’t care if he hurts people’s feeling while he proves it.

[Crs97]

IIRC he was at first incredulous that she believed it (forgetting it was Phoebe he was dealing with) and then she found out the cat belonged to a little girl and wanted to keep it anyway.

Also, when he tried to not hurt Phoebe’s feeling with the evolution discussion, she mocked him for “caving.”  

[peacheslatour]

32 minutes ago, tracyscott76 said:

Because it was kind of silly to begin with...and once it became clear that the cat belonged to the girl, it was even more ridiculous, and selfish on Phoebe's part to prolong it. And she was kind of an ass about it, too. Totally Team Ross on that one.

Yeah, I almost never like Ross but he was in the right here.

[Bort]

Yes, Phoebe wanted to keep it, but Ross allowed her all of 30 seconds before he started yelling at her. Maybe give her a little bit more time, Ross? 

And I loved Phoebe mocking Ross for caving about evolution. He’d spent hours haranguing her about it. He had that coming.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

IIRC he was at first incredulous that she believed it (forgetting it was Phoebe he was dealing with) and then she found out the cat belonged to a little girl and wanted to keep it anyway.

This. She did prolong it. And that, I believe, is when he started coming down harder on her. I don't think he immediately started yelling at her after 30 seconds.

It was typical Phoebe getting away with selfish crap because "oh, she's so quirky."

[bluegirl147]

15 hours ago, tracyscott76 said:

It was typical Phoebe getting away with selfish crap because "oh, she's so quirky."

This became a real issue for me when I did a complete rewatch.  Watching it live  Phoebe didn't bother me too much but binge watching it and seeing how selfish and sometimes outright mean she could be really made me dislike her.

[Bethany]

1 hour ago, bluegirl147 said:

This became a real issue for me when I did a complete rewatch.  Watching it live  Phoebe didn't bother me too much but binge watching it and seeing how selfish and sometimes outright mean she could be really made me dislike her.

What I found on rewatching a few years ago was how unlikely it seemed to me that Phoebe would actually be friends with Monica and then by extension the rest of the gang.  I accepted that when I first watched without question.  But of course Friends, like most long running shows, made the characters caricatures of themselves by the end and you really see that better when you watch in a more compressed time frame.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Bethany said:

But of course Friends, like most long running shows, made the characters caricatures of themselves by the end and you really see that better when you watch in a more compressed time frame.

It's especially jarring if you're watching it in syndication and the first season comes on right after the last season. It's hard not to think "are these even the same people?"

[Bort]

I always wondered how Phoebe ended up in their group. We got How They Met explanations for everybody else but never anything for Phoebe. 

[Guest]

Just now, kariyaki said:

I always wondered how Phoebe ended up in their group. We got How They Met explanations for everybody else but never anything for Phoebe. 

Phoebe was Monica's roommate before Rachel, so I always assumed that she just answered an ad, like Joey did to be Chandler's roommate.

[Bort]

1 minute ago, tracyscott76 said:

Phoebe was Monica's roommate before Rachel, so I always assumed that she just answered an ad, like Joey did to be Chandler's roommate.

Yeah but my point is that they never actually told us anything. We know how Joey became Chandler’s roommate because they told/showed us. We know Ross and Monica knew Rachel as kids and she became Monica’s roommate in the pilot. We know Chandler met Ross in college when they were dorm roommates and they stayed in touch. We’re left to guess how Phoebe came along.

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah but my point is that they never actually told us anything. We know how Joey became Chandler’s roommate because they told/showed us. We know Ross and Monica knew Rachel as kids and she became Monica’s roommate in the pilot. We know Chandler met Ross in college when they were dorm roommates and they stayed in touch. We’re left to guess how Phoebe came along.

I realize that, but it's enough for me that they established them as roommates at one point. To me, that is how they met and became friends, and I guess it never really bothered me enough to wonder more about the specifics 🤷‍♂️ 

[Bort]

It bothers me because Phoebe doesn’t really fit in with the rest of them, she’s the only one with this tragic, destitute origin story worthy of a feature on Maury Povich. I would’ve liked to see how she was introduced, so that maybe it would explain how she ended up hooking up with this group of youngsters who all grew up fairly wealthy/upper middle class. 

In addition, I also would’ve liked an explanation as to how she ended up living with her grandmother as a young adult but was a homeless teenager.

[peacheslatour]

28 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

It bothers me because Phoebe doesn’t really fit in with the rest of them, she’s the only one with this tragic, destitute origin story worthy of a feature on Maury Povich. I would’ve liked to see how she was introduced, so that maybe it would explain how she ended up hooking up with this group of youngsters who all grew up fairly wealthy/upper middle class. 

In addition, I also would’ve liked an explanation as to how she ended up living with her grandmother as a young adult but was a homeless teenager.

What I want to know is, how were Phoebe and Ursula split up. Did Ursula end up living with a family member while Pheebs was left to fend for herself on the streets?

[rubaco]

(Sorry to veer off the topic of Phoebe, but...)

Under the heading of "I, also, need a hobby," something occurred to me about Joey's role on Days of Our Lives. When Drake came out of the coma, he was given Jessica Lockhart's brain (fortunately, we had Ross the scientist to explain the whole brain transplant thing). So Drake is now Jessica, at least brain-wise. 

But later, he's back to being just Drake, right? Because that's when Rachel watches him in a romantic scene and gets all hot and bothered. What happened to Jessica-in-Drake?

I just did that recap from my memory*, so please, if I missed some explanation along the way, feel free to clue me in. 

(*I told you I need a life.)

[mojoween]

Bet we all knew every single one of these.

https://ew.com/gallery/friends-guest-stars/?did=9252233-20230531&utm_campaign=ewk-tv_newsletter&utm_source=ewk&utm_medium=email&utm_content=053123&lctg=8425c6abea06b6e0382c1dddc7e9a5de26d5f759&slide=236019#236019

[sistermagpie]

On 5/22/2023 at 12:54 PM, Wildcard said:

"The One with the Embryos" is probably my favorite episode of the series and one I continually watch. One thing that has always bugged me is that in the Lightning Round  - why didn't Monica and Rachel just take a guess on Chandler's job and move on to the next question?  (Writing this - I do realize I need a hobby 😀)

 

On 5/22/2023 at 2:11 PM, Katy M said:

Even after Rachel said he was a transponster, monica just said that wasn't a word, and they kept trying to come up with the answer.  Transponster should have been counted as the answer and Ross asked the next question.

Also, why can't they get credit for the TVGuide answer when Monica knew it, even if Rachel said something wrong first?

On 5/25/2023 at 4:44 PM, kariyaki said:

And I loved Phoebe mocking Ross for caving about evolution. He’d spent hours haranguing her about it. He had that coming.

That always drives me crazy because it's such a great example of how ignorance always wins over knowledge in a debate. And also I didn't buy that a paleontologist would argue or give in the way Ross did. It was always pretty obvious nobody had any idea about paleontology when Ross spoke. ("They have a bone, we want the bone...")

On 5/26/2023 at 2:48 PM, kariyaki said:

It bothers me because Phoebe doesn’t really fit in with the rest of them, she’s the only one with this tragic, destitute origin story worthy of a feature on Maury Povich. I would’ve liked to see how she was introduced, so that maybe it would explain how she ended up hooking up with this group of youngsters who all grew up fairly wealthy/upper middle class. 

She lifts right out!

(And yeah, where was Grandma when she was homeless?

[chitowngirl]

38 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

And yeah, where was Grandma when she was homeless?

And Ursula? Grandma knew where their father was…she obviously never contacted him because when he came to her funeral, he wanted to see Lilly. Maybe that’s why she’s looking up at them and BURNING IN HELL!!!

[scarynikki12]

On 6/22/2023 at 2:59 PM, sistermagpie said:

Also, why can't they get credit for the TVGuide answer when Monica knew it, even if Rachel said something wrong first?

Ross' question was "what name appears on the address label?" If he'd asked "who is the recipient?" then there'd be some wiggle room but he asked in such a way where the only answer is (Miss) Chanandeler Bong. 

I wish we knew what all the questions were and which one the guys missed. 

[sistermagpie]

1 minute ago, scarynikki12 said:

Ross' question was "what name appears on the address label?" If he'd asked "who is the recipient?" then there'd be some wiggle room but he asked in such a way where the only answer is (Miss) Chanandeler Bong. 

 

Right, but my point was that while Rachel's answer was wrong, Monica, the other person on the team, knew the right answer so it always seemed unfair to me that Monica couldn't have just said, "No, it's Miss Chanandeler Bong" and have that count, since we see the game working that way in the "What is Chandler Bing's job" question. (They're still guessing after Transponder.)

[scarynikki12]

Good point. Maybe Ross chose to be stricter in the main game than he was in the lightning round?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, scarynikki12 said:

Good point. Maybe Ross chose to be stricter in the main game than he was in the lightning round?

I think you mean...

[Avabelle]

We’ve been doing a rewatch and a few observations:

While I loved Ross and Rachel they were so much funnier apart than together. They were actually quite boring together.
 

The first six seasons are brilliant. I’m on season seven and there’s a noticeable decline in quality. It’s the first season where there’s no ongoing storyline in the background and each episode is random and stand-alone. I read a rumour that Aniston wanted to leave after season 7 and that’s why they gave Rachel the pregnancy storyline. I can’t really blame her as Rachel (and most of them) aren’t doing anything of note and it’s all very repetitive. She was also stuck with Tag for a lot of this season and I found that actor awful. The comedy just didn’t hit the mark the way it did with Rachel/Joshuwaaaaah or however she said it.

In season 7 Mathew Perry is clearly having issues and it’s very noticeable. He seems off as chandler. Weight loss from the season 6 finale to 7 opener aside his delivery is off, he’s speaking much slower, almost slurred in the first few episodes especially and his face/eyes just seem really out of it. I know he had to be brought to rehab in the 7 finale so obviously it’s building to that but it’s sad to see.