Friends - General Discussion

[Danny Franks]

7 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I get annoyed on Monica’s behalf that Ross kept bringing that stupid monkey with him over to her apartment. She clearly doesn’t like it being there, why is he so rude?

I get annoyed on the monkey's behalf that Ross (and the writers of the show, by extension) thought that a pet monkey was a good idea.

[Mr. Meatball Man]

11 hours ago, YoukaiMoe said:

This show was really not good at continuity. I know it has been said before but it deserves to be said again.

A lot of old sitcoms weren't. I don't know if it's because nobody cared about continuity back then or because most sitcoms were being made just to reach syndication numbers, but many of them had the memory of a peanut. There was an episode of Full House where we find out that Uncle Jesse dropped out of high school, even though two seasons ago, there was an episode all about him going to his high school reunion. 

Boy Meets World was a great sitcom, but its continuity was awful. It would deliberately rewrite things that already happened to fit the narrative of whatever new story they were telling. Like the episode where Cory and Topanga had their "first fight ever," even though they had fought hundreds of times before, including that same season when the episode came out.

[Hiyo]

Quote

I get annoyed on the monkey's behalf that Ross (and the writers of the show, by extension) thought that a pet monkey was a good idea.

I think most of the actors admitted they didn't care for the monkey on the show as well at some point, no?

[helenamonster]

There's a great blooper of Jennifer Aniston trying to wrangle the monkey in the episode where Rachel loses Marcel. She looks positively terrified of it. I think it's one thing to ask actors to work with cats and dogs, which they'd be more familiar with as pets, but monkeys are wild animals and it's a whole different ballgame there, even if they're technically trained to work.

[Llywela]

I've always hated the pet monkey storyline because monkeys are wild animals that should not be kept as pets or trained to perform, ever. It is cruel and unnatural for them. Marcel was a capuchin, which is an extremely social animal that needs to live in a family group of other capuchins for its mental and physical wellbeing - plus they are stronger than most people think and have sharp teeth, so can be dangerous and hard to control when kept as a pet. Plus they are usually stolen from the wild as infants, their parents and other members of the colony murdered simply to acquire one baby, which results in all kinds of developmental issues, because they are too young to be away from parents. Monkeys belong in the wild or in rescue centres with their own kind, and I hate any show which presents keeping them as pets as something normal or desirable, as that simply fuels the illegal animal trade - badly done, Friends!

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Llywela

[Katy M]

34 minutes ago, Llywela said:

I've always hated the pet monkey storyline because monkeys are wild animals that should not be kept as pets or trained to perform, ever. It is cruel and unnatural for them. Marcel was a capuchin, which is an extremely social animal that needs to live in a family group of other capuchins for its mental and physical wellbeing - plus they are stronger than most people think and have sharp teeth, so can be dangerous and hard to control when kept as a pet. Plus they are usually stolen from the wild as infants, their parents and other members of the colony murdered simply to acquire one baby, which results in all kinds of developmental issues, because they are too young to be away from parents. Monkeys belong in the wild or in rescue centres with their own kind, and I hate any show which presents keeping them as pets as something normal or desirable, as that simply fuels the illegal animal trade - badly done, Friends!

 

I agree.  At least instead of having him disappear without a mention they did show why Ross ended up having to give him up.

I also hated the episode where Ross yelled at Rachel for losing him and they painted the animal control person as the bad guy.  

[Bort]

13 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I also hated the episode where Ross yelled at Rachel for losing him and they painted the animal control person as the bad guy.  

OMG, I hated Ross in that episode. Well, excuuuuuse Rachel for not knowing that Ross was keeping an illegal pet. And she apologized to him a thousand times (which I don’t think she should’ve had to do even once) and yet Ross still kept bitching at her about it.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

OMG, I hated Ross in that episode. Well, excuuuuuse Rachel for not knowing that Ross was keeping an illegal pet. And she apologized to him a thousand times (which I don’t think she should’ve had to do even once) and yet Ross still kept bitching at her about it.

I think an apology was in order for losing Marcel, but not for calling animal control.  And what did he usually do with Marcel when he went to work?  I wouldn't have agreed to watch a monkey in the first place because I wouldn't have had to be told that he wasn't supposed to have him in the first place.  I might have already called animal control with an anonymous tip.  Or unanonymous.  It's Ross.  I don't care if he hates me.

[ifionlyknew]

I never understood why they had a monkey on the show anyways.  It was such a gimmicky thing to do. For a show that was doing a good job being character driven the monkey was so out of place.

[Madding crowd]

Marcel never made sense to me and Ross didn’t seem like someone who would want a pet like that. But I always laugh at the episode where he goes to the zoo looking for Marcel and meets the zoo conspiracy guy. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Madding crowd

[Snow Apple]

The scene with Marcel clinging to the hair of Ross' date makes me cringe in horror. Was he also screeching? That's how I remember it.

[princelina]

7 hours ago, ifionlyknew said:

I never understood why they had a monkey on the show anyways.  It was such a gimmicky thing to do. For a show that was doing a good job being character driven the monkey was so out of place.

 

6 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Marcel never made sense to me and Ross didn’t seem like someone who would want a pet like that. But I always laugh at the episode where he goes to the zoo looking for Marcel and meets the zoo conspiracy guy. 

Marcel WAS a gimmick - it was season 1.  And the zoo guy was hilarious, as was Ross' response to him - "I'm not interested in THAT way, but - zoo dollars?"  😄 😄😄   Are you trying to bribe me?  But you already told me everything!"   😐 <that's the zoo guy (hee hee)

[Bort]

Zoo guy = Homer Simpson 

[Guest]

They lampshaded the whole Marcel ridiculousness later when Ross nostalgically said "Hey, remember when I had a monkey?"...then: "Yeah, what was I thinking?"

[Kawaiiko]

On 1/26/2021 at 1:25 AM, FilmTVGeek80 said:

But, at the end, he does explain why he was behaving like that. (with the male nanny)

I really don't think that Jack Geller of all people would chide Ross for being too feminine (in his eyes). It would probably be Monica who made fun of him for it (which she did, in a Season 3 episode). I mean, he's the prince. Apparently, they had some kind of ceremony before Monica was born.

[Kawaiiko]

Has anyone seen this video? Literally amazing:

 

[ljenkins782]

On 2/20/2021 at 11:03 PM, princelina said:

 

Marcel WAS a gimmick - it was season 1.  And the zoo guy was hilarious, as was Ross' response to him - "I'm not interested in THAT way, but - zoo dollars?"  😄 😄😄   Are you trying to bribe me?  But you already told me everything!"   😐 <that's the zoo guy (hee hee)

Yeah, the monkey seems like a typical sitcom gimmick, especially since Friends would have wanted to differentiate themselves from the Seinfeld phenomenon at that time. At least they dropped it before too long and the zoo choosing episode was pretty funny.

Can someone remind me why Courteney Cox had that horrible haircut in season 2 or 3? I know they did the "Phoebe gives Monica the Dudley Moore haircut by accident" storyline, but why was it necessary? I'm assuming it was a movie role, but I don't remember one that required a severe cut.

Considering the uproar around other drastic mid-series haircuts (such as Felicity), I just wonder why she went through a whole season with that awkward cut. 

[helenamonster]

4 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

Can someone remind me why Courteney Cox had that horrible haircut in season 2 or 3? I know they did the "Phoebe gives Monica the Dudley Moore haircut by accident" storyline, but why was it necessary? I'm assuming it was a movie role, but I don't remember one that required a severe cut.

Considering the uproar around other drastic mid-series haircuts (such as Felicity), I just wonder why she went through a whole season with that awkward cut. 

I think that would have been around the time she was shooting the first Scream movie, but I'm pretty sure she wears a wig in that--either way, the hairstyle she has in Scream never showed up on Friends.

I actually didn't mind that weird short hair she had in the early seasons, if only because her absolute worst hairstyle was the godawful bangs she had in Scream 3. Thank God they never showed up on Friends, I can't believe a professional stylist did that to her.

[Kawaiiko]

Quote

The scene with Marcel clinging to the hair of Ross' date makes me cringe in horror. Was he also screeching? That's how I remember it.

The monkey? Not to my recollection. The date? YES

Edited February 23, 2021 by YoukaiMoe
quote

[mojoween]

I cannot tell a lie ... David Schwimmer looks DAMN good in a navy uniform.

Also his “it’s neat learning about submarines” cracks me up every time.

[sassi214]

On 1/18/2021 at 7:37 AM, Katy M said:

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.

Nah, he came over when they had like 22 minutes until they needed to leave. Team Ross.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 2/22/2021 at 1:46 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Can someone remind me why Courteney Cox had that horrible haircut in season 2 or 3? I know they did the "Phoebe gives Monica the Dudley Moore haircut by accident" storyline, but why was it necessary? I'm assuming it was a movie role, but I don't remember one that required a severe cut.

Considering the uproar around other drastic mid-series haircuts (such as Felicity), I just wonder why she went through a whole season with that awkward cut. 

That drives me crazy too.

Another one is when Lisa cut her hair short in Season 6 around "The One that Could Have Been" and then wears a wig for the rest of the season.  Why, why, why did they do this?????????

Jennifer's haircut in Season 7 meanwhile I thought I was adorable.  THANK GOD she didn't do wigs (except for that one 30th birthday episode flashback).  Courteney really should have used Jennifer's infamous hairstylist Chris something.  

Edited February 23, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[sassi214]

I just watched The One Where Ross Got High and it's definitely in my top 10 Friends episodes. It's almost perfect!

But one little detail always bugged me SO MUCH:

When Rachel and Ross come back in from the hallway, the trifle is not only already divided up onto dessert plates, but there isn't a serving for Rachel! She doesn't even get a taste. (She attempts to take a taste of Ross's but he slams it down so she can't.) And I understand WHY they couldn't have her eat it. But it always takes me out. I wish they found a different way to handle that.

So many tiny details like that become attention grabbing to me since I watch Friends as my background noise everyday. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Katy M]

17 minutes ago, sassi214 said:

When Rachel and Ross come back in from the hallway, the trifle is not only already divided up onto dessert plates, but there isn't a serving for Rachel! She doesn't even get a taste. (She attempts to take a taste of Ross's but he slams it down so she can't.) And I understand WHY they couldn't have her eat it. But it always takes me out. I wish they found a different way to handle that.

Not only that, but she was planning on giving a serving to Phoebe who couldn't have any because she was a vegetarian.  Where did that one go?

[LexieLily]

4 hours ago, Katy M said:

Not only that, but she was planning on giving a serving to Phoebe who couldn't have any because she was a vegetarian.  Where did that one go?

Didn't Joey eat it? He got Monica's from the bathroom and Jack/Judy's from Monica's room.

[Katy M]

6 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Didn't Joey eat it? He got Monica's from the bathroom and Jack/Judy's from Monica's room.

Phoebe declined immediately.  If Rachel had wanted dessert she could have taken it then.  Phoebe didn't go off anywhere with it like the others.

[Kawaiiko]

16 hours ago, mojoween said:

Also his “it’s neat learning about submarines” cracks me up every time.

I love those scenes mainly because of the way Jen says "My purse my purse my purse my purse". Cracks me up every time.

Also, while we're on the subject of TOW Ross Got High, Monica and Ross screeching at each other and exposing all of their secrets is so funny! It's also home to my favorite Judy Geller moment (normally I don't like Judy at all).

[Bort]

1 hour ago, YoukaiMoe said:

Also, while we're on the subject of TOW Ross Got High, Monica and Ross screeching at each other and exposing all of their secrets is so funny! It's also home to my favorite Judy Geller moment (normally I don't like Judy at all).

 

I always like the ones where they yell out each others’ secrets, it’s happened more than once. Like in season 2, when the secrets du jour were Monica’s underwear on the flagpole, Chandler's third nipple and Joey in porn.

[sassi214]

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

Phoebe declined immediately.  If Rachel had wanted dessert she could have taken it then.  Phoebe didn't go off anywhere with it like the others.

Yup! That little detail always gets me. Such a good episode though. Most (if not all) of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes were pretty great.

[Kawaiiko]

18 hours ago, sassi214 said:

Most (if not all) of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes were pretty great.

The Thanksgiving episodes were definitely the ones you would show someone who is on the fence about rewatching for the first time in a while. Either those or TOW The Embryos or TOW Everybody Finds Out.

Edited February 25, 2021 by YoukaiMoe
forgot a period

[kiddo82]

On 2/25/2021 at 7:28 AM, YoukaiMoe said:

The Thanksgiving episodes were definitely the ones you would show someone who is on the fence about rewatching for the first time in a while. Either those or TOW The Embryos or TOW Everybody Finds Out.

The One with the Embryos has been my all time favorite episode probably since it first aired.  Sometimes just a matter a of time reshuffles things but not even that has displaced it from my top spot.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I think that "Pivot" is the hardest I've ever laughed at this show, but "Embryos" has to be the most amazing episode, even though now I notice all its inconsistencies and plot holes.

[Kawaiiko]

18 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I notice all its inconsistencies and plot holes.

This just came to me, but this show couldn't remember birthdays or ages. Joey was the youngest in S1, but Rachel is the last one to turn 30. At her 30th, Rachel says she is an Aquarius. In S4, she told Gunther that her birthday was on May 5th. And of course, there are those 3 seasons where Ross gets placed in some kind of stasis and stays 29. This is only just scratching the surface! 😕

Edited March 1, 2021 by YoukaiMoe
Stop correcting my emoticons to real emojis

[Kawaiiko]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:52 PM, YoukaiMoe said:

Has anyone seen this video? Literally amazing:

 

Funny thing is, there are villagers named Phoebe and Joey! 😉 

[Inquisitionist]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:46 PM, ljenkins782 said:

Can someone remind me why Courteney Cox had that horrible haircut in season 2 or 3? I know they did the "Phoebe gives Monica the Dudley Moore haircut by accident" storyline, but why was it necessary? I'm assuming it was a movie role, but I don't remember one that required a severe cut.

I recall reading that Courteney Cox wanted to have short hair again, so they just worked it into the show. 

On 2/23/2021 at 6:54 PM, sassi214 said:

I just watched The One Where Ross Got High and it's definitely in my top 10 Friends episodes. It's almost perfect!

I really enjoy that one, too.  I love Jacques Cousteau!

On 2/25/2021 at 6:28 AM, YoukaiMoe said:

The Thanksgiving episodes were definitely the ones you would show someone who is on the fence about rewatching for the first time in a while. Either those or TOW The Embryos or TOW Everybody Finds Out.

I love all of those, and would add TOW the Videotape on my all-time fave list.  

Rachel: How do you know about that story?

Joey: How do YOU know about that story?

[Kawaiiko]

33 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

I love all of those, and would add TOW the Videotape on my all-time fave list.  

Rachel: How do you know about that story?

Joey: How do YOU know about that story?

I wish we got to see Ken Adams more often. He and Regina Phalange could be crime fighting partners! "A hardass and a wuss, we could fight crime!"

[Ms Blue Jay]

I agree.  But at the same time, Ken Adams is just such a GOOD fake name.  It's so realistic.  It invokes no questions.  It's hard for me to imagine that that's what Joey would pick for his fake name instead of something sillier or less smart.

Remember when he wanted to be Joseph Stalin?

Edited March 6, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Kawaiiko]

13 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Remember when he wanted to be Joseph Stalin?

LOL, I do remember that! 

"Joseph Stalin is the Fiddler on the Roof!"

[Snow Apple]

On 3/5/2021 at 11:39 AM, Inquisitionist said:

 

I really enjoy that one, too.  I love Jacques Cousteau!

I also loved the way Phoebe says the line "Well, not nothing. I am still a woman" after getting over her crush on Jack Geller.

[kiddo82]

"Ross married Rachel in Vegas and got divorced...AGAIN!"

 

It's the way she yells "again" that gets me.

[Kawaiiko]

On 2/16/2021 at 9:45 PM, Mr. Meatball Man said:

There was also the time he didn't get the annulment, but that was creepy more than infuriating. Although, it did give us classic scenes like "You want to know a secret? I didn't get the annulment. We're still married. Don't tell Rachel, bye." And also when he went to his divorce lawyer and said, "Yes. Second in two years. Third overall." 😂

"I see... have you considered therapy?"

I wish we got to see more of the divorce lawyer! 

I didn't like how Ross kept Rachel in the dark with the annulment- but it was funny to hear that they had their wedding dinner at Pizza Hut of all places. l o l l o l.

Edited March 8, 2021 by Kawaiiko

[Bort]

40 minutes ago, Kawaiiko said:

I wish we got to see more of the divorce lawyer! 

“Ross, I have been a divorce attorney for 23 years and never have I had so much business from one client.”

[HeShallBMySquishy]

I'm too late! And it crushes me. Last year, before Covid, our neighbour added us to his Netflix account. Every time we would pop into Netflix in 2020 to watch a movie, Friends would always come up on the Home screen. And my partner and I agreed, "Okay, we'll get around to it at some point."

Oh man, big mistake. I stumbled onto this thread a month ago and started reading through the pages, including the archive (which would explain why some of you have this guy liking your posts from 6+ years ago), and started reliving my wistful "Oh yeah, that was funny/sweet/romantic/disturbing" memories, decide to sign into Netflix...and it's gone.

It serves me right. There are constant articles about what's coming to, and leaving from, Netflix, and I never paid any attention to those articles. The A.V. Club is full of those ones and I never bothered to read them. Turns out, I probably should have. It is on Crave though, so I may convince my partner to subscribe, but only for as long as it takes us (me) to watch Friends.

I stumbled across Friends on here and now, from reading all the posts, have an aching desire to do a series rewatch. And I can't. I blame you all! (I'm just kidding.)

[Kawaiiko]

24 minutes ago, HeShallBMySquishy said:

Oh man, big mistake. I stumbled onto this thread a month ago and started reading through the pages, including the archive (which would explain why some of you have this guy liking your posts from 6+ years ago)

I remember seeing you liking those posts because I liked several of them too 🙂

The archive has some really great stuff!

(I'm currently on season 6 in my rewatch!)

Edited March 8, 2021 by Kawaiiko

[HeShallBMySquishy]

HA HA I figured I better make a post, otherwise people may think, "who is this creepy guy liking my posts from 2015?" I did the same thing on the Big Brother and Project Runway archives.

[Bort]

@HeShallBMySquishy, Friends is also on hbo max. 

[Kawaiiko]

15 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Friends is also on hbo max. 

Crave is Canada's HBO Max equivalent.

[Bort]

Anybody else kind of annoyed that they kept saying Minsk was in Russia? Seriously, writers, look at a globe.

[mojoween]

I am younger than all of the Friends so when they all turned thirty it was amusing.

Well.  Now that thirty is way way WAY in my rear-view mirror it’s not so funny now!

[Kawaiiko]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

Anybody else kind of annoyed that they kept saying Minsk was in Russia? Seriously, writers, look at a globe.

That also really annoyed me. Minsk is in Belarus, which was part of the Soviet Union (but they had long since dissolved). Also, this exchange:

David: Oh, I hate this but I-I-I have to go. I-I can’t miss my flight.

Phoebe: Are you sure? I’ll bet there’s another flight to Minsk in like…

David: July. 

There's no way that he'd have to wait 6 months for another flight. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Kawaiiko