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Fun Bobby
The following is a chronological list of significant others (boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancees, wives, etc.) of the main 6 Friends characters in the series that have appeared in at least two episodes or are otherwise significant.
Barry Farber
Inexplicably renamed from Barry Finkel, as he was called in the pilot episode, he was betrothed to Rachel who left him at the altar at the beginning of the show. He had a minor affair with Rachel later in season 1, while being engaged to Mindy, Rachel's maid of honour, marrying Mindy in the final episode of season 2. While he never made another 'real' appearance again in the show (with his only other appearance during a fantasy episode), it was revealed that he divorced Mindy in the middle of season 6. The character was played by Mitchell Whitfield.
Paolo
An attractive Italian downstairs neighbour, who hardly speaks any English and meets Rachel during a blackout. Their relationship starts in the middle of season 1, lasting about 5 episodes, and consisting mostly of what Rachel describes as "raw animal sex". Rachel dumps him when he makes a move on Phoebe while on her massage table, however gets back together with him for one night in the first episode of season 2, when she is upset about Ross's new girlfriend Julie. The character was played by Cosimo Fusco.
Ross Geller
See Ross & Rachel below.
Joshua Bergin
Jennifer Aniston's (who plays Rachel) real-life boyfriend at the time, Tate Donovan played Joshua, Rachel's customer, for whom she had to pick out a whole new wardrobe in season 4. They eventually start dating, but Rachel scares Joshua away with a marriage proposal, when she is jealous about Ross's impending marriage with Emily. He also had an unnatural fear of farm animals.
Paul Stevens
Paul, played by Bruce Willis, is the father of Elizabeth, a student whom Ross was dating at the end of season 6. When Paul isn't pleased with the age difference between his daughter and Ross, while attempting to get Paul to like Ross, Rachel starts dating him. Unhappy with Paul being emotionally closed, Rachel convinces him to talk about his past, after which Paul cannot stop crying and gets dumped by Rachel.
Tag Jones
A very attractive guy whom Rachel hires as her assistant at Ralph Lauren with qualifications like "3 years of painting houses" and "2 summers at T.G.I. Friday's" in season 7. She dumps him on her 30th birthday when she realises Tag is not mature enough for her and that she should be looking for a serious relationship. Tag Jones' character was played by Eddie Cahill.
Gavin Mitchell
Gavin was assigned to Rachel's job while she was on maternity leave in season 9, leading Rachel to return to work early, so as to not lose her job. While initially considering Gavin a jerk, Rachel soon changes her mind and kisses him, but ends the relationship on the next day when she decides it would make things too complicated between her and Ross. Gavin was played by Dermot Mulroney.
Joey Tribbiani
See Joey & Rachel below.
Fun Bobby
Fun Bobby (played by Vincent Ventresca), a cheerful guy with the ability to make everyone else around him happy and laugh, had been Monica's boyfriend before the start of the show and makes his first appearance in the middle of season 1, when Monica calls him out of desperation on New Year's eve, but he turns out to be depressed about the death of his grandfather and spends the entire evening crying on the sofa. He makes another appearance in season 2, where Monica discovers that he is "fun" because he is constantly under the influence of alcohol, and after asking Bobby to quit drinking, time spent with Bobby turns out to be so depressing that she herself starts drinking in large quantities, because of which Bobby breaks up with her.
Dr. Richard Burke
Played by Tom Selleck, Dr. Richard Burke is a hunky optometrist who is 21 years older than Monica and close friends with her parents. They fall in love when she caters for him in the middle of season 2 and have a very close and deep relationship until the last episode of the season, when Monica discovers that Richard isn't willing to have any more kids. Being generally obsessed with having babies, Monica decides she cannot continue the relationship and they break up. Getting over Richard was described by Monica as the "hardest thing [she] ever had to do" and when they get back together in season 3, they decide to promptly end their new relationship, before it went any further than sex, so as not to face such a challenge again. Dr. Burke makes a final appearance in the last episode of season 6, interfering with Chandler's plans to propose to Monica, stating that he is willing to get married and have children. He however backs down after realising that Chandler is prepared to offer her the same thing, and that they are happy together. Though he is unseen throughout the remainder of the series, he is still mentioned often, much to Chandler's chagrin.
Pete Becker
A multimillionaire CEO of a computer software company, having designed a very successful office application, Pete leaves Monica a $20,000 check with his number on it as a tip in season 3 (while Monica was a waitress at the Moonlight Diner). While offended at first, Monica starts going out with Pete, but finds herself not being physically attracted to him. This soon changes with a kiss and the two of them date until the end of the season, when Pete, deciding to become "the Ultimate Fighting Champion", wrestles opponents significantly stronger and bigger than him on a TV show, being repeatedly beaten but refusing to give up. Monica, deciding she "can't watch him do this to himself," leaves Pete. Pete was played by Jon Favreau.
Chandler Bing
See Chandler & Monica below.
Duncan
Duncan is a gay ice dancer from Canada who married Phoebe to get a greencard. While Phoebe claimed she wasn't in love with him, Monica pointed out things to the contrary like when Duncan left, Phoebe ate a cheeseburger and stayed in her pyjamas for a month. Duncan and Phoebe divorced after Duncan discovered he was straight and is remarrying somebody else. They end up kissing.
David
Played by Hank Azaria, David "the scientist guy" is a geeky but charming scientist with whom Phoebe falls in love in season 1. He is however forced to leave to Minsk, Belarus (incorrectly referred to in the series as being in Russia) to try to achieve "positronic distillation of subatomic particles". He makes a short appearance in season 7 on a one-day visit and another one in the beginning of season 9, on the same day that Phoebe gives a key to her apartment to Mike Hannigan (see below), who catches them making out, though quickly forgives her as David leaves. After having proved that "positronic distillation of subatomic particles" cannot be done, David returns permanently to New York and starts dating Phoebe again at the end of season 9. Phoebe, having broken up with Mike because he never wanted to be married, is still in love with him and accidentally refers to David as Mike on several occasions. David, having found out from Chandler the reason for her break-up with Mike, decides to propose to her, once and forever removing Mike from her life. However, Mike finds out about his intentions from Monica and proposes before him, and Phoebe chooses Mike over David.
Ryan
Played by Charlie Sheen, Ryan appears in Season 2, # 9 - The One With The Chicken Pox. Sheen plays Phoebe's sub-marine boyfriend who surfaces every once in awhile. Comedy ensues when Phoebe gets Chicken Pox for the first time and gives it to her boyfriend. Instead of romance the two try to scratch each other instead of making love.
Gary
Played by Michael Rapaport, Gary is a police officer whose badge Phoebe finds in the coffee house in season 5, that asks her out when coming to arrest her. They go out for a while, and Gary eventually asks Phoebe to move in with him. While reluctant at first, she agrees, but leaves him, before they can move in together, when Gary shoots a bird.
Eric
Eric, played by Sean Penn, was originally engaged to Ursula, Phoebe's twin sister, in season 8 but leaves her when Phoebe exposes her sister's lies about her past. They attempt to date in the next episode, but Eric cannot stop thinking about the pain Ursula had caused him when he looks at Phoebe, and they break up.
TRIVIA: Sean Penn's name came up in season 2 when Chandler and his then roommate, Eddie were chatting. The conversation included somebody mistaking the capital of Cambodia for Sean Penn and they knew the capital wasn't Sean Penn.
Parker
Played by Alec Baldwin, Parker is an overoptimistic, zesty guy who bumps into Phoebe at a dry cleaner's in season 8. They date for a while, but Phoebe eventually grows tired of his constant cheerfulness and overly positive views, and dumps him, saying "You're like Santa Claus on Prozac... at Disneyland... getting laid".
Mike Hanigan
When Phoebe and Joey agree to set each other up with a friend in season 9, Joey forgets to find a date for Phoebe and lies to her, telling her he found a friend named Mike. He then shouts Mike's name in the coffee house, and when Mike Hanigan responds, he convinces him to play the part of his old friend at their double date. Phoebe soon realises Joey's trick and leaves, but Mike finds her on the next day and asks her out. They date for quite a while and decide to move in together. However, while Mike is moving in, he tells Phoebe that he never wants to be married because of what he went through in his last divorce. Phoebe decides that she shouldn't be in a relationship with no future and breaks up with Mike, however finds it impossible to get over him. When her long-lost love David arrives in New York and decides to propose to Phoebe to make her forget about Mike, in the last episode of the season, Monica tells Mike to get over himself and to do something. He then flies into Barbados, where the whole gang was at the time, and proposes to Phoebe before David. Phoebe turns down his proposal, saying all she needed was to know there was a future, but starts dating Mike again. Eventually Mike proposes again, not without humorous complications, and gets married to Phoebe towards the end of season 10. In the final episode of the series, he also states that he is ready to have children with Phoebe. Mike was played by Paul Rudd.
Angela Del Vecchio
Joey had a relationship with Angela for 3 years. While the reasons for their breakup aren't clear, they decided to be "just friends." One night, Joey, along with Monica "double dated" with Angela and her boyfriend Bob. Joey and Monica both caused their breakup and briefly madeout with Angela and Bob, respectively.
Ursula Pamela Buffay
As Joey and Chandler were dining in Riffs, they found Phoebe's twin Ursula and Joey described her as hot. Their dating caused jeopardy with Joey's friendship with Phoebe. However, Ursula started to blow Joey off. Unknown to Joey, she wanted to break up with him. Phoebe acted as Ursula breaking up with Joey.
Kate Miller
An actress with whom Joey stars in a play in season 3, turns out to be the first woman ever to whom Joey was attracted who didn't feel the same way about him. She eventually sleeps with him, but pretends it meant nothing to her on the next day, thus making Joey realise how many of his sexual partners must have felt. Eventually, after being dumped by her boyfriend, the director of the play, she starts a relationship with Joey, which is cut short as she leaves to Los Angeles to accept a role in "General Hospital".
Kathy
See Kathy under Chandler Bing below.
Janine Lecroix
Played by supermodel Elle MacPherson, Janine moves in with Joey when Chandler moves out to live with Monica in season 6, and while being extremely attracted to her, Joey doesn't make a move for a while, being afraid that the fact that they are roommates may become a problem. Before the two getting together, Ross asked her out but "repelled" her. They get together eventually, but break up soon after, when Janine expresses her dislike of Monica and Chandler.
TRIVIA: The name of the actress/model who played Janine, Elle MacPherson was mentioned in the first episode of season 3 by Chandler when he was reacting to Ross about women sharing private intimate stuff about their boyfriends (remember when Rachel told Ross' princess Leia fantasy to Phoebe).
Charlie Wheeler
See Charlie Wheeler under Ross Geller below.
Rachel Green
See Joey & Rachel below.
Janice is portrayed as an extremely annoying character with a loud nasal voice, unpleasant laughter, and an extravagant fashion sense. While being Chandler's girlfriend from the start of the show, she isn't seen until the fifth episode, where Chandler breaks up with her. Later that season, Chandler invites her to a New Year's party in a desperate attempt to have someone to kiss at the break of the new year, but once again decides that she is too annoying and breaks up with her before midnight. After a few episodes, Chandler and Janice hook up again when she turns out to be his blind date set up unknowingly by Joey, but he breaks up with her the next day (which was Valentine's Day).
In the beginning of season 2, Chandler, convinced that he will never find love again, calls Janice, who turns out to be married and pregnant. In the last episode of season 2, Chandler befriends a mystery woman over the Internet, and when she turns out to be Janice, decides to get back together with her. This time the relationship lasts well into season 3, and ends when Chandler discovers that Janice still has feelings for her ex-husband and tells her to get back together with him for the sake of their child. In the middle of season 4, Janice and Chandler meet once again, and he decides to end their relationship before it starts again with a "pre-emptive strike", telling Janice he is being transferred to Yemen. When Janice follows him to the airport, Chandler is forced to buy a ticket and fly to Yemen.
In the middle of season 5, Janice makes an appearance as she dates Ross, still under the impression that Chandler is in Yemen. That relationship soon ends when Janice finds Ross too whiny and annoying.
In season 7, Monica, being engaged to Chandler, unintentionally invites Janice to their wedding, and Chandler claims he still has feelings for Janice, and that his marriage with Monica may be jeopardised by Janice's presence at the wedding, to get rid of her. A similar excuse is used again by Chandler in season 10 to prevent Janice from buying the house next door to the one he and Monica are buying. Janice also makes two less significant appearances at the end of seasons 8 and 9, where she reveals she is married to a near-deaf man named Sid. Janice thus makes an appearance in every single season of the series (she makes a voice-only appearance in season 6).
Joanna
Rachel's boss at Bloomingdale's, with whom Chandler went out once in season 3 and once again in season 4, both dates displaying his inability to reject people effectively, where he made numerous tries to let Joanna know he's not interested in her, but failed. They broke up when their BDSM activities in Joanna's office took an unexpected turn.
Kathy
An attractive woman whom Joey dates in season 4 for a while, and with whom Chandler falls in love. She eventually starts feeling the same way about him, and cheats on Joey, thus putting Joey and Chandler's friendship in great jeopardy, as Joey is extremely angry at Chandler for making the move behind his back. Eventually, Chandler is forgiven, but not without having spent several hours in a wooden box as punishment. When Kathy stars in a play where she simulates sex with an attractive man, Chandler becomes concerned that she may leave him for the actor, and becomes so paranoid that he wrongfully accuses her of being unfaithful, leading to a fight after which she actually does cheat on him, thus ending their relationship. Kathy's character was played by Paget Brewster.
Monica Geller
See Chandler & Monica below.
Carol Willick
Ross's ex-wife (played first by Anita Barone and then by Jane Sibbett), who left Ross when she realised she was gay shortly before the first episode of the show, revealing that she was pregnant with Ross's child and giving birth to a baby boy named Ben (John & Charles Allen, Cole Sprouse) in season 1. In season 2 she married her lifetime partner Susan Bunch and makes occasional appearances, usually together with Susan and Ben, throughout the course of the series, with her final appearance in season 7.
Ross and Carol have been in good terms after their divorce, but Ross and Susan are not.
The actress initially chosen to play Carol left the show after appearing in one episode, and Carol's appearance was "magically" changed when she was replaced by another actress in the following episodes.
Julie
An attractive Chinese woman born in New York, that Ross meets during his trip to China, returning with her as his girlfriend, to Rachel's great disappointment. They date for 7 episodes in season 2, during which Rachel is incredibly jealous and eventually tells Ross about her feelings for him while drunk, after which Ross slowly realises that his feelings for Rachel are too strong and he breaks up with Julie in favour of Rachel. Julie makes a short appearance two episodes after their break-up when she meets Russ, a guy similar to Ross in every way whom Rachel was dating. When Rachel dumps Russ after realising how similar he is to Ross, it is suggested that Julie and Russ fall in love at first sight and get together. Julie was played by Lauren Tom, and was the only recurring Asian character on the show.
Rachel Green
See Ross & Rachel below.
Bonnie
Played by Christine Taylor, Bonnie was a sexy friend of Phoebe's who Rachel agreed for Phoebe to set up with Ross, thinking that she was bald. Rachel then discovers that Bonnie has grown her hair back, and dates Ross for the last 2 episodes of season 3, at the end of which Rachel convinces her to shave her head again. When faced with a choice between Rachel and the bald Bonnie, Ross chooses Rachel.
Emily Waltham
When Rachel's boss asks her to take his niece Emily to the opera on the same night Rachel has her first "date" with Joshua, she convinces Ross to go instead of her. Emily, an English girl from just outside London (played by Helen Baxendale), and Ross end up in a bed & breakfast in Vermont at the end of the date, and the rest of their relationship is similarly fast-paced.
Greatly bothered by the fact that Emily has to keep travelling back and forth between New York and London, Ross proposes to her. Their wedding is set for the last episode of season 4, only 10 episodes from their first date, with Rachel being very unhappy as she slowly realises she is still in love with Ross, and deciding to tell him at the wedding in London. Deciding at the last minute not to tell Ross about her feelings, Rachel simply hugs Ross, however seeing Rachel brings back Ross's old feelings, and in response to the Minister's request to say "I take thee Emily", Ross says "I take thee Rachel", the quote being the cliff-hanger for season 4.
The wedding continues in season 5 and is finalised, however Emily runs away into hiding after the wedding. Ross then returns to the States, attempting to reach Emily and get her to forgive him over the phone, and when she finally calls him, he convinces her to come to New York, as she originally intended, with the condition that he will never see Rachel again. She also convinces him to sell all of his furniture that came into any contact with Rachel and move into one of her relatives' free apartments. The other 5 friends agree to support Ross as long as he is happy with being thus manipulated by Emily, but when Ross expresses his discontent at all the changes he has to make, the group make him realise that he cannot meet all of Emily's conditions, especially not seeing Rachel. Ross then tells Emily that he doesn't agree to her terms, and their marriage ends.
Emily was asked to come back for the last episode, for what would have happened is unknown, however Baxendale turned down the appearance.
Janice Litman Goralnik nee Hosenstein
In one episode, Ross went out with Janice after learning that Emily will be remarried and Janice is still under the impression Chandler is in Yemen. He claims that they both share a lot of things in common such as being divorced and having kids. This relationship however did not last beyond one episode because Janice can't take Ross' whining about his post-Emily situation.
Jill Green
Jill, played by Reese Witherspoon, is one of Rachel's sisters, who comes into the city when her father takes back his credit cards from her in season 6. After convincing Jill to follow in her footsteps towards financial independence, Rachel becomes bothered with the flirting between Ross and Jill. However, both Ross and Jill never thought of asking out each other until Rachel unintentionally (and regretfully) suggested they go out. She then asks Ross not to date her, to which he agrees, but still ends up kissing Jill, who was trying to spite Rachel for telling her what to do. Ross however promptly stops the kissing, realising that "if anything was to happen between [him] and [Jill], nothing could ever happen with [him and Rachel]", after which Jill returns to her father.
Elizabeth Stevens
A student in one of Ross's classes, who described Ross as "the hottie of the Palaeontology department" in her teacher evaluation, she is 12 years younger than Ross. Their relationship lasts for about 7 episodes until the end of season 6, despite obstacles such as the threat of Ross losing his job, and the disapproval of Elizabeth's father. When the rest of the friends make Ross realise there is no future for their relationship, Ross breaks up with her. Elizabeth was played by Alexandra Holden.
Mona
Mona (Bonnie Somerville), a very attractive woman who works at Monica's restaurant, flirts briefly with Ross at Chandler and Monica's wedding reception in the first episode of season 8, and returns a few episodes later, going out to a see a Ukrainian film with Ross. She shows genuine interest in the things Ross likes to talk about. Even though she is forgiving, understanding and very attracted to Ross, after incidents such as Ross changing his door locks after giving Mona a key, finding out about Rachel being pregnant with Ross's baby, an unpleasant encounter with Rachel's father, being continuously abandoned by Ross to take care of Rachel, and finally, Rachel moving in with Ross, she ends their relationship, making a brief appearance a few episodes later when Ross goes to her apartment to retrieve a pink shirt he left there.
Charlie Wheeler
Notable for being the only major recurring African-American character on the show [http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,426327_3%7C27442%7C%7C0_0_,00.html], Charlie, played by Aisha Tyler, is an attractive palaeontology professor whom Ross is assigned to show around New York towards the end of season 9. Despite his efforts, Ross loses Charlie to Joey, with whom she goes out until the end of the season. In the final episode of the season, she realises she has much more in common with Ross and is quite attracted to him, and leaves Joey in favour of Ross. Her relationship with Ross ends a couple of episodes into season 10, when one of her old boyfriends, who happens to be administering a grant to Ross, confesses he is still in love with her, in response to which Charlie leaves Ross.
Ross & Rachel
Arguably the central theme of the show, the rocky Ross and Rachel relationship has been the main point of discussion for the show's fans throughout its course.
Ross's crush on Rachel purportedly started when he was in the 9th grade, however was largely ignored by Rachel, who admitted to being aware of it. In the first episode of the show, Ross asks Rachel if "it would be all right if [he] asked [her] out sometime, maybe", but never actually asks her out in season 1, being constantly interrupted as he is about to do it. During Ross's trip to China in the final episode of the season, Chandler accidentally tells Rachel that Ross is in love with her. Admitting to have never looked at him "in that way", Rachel ponders a possible relationship, and eventually decides to go for it, going to the airport to meet him for the cliff-hanger of season 1.
In the first episode of season 2, Rachel is devastated when Ross returns with Julie (see Julie under Ross Geller above), and grows increasingly jealous, eventually letting Ross know that she is "over" him while drunk. Having thus found out about Rachel's feelings, he is faced with choosing between her and Julie, and writes a list of pros and cons about both of them with the aid of Chandler and Joey. While listing numerous quite offensive remarks about Rachel, Julie's side of the list reads "she's not Rachem (sic)". After seeing the list and not realising her name was misspelled, Rachel tells Ross nothing will happen between them, without having gone on a single date.
She repeatedly rejects his following attempts at getting together until she sees a home video of her prom night, where Ross decides to step in and take Rachel to her prom, when her date doesn't show until the very last minute, just as he was about to ask. Seeing Ross's noble gesture and his subsequent disappointment, Rachel kisses Ross and their relationship begins.
Even though they both nurtured their love toward each other throughout the series, the period between the middle of season 2 and season 3 was the only time they were in a true boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. It came to an end as Ross became increasingly jealous of Rachel spending a lot of time at work with a co-worker he thought she was having an affair with, and irritated her repeatedly by showing up with a picnic basket at her office and sending a barbershop quartet to sing to her. In response to this, she said they needed a break from their relationship, which Ross interpreted as a break-up. While drunk at a party a few hours later, Ross called Rachel to work things out, only to find out she had invited the co-worker over to console her, and hangs up. Wrongfully assuming she was in fact having an affair, he has an affair himself with "the hot girl from the copy place with the belly-button ring", as she was referred to by Joey and Chandler.
When Rachel stops by his apartment the next morning, apologising and asking to be his girlfriend again, he attempts to hide his affair, but is unsuccessful. As Rachel confronts him, he uses his trademark "we were on a break" statement as an excuse and repeatedly apologises. Rachel however does not accept his arguments and apologies, saying that she saw Ross as someone "who would never hurt [her]" and ends their relationship.
Initially not being able to be in the same room together, Ross and Rachel slowly begin to act civil again, and by the end of the season, Rachel decides she is ready for them to get back together. In the final episode of season 3, after convincing his current girlfriend Bonnie to shave her head, she tells him she never stopped loving him, leaving him a choice between her and Bonnie, this being the cliff-hanger of the season. In the first episode of season 4, it is revealed that Ross chooses Rachel, but Rachel writes an 18-page letter (front and back) explaining her feelings and asking Ross to accept full responsibility for their break-up, that she wants him to read before they can resume their relationship. Ross, having fallen asleep while reading the letter, accepts her terms, unaware of the responsibility he is accepting, and after finishing the letter and deciding that he finds it unreasonable, they break-up once again in the same episode.
Throughout almost the entire 4th season, Ross and Rachel have been a little hostile to each other. This is evidenced through their power games of bringing home different kinds of "dates," Rachel making fun of some moments of Ross' past and the absence of a lot of sincerely friendly conversations with each other.
When Ross is about to marry Emily (see Emily under Ross Geller above) in the final episode of season 4, Rachel realises that she is still in love with him and flies to London to confess her love to Ross. Changing her mind at the last minute, she simply hugs Ross, however seeing Rachel brings back Ross's old feelings, and in response to the priests request to say "I take thee Emily", Ross says "I take thee Rachel". While the marriage is resumed and finalised, Emily decides to hide from Ross in London while Ross returns to New York. In the second episode of season 5, Rachel finally tells Ross about her feelings, but they decide to pretend the conversation never happened, since Ross is married.
In the last episode of the season, while visiting Joey in Las Vegas, Ross and Rachel get very drunk and get married, the marriage being the final event of season 5. The next day in the first episode of season 6, they have no recollection of the marriage, and even though having woken up in the same bed, decide to assume that nothing happened. After finding out about the events of the previous night, Ross becomes extremely frustrated about the proposition of having 3 divorces, and lies to Rachel about having gotten an annulment. It is also revealed that he still has feelings for Rachel, and offers her to move in with him after Chandler moves in with Monica, presumably hoping that she will begin to feel the same way about him. When Rachel discovers that they are still married, she fills out the annulment forms herself, stating that Ross is gay, unable to consummate the marriage and an intravenous drug user. When Ross denies the claims to the judge, their case is dismissed and they file for divorce instead.
Ross and Rachel almost get back together for a "bonus night" in the first episode of season 7, but the magic of the moment is lost when Monica accuses Rachel of trying to steal focus from her on her engagement night, and it goes no further than a kiss.
In the final episode of season 7, it is revealed that Rachel is pregnant, and a few episodes into season 8, she reveals that Ross is the father, the baby having been conceived as a result of a faulty condom, when they got together for one night in season 7. A review of the videotape that had captured the event showed that Rachel was the first to come on to Ross, a fact she initially rigorously denied. In the final stages of Rachel's pregnancy their doctor recommends sex as a way to speed the labour along, and when Rachel is late, unable to bear her complaints any longer, Ross kisses Rachel, but does not get any further, as Rachel's water breaks. In the final episode of season 8, Rachel having just given birth to their daughter Emma (Elizabeth & Genevieve Davidson, Alexandra & Athina Conley, Cali & Noelle Sheldon), Ross is about to ask Rachel if she wants to start up their relationship again, when Joey accidentally gives Rachel the impression that he is proposing to her, picking up a ring Ross's mother had given Ross from the floor while kneeling on one knee, the moment being the cliff-hanger of season 8.
After having found out about Joey's "proposal" and Rachel's acceptance in the first episode of season 9, Ross reconsiders his plans of getting back with Rachel and decides to just continue living with her. However, after receiving a call from a man Rachel gave her number to at a bar, he does not pass the message to Rachel, revealing his harboured feelings. After having witnessed Rachel's kiss with Gavin later on in the season (see Gavin Mitchell under Rachel Green above), he accuses her of "moving on without telling [him]", and tells her he knows about the man at the bar. Furious at Ross for hiding the message, Rachel decides that their living situation isn't working and moves back in with Joey.
When Rachel reveals her intentions to leave to Paris to work for Louis Vuitton at the end of season 10 and holds individual "good-bye" sessions with all the members of the group except Ross, Ross gets very offended, and Rachel tells him it was because he means more to her than everyone else, in response to which he kisses her. After having sex that night, Rachel describes it as "the perfect way to say good-bye", to Ross's great disappointment. Initially attempting to get Rachel to stay, by bribing her old boss to offer her job back with a raise, after realising how much she was looking forward to leaving, he tells her to go to Paris. However, in the final episode of the series, he realises he is still in love with her and goes to the airport to stop her. Overcoming numerous humorous complications in the process, he catches her at the gate, confessing his love and asking her to stay. Unexpectedly, she simply apologises and gets on the plane. Arriving home a broken man, Ross finds a message on his answering machine from Rachel calling from the airplane, where she reassures him she loves him too and decides to get off the plane. While Ross is in dismay as the message ends before it is clear whether Rachel got off the plane, Rachel walks in the apartment and they embrace. While kissing, they tell each other that they're "not gonna be stupid any more", highlighting the fact that most of the reasons they haven't been together were quite superficial.
Throughout the course of the series, Ross and Rachel have had sex 300 times. Ross kept count.
See Joshua Bergen and Gavin Mitchell under Rachel Green, and Julie, Emily Waltham, Jill Green and Mona under Ross Geller for additional info on how their other relationships have been affected by their feelings toward each other.
Chandler & Monica
Initial hints at a relationship between the two were given as early as the final episodes of the the first season, when Chandler and Monica "hypothetically" discuss their respective parental and marital futures. Later in season 3, when Chandler jokingly repeatedly asks Monica if she would date him. No developments are made, however, until the final episode of season 4, where Monica, upset after being mistaken for her mother by a drunken guest at Ross's wedding, seeks comfort from Chandler, but instead ends up sleeping with him.
Initially deciding not to continue their relationship, they soon realise they really are attracted to each other, and resume the relationship, while hiding it from the rest of the group. Throughout season 5, Joey, Rachel, Phoebe and Ross find out about the relationship (in that order), usually in humorous circumstances. In the final episode of season 5, Chandler and Monica were about to get married in Las Vegas, but decide they are moving too fast after seeing Ross and Rachel coming out drunk from the chapel. Instead, in the first episode of season 6, Chandler asks to move in with Monica and does so.
Chandler proposes to Monica in the last episode of season 6, with slight interference from Monica's former love interest Richard, and they get married in the final episode of season 7. In season 7, it is also revealed that when Monica came to Chandler's room in London, she was actually looking to spend the night with Joey. In the last episode of season 8, they decide to attempt to get pregnant, but after failing to do so, they visit a fertility clinic at the end of season 9, and it is revealed that Chandler's sperm have "low motility" and Monica's uterus is an "inhospitable environment". Having decided to adopt a baby instead, they are allocated the child of a girl from Ohio named Erica (Anna Faris) by the adoption service in the middle of season 10. In the final episode of the series, Erica gives birth to twins, whom Chandler and Monica name Jack (after Monica's father) and Erica (after their real mother).
Joey & Rachel
After a mock date in the middle of season 8, Joey finds himself strongly attracted to Rachel, but is reluctant to tell her, as he is concerned about how Ross may feel if they were to go out. When Ross tells Joey that he's OK with it, Joey tells Rachel about his feelings, only to be rejected. After the conversation, his feelings slowly fade away.
After Rachel gave birth to Emma and is back in her hospital room, Joey picked up the engagement ring Ross received from his mother and as he did it, he was down on one knee. Rachel mistakenly thought he was proposing and she said yes. When Ross found out, he was briefly angry at Joey.
After seeing Joey act out a romantic scene in "Days Of Our Lives" at the end of season 9, Rachel has a dream where she kisses Joey, which makes her realise she has feelings for him. Deciding to kiss him at a party, she is unable to follow her plan through, as she finds Joey kissing Charlie (see Charlie under Ross Geller). In the final episode of the season, after Charlie leaves Joey in favour of Ross, Rachel confesses her feelings to Joey. Reluctant to start the relationship at first, Joey kisses her after seeing Charlie kiss Ross.
In season 10, Ross finds out about Joey and Rachel, and while attempting to act as if he is fine, clearly has issues with their relationship. Almost ending their relationship because of their concern for Ross, the couple decide to stay together, but soon realise they cannot have sex, as their friendship is too strong, causing acts of subconscious behaviour, such as Joey's inability to unhook Rachel's bra and Rachel uncontrollably slapping Joey's hand when he touches her thigh.
Friends' significant others
Significant others
Friends:For other uses, see Friends (disambiguation).
Friends was a long-running American television sitcom centered on the lives of a group of six twenty-somethings (eventually thirty-somethings) consisting of three men and three women living in New York City.
The program was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television for NBC in the US, first broadcast on that network and followed by other broadcast networks in numerous countries throughout the world. In the US, its first episode was aired on September 22, 1994, the last on May 6, 2004.
Overview
Friends is one of the most successful sitcoms in the US. By the end of the series the six main cast members were each paid US$1,000,000 per episode. Advertisements during the series finale, which attracted an audience of over 52 million viewers, cost $2,000,000 for a 30-second spot in the United States and CAD$190,000 in Canada. The last episode was released on DVD 5 days after its broadcast.
The show focused on the lives of a group of six friends living in a state of arrested development: spoiled Daddy's girl Rachel Green; compulsively clean chef Monica Geller; wise-cracking, perennially unlucky-in-love, underconfident office drone Chandler Bing; oversexed, clueless actor Joey Tribbiani; divorced paleontologist nerd Ross Geller; and scatterbrained hippie, masseuse, and aspiring folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Buffay. As the pilot begins, Rachel leaves her fiancé Barry at the altar and moves in with her childhood best friend, Monica. The pair lives across the hall from Chandler and Joey. They hang out with Monica's brother, Ross – who recently divorced his lesbian wife – and Phoebe, the "free spirit" of the bunch and Monica's old roommate. The settings for the show include Monica's apartment, Chandler and Joey's apartment and the coffee shop downstairs, Central Perk.
After cutting herself off from her father's money, Rachel got her first job as a waitress in the coffee shop and later becomes a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's, then a buyer for Ralph Lauren. Monica struggled for the first several seasons for success, and later became head chef at a well-respected restaurant. Chandler eventually switched to a career in advertising by the last few seasons. After on-and-off success as a soap opera actor Joey's career eventually stabilized with a regular part on a soap opera from which he was initially fired earlier in the series' run. Paleontologist Ross eventually becomes a college professor. Phoebe makes out a living as a singer-songwriter and a masseuse.
A constant story line throughout the series was the on-again/off-again romance between Ross and Rachel, and later in the series, the developing relationship between Chandler and Monica.
The show's theme song, "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, became a major hit after a Tennessee disc jockey looped it into a full length track and played it on the radio. The band's record label required them to write additional material and re-record the track as a full-length song, which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #17.
Cast members
Billboard Hot 100 share a kiss (episode: The One After Ross Says Rachel)]]
Main characters
Recurring characters
See also: List of significant others of Friends
Relations
Other
Guest stars
The show has had many well-known celebrities as guest stars, including Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Jean Claude Van Damme, Brad Pitt, Ian Thorpe (as an extra), Elle MacPherson, and Charlie Sheen.
Some of these guest stars real life names were actually mentioned at some point in the series. Some of the names mentioned were Elle MacPherson, Winona Ryder, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon. Also, some guest stars such as Jean Claude Van Damme, Isabella Rosellini and Charlton Heston starred as themselves. In addition, some of the movies associated with them were also mentioned like Bruce Willis' Die Hard (and Die Hard 2).
See: List of guest stars on Friends
Pre-broadcast audience research
After the finale was broadcast, The Smoking Gun made available the May 27, 1994 "Program Test Report" summarizing the audience reaction to a version of what became the pilot episode. Overall reactions to the pilot were "not very favorable"; most viewers felt the show was "not very entertaining, clever, or original". The report recommended:
- Broadening the show to include some older characters
- Adding more humor
- Changing the pilot so that the audience could become more involved emotionally with the show's characters
- Toning down the sexual situations, at least at the beginning of the series
- Having Chandler talk about his dreams on a recurring basis
- Incorporating Phoebe more into the stories
- Make the coffee shop less "funky"
Running gags
Friends had many running gags throughout the span of the show. Some of the most famous include:
- The One With [episode name] : Almost every episode name starts with these three words. In reference to the fact that most sitcoms don't display the title of their episodes, so fans must discuss the main plot points with each other when referring to specific episodes.
- Fat Monica: Monica, now slim and attractive, was obese as a child. She and the other characters would often refer to her "fat past" and several flashbacks throughout the series allowed us to see just how she looked then. She is also known to have "fat clown feet" as mentioned by Rachel. There is confusion as to at what point she became overweight as a child, as several episodes put her at developing her weight as early as kindergarten, while one episode shows a home movie of her clearly after that point, as being still thin
- Gay Chandler: Chandler was often painted with the possibility of being gay, despite his determination to prove himself as the heterosexual he actually was. Various characters on the show had assumed that he was gay when they first met him, and describe him as having a certain gay "quality." In addition, Chandler's father was a transvestite, which may have been the cause of some of Chandler's feminine behavioral traits (as well as the middle name Muriel), and one of Chandler's first phrases on Friends was "I wish I was a lesbian. Wait, did I say that out loud?!"..
- Ugly Naked Guy: An obese, nude hermit who engaged in odd habits in the "privacy" of his apartment across the street from Monica's. One of the gang would often notice something going on in his apartment and cry out "eww, eww, Ugly Naked Guy is..." and would describe the usually strange act to the others, who would then crowd around the window to a chorus of "ewwwww". During a flashback in one episode that was set a year before the pilot, Phoebe and Ross have a conversation that goes, Phoebe: "Aww, that is so unfortunate." Ross: "What?" Phoebe: "cute naked guy is really starting to put on weight." Ugly Naked Guy decides to sublet his apartment in Season 5, and Ross rents it to live across the street from his sister.
- Joey & Chandler as a couple: One of the more frequent recurring jokes of the early episodes paralleled the interactions of Joey and Chandler to the interactions of a married couple. The gag was usually used to enhance the aforementioned "Gay Chandler" joke, as Chandler would often assume the "wife" role, but was often funny on its own. This gag even appears in the first episode of the spinoff, Joey.
- Gunther likes Rachel: When Gunther appeared in an episode it usually involved his anything-but-secret crush on Rachel, who however remains oblivious to his feelings throughout most of the show's run. That he virtually obsesses about Rachel is evident in the episode where Chandler breaks up with Janice so she can give her marriage another try. When Gunther sees Chandler with Janice's gold-coloured shoe in his hand, he observes, "Rachel has those in burgundy". This is also seen when he buys all the stuff Rachel came into contact with in Ross' apartment.
- Phoebe's previous way of life: It is often mentioned that Phoebe once lived on the street, and her strange former friends often come up. Various random facts from her childhood are revealed throughout the show, such as that she "stabbed a cop", had a pimp spit in her mouth, has lived in Prague, and even mugged Ross when they were 14. In addition to those, Phoebe is known for holding grudges (for a long time) against people who have "betrayed" her. Notable examples of this are her feud with her sister, her ex-singing partner leaving her to write jingles for an advertising firm and her birthmother not looking for her
- Ross' tendency to marry: Ross marries a total of three times throughout the course of the show, all of which end in divorce. Many gags from the sixth season on, run along the line that Ross will likely marry any girl he hooks up with and is equally as likely to break up with her after marriage.
Prague in Friends. In this picture she is playing a guitar in a New York coffee shop named Central Perk.]]
- Phoebe's music: Phoebe was often a musician at Central Perk and was known for her rather unusual, original songs. Some include: "Jingle Bitch Screwed Me Over", "Ode to a pubic hair", "Sometimes Men Love Women, Sometimes Men Love Men...", "The Barnyard Song" in which she graphically describes farm animals being turned into meat products to a group of elementary schoolers, and her most famous, "Smelly Cat."
- Oh...My...God!: Janice's catchphrase; used as her introductory line in her later guest appearances.
- We were on a break!: A highlight of the third season was Rachel and Ross, a couple at the time, having a major fight and subsequently deciding to go on a break in their relationship. Around this point, the depressed Ross sleeps with another woman; his resulting guilt and Rachel's resulting resentment resonated for many seasons to come.
- Regina Phalange: Phoebe's alter ego, which she regularly makes references to (similar to Art Vandelay on Seinfeld). In the last episode she stops Rachel's plane by telling her the plane has something wrong with its left phalange. She is sometimes "Doctor Regina Phalange."
- Mr. Heckles: A slighty off-kilter man who lived below Monica and Rachel's apartment and continually complained about the noise. Usually claims he could have something you know he doesn't. For eg, "I could have a cat", or "I could play the oboe". Died during the second season. In his will, he leaves all his possessions to the "noisy girls in the apartment above mine".
- Chandler's speech: Chandler has a strange way of speaking, in which he emphasizes the wrong word in his sentences. One exaggerated example, where Ross was mocking Chandler's speech pattern: "The hills are alive with the sound (pause) OF music". His particular brand of sarcasm is also often based on the phrase "Could this [object] (pause) BE any more [description]."
- Ross's Speech: Ross also speaks oddly, leaving long pauses in sentences. When speaking to Russ (an uncannily similar character), he exclaims "It takes that guy...like, hello, what, like, a, uh, year to get a out a sentence", to which Chandler replies "Annoying, isn't it?" and Ross says "heh, uh, (pause)
- weeze
- yeah."
- How You Doin'?: This is Joey's pick-up line. It was first seen in "The One with Rachel's Crush," and Joey continues using it for the rest of the series, sometimes on Phoebe, Rachel, Monica, and even humorously on Chandler.
- Phoebe's dead mother: Phoebe often references her mother's suicide to various situations on the show, usually as an excuse. For example, when Ross questions her on why she's never tried taffy, "Well, my mother was too busy planning her suicide to provide saltwater treats."
- Monica's obsessive-compulsive behavior: While there is no medical diagnosis to point out she has such, Monica has continuously exhibited various traits of an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, including obsession with cleanliness, refusal to relinquish control over anything, excessive categorization and organization, intense competitiveness, and the need to get people to like her. Her competitiveness could be observed when playing tennis with Chandler's boss and his wife, where Chandler suggests that they should let them win, to which she replies "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you just said." In another instance, Rachel, who is moving out of the apartment, offers Monica a chance to pack her belongings for her, presenting the offer as a goodbye present, which Monica gladly accepts. In addition, the show has innumerable references to Monica cleaning her apartment, or any other location she's in.
- Ross and Chandler's college days: Ross and Chandler used to be roommates in college and throughout the series, a lot of funny stuff about their college days have been mentioned. Including Chandler saying the basis of his and Ross' relationship was "unfortunate hair."
- The Magna Doodle: The Fisher-Price Magna Doodle next to Joey and Chandler's front door first appeared in season 3, episode 18: The One With the Hypnosis Tape. In following episodes it was the source of many hidden gags, as it almost always had something humorously written or drawn on it. Joey still has the Magna Doodle at his new L.A. apartment on Joey, next to his front door.
- Chandler's smoking: In early seasons, Chandler is a fairly heavy smoker, and still smokes occasionally (but secretly) in later seasons, stealing cigarette butts from ashtrays, hiding packets of cigarettes in the toilet cistern, and at one point, when told he smells of "Perfume and cigarettes" replies "Well, the perfume's not mine, be thankful for that!".
- Mom love Ross more than Monica: Monica is constantly criticized by her mother, while Ross is the golden child. Ross's room was maintained "as a shrine" until the house was sold, while Monica's room was quickly converted to a gym. Rachel was once told by Judy Geller that she was like the daughter she's never had. Another time Monica's mother actually told Ross that she would be "childless" if he died. To a lesser extent, Jack Geller also showed this favoritism. In one episode, when Ross went to pick up some of his childhood possessions before the family home was sold, he noticed that the boxes containing Monica's possessions had been used to protect Jack's Porsche from flooding, and were thus ruined. Feeling guilty, Jack gave Monica the Porsche as recompense.
Trivia
- The character of Ursula (Phoebe's twin sister) first appeared in the sitcom Mad About You as a not-so-quick-witted waitress. Lisa Kudrow played Ursula on both Mad About You and Friends. Phoebe was not originally supposed to have a twin, but the show's creators added the fact to explain why Kudrow was appearing on two different shows, at one point on the same night. Ursula would go on to make several appearances on Friends, played simultaneously by Kudrow. Producers used split-screen photography and doubles to create the illusion the two both appeared in a scene at the same time. Later, Helen Hunt appeared on an episode of Friends and her character mistakenly thought Phoebe was Ursula.
- James Michael Tyler's character (Gunther) came into the series by accident. He can be seen as an extra throughout the first season, and when given a line in the second, the directors were adequately impressed that they created him a full-time part: Gunther. Additionally, it's been reported that Tyler got the job because he was the only extra who knew how to operate the espresso machine, having been working at an actual coffee shop at the time. In addition to playing Gunther, Tyler remained an actual coffee shop employee for the first four seasons of the show.
- Central Perk, the coffee shop on the show, is based on Chomondley's (pronounced Chumley's), a coffee shop/lounge in Usen Castle at Brandeis University, the alma mater of the show's creators.
- Katie, who played Marcel, Ross' pet White-headed Capuchin monkey, would become even more famous as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Rally Monkey. An outtake from season 1 shows Jennifer Aniston becoming exasperated at the monkey's antics and addressing it as Katie rather than by the character's name, Marcel.
- Although the show was filmed in California, it took place in the West Village in Manhattan, New York City. The exterior shot of the Friends' apartment building is actually located at Grove and Bedford streets in the Village.
- The picture frame around the peep hole in Monica and Rachel's apartment originally was a framed mirror, but a crew member accidentally broke it. The producers liked the look and decided not to replace the mirror.
- 55 people were paid to come to the studio and watch the first four episodes of "The Six of Us"; this show's title was changed to "Friends"
- Not all episodes were filmed in front of a studio audience. Most episodes were filmed with a laugh track, like the episode of Ursula and Phoebe together.
- Alternate titles were "Six Of One", "Across The Hall", "Insomnia Cafe" and "Friends Like Us".
- Ross and Chandler are presumably the oldest, with Joey after them and the girls after Joey. There is however some confusion on this issue, with different bits of information from different episodes complicating the matter severely. Rachel would seem to be the youngest, since in "The One Where They All Turn Thirty" in season 7, she celebrates her 30th birthday while the others share reminiscences of theirs, indicating that the rest of them have all turned 30 already. In real life, Lisa Kudrow is the oldest cast member, followed by Courtney Cox, who is actually two years older than David Schwimmer, who played her older brother, and five years older than Matthew Perry, while Matt LeBlanc is a year younger than Schwimer but a year older than Perry, with Jennifer Aniston being the youngest of the three girls, having been born in 1969, the same year as Matthew Perry. Cox and Kudrow were actually both over 30 when the show began, and both were clearly over 40 by the time the show finished its run.
- Jennifer Aniston did her own nudity in "The One In Vegas, Part 1".
- In the first six episodes of Season 1, Chandler and Joey's apartment number was 4, and Monica and Rachel's was 5. Shortly after production began, it was decided that the apartment building where much of the show takes place was too big to have upper apartments with numbers as low as 4 and 5, so the numbers were changed to 19 and 20, respectively.
Further trivia can be found [http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/trivia in the series' IMDb entry].
Cultural legacy
laugh track
Friends has, in some areas, made a notable contribution to language, fashion, and (to a lesser extent) women's attitudes. The use of “so” to mean “very” or “really” was not invented by any Friends writer, but it is quite arguable that the extensive use of the phrase in the series encouraged its use in everyday life. [http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin5/040107a.asp] Also commonly said by the characters, particularly Monica, was the loud “I know!” The series has also been noted for its impact on everyday-fashion and hair-styles. Jennifer Aniston, in particular, had her hair-style copied by many women. Along with this, Joey Tribbiani's catchphrase, “How you doin'?” has become a popular part of American slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends. The show also inspired the cultural meme of the laminated list.
Decline in quality
As with many long-running television series, fans of Friends have debated when the show jumped the shark. Some insist that it was brilliant from start to finish, or only got better as it went along, often pointing to the ten-year run as proof of its quality. Other fans, however, feel that Friends ran too long and went into decline when Chandler moved in with Monica, and profess that they were turned off as the characters became progressively more neurotic (particularly Ross) and the situations sillier, often pointing to the baby Emma storyline and the Joey/Rachel/Ross love triangle as low points in absurdity; these fans feel that the series was at its best during the early seasons. Another complaint often made by these fans was that the infamous salary demands made by the actors eventually took a toll on the quality of the show's humor.
Spinoff
Joey premiered September 9, 2004 on NBC. It centers around the Friends character Joey Tribbiani, still played by LeBlanc, who moved to Los Angeles to advance his career as an actor. Past Friends cast members are expected to have cameo appearances on the show from time to time, though as of December 2005, none have, and none have been asked. It has been hinted at that Matthew Perry will be the first to, however.
Season synopsis
Season one
We are introduced to Phoebe, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Ross, shortly after Ross's wife Carol has realized she is a lesbian and divorced him. At this point, Monica, Phoebe and Ross all live alone, while Chandler and Joey live together. Monica's old school friend Rachel enters Central Perk wearing a wedding dress, having just run away from her wedding to Barry Farber and needing somewhere to go. She moves in with Monica, gets a job as a waitress at Central Perk, and struggles to work for a living, having previously lived a rich life.
Ross finds his ex-wife Carol is pregnant with his child. In the penultimate episode of the season, she gives birth to a boy, named Ben, who is subsequently raised by Carol and her lover, Susan.
In the pilot, Ross reveals he had a crush on Rachel in high school, and we see (unbeknownst to Rachel) that he still has feelings for her. Throughout the season, he fails to make his feelings known to her, and eventually Chandler and Joey persuade him to move on. In the last episode, on Rachel's birthday, Ross leaves for a paleontological trip to China - while he is gone, Chandler accidentally reveals to Rachel that Ross is in love with her. Rachel eventually decides she would like to start a romantic relationship with Ross, and goes to meet him at the airport when he returns from China, unaware that he is getting off the plane with another woman.
Season two
Ross is unaware that Rachel now has feelings for him, and has started a relationship with a paleontologist named Julie whom he knew at grad school and has met again while in China. Rachel is very unhappy about this and makes attempts to sabotage the relationship, eg: when Ross wants to consummate his relationship with Julie, Rachel tells him women find nothing sexier than a man who doesn't want to have sex.
Rachel later goes on a date with another man, where she gets very drunk and leaves a message on Ross's answer machine saying she is over him. Next morning, Ross comes to Monica and Rachel's apartment and plays back the message with their phone. Rachel is forced to admit that she likes Ross, causing Ross to get very confused over his own feelings. He later comes to Rachel at Central Perk and angrily tells her she shouldn't have told him, and he is now over her, but after leaving, he comes back and they kiss passionately. Ross is unable to choose between Rachel and Julie - in the process of making a list of pros and cons for both women, he decides he really loves Rachel, and breaks up with Julie. Unfortunately, Rachel discovers the list of pros and cons he made, becomes angry with Ross and rejects him.
However, later in the season, the group watches a video of Monica and Rachel getting ready for their high school prom. In the video, it looks like Rachel's date isn't going to show, so Ross's parents persuade him to take her instead. But just as Ross is about to, Rachel's date arrives and they leave together. Rachel is touched by this, and decides to start dating Ross after all.
Joey gets a high profile acting job as Dr Drake Ramoray on the soap Days Of Our Lives, and earns enough money to move into his own apartment. Left on his own, Chandler gets a new roommate called Eddie, who turns out to be insane. When Joey states in an interview that he writes his own lines on Days Of Our Lives, the show's writers are offended and kill off his character. With no income for his lavish spending, Joey moves back into Chandler's apartment. Chandler had been struggling to get Eddie to move out due to his mental problems; Eddie continuously forgot that Chandler had asked him to leave. Chandler and Joey solve the problem by moving out Eddie's things, changing the locks, and pretending they don't know Eddie when he comes to the door - Eddie assumes he has the wrong apartment and leaves.
Phoebe finds she has a half brother called Frank, from her father's side.
For a period, Monica goes out with Richard Burke, a friend of her parents' who is significantly older than her. They become very close, but break up in the last episode when Richard tells her he doesn't want to have children with her, having already had them with his ex-wife.
Season three
Rachel quits her job at Central Perk and tries to get one in the fashion industry. She meets a man named Mark who gets her a job in Bloomingdale's, but Ross becomes convinced Mark has ulterior motives, and becomes increasingly jealous. Tension between Ross and Rachel culminates on their anniversary, when Rachel is too busy at work to go to dinner with Ross. Instead, Ross brings some food to her work, but gets in the way and she orders him to leave. Back home, the two have an argument which ends in Rachel suggesting they take a break.
Afterward, Ross goes for a drink with Chandler and Joey. Both he and Rachel independently decide to resolve their differences, but when Ross calls Rachel, Mark is there to check if Rachel is all right. Having heard him over the phone, Ross assumes the worst and hangs up. Feeling depressed, he ends up sleeping with a woman named Chloe. He tries to resume his relationship with Rachel without telling her, but she finds out, and after a prolonged argument, they break up.
However, towards the end of the season, Rachel becomes upset when Ross starts dating a woman named Bonnie. In the final episode, the group goes on a beach trip, so Phoebe can meet up with a woman (also named Phoebe) who has information about her family. While at the beach, Bonnie unexpectedly turns up. Rachel is unhappy and persuades Bonnie to shave her head so Ross will be less attracted to her. Ross and Rachel argue about this and start to feel like they still love each other. The episode ends with Ross standing between Rachel and Bonnie's bedrooms, picking one, and going in.
Season four
The season begins with Ross entering one room and finding both Rachel and Bonnie. Ross decides to get back together with Rachel, and breaks up with Bonnie. Rachel writes Ross a letter of her feelings about them getting back together. It turns out to be a request that Ross take full responsibility for everything that went wrong last time, which he finds he cannot do, and they quickly break up again.
While still at the beach, Phoebe learns the older Phoebe is actually her real mother. Phoebe tells Ursula, who makes it sound like she knew all along. Ursula produces their mother's "suicide note" (which she really wrote herself) which says "Dear Phoebe and Ursula, I love you both very much. P.S. Your birth mother lives in Montauk."
Phoebe agrees to be a surrogate mother for her half brother Frank and his infertile wife Alice. Frank and Alice's embryos, conceived by in vitro fertilization, are implanted in Phoebe's uterus and she becomes pregnant with triplets.
Chandler meets a girl named Kathy who originally dates Joey. The latter two, who are classmates in acting class break-up after Kathy kissed Chandler while Joey was outside the apartment. This made Joey angry and as punishment, Chandler was made to stay in a box for several hours to show him [Joey] how much he wants him to be his [Chandler's] friend again. Joey eventually forives him and Chandler starts going out with Kathy. The relationship however does not last long as Chandler suspects that Kathy is sleeping with a fellow cast member after watching one of her plays. This actually happens after their first fight and they break up.
Chandler & Joey and Monica & Rachel compete in a quiz about each other, put together by Ross, to decide which of them knows more about the other two. The two teams make a bet – if Monica and Rachel win, Chandler and Joey will give up their pet chick and duck, but if Chandler and Joey win, they get Monica and Rachel's apartment. In the end, Chandler and Joey win, and swap apartments with Monica and Rachel. They live like this for a few episodes, then Monica and Rachel try to trade New York Knicks tickets to the boys in exchange for their apartment. Chandler doesn't think it's a fair trade, and they draw cards, with the winner getting the apartment and the tickets. Chandler and Joey win again, but when they get back after the Knicks game, they find the girls have moved all the guys' things back into their original apartment, and moved back into theirs. The boys agree to let living arrangements return to normal when, in exchange, Monica and Rachel kiss each other for one minute in front of them.
Ross meets a British woman named Emily and starts dating her. When it is time for Emily to go back to England, she and Ross don't want to leave each other and they decide to get married. In the last episode, the group travels to London for the wedding - except Phoebe, who is too pregnant, and Rachel, who doesn't want to see Ross get married. At the wedding rehearsal dinner, Monica becomes depressed because she's not married, and a drunken man thinks she's Ross' mother. Chandler comforts her and they end up sleeping together.
Rachel realizes she still loves Ross and decides to go to London and tell him. When she gets there, she sees him with Emily and decides it wouldn't be right to mess things up for him. The wedding goes ahead, but comes to an abrupt halt when Ross says "I take thee, Rachel" instead of "I take thee, Emily".
Season five
Ross and Emily's wedding continues after Ross' faux pas and they are married, but at the reception, Emily argues angrily with Ross and disappears. After everyone has returned to New York, Rachel tells Ross she still loves him and then starts laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, since he is now married. They both decide to forget it. Emily eventually calls Ross from England and tells him that she will only give the marriage a chance if he promises he will never see Rachel again. Ross agrees, but Emily continues to make unreasonable demands to keep him away from Rachel, such as moving to another apartment. Eventually, he decides the marriage won't work if Emily doesn't trust him and they divorce.
Ross has already subletted his old apartment at this point and can't get it back since the leasee is Emily's cousin, so he lives with Chandler and Joey for a period until he gets a new apartment for himself. He later loses his job at a museum when he gets angry at his boss for eating his Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich.
In the 100th episode (third of the season), Phoebe gives birth to triplets - a boy named Frank Jr. Jr., and two girls named Leslie and Chandler (they had originally thought it would be two boys and a girl, and Phoebe was going to name one boy after Chandler). Phoebe tries to keep one after becoming attached to them, but finds out that Frank and Alice are unwilling to give up a child.
After sleeping together in London, Chandler and Monica feel attracted to each other and continue an intimate relationship in secret. Joey finds out about it, but keeps it a secret for them. Rachel then finds out, but after she tells Monica and Monica denies it, Rachel pretends to be oblivious. Phoebe is the next to find out. However, rather than keeping it a secret or pretending to be oblivious, she plays mind games with Chandler by pretending she is attracted to him. When Chandler and Monica realize she knows about them, Chandler pretends he is attracted to Phoebe, but eventually confesses he is in love with Monica. Ross finds out shortly afterwards, and Chandler and Monica's relationship becomes public.
Rachel gets a new job at Ralph Lauren.
Towards the end of the season, Joey gets the lead in a movie, but travels to Las Vegas to find production has shut down due to lack of money. In the last episode, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe travel to Las Vegas to see him (he has stayed there waiting for production to restart, but has been lying to them, telling them he is filming for the movie), with Ross and Rachel following them later. They find Joey working as a Roman guard in the Caesar's Palace hotel lobby.
On the plane there, Ross draws on Rachel's face with a felt tip pen - Rachel can't get it off and doesn't want to leave her hotel room, so Ross stays with her. They both get very drunk and Rachel draws on his face in return.
Chandler and Monica decide to get married in a Las Vegas chapel, but just before they do, they encounter Ross and Rachel, still drunk, who have just wed at the same chapel.
Season six
After finding out that they are now married, Ross and Rachel agree to get an annulment, but Ross doesn't want to have been divorced three times and lies to Rachel, telling her he has had the marriage annulled when he actually hasn't. Rachel eventually learns the truth and forces Ross to go ahead with the annulment, but they are unable to get one as Rachel has added humiliating misinformation about Ross on the form, and they are forced to file for divorce.
Ross gets a new job teaching paleontology at New York University (NYU).
Despite his divorce record, Ross dates two people: Jill Green, Rachel's sister and Elizabeth Stevens, a student in one of his NYU classes. Jill comes into the city to goes to Rachel to help her look for a job after her father takes away her credit card and in her job hunt, there seems to be a spark with Ross when one of the items she bought at a store isn't confiscated by Rachel. Neither one was planning to ask the other out but when Rachel accidentally says it's OK, Jill asks Ross out and he agrees. But Rachel's true feelings about her sister and ex-boyfriend started to be known to both and she forces Ross to stop seeing Jill. Meanwhile, with Elizabeth, Ross discovers that she is the one who rated him a "hottie" in her evaluation form. They start dating despite a university policy that makes it illegal for a teacher to date a student and threats from Ross' colleagues and Elizabeth's father that Ross will be fired for violating that policy. Ross tries to impress Elizabeth's father, Paul but is usually unsuccessful. They break up after Ross figures that there is no future between them.
Chandler and Monica decide it's too soon for them to get married, and decide to move in together instead. Chandler moves into Monica's apartment, Rachel moves in with Phoebe, and Joey is left on his own.
After Chandler moves out, Joey gets a sexy female roommate named Janine. After a few weeks of carefully avoiding the subject, the two start dating, but the relationship doesn't last long when Janine tells Joey she doesn't like Monica and Chandler. Joey's attempts to make them get along only make the situation worse and Janine moves out.
Another interesting aspect of season 6 is Joey's money and career crisis. First Joey, not getting an acting job in a long time loses his insurance. He gets it back by getting a part in a movie which he acted as a dying father. Joey finds it very difficult to keep up with the bills living on his own and as a result of Janine moving out, Joey's telephone and cable service has been cutoff and desperate for money, Joey gets a job at Central Perk. He later tries other ways to get money like participate in a study for identical twins but isn't successful as he and his partner, Tony, aren't identical twins. Also, Joey gets a job as the lead actor on a new TV Series named 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.', which revolves around a detective and his robot sidekick. Joey promptly quits his job at Central Perk.
Later in the season, a fire wrecks Phoebe and Rachel's apartment. It is assumed that Phoebe's candles started the fire, so while Rachel moves in with Chandler and Monica, Phoebe moves into the less savory conditions of Joey's apartment. However, when the firemen find the fire was actually started by Rachel leaving a hair straightener switched on in the bathroom, Phoebe and Rachel swap. Rachel finds living with Joey quite enjoyable, while Phoebe is annoyed by Monica's constant attention and obsession with cleanliness.
Towards the end of the season, Chandler plans to propose to Monica. In the final episode, he fails to propose at a restaurant when Richard, Monica's ex-boyfriend, appears. Later, Richard meets Monica at her workplace and tells her he still loves her. She considers going back to Richard when Chandler pretends he isn't interested in marriage (so she'll be surprised when he proposes) but Joey explains the situation to her. She decides to surprise him with a proposal and he says yes.
Season seven
The season mainly focuses on Monica and Chandler's wedding plans from the selection of the maid of honour to the wardrobe to the seating arrangement. It was almost thrown in jeopardy when Monica's parents spent all the money from the Monica Wedding fund to acquire a beach house. Chandler agreed to give some money.
Rachel gets a promotion in Ralph Lauren and one of its perks includes hiring a new assistant. She hires Tag Jones (as opposed to an experienced applicant), who she has a crush on from the moment she meets him. They got together on Thanksgiving but broke up during her birthday.
Phoebe and Rachel's apartment is restored after the fire. Phoebe moves back in on her own, while Rachel continues living with Joey.
'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.' is a ratings failure and is quickly cancelled, but luckily for Joey he is offered his job back on Days Of Our Lives.
In the final episode, it is time for Chandler and Monica's wedding, but the night before, Chandler gets cold feet and disappears. While he is gone, Phoebe finds a positive pregnancy test in Monica's bathroom, and assumes Monica is pregnant. Phoebe and Ross find Chandler at his office and persuade him to come back, but Chandler overhears Phoebe and Rachel talking about Monica's "pregnancy" and disappears again. He quickly returns on his own, however, deciding that a baby wouldn't be so bad. Chandler and Monica get married, but when Chandler tells Monica he knows about the baby, she says she isn't pregnant, and it wasn't her pregnancy test that Phoebe found. As the episode ends, it is hinted that it is actually Rachel who is pregnant.
Season eight
It is confirmed that Rachel is pregnant, and in the second episode, the group finds out that Ross is the father (we learn they secretly slept together before Chandler and Monica's wedding). Her pregnancy becomes the central focal point of the eighth season.
Ross met Mona at the wedding and went out with her for a few months but they broke up becuase of complications arising from his impending fatherhood with Rachel's child.
As Rachel and Joey continue living together, Joey starts to develop feelings for her. Feeling that Ross is missing out on his fatherly duties, Joey reluctantly suggests that Rachel move in with Ross, and she does so. Joey later reveals his feelings to Rachel, who politely rejects him.
In the last episode, Rachel goes into labor, and while she's in the hospital Ross's mother approaches him with a ring to give to Rachel. Ross demures, saying it's far too complicated, but keeps the ring in his coat pocket. After Rachel gives birth to their daughter, Emma, Joey goes in to see how Rachel is doing and accidentally knocks over Ross's coat. The engagement ring falls out, and Joey bends down to pick it up. Rachel, seeing Joey on one knee with an engagement ring, thinks that he's proposing to her, and says that she'll marry him.
Also in the last episode, Monica and Chandler decide to try for a baby of their own.
Season nine
Ross, Rachel, and Emma continue living together until they have a argument about their current relationship. Feeling it may not be right that she is living with Ross, and they have a baby together, but they are not in a relationship, Rachel decides to move back in with Joey, taking Emma with her.
Chandler's job starts requiring him to spend the better part of the week in Tulsa. He puts up with this for a while, but when he finds himself working in Tulsa over Christmas, and a female associate (played by Selma Blair) comes on to him, he quits his job, and later gets one in advertising.
Chandler and Monica try to conceive a baby of their own, but fail to do so. They go to a fertility clinic and find they are both infertile, so decide to adopt a baby.
Phoebe starts dating a man named Mike Hanigan. They become close and decide to move in together, but when Phoebe asks about the future of their relationship, Mike tells her that since he has already been through a failed marriage, he doesn't want to get married again. Phoebe does want to get married, so they break up.
Towards the end of the season, Rachel begins to develop feelings for Joey.
In the final episode, the group goes to Barbados, where Ross is giving a paleontological talk. Phoebe takes her boyfriend David (whom she first met in the first season and got back together with in the previous episode) and Joey takes his girlfriend Charlie (another professor of paleontology whom Ross had welcomed to the city). Monica learns David is planning to top Mike by proposing to Phoebe, and calls Mike to tell him to get back together with Phoebe. Mike originally doesn't want to intervene, but later comes to Barbados and tells Phoebe he loves her and wants to marry her. Phoebe rejects Mike's proposal, but still resumes her relationship with him, letting David down gently.
Joey and Charlie break up when they decide they have too little in common, and Joey subsequently learns Rachel has feelings for him. He originally decides not to act on it. Meanwhile, Charlie feels she still likes Ross, and they kiss. Joey sees them doing so, changes his mind about Rachel, and goes to her room and kisses her.
Season ten
Joey and Rachel's intimate relationship only lasts for the first three episodes of the season, at which point they find that since their relationship has been platonic for so long, they are too uncomfortable getting physical with each other, and decide to be just friends again.
Ross and Charlie on the other hand went through a relationship that started in Barbados and it went well until she decides to get back together with an ex-boyfriend who administers a grant review Ross hopes to get.
As the season goes on, Mike proposes to Phoebe again, and they get married in a later episode. In the final episode, Phoebe and Mike decide to try for a baby.
Chandler and Monica apply to adopt the baby of a pregnant woman named Erica and also decide to move out of their apartment into a house in the suburbs. In the final episode, Erica gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl, who are named Jack (after Monica's dad) and Erica (after Erica).
Rachel goes for an interview for Gucci, but her Ralph Lauren boss is at the same restaurant where the interview takes place, and fires her and in addition, she does not get the Gucci job. While moving out her things, she runs into Mark (from the third season) who gets her a new job – in Paris. The other friends hold a going-away party for Rachel and she says goodbye to each of them in turn, except Ross. He is upset about this until Rachel tells him it was too hard to say goodbye to him. They then sleep together.
In the final episode, Ross realizes he still loves Rachel, and after she leaves for the airport to go to Paris, he goes after her to tell her. When he catches up with her and lets her know, she originally rejects him. Ross gets back to his apartment and finds a message from Rachel on his answering machine, telling him she does still love him and is trying to get off the plane. As the message ends, she arrives at Ross' apartment, and they kiss.
The final episode ends with Chandler and Monica moving out of their apartment, and everyone going for one last coffee at Central Perk.
Ratings
The 66-minute series finale was named by Entertainment Tonight as the biggest US TV moment of the year 2004, and was the second highest rated show in 2004 beaten only by the Super Bowl. However, it did not surpass the ratings received by season finales for M
- A
- S
- H (106m), Cheers (80.4m) or Seinfeld (76.3m), nor was it the most watched episode of Friends—that accolade remains with the season two episode The One After the Superbowl, which aired on January 28, 1996 and drew 52.9m viewers. During the 2001–2002 season, Friends was the highest rated show in America according to the Nielsen Ratings.
Ratings by country for the finale:
- United States: 52.5m (Nielsen)
- Canada: 5.159m (BBM Canada)
- United Kingdom: 8.6m (BARB)
- Australia: 2.54m (OZTAM)
DVD Releases
Region 1
Best of releases
Individual episode releases
Season releases
Region 2
Season releases
Region 3
Season releases
Friends in other countries
- Argentina – Friends
- Austria – Friends
- Australia – Friends
- Belgium (Flanders) – Friends
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – Prijatelji
- Brazil – Friends
- Bulgaria – Приятели (Priyateli)
- Croatia – Prijatelji
- Czech Republic – Přátelé
- Denmark – Venner
- Egypt - الأصدقاء (El-Usdiqa' - "The Friends")
- Finland – Frendit
- France – Friends
- Germany – Friends
- Greece – Τα φιλαράκια (Ta filarakia)
- Hong Kong – 老友記
- Hungary – Jóbarátok (English: Good Friends)
- Iceland – Vinir
- India – Friends
- Indonesia – Friends
- Iran – دوستان
- Israel – Haverrim - חברים (Hebrew)
- Italy – Friends
- Japan – フレンズ
- Latin America – Friends
- Latvia – Draugi
- Lithuania – Draugai
- The Netherlands – Friends
- Macedonia – Пријатели (Priyateli)
- Mexico – Amigos
- Norway – Venner for livet
- Philippines – F.R.I.E.N.D.S
- Poland – Przyjaciele
- Romania – Prietenii Tǎi
- Russia – Друзья (Druzya)
- Saudi Arabia – الأصدقاء
- Serbia and Montenegro – Prijatelji (Пријатељи)
- Slovakia – Priatelia
- Slovenia – Prijatelji
- South Africa – Friends
- South Korea – 프렌드
- Spain – Friends
- Sweden – Vänner
- Taiwan – 六人行
- Thailand - เฟรนด์ส
- Trinidad and Tobago – Friends
- Turkey – Sıkı Dostlar (Close Friends) in 1990's and Friends as of today
- Ukraine – Друзi (=friends)
- Uruguay - Amigos in open TV, but Friends in the subtitled cable version.
- Venezuela - Friends
Broadcasters
First-run
- NBC (United States)
- Orbit Network (Egypt)
- M-NET (South Africa)
- Channel 4 (United Kingdom; seasons 1–2 and season 10 finale only)
- Sky One (United Kingdom; pay-tv service, seasons 3–6 only)
- E4 (United Kingdom; pay-tv service, seasons 7–10)
- Global (Canada)
- RTÉ Two (Ireland; first European channel to screen Friends)
- ORF (Austria)
- Sat 1 (Germany; season 1–5)
- ProSieben (Germany; season 6–10)
- WOWOW (Japan)
- MTV3 (Finland)
- TVNZ (New Zealand)
- RAI (Italy)
- Sony (Latin America; seasons 1–7)
- Warner Channel (Latin America)
- TV 2 (Denmark)
- TVB (Hong Kong; season 10)
- Seven Network (Australia; season 1)
- Nine Network (Australia; seasons 2–10)
- TV 2 (Norway)
- Canal + (Spain)
- France 2 (France)
- Televisa cinco (Mexico)
- TTT (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; seasons 1–9)
- 1+1 (Ukraine)
- MBC 4 (Middle East)
- Star World (Asia)
- Veronica (Netherlands; season 1–7)
- Yorin (Netherlands; season 8–10)
- ABC5 (Philippines)
- ComedyMax (Turkey)
Reruns/syndication
Note: In the United States, Friends is syndicated on local affiliates or independent stations, not throughout any one broadcast network (such as WB, FOX or ABC).
- Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (United States)
- TBS Superstation (United States)
- Channel 4 (United Kingdom)
- E4 (United Kingdom)
- Subtv (Finland)
- Star World (India)
- Zee English (India)
- Sony (Latin America; until 2001)
- HRT (Croatia)
- Warner Channel (Latin America; since 2001)
- SBT (Brazil)
- ProSieben (Germany)
- Star Channel (Greece)
- TV 2 Zulu (Denmark)
- RTÉ Two (Ireland)
- CityTV (Canada)
- TV 2 (Hungary).
- RTV Pink (Serbia & Montenegro)
- NET 5 (Netherlands)
- UBC (Thailand)
- TV2 (Malaysia)
- etc (Philippines)
- Stöð 2 (Iceland)
Caveats
In the UK, seasons 7 to 10 were first aired on the (then) pay-tv channel E4, except for the season 10 finale which was broadcast on its sister FTA channel Channel 4 first, then aired an hour later on E4. This was the first time Channel 4 had broadcast an episode of Friends before the pay-tv c
Rachel Green
Rachel Karen Green was a fictional character played by Jennifer Aniston on the popular TV series sitcom Friends (1994-2004).
Rachel appeared in the Pilot episode running into Central Perk in a rain-soaked wedding dress, in search of her old friend Monica Geller, with whom she had had little or no contact since high school. Rachel had fled her wedding to Barry Farber having discovered she desired the gravy boat that she had been given as a wedding gift more than she desired Barry (she also claimed it was at this moment she became aware of his resemblance to Mr. Potato Head). It emerged that Rachel never had a job and had always lived on her father's money. After her father refused to pay for her credit cards unless she went through with the marriage, Monica and the rest of the Friends encouraged Rachel to start a new life in New York City. Like the other characters, Rachel was stuck in a state of arrested development, an adult woman who emotionally had not outgrown adolescence, and, specifically, her personality often cast her as a forerunner to the spoiled daddy's girl stereotype.
arrested development
Rachel got her first job as a waitress at Central Perk. She turned out to be hopeless, taking long breaks to sit with her friends and getting orders mixed up regularly. However, probably because of Gunther's crush on Rachel, she kept the job for some time. In the third season, after encouragement from Joey and Chandler she quit to enter a career in fashion. This eventually led to a job as a personal shopper at Bloomingdale's. She later became a buyer for Ralph Lauren, but was fired when she was caught interviewing for Gucci. She was then offered a job at Louis Vuitton's Paris office by a former co-worker.
Rachel is perhaps most famous for her turbulent relationship with Monica's brother Ross Geller. Ross had apparently harboured a crush for Rachel since their school days. When Rachel moved to the city, Ross tried to re-kindle his affection, and after a rocky start the two finally got together in The One With The Prom Video. The relationship ended when a blazing row over Rachel's friendship with a male co-worker led Ross to sleep with the cute girl from the copy place (the object of Joey and Chandler's affections). When Rachel found out, she broke up with Ross in a famous scene that involves Ross and Rachel arguing in Monica's living room whilst the other four Friends are trapped in Monica's bedroom, afraid of interrupting the argument. From then on, the two shared an almost on again-almost off again relationship. Rachel declared that she was still in love with Ross even though he was still married to his British wife Emily in a disastrous wedding ceremony. Ross did not reciprocate her feelings though he acknowledged "It's nice to know someone loves you." On a trip to Las Vegas, the two were married while drunk. Ross planned to remain secretly married to Rachel despite putative assurances to her that he would seek a dissolution of the union. The reason for doing so was that Ross could not suffer the ignominy of three divorces: the first to his lesbian ex-wife Carol, the second to Emily, and the third to Rachel. During the seventh season, they slept together, after which Rachel became pregnant, and later gave birth to Ross's second child, Emma, and around the same time, their friend Joey Tribbiani genuinely fell in love with Rachel. In the final episode, Ross was encouraged by Joey and Phoebe to declare his love to Rachel before she left to pursue her career in Paris. His plea was successful and the two once again entered into a relationship.
For most of the series, Rachel lived in Monica's apartment. They had a likeable, enduring chemistry which was to become one of the main elements of the show. However, when Chandler moved in with Monica, Rachel moved out to give them some privacy. From here she moved in with Phoebe Buffay. The two got on just as well but, when Rachel accidentally caused a fire in Phoebe's apartment, she spent some time living with Joey. By the time Phoebe's apartment was repaired, Rachel was enjoying living with Joey so much that she decided to stay. This decision was actually initiated by Phoebe, who realised that she could now have a bedroom twice as large as before, as the fire had destroyed a false wall which had separated their rooms. When Rachel became pregnant with Ross' child, she moved in with him. However, things became awkward after the birth, and she soon moved back in with Joey.
Shortly after moving to the city, and before dating Ross, Rachel engaged in a purely sex-based relationship with an Italian model named Paolo. In the seventh season, she moved in with Joey and he fell in love with her during the eighth season (when she was pregnant with Ross's child.) At the end of the ninth season, Rachel began to reciprocate Joey's feelings. However, despite some close encounters, the relationship came to nothing.
Rachel claims her favourite film is Dangerous Liaisons, but her actual favourite is Weekend at Bernie's. It was revealed that she had a very large nose when younger, but that it was reduced by rhinoplasty.
Rachel's parents went through an acrimonious divorce beginning in Season 2. Rachel is the middle of their three daughters: her older sister is Amy Green, played by Christina Applegate, and her younger sister is Jill Green, played by Reese Witherspoon.
Greene, Rachel
Green
The One Where Monica Gets A Roommate
The Pilot (aka The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate, The One Where it All Began) is the very first episode of the television situation comedy Friends.
First aired: September 9, 1994
This is the first episode of Friends. The first scene takes place in Central Perk. Rachel bursts in wearing a wedding dress. She has just left Barry at the altar. Monica realizes it's her best friend from high school and introduces her to the gang. She wants to be independent and break free from the life she was expected to live. Ross suggests she stay with Monica for now and she gratefully accepts. The gang convinces Rachel to cut up her credit cards and find a job - so she takes a position as a waitress at Central Perk.
Monica goes on a date with Paul the Wine Guy and it seems that he is the perfect and sensitive guy, claiming he hadn't had sex in two years. She then finds out from her co-worker, Franny, that he used the same line on her.
Ross is depressed over his recent divorce from Carol so Joey and Chandler try and cheer him up, with interesting results.
Additional cast
- Franny - Clea Lewis
1-01
Friends
Maid of honourThe Maid of Honor (British English: bridesmaid) attends the bride at a wedding or marriage ceremony.
USA
In the USA, the bride might have several bridesmaids, but this is the position held by the bride's chief attendant, typically her closest friend or sister. If married, the title Matron of Honor is used.
This person is usually responsible for helping the bride to dress and prepare for the ceremony, to carry the groom's wedding ring to hand to the bride during the ceremony, and similar tasks.
When the bride wishes to give this honor to a man, he may be termed the "man of honor" or (especially in Britain) "bridesman." The groom's equivalent is the "best man". A neutral term is "honor attendant".
In Africa, especially in the Christian Church, a maid of honour's duties are similar to those in USA. However, the responsibilities of a maid of honour do not end on the wedding day. It is a life long commitment to be there for the bride, guiding her in ways that reflect what a good wife should be, encouraging her to keep fellowship with other Christian women who are married so as to keep her in tune with the word of God and to enrich the new bride with different methods of overcoming challenges in marriage. This is why a maid of honour is expected to be a Christian who is happily married. The maid of honour will then be seen as a role model and is therefore expected to have a track record worth emulating by the newly wed bride to the joy of the new husband.
UK
In the United Kingdom, the term "maid of honour" originally referred to the female attendant of a queen. The term bridesmaid is normally used for a bridal attendant. However, when the attendant is married, or is a mature woman, the term matron of honour is more commonly used. The influence of American English has led to the Chief Bridesmaid sometimes being called the Maid of Honour.
In the UK, a "maid of honour" is also a type of small cake.
See also
- Best man
- Bride
- Bridegroom
- Bridesmaid
- Flowergirl
- Groomsman
- Ringbearer
Category:Wedding
Category:Honor
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanne Aniston (born February 11 1969) is an American actress, best-known for playing Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, and her much-publicized marriage to Brad Pitt.
Personal Life
Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, California, and is the daughter of Cretan-Greek actor John Aniston (originally Yannis Anastasakis, later americanized to John Aniston) and his then-wife Nancy Dow. Aniston's godfather is actor Telly Savalas, her father's best friend. Aniston spent much of her childhood in New York, where her father won a role in the soap opera Love of Life and later Search for Tomorrow. In 1985, the family moved to Los Angeles when John Aniston started on Days of Our Lives. Aniston's mother, from whom she is now estranged, is an actress of half Scottish, as well as English, and Italian descent; through her, Jennifer is a direct descendant of the royal House of Stuart of Scotland.
Aniston previously dated Adam Duritz and Tate Donovan in low-profile relationships. Her pairing with actor Brad Pitt was very high-profile in the media. She married Pitt on July 29, 2000, in a Malibu wedding. They separated on January 7, 2005, and Aniston officially filed for divorce on March 25, 2005.
On August 25 2005, David Hesterbey was arrested for trespassing after allegedly entering Aniston's Malibu home.
In November 2005, Aniston was named GQ Magazine's Woman of the Year.
She is currently dating actor Vince Vaughn.
On November 29 2005, Aniston and Vaughn were pulled over by police in Scottsdale, Arizona. Police smelled alcohol in the car and tested Vaughn's blood alcohol level. Since he was not above the legal limit, the couple were allowed to go.
In December 2005, Aniston sued paparazzo Peter Brandt for taking topless photographs of her sunbathing in her backyard. She was photographed from more than a mile away.
Acting Career
2005
2005
Attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts during 1987, Aniston was a member of the drama club. Her desire to become an actress grew as she worked in off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checker's Grave. She appeard as a "Nutri-System" girl on the Howard Stern Radio Show in the late 80s/early 90s. She moved to Hollywood and appeared in her first television roles in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in the short-lived Ferris Bueller the same year, a television adaptation of the 1986 teen movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off (it barely lasted a season). Aniston then starred in two more failed sitcoms, The Edge and Muddling Through and guest-starring on shows such as | | |
