That's what I assumed too. Rachel's father was a doctor and Richard was an ophthalmologist. Barry was an orthodontist, an occupation probably held by his father too. It's not so far out in the realms of possibility that they all knew and socialised together in Long Island - being family friends.

My gripe is the giant poking device used to find out if Phoebe has killed Ugly Naked Guy with a curse of going to a dentist. Firstly, just how many chopsticks did these people have lying around at their disposal?! They were poking a fat naked man with this long thing with plenty of girth... If they had no problem calling up to order that much Chinese food then doing the logical thing and calling the cops should've been easy.

Joey did say to Chandler something about "finally having a use for all those chopsticks we always collect for no reason".

He did add that as a caveat, but even so, it was one of the more farcical and unbelievable storylines.

Another couple of gripes about Ugly Naked Guy, presumably they are calling him ugly merely because he is fat, because in a flashback episode set before season 1 started, they cracked a joke by calling him cute naked guy, thus implying he had subsequently piled on weight and it was his weight alone that now made him ugly rather than cute.

As such, I find it a bit galling that Monica would be part of this mocking, given her previous weight issues. I also found his presence fairly pointless, in some ways it feels like he only existed in order to set up the aforementioned joke that he used to be cute/thin.

Yes, that's why I added that line. The writer's acknowledged the silliness of it by adding in that daft exposition. Although people do collect strange things in their homes all the time.

Did a quick calculation (cos I'm nerdy like that) and it would have taken over 1000 chopsticks to make said device.

That's going off a 40' span between the buildings and 8" chopsticks at 10 in circumference. That's about 600. But if you add in the balcony and the extra length on the Friends' side and a good 6-8' on UNG's side that's maybe another 350-400. Who the hell has 1000 chopsticks laying around?

Was she? Did we ever actually see this?

She did the catering for Carol and Susan's wedding, so they must have maintained some sort of relationship.

Monica also sent a lasagne when she had a lot left, Yes she was giving them away but she went out of her way to send it with Ross

Really annoying thing that i saw recently, The episode where Chandler steals a muffin before Monica can get it and licks it, He is unable to make a funny comment for like 30 second because his mouth is full

Really annoys me because he takes such a small bite that he would still be able talk, And he would have swallowed long before Monica says 'That'll teach you to lick my muffin'

Re Monica and Richard being at Mindy's wedding...were The Gellers even present at the aborted Rachel/Barry wedding where she left him at the altar? They were supposed to be best friends in high school but Monica didn't even go to her wedding, let alone be a bridesmaid.

Monica and Rachel had lost touch, But maybe Judy and Jack were there, As in a later episode they mention how much the wedding cost, So they must have been on close terms with Rachels parents to know that

I never found the Ugly Naked Guy references funny and I also never saw the point in him. The only good thing about it was the episode where UNG is moving out and he was deciding who was going to take over the tenancy so Ross decides that the best way to get on his side is to be naked as well.

Yeah, I think the families were all still familiar but Rachel and Monica had gone in different directions. Rachel further into the rich bitch with daddy's money and her shallow friends and Monica being more down to earth and actually having a job.

I read that Ugly Naked Guy was a running joke amongst the writers who had lived across from their own versions of Ugly Naked Guy. A woman who lived in the actual building we see Monica live in contacted the producers to ask how they knew of Ugly Naked Guy's existence, as there really was one there too!

My gripe, the outlandish salary demands of the actors and actresses to keep the show going... which meant the show didn't end on a high imo. Because they were paid dumb amounts as the producers wanted to keep the memento going... :/

*momentum

What do you mean the actors salary demands kept the show going?

The show kept going because its popularity was so high therefore the studio was raking in more money, therefore the actors cut was even larger.

When David comes back the first time in Season 7 Pheobe says to Joey "Yeah right like they're gonna give me a Passport"

But, Pheobe flew over to Vegas in Season 5 with Monica and Chandler so if she didn't have a passport in season 7 how on earth was she allowed to go to Vegas?

Perhaps internal flights in the US work the same as in the UK, only photo ID is required so she could have used her driving licence to get on board? Also, if she was so jokey about never going to have a passport, why was she annoyed about not getting to go to London with the rest of them for Ross's wedding? She;d need a passport to get there!

You don't need a passport to travel within the United States. Only for leaving and entering.

That's why so many Americans never ever have one.

She flew to Ross's conference, Wasn't that abroad? (The one where Joey and Rachel hook up almost)

In Barbados, so she must have got one by then.

Judy would be fairly gossipy IMO so even if they weren't at the wedding they would mix in the same circles and they would know all the gory details, especially with all the high drama of Rachel jumping out the window!

In the first episode Monica points out to Rachel that she was one of the few people not invited to the wedding when Rachel turns up looking for help.

I have a new gripe, this is a really silly over the top gripe now though - Emily is Rachel's boss's niece but he's never mentioned again during all the wedding and subsequent drama. Hehe.

Also re Phoebe, didn't she live in Prague ... Unless she had that passport taken away or it expired?

On the Phoebe travel thing.

It's compounded in the second to last episode, The One With Rachel's Going Away Party, Phoebe says to Rachel "In 6 months the statute of limitations runs out and I can travel internationally again."

Nice catch