It could have been Rachel who turned in Fake Monica as she was annoyed by the changes in Monica's personality, but even then Rachel isn't the type to take much of a moral high ground

So you think that if Carol hadn't been there nobody would have asked Ross about her being a lesbian? Also, was Carol Ross's first? Its been mentioned that she was, but Ross dated other girls in college. In the Thanksgiving Flashback episode it appears that Ross had met Carol by Thanksgiving of Freshman year

Also, it is very strange that a week after Ben was born (well its in the episode after) Ross jets off to China. You wouldn't do that so soon after the birth of your first child!

Strange indeed, but Geller was a terrible father despite his claims to the contrary.

Surely once Monica reported her the cards she was using would show stolen when she next used them somewhere and the store security would pick her up and hand her to police

Mine is regarding Kathy. Is it just me or did she get away with a lot without reprucussions. Its as if the writers (and even fans) didn't care enough for her to be angry with her actions. She first dates Joey, then kisses Chandler, putting a strain on the their friendship and then like 3 episodes later, she cheats on Chandler with Nick, the actor.

The same can be said about Charlie... why did we not hear the reactions of the other friends at the cheating? Maybe it was firstly because Joey was a victim in both of these cases, and the friends always knew he would move on as he has cheated on women before too? Joey often got ditched... another one with that girl in S1 at the NYE party.

Also with Charlie. Anyone find it odd how she acts upon meeting the friends? When Rachel mentions Newcastle Disease Charlie is very quick to say that it's not a human disease and only affects chicken and other poultry. I know she's intelligent and all, but would someone you have never spoken to (and they hadn't) say something like that? A bit odd.

Out of everyone, Mona probably got the worst of it out of Ross' girlfriends. Poor girl!

Another one... Was Ross not a little selfish with wanting Rachel to stay married to him just because he didn't want another failed marriage? It's a bit of a huge commitment for Rachel to make!

And last one... We all know Gunther loved Rachel, but him telling Rachel that Ross cheated was bizzare. Even if your in love with someone, it was none of his business. But even if we forget about that, Ross continued to speak to Gunther after that? I know Ross cheated and it was wrong (well according to Rachel... they WERE on a break!), you would think that Ross would have held a grudge with Gunther for years.

Interesting that you mention Kathy and Charlie in the same post.

On paper (so to speak), both are complete bitches. Both cheat/dump on two of the main characters.

The difference for me is that Kathy was never written as a bitch, she was generally nice and got on well with all the other friends. You can almost condone her behaviour as Joey was two timing her with another girl anyway and Chandler's possessive jealousy did kind of push her into the second indiscretion.

Charlie, as you mention, was just a bitch from the outset. The example you give illustrates this perfectly, nobody should act like she did with Rachel in those scenes before the party.

In the one with Rachel's sister, why did Jill turn up at Monica's apartment, when Rachel was living with Phoebe at this point?

Considering that I don't think they were really in touch, Jill must have assumed that Rachel still lived there

As for Kathy and Charlie, cheating aside Kathy was nice but Charlie wasn't

I find it odd that Ben wasn't mentioned at Ross and Emily's wedding, but we can only assume he wasn't there

The One Where Heckles Dies just seems to me like the writer's were experimenting and trying to make Friends like Seinfeld. It is a very weird episode

In Season 1 Ross was upset one day in October and Monica knew the reason why was because it was the Anniversay of Ross' first time with Carol (and also his first time with anyone). Joey even comments on it by saying: "You told your sister?".

Then a couple of episodes later Joey goes on a double date with Monica & another couple with Joey looking to get together with the female half but Joey tells Monica the male is the woman's brother. Monica and the woman are talking in the toilet when the woman says the guy is great in bed. Monica then says that her brother never even told her when he lost his virginity.

I can understand the writers lack of continuity between different seasons but not within a couple of episodes within the same season.

It is actually in consecutive episodes.

They could mean he never told her at the time but she found out later, Also it is a big step from your sister knowing you have had sex to your sister boasting you are good in bed

On the topic of Geller and sexual partners, how many do we think he had by the end of the series, bearing in mind he had supposedly only had one partner at the start of the series?

In TOW Where Underdog Gets Away, the apartment door gets locked after all the friends go to the roof. How come it never locks any other time?

I think this has been mentioned a few pages back, but you may have missed it, Mathew Perry was really, really struggling with an on going addiction to painkillers - check out his physical appearance around season three, he's painfully thin. Around the stage you're talking about, apparently he had a really bad relapse which accounts for that slightly spaced out vibe he was giving off.

Yep I was thinking that too. S3 he was very thin and S7 Perrys acting was different than usual, and these were the seasons he was struggling the most in real life.

It's quite amazing seeing the difference between the season after in both cases. He looked very healthy in S4 and S8-10.

Best way to see the difference is watch TOW the proposal and then TOW Monicas Thunder. They are supposed to be the same night but its very visible how skinny he got over that summer.

That's right, yeah! Wowzers that must've been a headache for the producer's. I mean yeah, happily he seems to have beaten his demons, but it's on tape now. Anyone who was a part of the show must cringe when they watch those episodes back to back....

Unlike many people here Phoebe was my favourite character.

What really bugged me (and I really only noticed it when my kids were watching all the repeats) was how it became the Ross and Rachel show. So much of it revolved around them, Phoebe and Joey felt like secondary characters.

You could argue that they did this with Ross and Julie. He was terrible dumping Julie for Rachel, yet we were made to feel like he was right to do it.
Also I didnt like the way they portrayed Emily as a bad person who was so demanding. She was going to move countries for Ross and then forgave him for a terrible faux pas yet she was portrayed as shrewish and demanding.

In TOW Phoebe's Dad Joey bizzarely seems intelligent even though he is very thick in other episodes. He says that he knows exactly what Phoebe is going through when no one else does, and figures out how to switch off the radiator. Yet in most other episodes he is very dopey

Would the same doctor who treated Ross's allergy have treated Monica's hand in the Baby on the Bus episode?

As tonight is the Superbowl, I saw TOW the Football earlier.

The actual NFL game they are watching that prompts the Friends playing in the park is the Minnesota Vikings v New York Giants. The episode is set on Thanksgiving Day.

At that time, there were only ever two games played on Thanksgiving and by tradition the home teams are always the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions (a third random game has since been added in more recent years)

Therefore, unless they were watching a taped game rather than a live game (unlikely), this game would never have been scheduled on Thanksgiving.

I hated Mike and wish he had been ditched for David. It was implied that Pheobe and David was this love story but he was just dumped when Mike turned up!

Also why did Pheobe never meet up with Charlie Sheen again?

Phoebe and David were set up as being meant to be, All the way that was how it seemed then they just threw him away for Mike (Who despite many people hating i thought he was great) Strange decision that one

Phoebe and David were actually a better option that the terrible Ross and Rachel we had to put up with

I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds it weird how after Phoebe's dad appears, the whole Phoebe's family storyline isn't really mentioned again. That said, that maybe because the character of Phoebe's dad was terribly written. It is odd how Phoebe's birth mother didn't attend Phoebe's grandmas funeral, but that could be because they weren't actually related

Monica says to Ross when she listens to Jack and Judy making out in the bathroom "Do you remember that video I found of mom and dad?" Of course Ross does as it was only two episodes before in the Prom Video episode!

Everyone's behaviour in the Phoebe's birthday dinner episode annoys me, except Joey who steals the show at the end! Phoebe saying "I'm not the type of girl who ditches her friends for her boyfriend" before saying "Actually yes I am" is dreadful writing

I have nothing to support this theory, but maybe the decision (or non decision) to not feature Phoebe's family was down to behind the scenes circumstance rather than a specific creative decision to ignore it.

As you say, Bob Balaban was extremely poor as Phoebe's Dad, whether that be the writing or his execution of the role or a combination of the two. Bringing him back or recasting the role maybe just didn't seem to be worth bothering with.

I have heard that Teri Garr, who played the birth mother, had health issues after her initial appearances, so that might have put an end to any plans to involve her again.

Obviously Debra Jo Rupp landed a full time part in That 70s Show shortly after her early appearances, which probably scuppered the chances of her being a recurring feature in Friends. I know Giovanni Ribisi came back on his own at least once, but maybe he could have featured more often had Rupp been available too as it might seem unrealistic that he would feature more regularly without his wife.

This all said, maybe we just need to remember that we don't see every aspect of the Friends lives on screen. For all we know, Phoebe could have seen her family off screen and it just wasn't considered necessary for it to be featured or mentioned. I know several Friends fans reference the fact Ben and Emma never met on screen, but for all we know they could see each other all the time off screen. The show after all is focused on the adults and not the kids.

I forgot that Frank Jr appeared in series 10. That wasn't a great episode

What do people think of Eddie? Never seen the Eddie storyline discussed on this thread but I liked it, having watched those episodes again I think he should have been in more episodes

Everyone has to remember that Friend's was filmed in a an era when there was little need to ensure continuity. Few people would remember the exact details of an episodes when they were aired on a weekly basis and even fewer would discuss it with others in a time before everyone used the internet everyday. The writers would simply adapt things to fit the story line or character trait that was appearing in the episode. I'm sure you could pick apart the whole premise of the show if you wanted to (how did Monica afford to live in that apartment alone before Rachel came? How come Chandler (Ross's friend) happened to live in the apartment across the hall?