Everyone has their favourite Friends moment, whether it’s Ross’s fashion mishaps, Monica and Rachel’s inability to pinpoint exactly what it is that Chandler does all day, Phoebe’s admission that she doesn’t even have a “pla,’” let alone a “plan”... we could go on.
However, it’s also fair to say that in the quarter of a century (feeling ancient yet?) since the Central Perk gang made their TV debut, many of the show’s story lines haven’t exactly aged well.
As the stars reunite on screen for the first time in 17 years for a one-off special episode, we’ve looked back at some of the show’s highs and lows, from the scenes we still love to the ones that now make awkward viewing...
5 of the very best Friends moments...
The one with the quiz
To settle a bet, the gang take part in a trivia game to discover whether the boys or the girls know more about each other’s lives. When Monica and Rachel fail to remember what Chandler does for a living (“He’s… a transponster?”), he and Joey are victorious - and win the girls’ apartment as their prize.
The one where no one’s ready
Joey pioneered the “pub drinks outside in spring 2021” layering look all the way back in series three. The sixsome are late getting ready for Ross’s work event, and the boys are bickering, resulting in Joey dressing up in his flatmate’s entire wardrobe. “Look at me, I’m Chandler!” he yells triumphantly. “Could I be wearing any more clothes?”
The one where they ‘PIVOT!’
Rachel and Chandler are guilt-tripped into helping Ross carry his new sofa up the very narrow stairs of his elevator-less apartment block. It goes about as well as you’d expect, with an increasingly frazzled Ross yelling at his poorly coordinated pals to ‘Pivot… PIVOT!” as they approach each corner.
The one in London
The gang fly across the Atlantic for Ross’s wedding to his English fiancée Emily (Helen Baxendale). Cue a series of cameos ranging from the sublime (Jennifer Saunders as Emily’s step-mum) to the ridiculous (Richard Branson flogging tourist tat on a market stall) - before Ross properly puts his foot in it by saying “I take thee, Rachel” at the altar.
The one with Ross’s leather trousers
After vowing to try new things as part of his new year’s resolutions, Ross decides to don some ill-advised leather trousers - then starts lathering his legs with water, baby powder and moisturiser in an attempt to get them back on. It’s far from his only style misfire on the show, from that tiny ‘Frankie Says Relax’ t-shirt to his tangerine spray tan.
And the moments we’d rather forget...
The one with the fat-shaming
In the show’s throwback episodes, ‘Fat Monica’ (aka Courteney Cox in prosthetics and a fat suit) is constantly made fun of by her friends and family: there’s even a storyline where she’s shamed into losing weight in college after over-hearing Chandler (her future husband, no less) mocking her for her size.
The one with all the homophobia
Yes, Friends gave us one of the first portrayals of same-sex marriage on mainstream TV, but that definitely doesn’t give the show a ‘get out of jail free’ card when it comes to its homophobia. Just think of all the times that Ross’s ex-wife (who Rachel calls ‘Carol Lesbian’) and her sexuality are the butt of the joke - or all the weird nudge-nudge stuff about Chandler being gay.
The one with the male nanny
Of course Ross, the king of fragile masculinity, was a fan of outdated gender roles. In series nine, he’s exceedingly uncomfortable when Rachel hires a nanny to look after Emma who - the horror! - happens to be a man named Sandy (Freddie Prinze Jr). Sandy’s great at his job (Joey loves the puppet shows!) but Ross quickly fires him.
The one with the total lack of diversity
Just a handful of non-white named characters featured in all ten series of Friends, including Ross’s girlfriend Julie, who briefly appeared in series two and is basically presented as an obstacle in his and Rachel’s love story, and paleontologist Charlie, who dates both Ross and Joey much later in the show. It’s a pretty poor track record, and co-creator Marta Kauffman has since admitted they “didn’t do enough” to improve diversity on the show.
The one where Ross tries to hook up with a family member
The Geller siblings’ beautiful cousin Cassie (Denise Richards) visits Monica, who then decides she’d be better off staying with Ross, as Chandler won’t stop staring at her (creepy). Things go from bad to worse when Ross then tries to put the moves on his own blood relation. To quote Phoebe: My eyes! My eyes!
