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The One Where No One's Ready
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Join us for a VERY special episode featuring our guest cohost Steve! Bamboozled will be released in a few days, but for now sit back and enjoy this review of one of the greatest Friends episodes every made! (In our humble opinion!)
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Transcript
Introduction and Upcoming Episode Details
00:00:00
Speaker
Good morning, Purple Door Podcast family. Before we get into this week's episode, I just wanted to let you know that we will be releasing the bamboozled portion of this episode in a few days. That is due to the fact that this review ran for a very long time, thanks to the insight and expertise of having a very special guest. So sit back and enjoy this week's episode and look for bamboozled in a couple of days.
Steve Returns to Discuss 'Friends'
00:00:35
Speaker
And before we get stuck into this week's review, as we teased last week, we have a special guest who is here to review not only one of our favourite episodes, but possibly his favourite Friends episode of all time, Steve! Steve from episode one and three is back. How are you, Steve?
00:00:52
Speaker
It's been a while, it's while. I feel like I'm bookending this year. I started this year recording the, uh, the purple door podcast with you and I'm ending this year recording a purple door podcast with you. So I'm, I'm really glad to be back. And, uh, obviously I'm on with Deanne this time as well. So it's lovely to meet you both online today. So yeah, thanks for having me on.
00:01:09
Speaker
yeah Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
Podcast Journey and 'Friends' Episode Reflection
00:01:12
Speaker
Steve. I've been so excited waiting for this, um, episode to get to sit and I say sit, I'm standing, but you know, whatever. and and But with you, because, yeah, you got this whole thing started with Al. And ah I'm just so excited.
00:01:29
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, it's it's great. And it's a great episode. So I'm really happy to be here and and chat through probably what Alistair's already ruined there, really. It probably is my number one Friends episode. So I'm really pleased to be able to talk through this one with you.
00:01:42
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a lot of fun for me because when we started this right before the very first episode, episode I printed off a list. I'm showing you guys, but obviously this doesn't translate well in a podcast. but the The name of every single episode and the very first thing I hand wrote on this piece of paper was only record with Steve here. Yeah. beside this one before we did anything else i made sure that that was highlighted on my piece of paper so it's quite exciting to have made it here and you know reflect on where the purple door podcast has come from so i'm just super excited that the three of us are here um together for this episode
00:02:18
Speaker
Well, I mean, it it it kind of goes without saying, actually, it makes it a special episode anyway, because out of all of Friends episodes, this is the only one that was made and filmed in real time. So it is the perfect one to make it a special one. So...
00:02:31
Speaker
i would yeah I was wondering about that. I didn't look it up, but I did think but yeah like the way it's filmed is so unique and it's so different. To my knowledge, there's no other bottle episodes of Friends, but this is the only one that's literally set in real time.
Creativity in 'Friends' Real-Time Episode
00:02:45
Speaker
I mean, it's a 22-minute episode, which is standard for a sitcom of the ninety s but It is, I think Ross says we have 26 minutes, but obviously cut out some adverts and stuff like that. It is basically you are watching 22 minutes of the friends lives in that apartment. We're not moving outside it We're not changing anything. That is their life for those 22 minutes, which is kind of an amazing thing, isn't it? to To be part of that friend group almost and watch how their evening develops for exactly 22 minutes. It feels longer.
00:03:15
Speaker
It does feel longer. I think it also feels quicker in the way that Ross really progresses it by slapping his hands together, running around, charging, you know, getting mad at everybody. and Right. Sort a dictate in the evening, isn't it? So it does feel quick and slow at the same time. It's a very interesting episode.
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, it's um I was thinking about this this morning and and we talked about this just before we got on the air. It's one of my favorites, without a doubt. But sometimes, you know, my favorite episode changes depending on what I'm looking for, what mood I'm in.
00:03:48
Speaker
It is possibly the cleverest episode for me in the terms of the way it's written. yeah you You don't
Joey and Chandler's Comedic Antics
00:03:54
Speaker
have that natural progression of scene to scene to scene and yet you're gripped the whole time through.
00:03:59
Speaker
So it's just just brilliant. I often find that with any bottle episode of anything. mean, there's there's a brilliant episode in Mad About You. I think it might be in season one where the two main characters are literally stuck in their own bathroom. The door locks and breaks when they're getting ready to go out. And they're literally just, it's a conversation for 20 minutes of them in the bathroom.
00:04:18
Speaker
um Obviously, I'm a huge Frasier fan, having been on We're Listening for probably nearly 100 episodes at one point. um And... The dinner party with Fraser and Niles is, again, 22 minutes of them in their apartment.
00:04:31
Speaker
I actually think if you tried to film any part of my day for 20 minutes, it would be dull, really, really dull. I'm glad that when a sitcom writer writes... a bottle episode such as this they pick a very good dramatic 20 minutes of someone's life to record because 20 minutes of watching me watch tv or walk the dog or something just would not be satisfactory for a sitcom viewer would it i mean right it's it's just yeah it's gonna have to it's gonna have to be a pretty stellar 22 minutes to have anyone watching yeah exactly part of my life
00:05:09
Speaker
Let's see. And then you you add in all these other people and there's so much like I i don't know. This episode is funny.
Ross and Rachel's Tension
00:05:17
Speaker
um Because you add in, and it's exciting for everybody for that 22 minutes. And so it it it is brilliant writing, to borrow y'all's word. i love it. To touch upon that, I'm sure we'll get more into it as we as we go through the episode. I actually think Phoebe is the least involved in this episode. She doesn't have anything dramatic, no argument, nothing. Well...
00:05:43
Speaker
ah Her dress. Yeah, she's very much pushed to the side, though, isn't she? Well, there is the dress. yeah you know what What is it she's been... What's she spilt on it? i can't remember what she's spilt on it now. It's gone out my head. it Was it the pizza?
00:05:55
Speaker
There was something on the plate. Hang on. It's gone out of my head completely. She says, what it was how does she phrase it? I got the hummus. nothing is actually That's what it was. I've been hummused or something, yes yes. She phrases it brilliantly. yeah yeah we Like I say, we'll get more into that, but just the fact that she's suffering from that, everyone else seems to have drama.
00:06:16
Speaker
Her biggest drama is the hummus. She's suffered from the hummus. But yeah, brilliant. Man, see, and I feel like I'm talking to a couple of dudes here because I'm sorry.
00:06:30
Speaker
and that was that a solid colored light colored dress for an event is a bold choice because if something gets on it, it's a big deal. And so, so i feel like you're minimalizing the importance of the hummus and being hummused. So,
00:06:49
Speaker
and If I go on to my own recent anecdote, actually took my girlfriend out for a meal maybe two months ago. we went to a barbecue restaurant. So literally platters of meat, barbecue sauce, et cetera. And I wore a white T-shirt. Very, very daring. See? Yes. You are living on the edge over there. It stayed clean, which is amazing. um It stayed clean?
00:07:15
Speaker
Yeah, stayed clean. Wow. Okay. Okay. I'm just saying, yeah. Well, I think with that that it we now need to officially extend an invitation to Texas. If you can manage barbecue with a white T-shirt, you're in You can come over. I'll be wearing ah a bib, a proper full-on baby bib.
00:07:36
Speaker
I love it Well, let's get stuck into this episode. This is going to be an interesting one to try and navigate because as I talked to Steve, I think we'll say might mention this to you. Obviously, we don't have the normal scene by scene go through. So I'm just going to start going through it. You know, OK, yeah well, and that's what was weird because I was like, I normally ah it there's a natural progression of of pauses and conversation and whatever. And I was like, this just kind of goes on.
00:08:06
Speaker
if One scene, the typical thing of a bottle episode, one scene, one setting, one scenario, although there's sort of a B and a C plot almost, isn't there? you said, with Monica and the phone calls and Chandra and Joey, but Ross and Rachel, I guess, really is the A plot in this because it's Ross's event. We're going to Ross's event. Ross is the main...
00:08:27
Speaker
you know, person, the storyline goes around, isn't it? So, i mean, where do want start, Al? Where is the the starting point? What is the subject you want to start this episode with? Well, the first thing that jumps to mind is Joey drinking the fat.
00:08:40
Speaker
You know, when he walks in, because he thinks it's cider, which, that's a stretch. It's a stretch, you know? I can't imagine picking up a glass of fat and going, that's that cider. that's What I love there is the fact that Chanda looks over and goes, yep, tried that a couple of minutes ago. yeah well Yeah, I mean, almost, yeah, without, didn't miss a beat, did he? Did the same thing. It just, oh my, that just sounds, sounds pretty
Phoebe's Humor and Ross's Impatience
00:09:08
Speaker
horrific. Um, but yeah, this is where we get the first sort timestamp here, right? Cause Ross enters, he's got his tuxedo on and he says they have to leave at 740, right? About 20 to eight. 20 to eight. Yeah. So they kind of, all right. I like it. Cause like you were talking about Steve, that kind of really sets the tone for, right, we have this amount of time and it sets it up. Um,
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah, Rachel doesn't know what she's going to wear at all, and Joey offers Ross the fat. I think he declines it, from what recall. because does Does Joey try to pretend it's cider, or does he just go, what you know glass of fat? i think he offers it as cider again, doesn't he? And Ross sort of looks, which, you know, he's not interested straight away.
00:09:54
Speaker
um He's still very distracted by Rachel, isn't he? Because she's picking her thing, and he says, and how long that take? Six or seven minutes? Yeah, about that, once I've decided what I'm wearing. Right.
00:10:07
Speaker
It's, a ah yeah, like you, it's it's it's set this tone up for Ross just to go, just to become completely unhinged in a few minutes. um Let's see. um Phoebe comes, Phoebe's ready, though. Phoebe, Phoebe comes in, she is early,
00:10:24
Speaker
I think if I had to pick somebody who would have probably been ready last, it would have been Phoebe. But guess she's just a little scatterbrained, all of that. But she comes in. she She looks like a million dollars. She's ready to go.
00:10:37
Speaker
She is his star. She is. Yes. I was, I don't know. Ross irritates me, but I get it. But still, he's the worst. well I was going to say today, actually, out of the two listeners, I think, Deanne, you're my star. And I think Alistair must be my lucky penny at the moment. Oh, look at you. Look at you. feel honored. Honored. Aw, jeez.
00:11:05
Speaker
And we had we did, let's see, Chandler, this this really starts off the Chandler and Joey plot, right? He comes out of the bathroom. Well, I was going to say, actually, I was going to rudely interrupt you and say I'm glad I didn't do Bamboozled with you because I took the quiz and i do put career before men.
00:11:20
Speaker
I thought you might. I thought you might. some but That's good. Oddly, me too. Weird. It's an amazing joke about taking a quiz in a magazine, isn't it? There's ah there's an episode of Red Dwarf, which Deanne's probably never heard of. It's ah a sci-fi comedy sitcom um in the UK. What's it called?
00:11:45
Speaker
called Red Dwarf. They did make a yeah ah USA pilot that didn't go down too well, so it never got made. It's very successful over here. It's run for about 30 years on and off. But one of the characters, Lister, is reading a magazine at one point. And he goes, someone's filled in this quiz. And they say, what quiz is it? He goes, how bad is your memory quiz? And he goes, yeah, you filled that in last week.
00:12:07
Speaker
Another silly little gag that you'd read, ah you know, quizzes probably don't come up in like Cosmo and stuff like that anymore. But back then in the 90s, they were massive when it's like, is your guy a stud or a dud and stuff like that? And what lingerie would you wear at night and stuff like this? And it tells you a bit about your personality. In Cosmo, that's back then. That was made massive, wasn't it? And and yeah, Chandra, obviously, that's his reading material on the toilet. It's probably one of Monica's magazines, I presume.
00:12:33
Speaker
we talked about these We've talked about these quizzes before because not too long ago, it was a big deal to like take those quizzes like through Facebook or whatever social media platform, you know, like what does your snack say about you, your favorite snacks and all that. There's something about that that's fun and and timeless. But the fact that it's Cosmo in the bathroom is Just on point. And it truly dates it, right? It sort dates the episode. And I love it. I love when we have things like that that... are um
00:13:07
Speaker
yeah up to This episode was i unlike the last episode that we recorded with ah the Princess Leia fantasy where Phoebe just got a pager. Yeah. You know, I love it when we when we, yeah, there's things that just wouldn't be in the episode if it was made today. But Joey has stolen the chair, right? Where do we stand on this? Was Joey in the wrong, in the right?
00:13:29
Speaker
Did he call seat check? That's all I'm saying. he clearly did not. So he's he's wrong. And Charlie has to understand, as Joey points out, technically not the last place he was sitting.
00:13:41
Speaker
Brilliant line. Brilliant line. I love it when we see Joey and Chandler like brothers, like sibling nonsense, you know, between the two of them.
00:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, because I mean, obviously, it brings me on a really funny thing. I was going to say, actually, what i was doing today. I wrote a song today, Alistair. It's called Get Up.
00:14:02
Speaker
Chandra's delivery of that where he just keeps shouting oh yeah and get up constantly is just amazing and Joey's just not phased by it you know how many times can Chandra say get up get up over and over and then obviously you've got the it's almost like a Simpsons episode with the hand in front of his face you know not touching can't get mad can get mad yeah can't get mad um like you say it's very sibling it's very much Bart and Lisa Simpson you know I think it's one time I think Bart walks through the kitchen and says I'm just going to walk through the kitchen punching and if it happens to hit your face your face is in the way that and i mean it's you know this is what I'm doing it's your problem and Shana's exactly the same to Joey here my hand's going to be here but you can't get mad because I'm not doing anything to you I'm just leaving my hand here um
00:14:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's proper sibling rivalry from two roommates, really, isn't it? It really is. I know, Wilson, you have a brother. christ steve I'm trying to remember, Steve, if you have a brother or a sister. i have a sister. I'm an older sister. And I probably was that annoying as a younger brother, to be fair. Yeah, I've got just ever two older sisters as well, and I was probably that annoying brother. so um One of my sisters in particular, Sally, will listen to this episode. She listens to this podcast, so she can chime in. that I think there's something between that the two brothers' sort of rivalry. rare
00:15:19
Speaker
um we we see it We see it here. um I do love Monica's line. She comes in and asks Ross if he's going to do magic. It feels a little unfair. Like, he's just in a tux. He's not, like, in his... ah what's he wear when he's going be on television is it white tux yeah she says it looks like Jurassic Park but I actually think they mentioned KFC don't they about chicken instead yes Jurassic Park would have been out but yeah I mean that would been too on the nose with him being a dinosaur so suppose the KFC reference was probably just as funny you know Just as funny at the time. I think he looks fine. He just looks like he's in a tux. He doesn't look like a magician to me. It's just a good gag. It's great. It's a big feet on her brother as such, isn't it?
00:16:05
Speaker
Absolutely. it's ah it's It's so good. um But Rachel comes out. She's still not sure what to wear. And this is where the kind of the B-plot of the answer machine um comes into play here. And Deanne, you must have feelings on this. as You look ready.
00:16:23
Speaker
No, it's not that I am ready. It's just, oh, it makes my stomach hurt. Because I felt so, it's just so awkward and stressful. And then it just spirals so terribly by the end of the episode. You know, I just, i don't know. It's it's just uncomfortable. so It does get consistently worse, but obviously, I guess that's it. It helps build tension, doesn't it helps bring the pace on. i mean, this episode, again, with it being a bottle episode, which I'm going to say a hundred times while we chat about this,
00:16:54
Speaker
It's very farcical. It's set like a play. You've got the main door where Joey and Chandler are coming in and out of. You've got Monica's bedroom door. She's going in out of. Rachel's going out of her bedroom door. The bathroom door with Phoebe and Chandler. So it's a typical farce set on ah a theatre stage almost, that they're all entering and leaving through the doors. The main action is what we're seeing, and we're seeing that snapshot. So it it just becomes more of a play than an episode, really.
Episode Structure and Matthew Perry's Mishap
00:17:20
Speaker
um And as you said... It helps that pacing, doesn't it? The way it's written, it it makes it, like said, it seems fast, but it doesn't race through the episode. So again, yeah another reason why I love it so much.
00:17:33
Speaker
Man. ah ah i i that's It's such an interesting take on it, that it's like watching a play. That's exactly right. and Which I don't know why I've not ever thought about that, but...
00:17:49
Speaker
um guy Yeah. Yes, exactly. It reminds me, we we'll end up dipping our toe back into, dipping our toe into Fraser Lake several times through this, but it's the the ah nightmare in, in Fraser. Yeah, or ski lodge is very much like it. Ski lodge. yeah um The episode decoys, again, sit in a cabin, they're in and out of doors. It's all sort of jokes and played badly. You know, everything's trying to organise one thing, but everything's going wrong.
00:18:18
Speaker
um Again, which is why it's, like I say, it's just a typical farce in a way, but it's not because there's no... misunderstanding in this. Everyone is on the same page. They're all trying to aim for the same thing at the end.
00:18:29
Speaker
um Whereas a fast would normally be a little bit more slapstick than this is. But it just, that's what it reminds me of just with the doors and the coming and going of stage left, stage right as such, you know? Yeah. We never actually go into the bedrooms, which has, mean,
00:18:42
Speaker
really a character me before do we don't see inside the bedrooms for any reason no really cameras are really stuck on the the kitchen or the the seating area in this episode isn't it there's not much involvement anywhere else no absolutely it's almost just two cameras the whole time almost isn't it yes yeah but richard has left this message and yeah monica starts to spiral at this we're old old or new oh Yeah, she just... Whatever, she's freaking out. Yeah, she really does have a Geller-level spiral that's starting at this point. She does. And I don't blame her.
00:19:19
Speaker
No. This will bring me to one bit of trivia that I found out, actually, is via IMDb. But at one point, Phoebe says to Monica, you should get caller ID. Apparently, that's reference to Courtney Cox being in Scream.
00:19:32
Speaker
And in the same year, 1996, Caller ID went up by 30% in sales in the USA because of that film. So it's a kind of a little nod to that. Oh, that's fun. already You should get that.
00:19:44
Speaker
um Just a fun little joke about Monica being in Scream that year. Oh, that's tons of fun. I'm trying love Scream. Scream is actually my favorite horror movie. Oh, it's a fantastic movie. Oh, it's so good. So good. It's so scary.
00:20:02
Speaker
but it ah It will shock neither of you that I've never seen it. so that I'm not shocked. No. Not shocked. That's got to go on the ever-expanding list. I'm not shocked, Alistair. I'm disappointed. Yes. Yes.
00:20:14
Speaker
ah Wow. Yeah, wow. Just right there for the jugular. That's right. Not messing around. and Well, let's see. The boys, they start squabbling over the chair here. And this where Phoebe, what is it she says? We just said, like, she gets the hummus or gets hummused or um But this is... I got the hummus. I got the hummus. It kind of leads up to one of my favorite, favorite jokes. It's pushing the boundaries of a family friendly TV, but this is where Chandler sits on Joey. And then he says, I might be getting a little too comfortable. And it's just the way Matthew Perry leaps off. All right. All right. Like you've won this round is it's so good. So good. The way hops off of Matt LeBlanc's lap. Um,
00:21:06
Speaker
I think at this point, does Chandler leave? Is that right? Does he leave at this point to go and get... ah Maybe Ross tells him to go and get. i think he goes and gets his tux on because when he then re-enters, he sees the chair's vacant and runs at the chair, doesn't he? Which causes the incident that we spoke about but before we came on where Joey, I think, Matt LeBlanc actually hurts his shoulder and dislocates his shoulder.
00:21:29
Speaker
um But yeah, I think that's where Chandler leaves and then obviously, like say, does come back in to see the empty chair um before... Well, I don't know. What is the next part after that, Al?
00:21:40
Speaker
Where do you go from there? Well, I think, let's see, so Chandler leaves, and I've just scribbled down that Monica's still in a panic, and she says, or she's called him. She went into her bedroom where she has a phone, and she's called him. It's breezy. It's breezy. And you can't say it's breezy because that negates the breeziness. But then obviously you hear Michelle with her, hola, call me on the weekend. Now that's breezy. That's breezy. That's how breeziness is done.
00:22:08
Speaker
That's right. But that's what and then Chandler bursts back in the apartment, right? I think he's mostly dressed, but it's still kind of disheveled and sees the chair is vacant, like you said, and it's it's on. And this is where Matt LeBlanc legitimately dislocates his shoulder. um Yeah, Steve, we talked a little bit about this before before we started recording, but can you talk us through that, like what happened on this on the set?
00:22:32
Speaker
I think, from what i remember, Matt actually runs very quickly at the sofa, and when he jumps onto that chair, he literally falls through it and sort of does something to his shoulder. I think it's shown in the reunion that he then goes into backstage into Monica's bedroom and someone actually tries to pull his shoulder back into joint.
00:22:51
Speaker
um And there is something online about, so all of the audience for this episode were flown in. They were prize winners for a Diet Coke advert or something um to be in the audience. And they were all flown in from all across America.
00:23:06
Speaker
When this accident happened, they were all sent home and it then got recorded again the next day or something like that. And they all got flown back in. So there was a lot of travel involved for the audience for this sort of special episode.
00:23:19
Speaker
um actually I'll ask you two and see which one of you may know this what episode number do you think this is in a series of friends is it 50 it is bang on I wasn't going to say anything but I happen to have seen that this was the 50th episode that's kind of nice well Willison oh come on now yeah and that was that was that was a I knew the answer, but I just let you have it. Oh, no. We have seen from our but bamboozled who really knows more about it. I get thumped most weeks on bamboozled. You would think I would know more. but Stop it.
00:24:01
Speaker
yeah i would I wouldn't have known that had I not read it a couple of days ago. It's a really nice number for the episode to be on. yeah The weird thing about that is going a bit off subject but staying obviously on Friends but it's strange for a bottle episode to be episode two of season three because normally a bottle episode would be to save money.
00:24:19
Speaker
um you're only using the main cast no special guest you're only using one set although in the credit sequence after this episode you do see another set and they bring another actor in who's the ah doctor or whoever it is that Chandler sort tries to kick out of his seat there as well yes So it's almost like they spent more money on the the end credits than they did in the entire episode.
00:24:42
Speaker
Right. Which is a very strange way of making a bottle episode. But, you know, that's that's how they did this one. But like say, for a 50th episode, I wonder if that was why it was a slightly celebratory kind of let's fly in the audience episode.
00:24:55
Speaker
You know, and and it's the 50th episode. A lot of shows used to do 100th episode or 150 episodes like specials. So it's kind of nice, but it's just odd that it came two episodes into the season three.
00:25:07
Speaker
Right. You know, I think maybe if I was there, I'd have extended season two to make it 26 episodes and then go, hey, we've done it. You know, that's our two seasons. But I guess they'd been renewed for another year at this point. and They were very happy about it. So they made it a bit more special for fans, which is great.
00:25:21
Speaker
Yeah. Well, all of the extra costs of flying the people in and doing all of that, maybe, yeah you know. Yeah, maybe that. Yeah, they probably saved the money there to to spend out a lot of airlight airplane flights. I reckon there's probably 100 people in the audience that night. So that's quite an expensive, extravagant wave. I'm pretty sure it's a Diet Coke advert they did it on.
00:25:43
Speaker
It's so interesting. was just thinking, Steve, you'll probably have a little of knowledge on this. Deanna, you'll do it from just watching these things. But you know, that what, 24 episodes was fairly normal, right, for a sitcom season. Yes, for my to- For seems so long now, right? i mean, you think of the things that come out on Netflix, where it's like 10 episodes. i think um I think in the 90s, pretty much every US sitcom was 24, 20, 20, 20, 20 to 24.
00:26:11
Speaker
um Whereas UK sitcoms are notorious for six episodes in a season. Yeah. You know, so some some shows I've watched, I mean, I think Fawlty Tower is a UK sitcom. only got 12 episodes total.
00:26:23
Speaker
Well, that would have even been half a season. That's what I mean. Yeah, and Mr Bean has shockingly few episodes. I forget how many. I think that's 12 as well. I think it's two seasons. um Yeah.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's odd compared to, like you say, Netflix now. Yeah. 10 episodes as a full season and you're lucky if you get more or less than that really it's you know that's about their run time um but then i think things cost in a different way now that the sets are different um i mean looking at fraser as a revival in 2023 i thought the set looked a lot cheaper than the original sets that nbc put out in the 90s without a doubt so yeah there's a lot to be said about what happened i don't i don't think monica's apartment
00:27:10
Speaker
is cheaper than, say, Sheldon's in The Big Bang Theory. I reckon there's a lot more money went into Friends making these episodes than they did with The Big Bang Theory's sort of sets and design.
00:27:21
Speaker
o And then tell me if I'm wrong here, but because you know a lot more about Seinfeld than I do, Steve, but wasn't like the first season? just It was like almost just six or something? and then think it's seven or eight. The first episode is...
00:27:37
Speaker
Kind of junk and there's a lot of fans that don't like it because it was made to go on Saturday Night Live, I believe. And it was just literally going to be a pilot episode, a bit of a mess around. Jerry was going do a little show. Elaine's not in it. um They were never going have a female character.
00:27:50
Speaker
He doesn't have a bedroom. His sofa is a pullout bed that he's going to stay on. you I mean, that's how he lives. And then in episode two, suddenly the apartment changes, new windows are put in, the bedrooms put in, the cafe is completely changed and then becomes monks. Whereas in the original one, it's not that cafe. It's a completely different cafe.
00:28:10
Speaker
So they spent a lot more money on the next five or six episodes. But yeah, season one's ridiculously short. And then it obviously got made into a proper show and money became available. So it sort of rolled into sort of 2024 episodes again. So yeah, but yeah, Seinfeld's a good ah good example of,
00:28:27
Speaker
how it can be made before whereas this obviously friends came with they knew they were going to make a whole season to start with it was there a bit like Fraser again after the success of Cheers they knew they were going to make enough um Seinfeld was very sort of trial and error from the start Deanne I don't know if we've ever talked about Seinfeld have you watched it oh just an episode here and there No, you you you rightly judge me for my lack of movie watching.
00:28:58
Speaker
and I know, judge away! internally judging. Now, to be fair, I'd only seen a few episodes here and there, I think until Steve and I started talking about it. I was like, I need to watch this, because every episode is funny. And i did I did binge watch the whole thing a year or two ago. Well, that's what...
00:29:17
Speaker
I was going to as we're on bottle episodes, mean, two really good Seinfeld episodes, which are kind of bottled, but they're not actually in the apartment. They're still in one place. It's the Chinese restaurant, which I think in season two. right Three three of the main characters, Crane is not in it. Three of the main characters go to a Chinese restaurant.
00:29:31
Speaker
The whole episode is them trying to get a table. It's 22 minutes of them in the restaurant on entrance. constantly saying, is our table ready? And the Chinese guy behind the desk saying, what's your name? He goes, Seinfeld? And he goes, yeah, five to 10 minutes.
00:29:46
Speaker
That's literally the constant joke. The rest of it is is George trying to get a date with a girl um and them trying to see if they can dare Elaine to go and eat pancake rolls off someone else's dish, basically. um and And the other episode, which is a bit like that, is the one in the parking garage um where they go shopping and they can't find their car. So they're walking around the parking garage for 25 minutes.
00:30:09
Speaker
I love it. So it's situational, but it is kind of bottled as in it's not really, there's not ins and acts. There's no, there's not loads of locations and scenes.
00:30:20
Speaker
It's very much targeted in one place. um But yeah, i mean, those two episodes of Seinfeld are hilarious, both of them. Even as standalone, the Chinese restaurant is worth watching as standalone. If you don't know anything about the characters, it will still make you laugh.
00:30:33
Speaker
Okay. All right. Some homework for the Christmas break. Noted. but Well, Amy that your pronunciation? You're from a Parks and Rec and Saturday Night Live and other things. substute She's got, I don't know new, but it's new to me, podcasts out called Good Hang. And I only really listen when she's interviewing somebody that I know or like or interested in, but she had Julia Louis-Dreyfus on just this last week. So listen to that.
00:31:00
Speaker
And yet, just to your point, Steve, she talked about the fact that she was not involved in the pilot with Seinfeld. Then when they kind of got the reviews, you know, they asked the audience, they were like, we need a female character. This is just, it's too male. You know, there's yeah you need something. They just drafted her in.
00:31:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think they basically said this is way too male orientated and it's not going to be funny to to women because all the jokes are going to be about, I dated this woman, I dated this woman. You need a woman to say, I dated this man to get them interested and get the jokes that way as well. It it doesn't work.
00:31:30
Speaker
Just a male dominated sitcom doesn't necessarily work. That was it. And shes she, she, she's a funny human being. Um, and she talked quite a bit on this podcast about how she was, you know, they weren't up against friends, but it was all in the same era. yeah And she, and she's like, I watched friends and there's Rachel and there's Monica and Phoebe. And she's like, and I just forgot to be sexy. She's like, I was frumpy the whole time. My hair was all over the place. She was like, what was I thinking? Uh, it's a very funny interview.
00:31:59
Speaker
Um, But really, yeah, it's it's good dynamic between Amy Poehler and Julie Louis-Dreyfus in that. But yeah, Seinfeld, it's I could really get into it. Like, it's I've watched it through. It was hilarious, really funny. um i might I might have to watch it again. um We'll get back. we may We could talk about these other things for hours, couldn't we? Just make a sitcom chat. But Joey, this is the point where Joey takes the essence of this of the chair.
00:32:29
Speaker
um yeah the Yeah, the cushions. The cushions. And he's just, again, Chandler's so put out. It's so funny. You know, it's the essence of the chair. Oh.
00:32:40
Speaker
it's ah It's brilliantly done. um Again, maybe this is to me is what makes the episode just all these little lines because then Phoebe finds another dress, but obviously not for tonight. You know, like what is so obvious not for tonight? What are you thinking?
00:32:55
Speaker
Yeah. Is it that Monica's dress? Or is that, I mean, at one point Rachel says, oh, you could give my black jacket. Oh, no, my black jacket won't go with that. I thought actually a black jacket would probably with any dress. But I suppose if it's long, as in colour-wise, Deanne, do not be offended, I mean colour-wise, not style, you see, because black and yellow can go together, can't they? Yeah.
00:33:16
Speaker
Okay. i I'll give you that. But with Rachel being Rachel, clearly the cut of the jacket or the style of the jacket may not be appropriate for that night. So she can't do it. Right, right. Yes. And ah okay.
00:33:30
Speaker
Anyway, this is this this this seems to be a dude conversation again, because that dress, you yeah, no, it wouldn't be right. Any kind of a jacket wouldn't look right with it. What's the thing she uses to cover the hummus in the end? Is that is that Christmas decoration? It sure in know It does not go either.
00:33:53
Speaker
most The comment going ask you to is she says, I decided to be political. I presume she's meaning that Christmas is going to be political. ah It's an odd line.
00:34:06
Speaker
It's not that time of year. And I guess with Ross and Monica technically being Jewish, is that the political side? You know, is it? Could be. Could be.
00:34:16
Speaker
i don't know i don't know it's a talk on evolution is christmas not going to be is it going to be frowned upon with dinosaurs being around but that's an interesting angle i like that angle that's good one that definitely could be that because famously phoebe doesn't believe in evolution does she at one point she winds up no that's right Yes.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I've opened the whole another can of worms there with that one. But yeah, that that line's always just fallen a bit funny that I'm sure I'm not sure why she says she's going to be political wearing that. But yeah. Well, and then Chandler asks her, so what what is it you're supporting? And she's like, du Christmas.
00:34:55
Speaker
it Yeah, maybe it's supposed to look more like a rosette, so maybe it's more of a political thing she's thinking. I don't know. Yeah. um There's a lot of weird jokes around.
00:35:06
Speaker
Again, well, it's Phoebe, isn't it? She's very she's the kookiest member of this clan. Easily. Yeah, she's always, she's got a reason, but not always a reason. i mean, we go back to the answer phone here. We haven't mentioned that the first message I think is it from Phoebe and she goes, Hey guys, I'm on my way. Wouldn't it be weird if I'm already there? and yeah look it back yeah Which is very strange. And then you've got Ross's met, uh, one with Rachel, Rachel, if you're there, pick up and she comes and goes, sorry. And he goes, no, I didn't say anything.
00:35:34
Speaker
Off you go. Go and get dressed. Right. Um, because it's clear as day that to her, that's calling her out of the bedroom, which again, is another little funny moment that, delays Rachel from actually getting ready and getting her party dress on to go to this to this speech.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah, and is this the second, was was it just last week again that Phoebe... got a call from Monica at two in the morning, but she thought it was a chipmunk or a yeah squirrel or something. So phone related humor, two weeks a row from Phoebe. Yeah. the answer phone Yeah.
00:36:06
Speaker
yeah It's so good to me. We kind of begin what my favorite bit of this episode, because Joey storms back in having left and Chandler's taken all of his underwear.
Iconic 'Friends' Moments
00:36:18
Speaker
yeah um This is his retribution for taking the essence of the chair. um And i can't remember how he phrases it, but he says he's just going to do the opposite to Chandler.
00:36:28
Speaker
And Chandler's what, going show me my underwear? Which obviously transpires the most iconic scenes of a Friends episode, doesn't it, with Joey coming in in all of Chandler's clothes whilst going commando.
00:36:42
Speaker
Oh, it's so good. I better not do any lunges. Lunges, yeah. I'm sure there is another episode where I don't think it's this one that Joey actually says he wouldn't ever go commando another man's fatigues. But apparently in this, it's acceptable to do that.
00:36:57
Speaker
um Doesn't he wear a tux at another event somewhere? and He says he can't go commando. He needs boxes. It's in this episode. Whenever he says... Oh, yes, of course. Yeah, that's why he goes to find the underwear in the first place, isn't it? Because he can't go commander another man's fatigues. So this one is a brilliant line, obviously. But yeah, i mean it comes out and he's quite happy to do lunges and get pretty hot in in Chandler's clothes. All of Chandler's clothes. None of which I've seen Chandler wear, might I add. There's no sweater vests. There's no shirts.
00:37:29
Speaker
Um... I imagine they're just underneath. They're just buried. Obviously. I've not thought about this in a long time, and this might be folklore that's not actually true, but is that whole line about going commando and another man's fatigue, was that made up for friends or was that an expression or saying? I feel like it was made up for the show.
00:37:51
Speaker
ah Yeah, i mean, it it sounds like mostly a thing that the writers have brought into this. Going back to Seinfeld, there's a lot of phrases that Seinfeld used that that I swear I've never heard before. And then once you've seen the show, you go that was 1988 or 1989. You think, wonder if that's the origin of this phrase. Is that why we use it? Is that how it became pop culture?
00:38:12
Speaker
And I get the feeling there's a lot of, I mean, probably people saying, oh, my God, came from Friends. It probably was used way before that. But I swear that became such a thing in the 90s with Janice and Chandler and that lot that it's now for our generation. That's where it came from. You know, I mean, we all know it from friends. It probably wasn't the origin. Obviously, people said it way before this, but it just becomes that thing, doesn't it? And yeah, mean, you couldn't say the word fatigues or commando without me now exactly thinking of this episode because Joey.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yeah, without a doubt. And it's, yeah, I mean, it's, again, it's much smaller scale, but there's things that I can only hear and say in a way that character says it in Frasier. You know, like that happens all the time in my head on a daily basis. Yeah. But Wilson, going to ask you to make sure you're sitting down for this one because we're going to get into where Ross loses his marbles to Rachel. And I i know you're going to have feelings. that I'm going to, I dare say, 100% agree with you here because he loses it with Rachel. He's rude, disrespectful, and he throws the shoes, which to me is a huge, huge no-no. You can't do that. Well, to quote Rachel, don't forget the yelling and humiliating. That's right. That's right. Yes. Very true. Don't forget that.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah. the ah He's the worst. Yeah. Because then he's just frustrated. Like, i get it. He came in with his, you know, we have however many minutes and and he just progressively gets more and more and more worked up. But then.
00:39:50
Speaker
Dude, he's the It was the throwing of the shoes to me. I always think that that kind of... like He didn't throw in Hitler with shoes. But you know you you don't cross that line in sitcom land. If Monica and Chandler were having an argument and he picked up the phone and threw it across the room, you wouldn't do that. The writers wouldn't put that in.
00:40:11
Speaker
So I thought it was quite unusual to have that physical anger in Friends. Yeah. He also sort of belittles. I mean, at one point she comes out and she shows goes, oh, I can't wear this. It's the one that makes my calves look fat.
00:40:23
Speaker
She walks back into the bedroom with this. he I think he belittles her in the way he says, I don't care which one makes your earlobes look fat, which one makes your other ankles look chubby or whatever. And he names about five different things.
00:40:34
Speaker
that clearly she's maybe said in the past, oh, I don't like wearing this because of, he's kind of, it is humiliating to her because he's picking on things that she's obviously maybe a little bit self-conscious about.
00:40:45
Speaker
ah And not to take over this segment, because obviously you asked Deanne this question, but he... I feel sorry for Rachel in the fact that she wants to look her best for her boyfriend. The main thing she's trying to do is represent them as a couple, not just her, but she's going for him. It's his night.
00:41:03
Speaker
She wants to look perfect. And he kind of doesn't appreciate the effort she's going to. He goes, oh, no, don't worry. don't care what you wear. Just wear something. She's like, yeah, but I was doing that for you. I wasn't doing it for me. you know what I mean? Right.
00:41:16
Speaker
And she just spent all this time and all this effort and trying to make sure that everything is just so. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
00:41:26
Speaker
And I think it's nice to see that Rachel was developed a bit because maybe in season one, she would, it would have been about her because she was selfish. She was, daddy, I'm a hat. No, I don't want a hat. I am a hat. yeah All of that stuff. With this one, she's not, she's trying to do the best for somebody else for once. And I think that really shows a lot of how she's changed. I think overall in in Friends, I think Rachel was one of the ones that developed the most.
00:41:49
Speaker
I think she really changes a hell of a lot from the first episode to the last. Ross, not sure he does. I think he literally stays the same pretty much the whole way through. yeah He can be a good friend, but he's a terrible person most of the time. He is. He really is. Yes!
00:42:07
Speaker
It's about him um more than anybody. It's about him. um And it and this this is a prime example of how to show someone's bad side. Give them 20 minutes to get their friends to go to ah a speech, which I want to go back and mention quickly a bit off here. um When Ross says about his speech and Joey says, am I in it?
00:42:26
Speaker
yes just what a comment somebody somebody he goes yeah right at the end i talk about you yeah that's that's yeah what he says he's like after i've thanked all the people who've donated money i think what does he say it's not the wonder that is joy it's something else but it's yeah it's yeah it's where it's well said whatever it is Yeah. but and itre like I feel like now when anyone says, oh, you were on podcast this week, was I in it? I'll go, yeah, yeah, you were, yeah. Listen to the end. I've listened to all of you. I talked about all of my friends on it.
00:42:58
Speaker
Ross having this fit, it does remind you mentioned season one. It is season one, right? Are we there? Yeah, season one, where um Rachel's looking after Marcel, trying to do a good thing for Ross.
00:43:10
Speaker
It's a mistake. Now, she shouldn't have left the door open, but it's still just a genuine mistake. And he gets really personal, like in the insults. you know like Yes! Spiteful, that's that's a good the word for and it. It just reminded me of that, like, you are crossing the line.
00:43:25
Speaker
you Don't do it. um Well, yeah, you go ahead. dude No. And that Steve, thank you for pointing that out. But yeah, like Ross doesn't change.
00:43:38
Speaker
Ross sucks all the way through. yeah Like everybody else, you know, is is kind of coming into their own and kind of, you know, refining.
00:43:51
Speaker
They're themselves, you know, like Phoebe is she talks about, you know, family and and yeah she's got all of her past and everything. But by the end, you know, um she's grown and in has just completely evolved. And then Rachel, whole lot Monica. But then Ross, you're right.
00:44:12
Speaker
Like he never changed. ah He just sucks all the way through. He's got certain expectations. And if you don't meet him, then you he spirals out like from the beginning to the end.
00:44:26
Speaker
And with yeah open relationships with with obviously Emily coming up and with Julie and and Rachel and and all the others really never really puts a foot right with these women.
00:44:37
Speaker
Yeah. It's very much about him and he expects a lot from them. And and this, like i say, this is ah a pure Ross episode of how badly he treats Rachel, yet she loves him, which we see at the end of this episode. but keep it Skipping ahead a bit there.
00:44:53
Speaker
Now, Steve, I'm sure that you've been mistaken for Brad Pitt on many an occasion as you're walking around all the time. work But i do feel like you and Deanne might be the founding members of the I Hate Ross Geller Club.
00:45:05
Speaker
yeah i will I will gladly share that. um but he's He's terrible. But he's a character actually love to dislike. you know what I mean? a lot of fun to watch.
00:45:20
Speaker
right and Without him, these storylines wouldn't exist. So it's a lot of good it's a lot of good TV from him. u hu Absolutely. But like as a as like a character, as a person, yeah, he's ah he's a great villain.
00:45:35
Speaker
A great villain, yes. That's kind of a very dramatic... sentence that just flew out there but you know whatever let's i'm just gonna scrub we kind of this is where you're fine monica calls michelle it kind of goes back and forth here right where they're recognizing her voice but but michelle has that caller id that monica needs to get um yeah there's actually another really fun bit trivia about it well i say it's funny it might be boring and really odd to other people there's a really fun word and i'll see if can you Either of you can guess the word that Courtney Cox was the first person in 1994 to say on USA TV.
00:46:17
Speaker
First person ever to reference it. Before Wilson says that, I'm like, you know, buying a I know it because it's in this book. And so, so yes. but i will well So I'll leave this one to Deanne. I, again, would have had no idea had I not read this very book.
00:46:33
Speaker
Yeah, I have no idea. Right. So Monica says on the answer phone message, she feels a bit weird. Maybe she's losing her mind a bit. Maybe she's on a period. Period was the first or the first time someone ever said and referenced a period on USA TV in 1994 was Courtney Cox in a Tampax advert.
00:46:52
Speaker
Wow. ah well and Now that's an excellent piece of trivia. Wow. It's one you'll never forget because I didn't, because ah yeah, this book's about, you know, the cultural impact of friends and like all the firsts. And that was one of the firsts, like you'll you will remember that for the rest of your life. There you go.
00:47:13
Speaker
Fantastic. Three random bits of trivia. Obviously, ah I mentioned the Courtney Cox scream trivia. that The last piece of real weird trivia that comes out of this episode that makes it quite funny is Ross mentions Magnum P.I. at one point. And obviously, Tom Selleck, Richard, played Magnum P.I. i And you think this episode can't have much more little trivial facts and little nods to other things if it tried.
00:47:38
Speaker
But they really, the writers in this episode really worked loads of little fun things in. Little East Directly Touch. Well, one of my favourite things in this episode, again, maybe there's a connection here, I don't know, but Chandler has this random profound thought about um Donald Duck, right? It's Donald Duck. Donald Duck, yeah. Yeah.
00:47:58
Speaker
And it's like, I love it because it reminds me that I'm not the only person in the world that has these peculiar thoughts at random times. Yeah. um Now, why they he put this line in there, I wonder if it was... a running joke if they just needed something random for Chandler to say but it's it's a brilliant thought can only think sometimes it it sort of catapults this episode almost back to season one where they're in the coffee house and they have those chats of you know so men don't like that or men should be doing that during this they're always having those sexual conversations as a bunch of early 20 something people don't they And I think at one point he's having that dream, isn't he, in one of the early episodes. He goes, and my thing was a phone. And the weirdest thing was, my mum was calling me and she never called me. So Chandler's quite often having these weird dreams and chats. And and it I suppose when you're in your 20s, you do have these weird conversations with your friends, don't you? And and that's one that he picks up on that, yeah, Donald Duck wears or never wears pants.
00:49:01
Speaker
But when he gets out of the shower, wears a towel. I mean, what's with that? Yeah. And I guess in your 20s, you have those ideas, don't You have those thoughts and you think that needs to be explained.
00:49:11
Speaker
No, it doesn't. And when you get to more of our age now, you go, I don't care for that. I just laugh at it. I never need to wonder why Donald don Duck doesn't wear trousers. And funnily enough, again, just last week was when Ross and Chandler decided you know they should have conversations. And Chandler brought some more mother issues that he has. yeah So, yeah, that's definitely recurring him and his his parent issues.
00:49:39
Speaker
But this is where, yeah, Rachel decides she is not going at this point. She walks out. I don't blame her. No, I bet you don't. You are a big fan of Rachel Green at this moment in time. I good job, Rachel. Yes. i love I love Rachel in this scene when she walks in. She goes, I'm not going. He goes, oh, you're not going? She goes, nope, I'm going to catch up on my co correspondence. Correspondence. Yes. And he keeps saying, are you mad at me? And she goes, nope, not mad. Yep. Not going.
00:50:04
Speaker
It's brilliantly active because they could have written it where she fought back and was screaming and shouting and that would be the easy thing to do. Jennifer Anderson, the turn of her head at one point, he says, I love you and goes to kiss her and she just turns her head yes and he goes, okay, kind of thing and just walks off.
00:50:22
Speaker
Like, I've not won this, but she's not shouting at me, so maybe I have won. No, Ross, you haven't. She's clearly going to have it in for you later on the night. this She's boiling, you know i mean? She's ready to go.
00:50:32
Speaker
She's just not there yet. And I think, it like say, Jennifer Aniston plays Rachel so well anyway, but this, you just see how well controlled she is compared to Ross, who is losing it already. it reminds me again I'd like to say this will be the last Frasier reference it probably won't be but when Niles gets a Lady his dog yeah the we yeah and he's off the couch, off the couch okay and there's something about the way that he, Ross, reacts Rachel and the way you know it just it just reminded me of that okay moment it's perfect, like I mean let say David Schwimmer is just the way he goes I love you, goes to kiss her and she just turns her face on sight brilliant timing on that So, so well done. Yeah, she's catching up with her correspondents. I'm going ask both of you. When was the last time you just, Christmas cards excluded, i think. When was the last time you just sent a letter to somebody?
00:51:23
Speaker
oh I don't think I've written a letter in my possibly my adult years I reckon I was probably a teenager to the last time i actually wrote a proper letter I mean sending a card to people but yeah writing a letter I mean you're looking over 20 years ago I reckon i so I'm i'm thinking that too um it's got it's probably at least 10 probably more um Again, I can think this is what makes this a show of the 90s because nowadays who would say, I'm not going, I'm going to write letters to friends or reply to letters to friends or anything. yeah
00:51:56
Speaker
You'd just pick up a phone, sit in ah sit in a corner in a mood and doom scroll, wouldn't you? um' no I'm ignoring you. I'm looking at my phone. That yeah that would be your action now. It wouldn't ever be anything else. ah Or you'd just walk out. You'd just go somewhere else.
00:52:08
Speaker
um Obviously, if she needs to be there. She can't walk out of this the episode. it needs to be resolved somehow. Absolutely. And i yeah, i do I wonder who is she writing to and what's she writing about? Because, you she's from Long Island, not that far away. um You know, she can go home and visit. So maybe, maybe nobody, maybe it was all just posture posturing as she's, as she should be at this moment. Yeah.
00:52:36
Speaker
Let's see, pbe Phoebe, and I think at this point is where Phoebe kind of comes out of Monica's room with the phone, like in her hand, the cord hanging down. yeah Yeah, there's a phone in there, isn't there? We're on it. They go in. she That's right. She comes out with it sort of dangling. goes he's She's just getting dressed. That's right, that's it. I was like, I know she has a great line, but that was it um Again, if you need so if you need something handled, Phoebe's probably the person to do it. because she still like that Chandler dives in there as well, doesn't he They're very quick to try and help people
00:53:08
Speaker
They help Ross at this point, aren't they? He sort of looks at the phone, Chandler's like, straight up, straight in there. Phoebe's running in there as well. Yes. Just another use of getting two people to run through a door while something else is happening. Do what I mean Get two characters out, concentrate on two more characters.
00:53:23
Speaker
um Again, just keeps the pace of this episode rolling quite quickly. yeah it keep yeah keeps it moving along we do now have the point and it's got to be one of the most iconic scenes certainly costumes in the entire in the entire run of friends which Joey Barson wearing all of Chandler's clothes I mean it is iconic it's brilliant it's so well done um I mean, for me, it's up there, if not surpassing the holiday armadillo, you know in terms of just things you recognise from friends. I think it was great. I think they did that in the reunion, didn't they? think Matt LeBron, he put on a load more clothes and did it for a joke. And I think some of the things that were in the reunion were very good um and a bit sort tear-jerking and choking um for the for the actors as well as us as viewers, because they did things like this to, like you say, bring back such an iconic moment um throughout the whole show, really.
00:54:17
Speaker
No one would ever forget that moment happening. No way. Yeah, and I think you're right. We we touched on the reunion, i think, before we started recording, maybe afterwards. I think, honestly, now I'm thinking about it, maybe one of the reasons... I watched it when it first came out. I haven't watched it since his... Matthew Perry's decline, you can see. um And I think they said, maybe maybe this was true, but he'd had oral surgery of some sort and this, that and the other. and yeah i don't I just remember thinking, it made me sad at that moment. But there were some brilliant moments in it and Matt LeBlanc coming out in that is one of them.
00:54:54
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely hilarious. I mean, you say about Matthew Perry and that, obviously, I read his, well, I say read his audio book. I listened to his audio book, um which is a difficult read in places, but it's lovely to hear him read it, even with his voice being a bit difficult listen to in places. I actually split it up to 1.2. I found it in just running at normal speed was actually really hard to listen to because of his intonation and the way he speaks or was speaking at that point in his life.
00:55:23
Speaker
speeding up that little touch made it a little bit more chandlery made it a little bit more him um sounded like he wasn't struggling quite as much which made me happier to listen but it's a very heartwarming sad book um to get through but it's definitely worth it if any fans out there or listeners haven't read it or listened to it definitely it's one that i highly recommend same Have you listened to it, Deanne? I did. i think did. We've talked about it a yeah couple of different times and I did the exact same thing with speeding it up a little bit. But like, yeah ah I was not prepared because I don't know why I didn't think about the fact that the audio book would be read by him because like i I listened to like Matthew McConaughey's book. like That was so fun to listen to with Matthew McConaughey's voice. Green Lines.
00:56:12
Speaker
Right, yes. yeah Green lights is fantastic. Every time that good happens to me, I'll go, green light. Yes! Yes! But yeah, and um so whenever I started Matthew Perry's book, I was like, oh my gosh.
00:56:27
Speaker
And it it like immediately teared up because yeah I was, you know, but I found the same thing. I sped it up to 1.2 because it it was, you could tell, it was just more Chandler-esque, right? Yeah, i mean,
00:56:42
Speaker
But the all the feeling in him, like it hurts. Yeah, i mean, you can tell by it. It's nicer to hear it from him, I suppose, than but in a way to read it or to hear it from another narrator. I mean, it brings me on to a quick tangent, so I won't keep you long. um I actually recommended it to Alistair to read a Future Boy, read by Michael J. Fox.
00:57:03
Speaker
um And Michael J. Fox reads all of his own audio books, which is great. But unfortunately, with his decline now, it's becoming harder and harder to listen to them. um But hats off to him for for still working so hard, bringing out audio books and still reading them all himself.
00:57:17
Speaker
um And they're fantastic, fantastic stories to listen to any fan of Michael J Fox. But it's so it's almost it's almost the same. Listening to someone you love sound worse over the years becomes more struggle, doesn't it? Yeah. yeah future voice definitely another recommendation but it's not a it's not a back to the future podcast so i'll get off that subject no it's got the same vibes though because i you recommended it to me and it it takes a lot for me to buy an audiobook i'd usually go through through the the local library this one i bought immediately and listened to the whole thing the same day because it's yeah so good it's okay so good that'll be my next thing that i listen to i i'm a commuting a lot for my holiday job right now steve So I'm always looking for good audio books or podcast things. If you like Matthew McConaughey's green lights, he's got poems and prayers out at the moment. And he reads that one on Spotify as well. and that's brilliant.
00:58:12
Speaker
Okay. All right. I will look into that one too. We better get out a book chat corner and back. I can very easily wander there. we we say they Absolutely. Um,
00:58:27
Speaker
Yeah, I could and talk about books and podcasts all day, but let's see. Ross has basically told the boys they can't go. They're not allowed to go because all he really cares about is Rachel going, and he goes and tries to yeah apologize again. um i do love that Joey suggests he drinks
Rachel's Decision and Ross's Gesture
00:58:42
Speaker
the fat. I do love this bit.
00:58:43
Speaker
Yeah. just joy, sort of childish excitement of yay, you know, however he phrases it, when Ross says you'll do it. I think i think when you're in your 20s, if you said that to your mate, don't know, were drinking at a house party and you said, why don't you eat dog biscuits and someone was about to do it, you'd sort of do them on, wouldn't you? And nowadays I'd look at it and go what an idiot, why would you do that? But right saying to him, if you really love Rachel, basically, you're going to drink the fat.
00:59:09
Speaker
The fact that he actually gets close enough to drinking it, yeah And it does change her mind. it proves It proves to her he's willing to basically make himself, the way he goes, just a vanilla milkshake without chicken bits floating in it. Yes. yeah Which instantly makes me think that's disgusting. Phoebe's line here of, oh, let me get you a clean glass. That's been sitting a bit. Yes. I think this will all be all right. Yeah. No, this is fine. you know It might it may prove his love for Rachel, but I already know the answer. woson Is Rachel far too forgiving? Because I think she is.
00:59:46
Speaker
I would have let him drink the fat. yeah I think so. I would have let it go ahead. Just let's see what happens there. i yeah It's definitely an ER job if that went ahead, isn't it? I mean, I don't think drinking that chicken fat with raw chicken bits floating about whatever's in it. Yeah. Well, but here's the deal. I mean, Joey's already had some. Chandler's already had some. That's true. He's going to be fine. I'll tell you, like, I physically gagged, like, just thinking about it and watching the episode and everything because it's so gross. I love the fact that when Monica first sees her, she has someone been drinking my fat? And everyone looks around like no one's drinking fat.
01:00:30
Speaker
I mean, that's also brilliant. But um it it kind of brings us to the close of the episode, doesn't it? With with Rachel disappearing. know you, did you notice anything strange about the episode when Rachel comes back out and she's ready to go?
01:00:44
Speaker
Okay. It's the bridesmaid's dress, right? No, no, More significant than that. Something very, very strange happens when she walks out.
01:00:57
Speaker
no No, no, no. I don't i think something else. i don't know You almost both just imitate it. Dead silence. She walks out and there's no crowd reaction. The producers told the audience not to react to Rachel's dress.
01:01:10
Speaker
Why? They thought it would be too much in the episode and not realistic if everyone whooped and hollered when Rachel comes out looking absolutely stunning. So they told them all, she's going to come out, she's wearing this, do not make a noise. Therefore, Ross...
01:01:24
Speaker
gives the impression because if you look at ross he literally draw jaw drops doesn't it he sees her and he you know says whatever you're perfect or something like that let's go and the audience stays silenced because it's ross's reaction it's not it shouldn't ever be our reaction of going wow she looks amazing ross's reaction is he's stunned she walks out and he literally stares in real life that's probably what would happen you wouldn't hear screaming and hollering in the background So they just made it silent for 10 seconds as she walks out. And then she obviously says her line to him.
01:01:55
Speaker
And guess what? I'm going, come on, there as well. Oh, as Ross follows her out, doesn't he? So yeah i just a clever production twist, really, to to a moment like that, which is good fun. Interesting. That is good.
01:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, it's one of those things that you don't really notice it or it until it's pointed out. But if you're right, if you had heard all the cheering and shouting, yeah it would have taken away from that moment.
01:02:18
Speaker
Well, suggest to you both and any listeners, go back and watch that scene again and think, ge if there was noise there, would have been weird. But you now notice the silence. Right. I love it. Well, right, it does kind of bring us to the end of the episode. I hate the fact that there's this extra scene outside of the apartment, just just because it's like, yeah, it's all in the apartment except for this tiny scene.
01:02:40
Speaker
I kind of think it should have been like, there's a couple of Frasier episodes that end with just the um just the apartment in sort of like dull kind of darkness almost, like the the lights have been switched off and it's just the outside light coming in. And I kind of feel like that should have been, they leave And Ross just flicks the lights off. And then the closing credits are just over a darkened apartment um with the soundtrack playing. yeah Whereas this scene, I get why it's in there. It's got the extra laugh of Charlie going, you're in my seat.
01:03:09
Speaker
You're in my seat. But would I miss it if it wasn't there? Probably not. I don't need that scene to to get any more laughter out of this episode. Yeah, exactly how i feel. could It could have ended on an even higher note. This episode's fantastic. It felt unnecessary, this this last scene to me, for for one joke of the guy sitting in Chandler's seat.
01:03:30
Speaker
also Also putting that work in to make a new set to get extras, it just seems like a lot to... I mean, I presume it was probably stitched on afterwards. They probably made the episode, ah filmed it, the audience went home. They then did this another time, do you what mean? it Because they wouldn't have put another set on there just for that. It seems pointless.
01:03:49
Speaker
That's a good point. I wonder if that set was used in any other any other scenes around this time. Or it could have been on another sitcom at that time and they literally just moved the actors into another part of the studios, filmed that and that was it.
01:04:02
Speaker
And that's how they made it. Because I can't imagine they went to the effort of bringing that out for the audience to see 10 seconds of filming just for that bloke to say, you're in my seat. Right. doesn seem worth it. Right.
01:04:14
Speaker
Yeah, he it's a shame. doesn't detract from it, I suppose, a really in any way, but it's just... Doesn't give any more either. Right, doesn't add doesn't add to it. This is a fun one this week. We'll look at our our Gunther Central Park, our favourite character of the week. um Steve, who if you had to pick one character, who do you think you would go for this week?
01:04:35
Speaker
It's always tough. And I and know this is doing my third episode ever with you, but it's always tough if you ask me that not to say Matthew Perry. Right. Because even if he was only in half a second scene in the episode, I reckon he'd still nail it so well. I'd love that more than anything else. I actually think I'd i'd go for Jennifer Aniston as Rachel in this as ah as a favourite character. I think she holds herself so well in this episode. She's hilarious when she's blunt to Ross.
01:05:00
Speaker
um And just, yeah, just her interactions and her correspondence and stuff like that. um She definitely, she definitely wins my heart in that one. But again, it's going to be very close to Matthew Perry being there as well. Always. Deanne, what do you think?
01:05:15
Speaker
Okay. So mine is Rachel. It's Rachel. we're playing Team Rachel. yeah sir Team Rachel. like yes a really um yeah Everybody was so good. Everybody had their own like situations and everything else. but um Rachel was she was funny and she stood up herself and then she obviously forgave him too easily and quickly in my opinion. She's mine.
01:05:44
Speaker
choose mine Yeah, and we're three for three. it's reach Just as Steve was talking about, if there hadn't been that scene about the correspondence and the turning away, it would have been an even tougher decision. But for me, that one seals the deal for Jennifer Aniston and Rachel. like just I do think she forgives Ross a little too easily at the end, yeah but we can I'm going to overlook that because man alive, it's just... but There's a lot more a relationship between those two to go. Yeah. Exactly, exactly. So yeah, looking at the long game here. yeah Definitely, definitely. We used to always do how many cups of coffee would you give this episode out of 10, but we've we've we've changed up the last couple of episodes and tried to customize it to the episode. So we're going with the angle of how many glasses of chicken fat. Okay, good. I knew that's where you were going to go.
01:06:36
Speaker
knew it. I was like, oh, we're going to be drinking fat today. We're drinking the fat. Yay! We're drinking the fat this week. We're not chewing the fat, which will be a joke for just Steve and I. and It was a TV show. But ah yeah, how many glasses of chicken fat, Deanne, are you going to give this one?
01:06:54
Speaker
I'm going to give it nine. I like it. I like it. it's That's a good high score. What about you, Steve? where Where are you coming in with this? Well, oddly enough, I looked it up on IMDb before I came on here, and IMDb actually rates this episode 8.9, which I think is quite high, but I get the feeling it's not the highest rated Friends episode. I will admit I do not know what the highest rated Friends episode is, but i reckon it's probably more to do with Rachel or Emily storylines, e etc., or London. Don't know why, just where I think the audience would go. ah making that short answer really long here, 10 is what I'd give it. I'd give it 10. You're good for it. As you would. As you would. It's my number one episode and I have it rated on my own IMDb as 10 out of 10, so I couldn't score it less than that. So 10 glasses of fat. 10 glasses of fat.
01:07:45
Speaker
love it. it I'm going to match you, Deanne. It's going to be nine glasses of fat with chicken bits floating in each one. It's as high of a nine as it can be. um Yeah, not in a clean glass. The one that's been sitting out will do. ah it's it's it's i think it's my favorite so far. Maybe I've probably got another couple of nines in there, but partly because of the story, partly because the acting, but just you can see the brilliance of the writing to me in this one. yeah So it's it's it's a top one for me. Well, we're kind of wrapping up this episode. Let's see. Deanne, any final thoughts on this episode? I have so very much and enjoyed having Steve and um i I've learned so much today.
01:08:34
Speaker
It's a great episode. It's hilarious from start to finish. ah Thinking about the looking at it like a play aspect is just mind blowing. um But yeah, that's a whole lot of very short things. and And that's all
Closing Thoughts and Steve's Appreciation
01:08:49
Speaker
I got. I love it. Steve, we can't thank you enough for being here. Any final thoughts for this this week's episode?
01:08:55
Speaker
Well, obviously, thank you to both of you for inviting me to be on here. I hope haven't chewed your ears off, made it a nine-hour episode for you You can edit out whatever you like. You know what I'm like, Alistair. I'm not very short or to the point. LAUGHTER i just definitely yeah Definitely plenty of Frasier quotes can come from that as well. I'm definitely not to the point when it comes to explaining anything about sitcom. front of my you are my absolute by You're indenting. You're indenting. thats right hear When someone says to me, do you want to talk about at sitcom on a podcast? My answer is inevitably going to be yes um and make sure it's a good one because I can't wait. um So yeah, like I say, thanks to both of you for inviting me on and and not just being a listener. Now I get to be on here as well, which is
01:09:37
Speaker
Great fun. And um no, I mean, this episode, like say, is a 10 out of 10 for me. The way it's constructed, the acting in it is superb. And I don't think, in honesty, there's many better bottle episodes of sitcoms from the 90s out there. Like so there's a couple in Scientist, a couple in Frasier, Mad About You. um I don't think there's one in Third Rock from the Sun, but maybe there is.
01:09:58
Speaker
um I'd need to go back and look at it. and There's a couple of things in Spin City, um which is a much better box to get him in there as one of my favourite actors. Spin City is a sitcom well worth watching from the 90s as well. um But yeah, just overall, ah I can't say enough about it several times. Yeah, it's just super. Well, Steve, again, thank you so much for being here, for being on.
Next Week's Topic Announcement
01:10:19
Speaker
We'd love to have you back again. Next week, we're talking about The One With The Gem. which yeah yes all I picture is Joey, arm in sling, covered in gem, and that just makes me smile. So I'm excited to get into that one.
01:10:33
Speaker
But as always, thank you everybody for tuning in this week to the Purple Door Podcast.