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S1E1 - The One Where Monica Gets a Roomate
30 Plays1 month ago
Alasdair and Steve discuss the Friends pilot, 90's sitcom crossovers and ice cream toppings in this premiere episode of The Purple Door Podcast!
Please excuse any technical difficulties such as sound bytes out of place or Alasdair's microphone sounding distant - Things will get better!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Purple Door Podcast
00:00:09
Speaker
Well, hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of the Purple Door podcast, a friend's rewatch pod. I'm your host, Alistair, alongside my good friend, Steve. Hello, Steve. Hi, Alistair, how are you? Doing well, thank you. well First of all, a big thank you to you, Steve, for getting this podcast off the ground with me.
Love for Friends and 90s Sitcoms
00:00:27
Speaker
and The idea of this pod was born out of the discussion about the show. Steve and I ah ah both have a mutual love for 90s sitcoms, ah in particular Friends and Frasier. I certainly don't claim to be any sort of super fan. In fact, we were just talking off the air. I probably know all the lines, but I haven't really dug into the show.
00:00:46
Speaker
I haven't read any books about the show outside of Matthew Perry's autobiography, although I did just start a ah ah new book that um and that was written by a fan. I haven't listened to any other podcasts, but Friends has always been a go-to since my teenage years. So I thought a rewatch podcast in honor of the recent 30th anniversary might be a great way to deep dive into the show alongside you guys, the listeners.
Steve's Friends Experience
00:01:10
Speaker
So on that note. How you doing?
00:01:14
Speaker
How would you describe your relationship with friends, and also how has your Christmas and New Year been? yeah My Christmas and New Year have been fantastic, thank you. atro I spent a lot of time with friends, um but obviously with family as well, so that's been lovely. and My relationship with Friends, the TV show, probably started in 1995 when it first aired in the UK, so I think it was around April, May time in 1995, so I was 12.
00:01:38
Speaker
And um yeah, I just ah remember actually watching the pilot episode, not even knowing it was the first episode, just literally seeing this show. I loved the theme tune. The moment I heard this theme tune, I remember turning it up thinking the Rembrandts. I didn't even know it was the Rembrandts
Friends as a Global Phenomenon
00:01:53
Speaker
at the time. he really really I've never heard this song before. Loved this pop rock song, sort of a very, very 90s tune, isn't it?
00:02:00
Speaker
Came on the TV turned it up loved that and it went into this just show with these Random people all these beautiful, New York people basically and I loved sitcoms back then I was watching a lot of like Caroline in the city and stuff like that I've watched cheers a bit and I'd sort of caught lots of different sitcoms and I just loved Paramount comedy at the time I used to watch mad about you loads and with my mum, mum and dad. And um yeah, this show came on Channel 4 and I just started watching it and just, it was like, brilliant. This is another sitcom for me. So I just fell in love with it and literally been a fan ever since. Yeah, I think that's very similar to my experience. We're of similar age. I think I've got maybe a year possibly too on you. But I remember it coming on Channel 4 and it was, you know, familiar in a lot of ways, but also different enough to be really interesting. You know, I'd never been to New York.
00:02:50
Speaker
never been to America,
Friends on TV and Streaming Platforms
00:02:51
Speaker
anything like that. And so you could see this this slightly different world that we didn't know too much about. um And yeah, it was just instantly taken with it and how it um how it sort of integrated itself into society to me is like no other show that's been before or since. No, I mean, it's it's definitely a massive worldwide phenomenon, isn't it? Friends is everywhere. Maybe the merchandise is still being made now and is in loads of stores in the yeah UK. You can still buy pyjamas or mugs or t-shirts. It's still flooding ah flooding the world everywhere.
00:03:24
Speaker
Yeah, i think and I think it might be Spain. was it McDonald's and Spain recently were giving away friends merchandise in their happy meals. I mean, 30 plus years on. It's still still just a massive mark on, I guess, our generation, really.
00:03:39
Speaker
Exactly and I'll need to go and look it's on HBO Max. I'm now in the States it's on HBO Max here. It's still on Netflix in the UK but it's also on Channel 5 for free obviously with ads um playing during the day. I think they they still play three or four episodes most afternoons or maybe three four o'clock in the afternoon just go through so it's It's never left the TV in the UK. Obviously, it was on Channel 4 for literally the last, I don't know, 25 years, in the last few years. It's been on Channel 5. They've bought it. But, yeah, Netflix is still streaming it now. So it's still a very, very popular show and watched by millions every day still here. Yeah. I'll need to look up the numbers here. It's on a channel called TBS, and I think it might be on another one or two still um here. And like there, you know, they'll suddenly, they'll show five or six hours of friends of an evening. Yeah. um is Yeah. It's on HBO, which
00:04:29
Speaker
I've subscribed to recently in order to rewatch it. nick Because I think they bought the rights to when they did
Friends Reunion on HBO Max
00:04:37
Speaker
the um the sort of Friends reunion when they had all the cast. yeah That's good been about three years ago. I think it was i James Corden I think interviewed them. I think they bought the rights to Friends and that was kind of helping kick that off.
00:04:50
Speaker
it's It's crazy, actually, because out of all the sitcoms that I watch, which is countless, really, and all of the ones that I've got on DVD, Friends is the one I don't have on DVD, because i've never needed to I've never needed to acquire it, because it's always on TV and it's always been literally easy to find on TV here.
00:05:05
Speaker
I do have a VHS of friends though the London episodes I do have a VHS they cover this lovely sort of suitcase with a book and everything for the for the London one so that's quite cool but I haven't got a VHS player so it's just a collector's edition it is literally just a collector's item yeah that's fantastic Well, yeah, i don't I do have a DVD player, but don't have them on DVDs. It's too easy to stream it. to Yeah, exactly. Just pick right off where we left off. So no, it's good. It sounds like we're going to have plenty to talk about as we revisit so many of these episodes. And I'm excited to get stuck into these with you. So up on that note, I thought it'd be fun to have a little quiz.
Friends Trivia Quiz
00:05:45
Speaker
I'm Joey Tribbiani. Let's play Bamboozled.
00:05:49
Speaker
So I've got three questions for you. I think you might have three for me. I have three questions for you as well. Yes. All right. Why don't ill why don't you go ahead with the first question? We'll see what see what I can do. Well, obviously I've made my three. Hopefully you have as well about this episode. um yeah So my first question is who does Rachel think Barry looks like? ah I know I remember she thinks he looks like Mr. Potato Head. That is correct, sir.
00:06:18
Speaker
Oddly enough, that jumped out at me. is So i'm I'm a teacher and in my classroom I have you Mr. Potato Head. I found a box of other Mr. Potato Heads in our attic over the Christmas break while we were cleaning up. So I have a box of those ready to go to school. Do you want all three from me first or do you want to alternate? Let's alternate. I'll throw one over your direction. Okay, I'm ready.
00:06:41
Speaker
So harking back to when we watched this for the first time there were several references to things that I had no idea what they were and without and you know we obviously couldn't just look these things up in the early 90s. So what are Jimmy's which Joey says you can put on ice cream? I don't know I'm gonna guess they're marshmallows.
00:07:02
Speaker
So I didn't know either. They're actually sprinkles or like hundreds of thousands using, you know, which, um, I asked Kate, so my wife's from New Jersey. She said, that's a very common North East. She knew, she knows what Jimmy's are. She, that's what she would call sprinkles. Oh, cool. Creme nuts and Jimmy's. If I remember the line correctly.
00:07:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a long time since Ross has had a spoonful, I think he says, or something. Exactly, right. He's got to grab a spoon. Well, actually, on that, my second question does relate to that. What does Joey say Carol gets from Ross's three things? Let's think. she gets She gets the furniture. Yes. She gets the TV and she gets a good the the good TV and the stereo.
00:07:51
Speaker
That is correct. that Yeah, furniture, stereo and the good TV. What do you get? I get you guys. Yes. Because I remember that jumping out at me, the good TV, because in the early 90s, I remember getting it but my own television in the mid 90s. I think a lot of homes probably still had one television.
00:08:09
Speaker
So maybe i but yeah i'd imagine she ah she obviously took the flat screen Cathode Ray tube and he maybe the non and flat screen. Maybe she got the wide screen version, you know, because that was big back then having a wide screen TV. It was very, very cool. But he had the one that you had to truly lift with your knees to. Oh, yeah.
Pilot Review and Character Discussion
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. They they weren't like.
00:08:29
Speaker
No, not at all. Well, let's see. I think you'll like my second question. Which designer brand is mentioned in both this pilot episode and the 1,000th show? It's Joan and David, the shoes. It is. And I mentioned this question again to my wife, Kate, and we where she ended up looking them up and they filed bankruptcy about 20 years ago.
00:08:54
Speaker
yeah i made a meme about this a long time ago with rachel saying she got her i don't need anyone else boots boots or whatever yes and niles saying underneath joan and david you name them so uh that's fantastic there's a great crossover for the joan and david there i love it yeah i was that that was something i didn't catch until i decided to re-watch this episode Yeah, it's a brilliant, it's a brilliant little, it obviously is not a connection only for the fans of both shows, but yeah, it's ah a bit of fun for that brand. Absolutely. And then your third question. ah Who says, welcome to the real world, it sucks, you're going to love it. Well, that one, that one I do know, that's going to be Monica. He is Monica. Hug around her head. It's some of the best advice you can give someone who has no idea what life is about.
00:09:40
Speaker
Exactly. I think it's a beautiful, beautiful line. And my final question for you actually comes from earlier on in that scene. It wouldn't be you, Steve, if we didn't give you a numbers question. those of the weird listening If listens to the We're Listening Fraser podcast, Steve loves a good numbers question. How many credit cards does Rachel have on the table ready to cut up? I think that's technically a trick question. I believe there's five cards on the table.
00:10:08
Speaker
one of them is actually a library card. Right okay so I wrote that five. If you pause it there is a library card on there. it not i thought I saw that the last time I watched it but I thought you know I'm just gonna leave it at five but that's a great idea. Yeah I will still go with five. There is five cards she cuts up so.
00:10:24
Speaker
That's fantastic. Well, I tell you what, we've kind of, you know what, I think that was it that was a good first round of the questions. I'm looking forward to doing these every week with you. yeah But yeah, let's kind of dig into the episode. Obviously, it starts off in Central Park. The first thing that jumped out at me was the way the first few scenes were filmed. It was almost like kind of just these one-liner jokes, you know, every scene seemed to last, I don't know, maybe 30 seconds.
00:10:51
Speaker
Yeah, they're very, very quick fire, aren't they? it It's a big establishing shot. You need to get everyone to speak very quickly. We're introducing technically six new characters that have never been seen before. No one knows anyone's name particularly. um And obviously with the introduction of the the bride that walks in when charlie when Ross says, I just want to get married again. I just want a million dollars. yeah right um Obviously it's a brilliant way of bringing someone in so Monica can then say you remember Ross, you know this person, this is Phoebe, this is Chandler. um I will pick out though that when she introduces Rachel to Chandler she says and this is Chandler like they've never met yet. Later in the series we obviously know he went to college with Ross and they visited several times. Rachel does know Chandler and she knows him from her teenage years.
00:11:41
Speaker
Yeah, they have quite a few interactions in the teenage years. Yeah, so as a pilot, yes, I love this episode, but that does actually really bug me that they've kind of written that in and then gone afterwards. Oh, yeah, we can make them college roommates. Obviously, that storyline wasn't established in this pilot episode. Right.
00:12:00
Speaker
But yeah, I love the introduction to the characters. I think it's a really fun way to bring them all in and, like I say, let us all know the names of them and and kind of the relationship. um The other one thing that bugs me through this entire series, and and if anyone wants to ever write in and tell us, where the hell does Phoebe come from? We know how everyone else meets, but Phoebe is never explained. How does she become friends with this group? Because everyone else is connected in a way. I mean, obviously, Joey's a roommate. That's where he comes from. But where does Phoebe come from?
00:12:31
Speaker
I think I'd read somewhere that a theory, what and I don't know if this is a theory or... ah well in the in the very We don't want to jump ahead, but let's jump ahead to the very final episode. Phoebe lived with Monica at some point. But why? But why? You don't know how that happened. this This is what I'm saying. So you know that Rachel went to school with Monica. Right. Ross is obviously related. Chandler was a roommate of Ross. Joey lives with Chandler. That's why he knows Monica.
00:12:59
Speaker
that has never explained why Phoebe ever lives with Monica the first time. They never say, oh, remember when we met at? It never comes out anywhere. And she says she gets into all this weird stuff. When she, Phoebe even explains, didn't she, in this episode, I moved here after my mother killed herself. And then the guy I met down in the dot, he kills himself and blah, blah, blah. But she never says, and then I moved in with Monica. Yeah, she was a burnt-out Buick LeSabre or something.
00:13:27
Speaker
So did Monica just give clarity to Phoebe and say, come live with me? Right, just come move in. Just seems weird. Out of, what is it? Two hundred and something episodes, two hundred and fifteen, two hundred and twenty episodes. I can't remember the exact number, but it's just always been odd to me that Phoebe never says, remember that day we met? There's never a flashback. Nothing's ever explained as to why Phoebe is part of this Friends group.
00:13:48
Speaker
Yeah, even in the, the again, jumping in, there's the flashback episode when, I forget the name of it, that Central Park is a bar. She's just there, isn't she? She's just there with them. Yeah, so maybe that's just how they meet, I don't know. Yeah, maybe they couldn't think of a good ah good story, so just left it open-ended thinking it might tie together at some point. It's made it fun and it's bugged me for 30
Monica's First Date Controversy
00:14:10
Speaker
years. Right. mean again just like we've talked about before they probably didn't think you know what in 30 years there'll be people discussing this wondering what in the world happened. They were wrong because there's plenty of people out there discussing this. Absolutely, absolutely. Well I noticed there's the first exterior shots of the apartments which that's something that I mean we don't want to turn this into all the different things that bug us but there's no balcony you know obviously the outside doesn't match the interior at all.
00:14:37
Speaker
Yeah, again, forgivable for a pilot episode. You never know how long the show is going to run for, if the show is going to get picked up. So I get the feeling with a lot of pilots, um they do things that maybe are going to change in the next episode, which we do see, you know, the haircuts, the the clothing that people are wearing in this really changes quite a lot. Monica's apartment does develop a little bit in the next few episodes. So, um yeah, this is really just sort of cutting their teeth on an episode.
00:15:03
Speaker
Yeah, I noticed that lastly, when Keith and I were sitting watching just this morning, um I'd never noticed that the the the view at both windows in Monica's apartment, the living the big living room window, and through the smaller kitchen one are completely different than what we're used to. So I'm not sure what episode those change, but I'm going to be keeping an eye out for that now. Definitely.
00:15:25
Speaker
And then things like Joey's outfit and his hair just kill me. I know it was more of the 90s theme. Yeah, I mean, it's not just the leather jacket later on. I think he's wearing a white t-shirt with a leather waistcoat over it. He's got cowboy boots on. and Yeah. I think out of all of them, I think it's Ross and possibly Chandler that don't change too much out of his ways. Obviously, Rachel became a style icon from here onwards. Monica develops quite a lot. Phoebe's still quite kooky throughout. But, um yeah, I mean, Joey does develop quite quickly from whatever the hell this is in this episode to a couple of episodes time. He definitely changes.
00:16:00
Speaker
Yeah, and I always wonder what, it seemed to me that you know Chandler still had the same type of job, but Joey says that he's away a lot. He jumped out at me, it's an odd one. Yeah, he even mentions, I've got to go and process those numbers, because if not, I'm, well, actually nothing probably will happen, but you know they've got to be done. Making his job again seem absolutely pointless, which we know it's not. He's the only one who makes really good money in this entire show. Yeah, he does make a good living.
00:16:28
Speaker
Well, there seems to be this quite a bit of talk in the episode about Monica and Paul the Wine Guy. yeah the one guy first date which I missed his name actually Paul is it the fact that that joke is played twice I think is brilliant yeah just typical Chandler typical Chandler being Chandler there um constantly sort of mocking his friends um very again a very establishing way of showing what kind of friend Chandler's going to be he's the funny guy he's the sarcastic one and they make it very clear from early on in that yeah I think it's brilliantly brilliantly done
00:17:02
Speaker
Unlike Paul's line to get Monica into bed, I mean, what a scumbag that guy is. but Yeah, I mean... you know I was skipping ahead towards the end of the episode there, but Joey calls him out on that and knows from the start that that's exactly what it is. What what what does the waitress say? um He didn't have any snap in his turtle for two years. That's right. before um Again, I mean, for a show mid-90s, probably aimed at probably people above my age, actually, I was 12. I think it was probably aimed more at 15, 16-year-olds rather than people who weren't even in their teens yet, because just the way they've worded that, do you know what I mean? I possibly didn't get that joke at 12. Maybe I did. I'd watched a lot of sitcoms at the time, but it probably wasn't aimed at a 12-year-old to get that joke. That was for a little bit older than me.
00:17:50
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if I would have got either. um Like ah I said at the beginning, I've not done any real deep diving into Friends, but the book that just started, which is called Generation Friends, um brought up the fact that this Paul storyline, they've really wrestled with it in the writing room, because of how Monica might be perceived sleeping with a guy on the first date, you know, the early 90s.
00:18:14
Speaker
I actually saw that um online that ah they actually put out a survey to all audience members after this episode was shot. And all the audience, because NBC were worried that Monica was promiscuous basically from doing that. And um people were worried that Monica would be perceived really badly. So they put an audience and survey out and the audience actually replied saying they didn't care. It was perfectly fine. So NBC went, no, we'll run with this as a pilot. It will be okay.
00:18:41
Speaker
but they were terrified of putting this out as a pilot because of that. um So they they had to do their own research on the night. They'd already written the script, they were already concerned, and that survey luckily came back, so that was allowed to stay in. If not, the episode may have had to be quite differently written to show how Monica acts and pull the wine guy might have to have been axed, I suppose. Such an interesting thing is as we've talked about, and you and will have talked about, and we're listening, ah like I said, the Frasier podcast, you know, there's quite a lot slutshamming of shaming of Ross throughout that. Yeah, I think it's a very interesting time with how women are perceived, um you know, based on their personal lives,
Sitcom Tropes in Friends
00:19:20
Speaker
it's maybe a transition of sorts.
00:19:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's about the only time I really remember Monica being linked in that way. Even Rachel and Phoebe with their dating throughout the whole show of Friends. I don't think we ever really see Sluck shaming as a thing in Friends, not to the degree that we see it in other shows.
00:19:38
Speaker
um there is There is a common theme in a lot of other sitcoms, there's always that friend, be be it male or female, there's always that one friend that's sleeping with people, they're constantly single, they're always out, they're always dating, and that's what causes the problem. In Caroline in the city, it's not Caroline, she's with Del, it's the friend that lives across us so across the hall. With Will and Grace, it's the same sort of thing, one of them. um I think it's Will and Grace actually sort of always competing and dating, aren't they? So they kind of shame each other.
00:20:08
Speaker
So it is a common theme in sitcoms to have that friend that always pops in, lives somewhere else, or just happens to be around. I think in Cheers it was probably always Sam. He was a womanizer, he was a drunk, do you know what I mean? And he was the one dating all the time. I don't know, it's just a common theme I think in sitcoms to have that one friend. And obviously in this episode we see it's Monica, but later on I think it disappears quite well in Friends.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, it does, because I think, I guess it could be Joey. But there's no, yeah you know, it's, I don't know, it's done in quite a light way with Joey. You know, be a, suppose when these, the writers have a formula for a successful sitcom, um they kind of stick to it, you know, they just bring characters to these identities and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, definitely, definitely.
Ross's Post-Divorce Situation
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah. Well, um one of my favorite scenes throughout this whole, life is in this whole episodes were the guys, um Joey and Chandler are helping Ross build the furniture.
00:21:04
Speaker
that's right it had too much but then That's some funny stuff. um i just I like the way that Ross can't feel his legs. you know and I think we've all been there where they finished building the bookshelf and there's an extra piece that just goes into the fake plant.
00:21:17
Speaker
Which, yeah, the fact that Joey just drops it and goes, yep, bookshelf's done. Done. You have no idea where that's come from. Obviously, then you've got you've got the the um itch situation, I guess, that Ross finds beer that Carol used to drink. um And obviously, the emotion is there that she's not coming back, and she used to like this beer. And Joey has to have that talk about ice cream. and There's plenty of flavors of ice cream out there, and you need to go and basically go and grab a spoon and and eat and eat a lot of ice cream to get over the fact that Carol's a lesbian. and So something that come to me when I rewatch it just like I said this morning and I may have missed something Is this Ross moving into a new place? Do you know I presume I
00:21:59
Speaker
Yeah, I presume he's moving into a brand new apartment that he's split with Carol from. Because I think Carol's got a lot more... I don't know. I don't know. Because, yeah, they say he takes the furniture. It's not really spoken about whether that is a brand new apartment or if that's Ross's and Carol's apartment. She's taken all of the furniture, the TV and the stereo. So, yeah, it could make sense either way. Yeah, because i I think I always assumed in my head it was a new place because he was building new furniture. But of course, doing that even if it was still the old one,
00:22:27
Speaker
and Carol took the furniture. But then... No, I think it probably makes more sense that is he's that that was his and Carol's apartment. And then the the thing that sort of sealed it for me was the beer probably wouldn't have been moved,
Joey's Relationship Advice
00:22:40
Speaker
you know. Yeah, hence this was her favourite beer, yeah. Yeah, that was my thought, but I think I'd always assumed until today that then he had moved, but I think with a bit of reflection, perhaps he hadn't.
00:22:51
Speaker
Now I wanted to ask you, I never understood this reference until I Googled it the other day, but Ross makes a joke about does the phrase Billy don't be a hero mean anything to you? And I never understood that, but I thought you might given your musical background.
00:23:05
Speaker
um is is he a song Is it a song from, I want to say Annie, but I'm not sure I'm right there. You know, I just Googled it and it's a song called Billy Don't Be a Hero by somebody called Bo Donaldson and The Haywoods. It was released in 1974. That's 20 years before this was filmed. So I'm not sure where it came from, but it got a big laugh from the studio audience.
00:23:29
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know why I thought that was from a um ah ah musical, but I don't know why. I had no idea. Yeah, it might well be. It was just one of those jokes that I've never understood. um So we'll maybe have to kind of look that up. um But I think I do like the way that, to me, Joey is a really good friend throughout the series, album which is something yeah but I think in this moment in particular. I think it would like to help Ross along.
00:23:56
Speaker
They obviously develop quite a lot. joke Joey's almost a bit the best way to get over someone is get under someone here, um right to to use a Frasier quote there. um Just the way he is that he's basically, don't worry about losing one girl, because there's always another one, do you know what I mean? And that is kind of Joey's way of life, isn't it? That he doesn't date for very long in many different ways in this show. um So I guess we're seeing again, it's an establishing thing that we're seeing that that's how Joey lives his life from one girl to the next.
Ross's Obsession with Marriage
00:24:24
Speaker
Right, yeah, very opposite from Ross. as He just just wants to be married, you know. Yeah, yeah i don't want I don't want to get divorced. I just want to be married again. He doesn't even say he wants to be with someone. He literally just wants to be married, which again, going forward into the series later on is a recurring theme of how many times Ross actually wants to get married and does. Right, yeah, it's such a brilliant arc that continues throughout the whole series. Now, I'm trying to think, have we moved on from that scene?
00:24:52
Speaker
Are we then back in chat in Monica's apartment? Let's think after that. I think so with Rachel sitting on the couch, and I think Phoebe's still in there. um I think so. Oh, no, they they do cut to that point. I do find it interesting, especially in some of these earlier episodes where they play some music over a couple of scenes where Ross says, you know, who am I going to ask? And I can't remember what song is playing there, but then it cuts to Rachel sitting in the window.
00:25:21
Speaker
yeah yeah which i don't know if it's a coincidence or not but much later on in the series she's sitting in the window reminiscing about ross um yeah there's there's a video for her Yeah, yeah, that that's ah that's the on the break ah moment um
Monica's Apartment Inconsistencies
00:25:38
Speaker
in possibly two seasons time. I think it's season three, maybe season four. I think it's season three. and But yeah, I mean, there's a few times I think they call back to that and then in use use Rachel sitting in that sort of window seat in Monica's apartment a few times, but Ross has done something. um it's a nice It's a nice place. I think if you were going to have a thoughtful moment in Monica's apartment,
00:25:59
Speaker
that window seat looking out over the balcony and out of the seat is probably where you're going to choose rather than sitting on the couch and just staring at a TV. Watching the world of Manhattan go by below you. I think I'm pretty idyllic actually. And actually to my knowledge I don't believe either of the girls bedrooms when we see them later on have a window in them.
00:26:18
Speaker
That's a very good point. Again, that's something I've got. It's certainly not on the far wall. I know we don't see the audience's fourth wall side ever, but I presume that would be internal. Yeah, on the right-hand side and the far side, and obviously the other one's internal walls. I don't believe, even if the girls have got a window at all, I presume. Yeah, so that is going to be the best seat in the house. I mean, Monica's actually got all of that. I don't think she's got one in the bathroom either, so she's actually got two windows, one in the kitchen, and that big one on the living room wall.
00:26:49
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose the one beside the big one that they climb in and out of. Yeah, so really, as a massive apartment, it's going to be darker than that, really, isn't it? It's a very good point. It's going to be, yeah, especially on a gloomy a gloomy New York evening, it would be very, very dark. Yeah. I guess that's maybe part of the reason it's purple and you know yellows and bright colours like that. Yeah, that and studio lighting certainly helped. Yeah, absolutely.
Ross and Rachel's Early Dynamics
00:27:16
Speaker
yeah Well, let's see, were kind of I feel like we're kinda getting towards the end of the episode. Now, is Ross out of line for flirting with Rachel this soon after the wedding? I don't think he is. I think he just dips his toe in. He's had a crush on a, I mean, what, are they supposed to be 25, 26 here? Yeah. um Obviously, Rachel's a little bit younger, possibly. I think Ross is probably 25, 26, so maybe Rachel's 23, 24-ish. Right.
00:27:46
Speaker
It's been a bit of an event for her, obviously it's been a bit of an event for Ross as well, um with everything happening for both of them. Both in a vulnerable state. ah don't it' He does flirt, but I mean, the fact is he says, could we go on a date sometime? Could I take you out sometime?
00:28:01
Speaker
I think he wants her to feel wanted, and I think he's he's always had that crush, hasn't he, which we find out much later on. He even admits to I had a really big crush, and I don't know if you knew, and she went, yeah, I knew. Right. um Which I kind of think is quite nice of her. She's quite genuine here. She could say, no, I thought you were a complete nerd, which she did at the time. Right. But she's quite kind to him and says, actually, yeah, I did know. And, you know, when he says, do you want a date? She says, well, yeah, I think we could work that out. do I mean, it seems very receptive to the idea.
00:28:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think, again, she wants, probably at that moment, she's kind of run out on her wedding day, left Mr. Potato Head at the altar. I think the best thing there is another guy saying, do you know what, I really fancy you and I really wish I could take you out sometime without crushing you for 10 years.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's going to make her feel good. The fact that she says yes makes him feel, yes, OK, you're soon to be ex-wives of lesbian. But there is another person out there that is saying, actually, I think you're acceptable. And I think that helped. They both just want to hear that. Do you know what I mean? At that point, whether it goes anywhere or not, they both wanted to hear the other person say, I find you attractive. Yes, I'd like to go out with you some time. And you think, brilliant, you've solved all my issues. What do you think the time frame is between the opening, you know, Rachel coming into Central Park at that moment. Because I guess it took a couple of days, but I didn't really see anything to solidify that timeline in the show. It's hard, yeah. I mean, you don't really see a knot. I thought that the guys went to help Ross in an evening, judging by the fact they're having beers, they're putting together some furniture.
00:29:31
Speaker
um monica goes on the But then Monica goes on the date, and then she goes to bed and smashes the watch. Right. So, yeah, it could be the same day because she does say she's got a ah date with Paul and that's what they talk about. So, I'm getting i'm guessing, yeah, it's same day. Yeah. Which, like I said, that I don't think it's necessarily too early by any stretch, but I do love the way that they both dabble their toes in with being you know a little attracted to each other. I think it was done yeah really really well.
00:30:00
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think it's too much. Like I say, both vulnerable, both single people technically at that time. So, yeah, it's not awful. And and again, they've got history as we find out much later on in several times. they've They've got a lot of history. So, um yeah, I don't think it's that bad. No, I would agree with you. Well, I think we're just about at the end of the the reviewing the episodes. So on that note... That is brand new information!
Episode Trivia and Insights
00:30:25
Speaker
Do you have anything you know about this episode that may be brand new information for our listeners?
00:30:30
Speaker
Well, I can give you two things. um from the internet that I researched specifically about this episode, which I thought were quite interesting. um In this first episode, Phoebe, played by Lisa Kudrow, mentions having a twin sister. So Ursula doesn't just later on appear out of the blue. The full story is Lisa Kudrow previously appeared as a waitress, Ursula, in Mad About You in 1992. This was all just a funny twist thought up by the producer as Lisa continued to appear on that show as well until 1999.
00:31:04
Speaker
So that connects Friends to Mad About You. They're both set in New York. And yes, Phoebe or well, technically Lisa Kudrow plays Ursula the Waitress in Mad About You. And she did it for another five years after this episode aired. And then am I right in saying that Helen Hunt and somebody else from Mad About You made a cameo on Friends?
00:31:22
Speaker
ah Helen Hunt is in Friends at one point, yet she walks in ah into Central Perk. That is not the only crossover because um Caroline from Caroline the City, with the one where the boys lose the baby, and yep that's got Caroline from Caroline the City, Leah Thompson. no that yeah so that Because they're also in New York. Chandler appears in an episode of Caroline in the City at one point, um as himself. Chandler being is in the video store bumps into Caroline and talks. It's a bit strange that he never says don't I remember you from helping me with the child that day. right completely It's completely unconnected, but they are in the same universe.
00:32:00
Speaker
um Seinfeld being in New York is also in the same universe because um I can't think of the guy's name, I think it's Paul um in Mad About You, rents his old apartment to Kramer and at one point actually goes to the apartment to get rid of the sublet and Kramer's there. So Seinfeld, Caroline in the City, Friends, um Mad About You, obviously all in New York, all in the 90s and they all know each other. The only thing that really tips this up is in the London episodes of Friends, Joey watches, cheers.
00:32:29
Speaker
um that's So he kind of admits that Cheers is a sitcom um which is strange because you can kind of connect all these because getting even further into this Cheers actors obviously appear in Frasier and Niles and Daphne appear at the end of an episode of Caroline in the City. They read the newspaper of Caroline in the City so they know of that not being a sitcom so therefore Joey watching Cheers really screws with that.
00:32:57
Speaker
Quite a lot. I've got some YouTube homework to do apparently. Yeah, easily I could go into more of that that. That was probably a bit boring for certain people listening. But yeah, I mean, connecting these sitcoms together is is quite fun in one way. I mean, Will and Grace, Bebe Neuwirth appears at one point in Will and Grace, and they recognize her as Lilith from Frasier. So Will and Grace are in New York, but they don't recognize. They recognize Frasier as a TV show.
00:33:27
Speaker
and so and then of course and The only one that I know that I've seen is Kelsey Grammer in Wings. isn't as as As Frasier, yeah. Frasier, yeah. Well, so for me as as an as the sitcom geek of the 90s that I am, the thing that really connects all of these shows is James Burroughs who directed this pilot episode. Right.
00:33:49
Speaker
He also directed the pilot of, I'll give you a few episodes. I'd love to hear it, yeah. A few shows that he's directed pilots for alone. Dharma and Greg, Caroline and the City, Frasier, Third Rock from the Sun, Cheers, Wings, Taxi, Friends, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, Two Broke Girls, and he he actually directed every single episode, all 246 of Will and Grace.
James Burrows' Sitcom Legacy
00:34:12
Speaker
That's unbelievable. Is he kind of like the pilot guy, like the guy you want to get a show off the ground?
00:34:17
Speaker
and Nearly all of those shows, so like Carole and the City, he did two episodes. One and two. Dharma and Greg, the first two. Third Rock from the Sun, the first two. um Cheers, he did all 236 episodes. It was one of his shows, as in he was kind of behind it. That's where I know his name from. Yeah, with Glenn and, um I can't believe the other guy's name, Charles now, um who created ah Cheers. Obviously, when they went across to Frasier, he did the pilot for Frasier, and he did things like um several other episodes. I think he did, I think it's 32 episodes of Frasier. He did oh only 15 episodes of Friends um and so yeah, 75 of Taxi. The 15 episode of Friends that he did, um he even appears in Friends at one point as a director. I think he's directing something that Joey's in and it turns, the camera turns and James Burroughs is literally not acting as a director, but he's sitting in a director. He's in the director's chair.
00:35:09
Speaker
And ah every time he's ever turned to him, I go, oh, look, that's James Burroughs. He's never credited. They obviously just went, we need someone to lie director and went, I will put James in as a cameo. What a great thing to do. So, yeah, I mean, he he really is the guy that if you want to get a sitcom off the ground.
00:35:24
Speaker
and he And he's just done Frasier, the new two seasons as well. He's done some episodes there. I think he's done four of them. um but He had a lot to play with in in Friends. He had a lot to do with this. I believe he actually had something to do with getting rid of Lisa Kudrow from Frasier. I believe he's one of the ones who said, this doesn't work and sort of put it put it to them to get rid of her. But then obviously, when Friends came about a year later, James Burroughs knew Lisa Kudrow existed and went, hey, I know someone would be a really good Phoebe Buffet.
00:35:51
Speaker
Right, just the right fit. So I get the feeling that's why a lot of these shows cross over because James Burrows knows everyone. Do you know what I mean? To me, he's sitcom royalty. He's got an excellent book. If anyone wants to read it, it's called Directed by James Burrows. It's out and hardback.
00:36:08
Speaker
and I really recommend it. It's got so much detail about his time on Friends, his time on Will & Grace, working on Frasier, all of his Cheers stories. It's like five decades of just TV, sitcom, background. um Highly recommend anyone who wants to read about James Burrow's life getting a book.
00:36:24
Speaker
Well, that's what I'll definitely have to read both Steve and I are committing to reading some more next year. But I suppose it is ah as a separate world, like a sitcom world with these comedy actors. They do tend to know each other. Maybe they come up on stage together or through comedy clubs and um that kind of thing. So I suppose they will know each other. And you're right. it Just because you don't fit this character, you may have the skillset to play a brilliant character in a future sitcom.
00:36:50
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, it's it's very integrated. and I've always found the sitcom world's very integrated. When you look at someone like Eric Lutz, who appeared in one, sort of two episodes of Frasier, he then got cast into Caroline in the City. And when he was casting at Caroline in the City, he did four seasons. And that was because they loved him so much in Frasier that basically, Caroline in the City, it it catapulted his career to do a lot more stuff. um And Caroline in the City, one of the writers, he's David Hyde Pierce's husband.
00:37:17
Speaker
That's fascinating. And then David Hyde Pierce appears in two episodes of Carolina City. So it is all connected. everyone Everyone's working together and it's it's, oh, you can come and do this and come and work on my show and I'll come and work on your show. And yeah, I think it's it's a lovely, big big family in the in the sitcom industry back then.
Sitcom Universes and Crossovers
00:37:36
Speaker
It kind of reminds me, I don't know what the original meme is, but it's the guy kind of in the, you know, the shirt and tie, and he's got all the pins on the board. He looks crazy with all the different spider webby kind of things going everywhere. and Yeah, that's not my house with sitcom stuff on the wall, yeah. Exactly. That's probably on your fourth wall behind this camera. Yeah, that's me, yeah. That's it. Well, I tell you, on that note... Okay, which one of you guys is Gunther Central Park?
00:38:04
Speaker
I thought it would be interesting to look at character of the week, not necessarily an actor, and not necessarily one of the main six, although of course it could be, but I wanted to make sure we we left the door open for other characters that will appear throughout the series. So who would you like to pick for your character of the week from the pilot episode?
00:38:23
Speaker
I'd have to go with Matthew Perry playing Chandler and it's going to be really difficult for me to pick someone else any anywhere any week because I love the character of Chandler. He's probably my favourite character in the show. I love Matthew Perry's delivery. No matter what point of Matthew Perry's life um and what he was going through, I find his performance in this show absolutely flawless. um There's not an episode that Chandler has ever had done.
00:38:49
Speaker
um so and And I think he actually puts on a really good performance in this. He's got some very, very sarcastic lines. He's very easily established in this. I know I said established a lot, but it is a pilot episode. That's what it's here for. yeah so's I honestly believe, yeah, Chandler's my favorite one here. How about you?
00:39:04
Speaker
Yeah, well, again, it's going to be hard not to pick Chandler, but the other character, going through a slightly different lens, I decided to pick Rachel just because of the character's bravery in this episode. You know, she kind of starts off and I think she acknowledges the fact, well, she does, that she's a bit of a spoiled brat and decides to take that leap, um welcoming, you know, be welcome to the real world that sucks, but she's going to love it.
00:39:28
Speaker
well i'm a shoe daddy i'm a shoe and what if i want to be a hat no i don't want need you to buy me a hat i am a hat it's a metaphor you know i mean it's brilliant that delivery with ross went i can see why he didn't get it i love the delivery and the way he just sort of then backs away from the scene his physical physical acting is just Yeah, you definitely see David Schwimmer's potential in this episode as well, the way he's very physical and the way his arms and his hands are very, very emotive. emotive and he He sort of conveys lines without saying them quite often. Yeah, now he's um yeah even his opening high
00:40:07
Speaker
it's just phenomenal to so look at but I love that you instantly see him he goes hi and then Joey with there this guy says hello I want to kill myself right literally like just brilliant absolutely brilliant yeah you're right I love the way they do obviously with reflection take time to sort of establish even yeah Phoebe cleansing the aura of Ross And he's just, you know, all that sort of stuff. Phoebe's very, very kooky in this episode, looking back quickly. um Even when the moniker comes in, give me your feet, she takes her shoes off and and Phoebe's gonna play with her feet. You just think... Right.
00:40:41
Speaker
Is this, I don't know, Phoebe Annoy, I think I'd get onto this later on, but Phoebe's probably my weakest um we's character um to start with. I think she's the one that needs more development from the start. I don't know if we always see that, but out of the six, she starts weak for me. I would agree, and I do wonder if that's tied in to her not being given such a strong backstory as well.
00:41:06
Speaker
Not yet. We find out more about Phoebe in every episode, I think. She's um she's a very complex onion. um You can peel away at several layers to find out. Peel the layers. Peel the onion. Yeah, there's something every episode that Phoebe then brings up. I think if you actually put her life in a timeline it'd be very entertaining.
00:41:25
Speaker
Yeah, a little ah connection. I forgot when ah when we did the brand new information, just a little sort of connection to Phoebe. I didn't realize until today, and it was the voice that that really got me. The barista who's in Central Park um actually ends up coming back later in the show, and she plays Phoebe's co-worker.
00:41:46
Speaker
who Frank, her brother, thinks is a prostitute. She marches him in with his arm twisted behind the back. She's got a yeah its not raspy, but it's a very distinctive voice. She plays one of the baristas and she has one line. but it does She looks like a different person. She has very short hair, but she has that same kind of smoky voice. Again, though, you can get away with it in a pilot. You can put someone in there and then just recast them later on and go, actually, do you know what? We wasted you, but let's give you a call back. As we spoke about ah off the air before we came on to to record this, pilots, for me, ah I can watch pilot episodes over and over again, and I have um of many different shows. I love seeing how a show starts.
00:42:26
Speaker
um I prefer it to a show ending, not because I'm not getting more show, I absolutely love seeing how dirty and gritty the set is, you know what I mean, how things aren't polished, everything's just a little bit raw, the characters aren't that established, you don't know anything about them, I just find all the camera angles are slightly different, um the set lighting is different, um just everything to get picked up. And if if NBC, for example, looked at this and went, this is great, when you next watch the next episode and the third episode and the fourth episode, so many little things change. Even the door number on the girls'
Pilot Episode Evolution
00:43:00
Speaker
apartment changes. i think I think it's something like five in this one. It turns to 20. Because someone basically said, you do know that a fifth floor apartment wouldn't be number five. It's just it's stupid. You need to change that number. Little things like that that they never thought about.
00:43:15
Speaker
um and then suddenly had to change. And like I say, little things like, you know, developments. That's why I love Pilots so so much. Yeah. And like I said, part of the reason for doing this podcast is I wanted to really dive into the show and find all these things because I don't remember what episode it is, but at some point there's another entrance into Central Park where you see people walking in almost beside the couch. Yeah. Yeah. Things like that. And I love these little nuances.
00:43:43
Speaker
um it's very much It's much the same as this being a pilot episode of ah of a podcast. It will be rough around the edges, a little bit raw for this first one. You've probably missed things we want to do. We've we've missed things we want to say. But in the next episode, it'll get better. Yeah, I'm hoping the transition music on Main is very quiet. We'll see how it comes out in the recording. but yeah things Things like that. Like I say, in a pilot episode, you've got to expect it and then you know you work on it as you go along.
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah, listeners, it will get better. And on that note, as this podcast kind of grows, we're hoping to add some more sections such as listener mail. So we'd love for any listeners who are listening to this podcast to get
Listener Engagement and Community
00:44:21
Speaker
in touch. I think the best way to do that right now is going to be through our new Instagram page, which we've just started, ah the purple door podcast. We'd love to build a community around this podcast and then have as many of you guys as involved as we can be.
00:44:36
Speaker
But um see kind of on that note, as we wrap things up, any final thoughts about this pilot episode? um All I can say is welcome to the real podcast about friends. It could suck at the moment, but hopefully you're going to love it. You're going to love it. You're going to love it. Well, on that note, I think we are just about finished. We will come back, of course, hopefully in a week.
00:44:58
Speaker
Um, episode two, the one with the sonogram at the end, I've certainly got some strong feelings about certain characters in this episode. Looking forward to diving into that one. But, um, on that note, thank you guys very much for tuning into the purple door podcast. I've been Alistair. I've been Steve. Thank you guys very much indeed.