Season 1 Rewind

The Summary
This is the season where we get to know all of the friends, where Phoebe finds a thumb in her can of soda, where Joey gets cast as Al Pacino’s butt-double, becomes the poster boy for VD, and goes out with Phoebe’s twin sister, where Chandler gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre, where Ross falls into a grave, gets a monkey named Marcel as a pet, and dates a woman who he needs to “talk dirty” to, where Monica makes a dozen lasagnas for her aunt, and where Rachel convinces Monica to trade identities and has erotic dreams about Joey and Chandler.

The Famous Guest Stars
Christina Pickles as Judy Geller (The One with the Sonogram at the End, The One Where Nana Dies Twice, The One with the Fake Monica
Elliott Gould as Jack Geller (The One with the Sonogram at the End, The One Where Nana Dies Twice, The One with Two Parts
Jill Connick as Jill Goodacre (The One with the Blackout)
Hank Azaria as David (The One with the Monkey)
Morgan Fairchild as Nora Bing (The One with Mrs. Bing)
Fisher Stevens as Roger (The One with the Boobies)
Brenda Vaccaro as Gloria Tribbiani (The One with the Boobies)
Melora Hardin as Celia (The One with the Stoned Guy)
Jon Lovitz as Steve (The One with the Stoned Guy)
Leila Kenzle (The One with Two Parts)
Helen Hunt (The One with Two Parts)
George Clooney (The One with Two Parts)
Noah Wyle (The One with Two Parts)
Beverly Garland as Aunt Iris (The One with All the Poker)
Jennifer Grey as Mindy (The One with the Evil Orthodontist)
Claudia Shear as Fake Monica (The One with the Fake Monica)
Harry Shearer as Dr. Baldaharar (The One with the Fake Monica)
Jonathan Silverman as Dr. Franzblau (The One with the Birth)
Leah Remini as Lydia (The One with the Birth)

The Recurring Guest Stars
Jessica Hecht as Susan (The One with the Sonogram at the End, The One Where Underdog Gets Away, The One with the Dozen Lasagnas, The One with the Candy Hearts, The One with Two Parts, The One with the Birth)
Mitchell Whitfield as Barry (The One with the Sonogram at the End, The One Where the Monkey Gets Away, The One with the Evil Orthodontist)
Maggie Wheeler as Janice (The One with the East German Laundry Detergent, The One with the Monkey, The One with the Candy Hearts
June Gable as Estelle (The One with the Butt
Larry Hankin as Mr. Heckles (The One with the Blackout, The One with Two Parts
Cosimo Fusco as Paolo (The One with the Blackout, The One with Mrs. Bing, The One with the Dozen Lasagnas
Jane Sibbett as Carol (The One Where Underdog Gets Away, The One with the Dozen Lasagnas, The One with the Candy Hearts, The One with Two Parts, The One with the Birth)
Lauren Tom as Julie (The One Where Rachel Finds Out)

The Average Ratings
Creativity- 8.74
Humor- 8.67
Emotion- 8.51
Fun- 8.67
Overall- 8.75

Chandler- 8.48
Joey- 8.37
Monica- 8.73
Phoebe- 8.84
Rachel- 8.64
Ross- 8.78

The Best Best Lines
Ross (trying to cheer up Rachel): No, Aruba, this time of year? Talk about your... big lizards.

Ross (to his ex-wife, Carol): So what's new? Still...
Carol: A lesbian?
Ross: Well... (Pause) you never know.

Judy: Well, at least she had a chance to leave a man at the alter.
Monica: What's that supposed to mean?
Judy: Nothing. It's just an expression...

Susan: What's wrong with Helen?
Ross: Helen Geller? I don't think so...

Rachel: I should really get back to work.
Phoebe: Yeah... otherwise someone might get what they actually ordered.

Monica: Phoebe, do you have a plan?
Phoebe: I don't even have a 'pl'...

Phoebe (when she sees Rachel's clothes are all pink): What a neat idea! All your clothes match... I'm gonna do this.

Phoebe (to Rachel's anxious behavior): What's the matter? Why so scrunchy?

Ross: Look, the role of Man #3 will not be played by Vic Shapiro. Well, we came on the wrong night.

Phoebe: I don't know... the exclamation point in the title scares me. It's not just 'Freud', it's 'Freud!'

Ross (discussing Monica's obsessive cleanliness): Oh, come on, when we were kids, yours was the only Raggedy Ann doll that was raggedy!

Joey: My weirdest place would have to be: the woman's room on the second floor of the New York City Public Library.
Monica: Oh my god! What were you doing in a library?!

Judy: What's with your hair? What's different?
Monica: Nothing.
Judy: Oh... maybe that's it.

Phoebe (at the funeral): God, what a great day. (Everyone looks at her) What? Weather-wise!

Ross: I'm off to Carol's.
Phoebe: Ooh, ooh! Why don't we invite her?
Ross: Ooh, ooh! Because she's my ex-wife and will probably want to bring her "Ooh, ooh!" lesbian life partner.

Ross (while looking through Carol and Susan's bookshelf): Wow, you guys sure have a lot of books about being a lesbian.
Susan: Well, you know, you have to take a course. Otherwise they don't let you do it.

Ross (talking about Marcel the monkey): My friend Bethel rescued him from a lab.
Phoebe: That is so cruel! Why, why would a parent name their child Bethel?

Chandler: I've got an idea! Dinner.
Ross: It's perfect! We'll put it between lunch and breakfast.

Joey: I'll have you know that Gloria Tribbiani was a handsome woman in her day. You think it's easy giving birth to seven children?
Ross: (Pause) Okay, I think we're getting into a weird area.

Chandler (when he finds out Joey knew about Ross and his mom's kiss): You knew about this?
Joey: You know, knowledge is a tricky thing...

Phoebe: It's nothing... I'm just... out of sorts.
Chandler: Well, you can use some of my sorts. I rarely use them.

Ross (after he and Monica beat Joey and Chandler at foosball): Well... looks like we kicked your butts.
Joey: No, no... she kicked our butts. You could be on the Olympic standing-there team.

Rachel: Okay, can we change the subject please?
Phoebe: Yeah. These are not her boobies, they are her breasts.
Rachel: Okay, Pheebs, I was hoping for more of a change...
Monica: You know, I always liked "bazoombas". It gives them a Latin spin.

Roger (to Chandler, while laughing): You're... funny... (laughter). He's so funny. Of course, I wouldn't want to be there when the laughter stops.

Janice: Something deep in your soul calls out to me like a foghorn! JAA-NICE! JAA-NICE! And then you push me away, you pull me back! JAA-NICE! You want me. You need me. You... can't live without me. And you know it! You just don't know you know it.

Chandler: Ms. Tedlock... you're looking lovely today. May I say that is a very flattering sleeve length on you.

Ross (watching log throwing on TV): You watch something like this and you realize... why evolution is just a theory.

Chandler: I don't have a dream!
Ross: Ah, the lesser known I don't have a dream speech.

Monica: You see... Wendy's more of a... professional waitress.
Rachel: Oh, I see, yes, and I've sort of been maintaining by amateur status so I can waitress in the Olympics!
Chandler: You know... I don't mean to brag, but I waited tables at Innsbruck in '76. Took home a bronze.

Joey: Hey, Pheebs, guess who we saw today?
Phoebe: Ooh! Ooh! Fun! Ooh... Liam Neeson!
Joey: No.
Phoebe: Morley Safer! The woman who cuts my hair!

Phoebe (playing Scrabble): If crunchy is a word, why isn't scrunchy?
Chandler: Okay, well I'm using the same argument for 'fligament'.
Monica: He can get really competitive.
Phoebe snickers.
Monica: What?
Phoebe: Hello, kettle? Yeah, this is Monica. You're black.

Rachel: Guys, guess what, guess what, guess what?!?
Chandler: Okay, uh, the fifth dentist caved and now they're all recommending Trident?

Joey (looking at Monica's old yearbook picture when she was in The Sound of Music): Whoa, big nun.
Chandler: Yeah, I thought that was an Alp.

Monica: Rachel! What's going on? Isn't this the same Barry who you left at the altar?
Joey: Duh! Where've you been?!

Barry (trying to get Mindy back): We'll go back to Aruba...
Rachel: What is it with you and Aruba? I mean, do you have like a deal with the airlines?

Joey: All right, I'll give you this... Mr. Peanut is a better dresser, I mean, he's got the monocle, he's got the top hat...
Phoebe: You know he's gay?
Ross: I just want to clarify this... are you outing Mr. Peanut?

Ross: You'd think you guys would be just a little more understanding, you know?
Phoebe: I know... but we're not.

Ross: It's my new beeper.
Joey: What the hell does a paleontologist need a beeper for?
Monica: Is it like for... dinosaur emergencies? 'Help, come quick, they're still extinct!'

Monica: What? I can't pass for twenty-two?
Phoebe: Well... maybe twenty-five, twenty-six.
Monica: I am twenty-six.
Phoebe: There you go!

Doctor: How are you doing with the contractions?
Carol: Oh, I love them! Each one's like a little party in my uterus!

Susan (after Phoebe has been lifted into a vent to escape from the locked room): What d'you see?
Phoebe: Well, Susan, I see what appears to be a dark vent. Yes, it is in fact a dark vent.

Joey: I may have a couple beers in me already, but... I love you, man.
Chandler: I'm still on my first, so, uh... I just think you're nice.

Rachel (after unwrapping Oh the Places You'll Go, Joey's gift): ...it's a book!
Phoebe: Oh!! Dr. Seuss!!
Joey (sincerely): That book got me through some tough times.

Monica: You know what's great? That you already know everything about him! That'd be like starting on the fifteenth date.
Phoebe: But, you know... it'd be like starting on the fifteenth date.
Monica: Another good point.

The Classic Moments
Rachel comes running in from the pouring rain in a wedding gown. (The Pilot)
Ross gets hit by a hockey puck. (The One with George Stephanopoulos)
Ross and Rachel’s first “date” at the Laundromat (The One with the East German Laundry Detergent)
Chandler breaks up with Janice for the first time. (The One with the East German Laundry Detergent)
Chandler is trapped in an ATM vestibule with a Victoria’s Secret model. (The One with the Blackout)
A cat jumps on Ross as he tries to ask Rachel out. (The One with the Blackout)
Ross kisses his dead Nana and she comes back to life momentarily. (The One Where Nana Dies Twice)
Ross falls into an empty grave. (The One Where Nana Dies Twice)
Ross and Chandler’s mom kiss. (The One with Mrs. Bing)
Ross finds out he’s having a son. (The One with the Dozen Lasagnas)
Joey discovers his father is having an affair. (The One with the Boobies)
Chandler’s blind date arranged by Joey turns out to be Janice. (The One with the Candy Hearts)
Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica light the room on fire during their “boyfriend bonfire” (The One with the Candy Hearts)
Ross and Carol kiss (The One with the Candy Hearts)
Janice’s mini-monologue to Chandler (The One with the Candy Hearts)
Jon Lovitz’s turn as a stoned restaurateur (The One with the Stoned Guy)
Marcel escapes while Rachel is babysitting him (The One Where the Monkey Gets Away)
Monica stalks the woman who stole her credit card (The One with the Fake Monica)
Carol delivers the baby (The One with the Birth)
Chandler lets it slip that Ross is in love with Rachel (The One Where Rachel Finds Out)
Rachel goes to catch Ross at the airport, but is too late (The One Where Rachel Finds Out)

The Verdict
This was a stunning first season that ended in an apt yet heartbreaking way. As you can see from the ‘Best Lines’ and ‘Classic Moments’ sections, this season was not short on great humor. This was a terrific opening season, one of the best I’ve ever seen, but the great thing is that the following seasons do not slow down or get much worse. This is just the beginning of a fantastic ten-year run, dotted by the abiding love of Ross and Rachel. This show does not skimp on either humor or heart, and for that reason, I will keep coming back excitedly for every single episode still to come.

Episode 1.24- The One Where Rachel Finds Out

The TV.com Summary
This is the one where Joey's new girlfriend wants to go to bed with him, but Joey's participation in a fertility study is preventing this and during Rachel's birthday party, Chandler accidentally lets it slip that Ross is in love with her.

The Guest Stars
special guest star
Lauren Tom as Julie
guest starring
Corinne Bohrer as Melanie
Tommy Blaze as Carl

The Ratings
Creativity- 8.9
Humor- 8.9
Emotion- 9.1
Fun- 8.7
Overall- 9.0

Chandler- 8.8 (Very funny as he anxiously tries to manipulate Rachel after spilling the beans)
Joey- 8.6 (Humorous, but his main plotline was not that funny, he shone in a smaller role throughout the episode)
Monica- 8.7 (Hilariously crazy, even as Rachel tries to keep Monica's crazy at bay)
Phoebe- 8.6 (Unfortunately, Phoebe had very little to do in this episode, but was funny as always in what she was given)
Rachel- 9.4 (Ending the season with a knockout performance, Rachel is at once breathlessly in love and hopelessly confused, maintaining her typical hilarious vulnerability throughout)
Ross- 8.8 (Playing morose with style and grace, Ross rocked in the parts of the episode he was in, but perhaps his greatest feat was off the screen, when his present stunned and took away Rachel's breath)

The Best Lines
Joey: I'm helping out down at NYU Med with some research.
Ross: Oh, what kind of research?
Joey: Just, you know, science.
Ross: Science. Yeah... I think I've heard of that.
Joey: It's a fertility study.
Monica: Oh.. Joey. Please tell me you're only donating your time.
Joey: Actually, a little bit more than that...

Monica: She's out having drinks with Carl.
Ross: Oh. Hey, who's Carl?
Monica: You know that guy she met at the coffeehouse!
Phoebe: Well, see, there's this guy that she met...
Ross: ...at the coffeehouse? Right.
Phoebe: So you do know who he is!

Ross: I have to go to China.
Joey: The country?
Ross: No, no, this big pile of dishes in my mom's breakfront.

Joey: Go to China. Eat Chinese food.
Chandler: Of course, there, they just call it food.

Joey: I may have a couple beers in me already, but... I love you, man.
Chandler: I'm still on my first, so, uh... I just think you're nice.

Rachel (after unwrapping Oh the Places You'll Go, Joey's gift): ...it's a book!
Phoebe: Oh!! Dr. Seuss!!
Joey (sincerely): That book got me through some tough times.

Monica: You know what's great? That you already know everything about him! That'd be like starting on the fifteenth date.
Phoebe: But, you know... it'd be like starting on the fifteenth date.
Monica: Another good point.

The Moments
Chandler lets it slip that Ross is in love with Rachel.
Rachel goes to catch Ross at the airport, but she is too late.
Ross haunts Rachel on her date with Carl.

The Romances
Joey is dating Melanie, but he is participating in a fertility study and is unable to have sex with her.
Rachel finds out that Ross is in love with her, and she debates whether or not to do something about it.
Rachel is dating Carl, but leaves to pick up Ross from the airport, so Monica takes Carl.
Ross comes back from China with a girl named Julie.

The Verdict
Excellent, definitely a best of Friends, and an amazing season finale that would pave the way for many more amazing, and more shocking, season finales to come. This episode, filled to bursting with heart and humor, epitomizes what Friends can do when it's in top form. It makes you become helplessly invested in the lives of the people you are watching onscreen as you enjoy their ups and suffer their downs. It makes you become breathlessly wrapped up in every moment of the show; it excites you when something good happens, only to crush you moments later. All the while, it consistently keeps up the humor. This is a show with a beating heart, not like the mechanized sitcoms of the noughties. It'll thrill you and make you fall onto the floor with laughter just as quickly as it will break your heart. And this episode really slipped in and out of both with brilliant efficiency. When Chandler let it slip that Ross loves Rachel, done in a subtle and clever manner, I found my breath taken away. Welcome to Friends. If you had any questions at the end of the first season about whether or not you would return for a second, all of those questions were wiped away. This is emotional comedy as it was meant to be, and there is no doubting that these Friends are forever.

CERTIFIED BEST OF 'FRIENDS'

Episode 1.23- The One with the Birth

The TV.com Summary
This is the one where Monica's biological clock ticks away like a time bomb, as Carol goes into labor, Ross and Susan can't stop bickering over who gets to help Carol more, so Phoebe drags both of them into a closet to settle their differences - but all three end up getting locked in just as Carol's about to give birth to the baby, and Rachel flirts with an OB/GYN who has a love-hate relationship with women's private parts.

The Guest Stars
special guest star
Jonathan Silverman as Dr. Franzblau
guest starring
Jane Sibbett as Carol
Jessica Hecht as Susan
Leah Remini as Lydia
June Gable as Nurse

The Ratings
Creativity- 8.6
Humor- 8.7
Emotion- 8.9
Fun- 8.5
Overall- 8.8

Chandler- 8.7 (Very funny in the moments he had, although he didn't do that much, and his attempts to be sweet to Monica were very charming)
Joey- 8.7 (He also tapped into his sweet, funny side with the bond he formed with the pregnant Lydia)
Monica- 8.6 (Funny-neurotic-sweet in her role as the budding aunt, and she would've had a higher rating if she'd had more to do in the episode)
Phoebe- 8.8 (Great pivotal small role in this episode, as the peacemaker and as the one who, momentarily, brought Ross and Susan close by hitting them with a dose of reality)
Rachel- 8.3 (Shallow Rachel came out, and while she managed to be sweet and charming throughout, I didn't particularly like it)
Ross- 8.9 (The emotion and empathy he brought to his role as a new father were very touching, but I didn't find myself incredibly moved)

The Best Lines
Monica (to Phoebe, after she enters the hospital with a guitar): What's with the guitar?
Phoebe: Well I just thought we might be here for a while, so you know... things might get musical!

Doctor: How are you doing with the contractions?
Carol: Oh, I love them! Each one's like a little party in my uterus!

Monica (sees a baby being wheeled by): I want a baby!
Chandler (sleeping on her shoulder): Not tonight, honey, I got an early day tomorrow.
Monica: Come on, get up, let's get some coffee.
Chandler: Oh, okay, because we never do that.

Phoebe (addressing Susan and Ross, who have been fighting): My God, you guys, I don't believe you! There are children coming into the world in this very building and your "negative fighting noises" are not the first things they should be hearing!

Susan: You're the baby's father!! And who am I? There's Father's Day, there's Mother's Day, there's no Lesbian Lover Day!
Ross: Every day is lesbian lover day!

Susan (after Phoebe has been lifted into a vent to escape from the locked room): What d'you see?
Phoebe: Well, Susan, I see what appears to be a dark vent. Yes, it is in fact a dark vent.

Carol (after she just delivered the baby): What does he look like?
Ross: Kind of like my Uncle Ed covered in Jell-O.

Phoebe (talking about the baby): Aww, Susan, he looks just like you.

Rachel: I can't believe one of us has one of these.
Chandle: I know. I still am one of these.

Chandler (looking at Ben in the crib): He doesn't do much, does he?
Ross: Nope. This is pretty much it.

The Moments
Joey befriends a lady basketball fan who is delivering a baby.
Ross, Susan, and Phoebe get stuck in a closet.
Carol delivers the baby.
Ben.

The Romances
Rachel flirts up the doctor delivering Carol's baby.
A Chandler-Monica relationship is hinted at for the very first time.

The Verdict
Another great episode by the Friends crew, as this one was packed full with rapid humor and, of course, due to the subject matter of this episode, heartfelt emotion. However, it was hard to avoid cliche. And cliche isn't always a bad thing- I'm just not used to it from Friends. And, by all means, they tried their best to avoid a lot of cliches that could come with such a "birth" episode. Also, a shallow, pandering Rachel and a "nervous about whether or not I'm ever going to have a baby" Monica were not prime examples of how great those two characters can be. But, regardless of the shortcomings, a great episode, and I'm looking forward to how the writers close out the freshman season.

Episode 1.22- The One with the Ick Factor

The TV.com Summary
This is the one where, after losing his virginity to her, Monica's boyfriend Young Ethan reveals that he's a high school senior, Rachel has erotic dreams about Joey and Chandler, making Ross both disgusted and envious, and when Phoebe temps as Chandler's secretary, she finds out that no one at work likes him anymore.

The Guest Stars
Stan Kirsch as Ethan

The Ratings
Creativity- 8.5
Humor- 8.6
Emotion- 8.7
Fun- 8.6
Overall- 8.6

Chandler- 8.5 (Funny while trying to be liked by his co-workers, but not as funny as Chandler Bing can be)
Joey- 8.3 (Did he do anything in this episode? I guess he was funny...)
Monica- 8.8 (Great and hilarious throughout her relationship with Ethan, and it came to a high note when she pronounced it 'icky')
Phoebe- 8.7 (Quite funny as a temp at Chandler's office, where she discovers that none of his employees like him)
Rachel- 8.8 (Emotional and quiet at points, ebullient and hysterical at others, she demonstrates her range beautifully without having a major storyline)
Ross- 8.9 (Hilarious throughout the episode, but puts on the emotional hat genuinely at the end when he discovers he's having a baby, for real)

The Best Lines
Phoebe: Can you see me operating a drill press?
Joey: I don't know... what are you wearing?

Phoebe: I could be a secretary!
Chandler: Well, Pheebs, I don't know if it's your thing because it involves a lot of... being normal.

Ross: It's my new beeper.
Joey: What the hell does a paleontologist need a beeper for?
Monica: Is it like for... dinosaur emergencies? 'Help, come quick, they're still extinct!'

Monica: What? I can't pass for twenty-two?
Phoebe: Well... maybe twenty-five, twenty-six.
Monica: I am twenty-six.
Phoebe: There you go!

Joey: What about Andre?
Ross: Oh, well, this morning he got a call from what I think is our cousin Nathan, and frankly, it was a little more than I needed to know.

Rachel (to Ross and Joey, after Ethan walks into the coffee shop to talk to Monica): Hey! Did you guys check out the new hand dryers in the bathroom?
Ross: I thought that was just a rumor!

The Moments
Phoebe goes to work for Chandler, and finds out nobody likes him.
Ross keeps getting calls on his 'baby beeper' for a male escort service.
Monica finds out her date is not a senior in college, but a senior in high school.
Rachel has sexual dreams about Chandler and Joey, and finally, Ross.
Ross finally gets beeped that he's having a baby.

The Romances
Monica dates Young Ethan, and she takes away his virginity only to learn he's younger than he said.

The Verdict
A good episode, solid and well-rounded, but nothing stood out. There were funny plotlines, nothing hysterical, funny performances, emotional moments, but again, nothing stood out. None of the characters had a breakout episode, and though the humor was consistent, it wasn't gut-busting. This episode did end with a subtly touching scene between Ross and Rachel, just as he was whisked away by the birth of his child. That promises the always hilarious Carol and Susan in the next episode, which, as the season gears up for its close, should hopefully deliver. Maybe Episode 22 is kind of a dead spot, because the story seemed to reek of 'we didn't exactly know what to do.'