Friends S7-16 - my wish come true

The sweeps score four out of four!

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

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716 "TOW the Truth About London"

With Monica at work, Ross asks Rachel to mind Ben for an hour. She's a bit scared, but Ross tells her that she merely has to entertain the boy, and keep him alive. But after only 7 minutes Rachel has run out of ideas and is just as bored as Ben - when she reminisces how she looked after him as a baby since she was his daddy's girlfriend, and so he points out that she is not any more, because they were on a break!

Rashly, Rachel starts telling the boy about the tricks she & her sisters used to play on each other, and since he's fascinated she moves onto the good stuff, including how to ink the edge of a coin then bet the victim they can't roll it down their face. Much later, Ross comes to complain to Rachel about teaching practical jokes to his son, but to her surprise it's about cling film stretched across the toilet bowl, not the ink line running from his forehead down to his chin!

Ross declares he hates practical jokes because they're mean & stupid, so she visits Carol who is blissfully unaware she has an ink line down her face. While his mother prepares coffee, Rachel tries to make Ben stop the pranks, but she only makes him worse & teaches him two new swear words.

Rachel turns her charm up to maximum to persuade Ben to behave, and even convinces him that she & his daddy were on a break, when Ross turns up angry that he'd had a line down his face all day - while Carol says that practical jokes are funny until he tells her that she has a line too.

Since Ross insists that he's hated practical jokes ever since he was humiliated at school, Rachel offers to go back to being boring again, except Ross (he's so sweet these days) backs down & asks her to carry on being fun, so Rachel escapes just as Ben starts swearing again.

Ross brings Ben to Rachel's apartment and asks her to look after the child once more. She's happy to oblige, but as Ross exits she notices a POOP notice on his back. Rachel has learnt her lesson so she removes it, but to her alarm the big guy is furious & Ben stupidly cheeks him, so in a rage he tries to grab the little boy, and Rachel fears the worst as Ross chases him out into the hallway & up the staircase...

Rachel screams & screams as Ross slips & falls down the stairs smashing his head into the floor, and she spins in hysterical terror as Ross lies dead before her - but after a moment she sees the body is a dummy, then Ross & Ben appear, laughing at her discomfort while doing a high five.

                             ---o0o---

Chandler & Monica can't find a minister they approve of, but Phoebe has heard you can be legally ordained on the internet - yet before she can offer herself, Joey grabs the idea. Chandler won't hear of it, but after more fruitless searching Joey promises to do a good job, it would mean a lot to him, and Monica likes the idea, so Chandler gives his permission.

Meanwhile, Phoebe gets a horrible headache, and none of her alternative therapies have worked, so in desperation she accepts a couple of pills from Monica. Phoebe is delighted that her headache goes away, until she finds the list of possible side-effects in the packet, and she's shocked to realise that Monica has fed her Extra Strong Death Capsules.

As soon as Joey receives his certificate he starts work on his sermon, which consists of endless permutations of having, giving, sharing, and receiving love. Ignoring Phoebe who is imagining she has every possible symptom, Monica objects to Joey's sermon, so Chandler suggests he tells a romantic story about them instead, and while Phoebe's temper gradually worsens, Joey asks Chandler & Monica how exactly they got together in London - which is something I've always wanted to know.

I held my breath as Monica repeated what we already knew from 424 "TOW Ross's Wedding (part 2)", and Chandler added that after consoling Monica, she was so drunk that like a perfect gentleman he took her to her hotel room to say goodnight - then I let out a cheer as "Rule Britannia" played, a red double-decker bus crossed Westminster Bridge, and amazingly we were back in London at the end of Season Four!!!

The night before Ross was to marry Emily, Chandler was exercising before bedtime (one pushup) when Monica came, still boozing. She asked if Joey was there but he'd gone off with the other bridesmaid, and when Chandler told her to let the resentment go since at the dinner she had been the most beautiful woman in the room, Monica was so overcome by lust that she grabbed Chandler and started kissing him passionately.

Alarmed, Chandler asked if they were making out, so she replied that she was drunk enough to know she wanted to do this, yet not so drunk that he need feel any guilt about taking advantage! This was music to Chandler's ears. As they resumed Monica realised it was weird that it wasn't weird, and she was delighted to discover that Chandler was a really good kisser!

The pair dived under the bed covers to strip off, and once naked they both liked what they saw - except Chandler feared that their friendship was ruined. However, Monica merely informed him that they'd never been that close anyway, and they set to it.

Just then they were interrupted by Joey returning for some condoms, so Monica dived under the bed covers, thus back in the present day Joey is relieved to learn that Chandler had a good reason for acting peculiar.

But now Joey realises how close he came to preventing them getting together, he declares that Chandler & Monica were meant to be - and Phoebe, still fuming about being poisoned, spitefully reveals that it was not Chandler who Monica intended to hook up with that night!

Chandler reels as Monica pleads that she was really depressed & really drunk & just looking for stupid meaningless sex, so when she went to his hotel room that night, she was actually looking for Joey...

Chandler is beside himself with anger, while Monica is not best pleased with her friends. She reminds him that it was him she fell in love with, but he is disgusted that on the most romantic night of his life he was the second choice. Grimly, he tells Joey to forget about performing the ceremony, and slopes off leaving Monica disappointed with Phoebe & Joey.

Joey goes after his distraught friend, but Chandler's bitter that Monica wanted Joey first; so Joey insists that would have lasted half an hour, while Monica wants Chandler for the rest of her life - they are perfect for each other, the whole gang looks at them & sees them together & it fits, and they just know it's going to last forever. Chandler is touched by his sincerity, and tells him to use those exact words in the ceremony, but all Joey can remember is having, giving, sharing, & receiving!

Monica finally convinces Chandler that he over-reacted, but Phoebe can't let it go, asking what if Monica & Joey had hooked up - so in a splendid fantasy sequence we see a lovely Mrs.Tribbiani setting out nine plates for dinner when a very fat Joey enters. Monica gamely helps her husband sit down & move his huge bulk near to the table, and as he forks up his first lump of fried stuff with cheese, he asks it "how you doin'"!

                             ---o0o---

Sneaky little episode, this. For quite a while it's one delightful R&R story, with Aniston blazing away, Sprouse doing jolly well for his age, and Schwimmer giving me a chill - badly let down by two lame efforts about a headache & a sermon.

But suddenly weak support became main feature as its two halves came together, providing the motivation for one of the flashback stories I have most wanted to see, topped off by an smart little fantasy. It's a pity to pick one out of such a tight ensemble, but of the four it has to be LeBlanc for Joey's charming speech of reassurance to his best friend.

Wonderful wonderful stuff - and not so little actually, for this was the longest ever episode upon first airing, making full use of its extra 7� minutes to provide us with rich entertainment. Congratulations to the director, David Schwimmer.

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Romance magazines? That's such a delightful euphemism, but was Ross inspired by Zelda & the vicar?

Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"? Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"?? Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"??? Who does Ross talk about when he's alone with Ben?

Ross might have added another piece of advice, don't bang the boy's head (see 308 "TOW the Giant Poking Device")

Why isn't Ben allowed to have soda, and what's a Virgin Margarita?

"We were on a break" is the longest-running joke in the show, so it may come as a surprise that this line was originally said by Rachel, in 316 "TOT Morning After". Other episodes include 317/401/413/424/515/605/615.

When Ben says that sharing is good, what does Rachel mean when she suggests that he's one of those?

What is Seran Wrap? I'm assuming it's what we Brits call "cling film", thin plastic sheeting that exploits static cling to keep food fresh & paint brushes flexible. Is that right?

Since Rachel grew up in an all-girl household, how did she learn about magical force fields over the toilet bowl?

It was ironic to see Ross complain about Rachel's practical jokes while he had a line inked on his face, since it was he who drew on her face in 523 "TOI Vegas (part 1)".

Why is it worse to pee on bare feet? Urine is perfectly harmless, and it's much easier to wash your feet than your shoes...

This is the first we have seen of Carol this season, and Susan has only appeared twice since October 1996. If Jessica Hecht is unavailable, will there be a story where Susan leaves Carol, who wants to go back to Ross?

There were a few signs of cold weather, but none that it was the depths of winter: some people had their coats with them; but Rachel wore her little blue scarf only to be fashionable; and although Ben was wearing gloves, he kept them on while he peed, so they must have been new.

Rachel's chemistry with Ben was very good, just as she is with Joey, Chandler, Phoebe & Ross - so why was there no spark with Tag? I omit Monica since she hasn't had a duet with Rachel for nearly two years.

It was nice to see a last-name test where we know the answer (Willick) unlike Gunther Central-Perk.

Carol was an awful long time making that coffee, wasn't she? What was she up to in the kitchen? Throwing up? When she finally returned with the two mugs, you could just see that Jane Sibbett was pregnant, then if you return to the earlier scene you can see her hiding it.

We learnt that Ross was in high school while Rachel was in junior high, so he is much older than she is.

Wasn't the student correct? Ross did go all day without washing his face, didn't he? How much time elapsed between Rachel minding Ben & visiting Carol, and then to the final scene?

Okay, so be honest - did you see the revenge joke coming?

How fast did you realise that the dummy was meant to be a dummy, since if Ross actually did fall then David Schwimmer wouldn't?

Like the fans who were either SMUG or AGHAST at the ending to 625 "TOW the Proposal (part 2)", were you fooled long enough by Ross's anger to derive maximum enjoyment from the surprise?

Does anyone have the URL for becoming ordained on the internet?

It was so cute to hear Monica refer to her breasts as "The Ladies". By their sixth date Paolo had already named both of Rachel's breasts, but where have I heard of a pair being called "Simon & Garfunkel"?

Note that Chandler might consult with Monica, but it's only when he gives or refuses permission that the decision is made.

Anyone who doubts that Monica will make a good mother should note how she instantly started clucking over a sick Phoebe.

Was that drug Excedrin PM, as in 706 "TOW the Nap Partners"? At the end Phoebe felt a temporary euphoria, but what about drowsiness?

Was the list of possible side effects authentic? And if so, was one of the writers inspired to create this story after noticing that headaches were included?

Did you like Joey's HGSR sermon? So much so that you started saying the words along with him?

How accurately does the 2001 Monica resemble the 1998 Monica? I know she wears a different dress, but that was after changing in her room.

Monica being turned on by Chandler telling her she's the most beautiful woman in the room worked on the same principle as two hundred people looking at her in a clean white dress in 701 "TOW Monica's Thunder".

When the 1998 Chandler said he had kissed over four women, he was being a bit hard on himself, even if over 4 does include 11 - Janice, Aurora, Nina, Jade, Susie, Mary-Angela, Marie-Theresa, Ginger, Joanna, Kathy, and Marjorie.

The box of condoms was a reference to a moment cut from 423 "TOW Ross's Wedding (part 1)", but which may be found on the Director's Cut...

CHANDLER: Six-hour trip to London. That's a lot of Monica. JOEY: What do you got there? CHANDLER: Condoms, dude! JOEY: (Looking at the box) how come the writing is in Spanish? CHANDLER: Don't read my condoms!

Chandler was offended that Monica came looking for meaningless sex, but isn't the whole point that she didn't find it, but a meaningful relationship instead?

For most of this season, Monica has been fretting about leaving Joey alone with the food, and now we saw what would happen if she gave him as much as he wanted.

"How you doin'" is the second longest-running joke in the show, since Joey didn't say it with the proper intonation until 413 "TOW Rachel's Crush", where Rachel said it even better. But the first people to say those words were Susan Bunch in 211 "TOW the Lesbian Wedding", and Susie Moss in "213 TOA the Superbowl (part 2)".

                             ---o0o---

This was the last episode of the February sweeps, and for the first time ever I loved all four episodes. Thus it is interesting to look at who wrote them...

713 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones 714 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Vanessa McCarthy 715 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen 716 Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones and Zachary Rosenblatt

..just look at the same four names that keep cropping up, which is most unusual. It seems that Bilsing/Plummer/Buckner/Jones deserve an awful lot of credit. Meanwhile, there have been some complaints that the supersized episodes were not much bigger than normal, and one critic even complained that this episode ran short! This was so not so...

S7-12 S7-13 S7-14 S7-15 S7-16

        Teaser    1:45     1:49     2:42     3:24     2:40
        Act 1    11:07     9:00     6:11     6:02     8:55
        Act 2     8:17     9:04     7:02    10:21     8:56
        Act 3     0:00     6:53     8:20     7:51     8:04
        Tag       0:38     0:34     0:30     0:24     0:34

Total 21:47 27:20 24:45 28:02 29:09

Slot 30 40 40 40 40

Percent 73 68 62 70 73

Times given for the tags of S7-14 & S7-15 cover the end titles only. The S7-14 tag was a promo for another show, so when shown in Europe it could be something new, or it could be the last scene of the third act, in which case the total time will become 24:15 which will easily fit a normal slot. The S7-15 tag was the beginning of the blooper show (whose three parts were 9:14/6:32/1:22) so in Europe the show might have the lost tag (Ross & Phoebe duetting on bagpipes & guitar), or the total time might become 28:35 which is less of a squeeze for the slot.

No spoilers PLEASE from anyone who has already seen ep...

..well, just no spoilers please!

Tennant Stuart

I kinda liked those storylines :) They didn't take up much time, so they were just cute little laughs.

Maybe I'm biased, but Chandler, Chandler, Chandler! heh.. But I adored Joey's speech too.

Why? Because those are romance *novels*?

Um.. maybe he just got them mixed up? :)

Margarita without alcohol. Probably much better tasting. ::gags at thought of alcohol::

Did she really?

I assumed it meant "Oh, you're one of those kids who *shares*" Whereas she most likely was not. :)

Uh.. I guess? Food fresh, yes. I don't know about the paint thing, but yeah, I guess its the same thing.

Well, I imagine sitting on it wouldn't be much fun either. ;)

All humans are hypocritics. :)

'Cause.. its gross.. LOL

Doubtful, but it'd be cool :D And I miss Susan and Carol stories..

Its still cold here in California, so I don't know. Not that you asked a question.. lol

I don't notice chemistry. All I know is that everyone is great with everyone else on the show :) And Cole is adorable. And I don't know if you'll hate me for this, but in an upcoming episode, Monica and Joey finally get a story together again. I remember how you were saying they've only had like one, right? Please don't yell at me :) Its not really spoiler-y..

No.. he could have been in 10th grade while she was in 8th. Did they say the words 'Junior High'? If so, then she could have been in 9th even, while him in 10th.

Yes. :) That didn't make it any less funny.

wording.. but I did know it was dummy right when I saw it

Yeah, I guess :) I caught on that it was a joke by the time Ross and Ben were running away.

That was adorable :):)

I don't think so.. I thought Excedrin is sleepy medicine, not for headaches.

headache pill. If they were, *I* wouldn't take those death capsules either!

Wow! I *did* start saying the words along!

Pretty close, IMO. :) Especially the shorter hair that wasn't part of the updo. 2001 Monica, that shorter part is longer. I personally thought she looked prettier in the flashback..

Can't wait to see that.. Its on the Best of Friends DVD, which I have, but still don't have a DVD player :P

Yes, well he was upset. He was, yet again, compared to Joey. Second Place. Its bad enough it seems that none of his friends even know him well enough to know he hadn't worn glasses before, or is left handed, or is IN THE ROOM as they talk about him!

I love the line. :) At the taping I went to [NOT A SPOILER!!], the host guy had us say it when the cast came out.

Jaime

In article , [email] (PanickedOz) wrote:

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That's the point, they didn't take up much time. But in the first part of the episode, we didn't know that, so it was going to be headache & sermon (plus the good story) all the way through, which would have been awful.

How do you mean? Three times as much Chandler as there should have been, or are you shaking your head in despondency at how Chandler behaved, or was Chandler three times as wonderful?

I know - and if you actually listen to what he says, it's not much better oratory than his sermon, aside from the repetition, but it's the *sincerity* that makes it work. MLB is having his best season.

That's right, both were porn, only one had more writing in it. :)

I dunno, he lives with two mothers, so would that help or hinder his ability to tell two women apart after knowing them all his life?

Grin.

Are you kidding me Jaime, or are you a teetotaller?

(Note I'm not so gauche as to suggest there aren't any in Australia).

She really did. I said it would be a surprise, because nobody ever believes me at first. Spin up your DVD to umm <pops disc in player and does it himself> 13:26, and start playing...

ROSS: She meant nothing to me! RACHEL: And yet she was worth jeopardising our relationship!! ROSS: Look, I didn't think there was a relationship to jeopardise. I thought we were broken up. RACHEL: We were on a break!

Doesn't Rachel ever share, then?

Yep - it makes the brushes last a bit longer by not cleaning them during the job, and it makes them last much longer by not letting the paint dry on the bristles. Of course once the job's done, you do clean them out.

Ah, never thought of it like that, having only seen magical bouncing pee.

Yeah, I guess, but it was still a neat alignment.

Hah - that's mental conditioning. You can drink it or even bathe your eyes in it, which some people do in alternative medicine. I wouldn't do that myself, but urine certainly is sterile, in fact the cleanest part of your body is the interior of your bladder.

Me too, but Carol wanting Ross would really throw a spanner in the works!

Oh! I thought you were in Australia, Jaime! So why Panicked Oz?

Anyway, so if it's still cold in California in March, then there could be a cold spell in New York State in May?

He is a good little actor, as we saw in the blooper show.

I stopped reading at that point, and hit a function key to delete to the end of the paragraph. No spoilers please, even if you think they are mild ones, as some people do not want to know the slightest detail in advance.

I don't mind knowing a tiny bit, but there is only way to judge how bad a spoiler might be, and that is to read it, after which it's too late.

Yes, that is why I wrote it.

Some people argue from 714 "TOW They All Turn Thirty" that Ross is the same age as Monica or even younger, so this establishes that he's older.

I'm so terribly analytical that I make a point of immersing myself in the story when watching an episode for the first time for the pure enjoyment of it all, so I never worry about such things. :)

We are watching a TV show where if a man falls down the stairs and lands on his head, then it must be fake in some way, most likely a dummy - so it's no good to say that you immediately recognised that it was a dummy and not a man. What I want to know is how quickly in the context of the story did you realise that the dummy was actually meant to be a dummy? Do you get it now, Jaime?

Oh, I was being amazed to see Ross's male aggression coming out.

Yeah - I just wish the people who are complaining about Monica without actually watching the show could have seen her here.

I wasn't sure myself, it sounded more like "Hexadrin", but not knowing the various American brand names I can't tell.

Well <fetches a leaflet from the cupboard> Nurofen Plus is a mixture of Ibuprofen which reduces the body's response to pain & Codeine which then reduces communication of pain to your brain. The possible side effects include stomach pains, nausea, ulcers, black tarry stools, rashes; the worsening of asthma, liver & kidney problems; *headache*, sleepiness, dizziness & hearing disturbances; constipation, respiratory depression, cough suppression, drowsiness; and rarely skin peeling & easy bruising.

The only one which affects me I think is cough suppression, which seems to me like an advantage when you have a cold.

It's almost hypnotic, isn't it! :)

Yeah, it can be strange when you see old & new episodes and think that they're still good-looking but they have aged a bit, and then you see a new flashback and they look just the same!

Get yourself a multi-region player, so you can watch the European DVDs.

Sure - but he's still the luckiest guy in the show...

Lol!

May I ask if that's a boy's or a girl's name, Jaime?

I'm guessing 'boy' since there are 151 actors in the IMDb named Jaime, and only 15 actresses in the IMDb named Jaime, but there's a doubt.

Tennant

I was saying that I liked Chandler the best here, not Joey. Which is kinda biased, 'cause I always like Chandler the best, lol

This is assuming he sees Rachel and Phoebe and all them a lot (a LOT) more than we get to see. :)

Well, I'm not sure what a 'teetotaller' is, but I can't stand the smell or taste of alcohol.

Maybe. But probably not when she was a child. She and her sisters probably had one of everything for each of them!

I doubt Ross was thinking of that. Although, knowing Ross.. maybe he was. LOL

Its a play on a quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer :)

You never know, with this stupid weather, lol.

so I'm joking :) I just wanted to mention it, 'cause I KNEW that once the episode airs, someone will be talking about it, and I'll be in the back going "Hey!! *I* mentioned it first!!" I'm greedy that way.

Yep. :) I ..think so, anyway. lol. In that case, I realized it right after it fell onto the ground, and Rachel starting freaking out. After all, it'd be weird for the Friends people to think the dummy looked *that* close to Ross.

Just to stand out from the majority of the viewers, I'd just like to announce that I, Jaime, love Screechy Monica AND Warm Monica. And I also love both Red Ross, and Caring Ross. Whoo hoo!

I should.. but with my luck, I'd do that, order the DVDs, and they'd get to me, not work, and once I get them *to* work, they'll come out in the US.

Well. I happen to think that Monica is the luckiest *girl* on the show. :) And if you're insecure, thats that..

Go with your doubt. I'm a girl..

Jaime :)

In article , [email] (PanickedOz) wrote:

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Yeah, but Chandler was very good - suddenly vulnerable & insecure.

His father has a great deal of access, his aunt is also in the circle of friends, and they all spend a lot of time hanging out together.

A teetotaller is someone who avoids drinking alcohol.

Sorry, at this point I was still under the impression that you were an Australian, and therefore lived in a free country...

Oh, yes indeed, excellent point. Maybe two of everything.

I think it's one of those things where as long as it's your own... ;)

Ah - I'm none the wiser, since I don't watch BTVS.

Ah, thanks.

Well, next month I shall be putting the barriers up, and so you will have to be a good girl (first thing I did was look at the bottom) if you're gonna be in my livefile (it's the opposite of a killfile). :)

According to a spoiler (I'd like to know if it was based on a filming report), the story ended with Rachel triumphing over Ross about how much money he had spent on the dummy.

You're a more loyal fan than I am, Jaime. Halfway through Season 6 Monica was no longer my favourite character after being there since the start, but then the screechiness was absent from Alt-Monica, and then the real Monica began to warm up too. Mental Geller didn't worry me much, though.

The best I can say to that is that, IIRC, they have just started the release of "Cheers" and Season 1 of "The Simpsons" on Region 1, so it on that basis you're looking at a wait of about ten years.

One poster to ATF said she bought a multiregion player for $94, so it's only a small part of the outlay. The discs are currently $51/season.

She is - and she knows it. :)

Yep.

Thanks, Jaime! :)

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

    It is all relative.  I live in Wisconsin, which is in the upper Midwest.
I think of New York City as being rather temperate in comparison.  For
example, I watch the Today Show, which originates in New York City, of
course.  They'll be talking about how cold it is at 40 or 50 degrees
Fahrenheit (my ability to convert to Celsius is limited, but I'm guessing 5
to 10 degrees Celsius), when it is 10 or 20 (maybe -5 to -10 Celsius) in
Wisconsin.  It is supposed to be 40 here today and my children didn't want
to wear their coats.  (Upstate New York is more like Wisconsin
weather-wise.)
    Also, remember California is a very big state, especially north south,
and has a very wide variety of geographic features.  It has some of the
highest mountains in the US, and has the lowest spot as well, Death Valley.
San Diego in the extreme south probably is rarely lower than 70 in the
winter, but Eureka in the extreme north of California gets cold.  Someone
once said (Mark Twain maybe), tongue in cheek, the coldest winter I ever
spent was the summer I spent in San Francisco.  The meaning of this is that
San Francisco has a reputation for being a little chilly, even in the
summer, although it is not that far North.
    Once again, providing more information than you wanted.

Scott

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

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A useful approximation is to subtract 30 and halve it, so you guess well.

No worries, Scott. Mark Twain once said that in India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase, having come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob, and weather to only make it mushy.

Tennant

Virgin MArgarita is a margarita without alcohol

Oh yeah that's me wrapped up in a cocoon like a caterpillar

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

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Okay, so what is margarita?

Lol! I was wondering if you would hear about this!

Tennant

a margarita would be a cocktail with tequila, ice, and other stuff that I don't know about

Of course!!! It was only by chance that I read this review because of the title, then I found this! hehe! There were many other explanations I could come up with but I think that one was the only one that didn't need an R18 rating!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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It's the other stuff I'm asking about, since without the tequila there's not a lot left. According Scott Letteney it's triple sec...

That's what the title is for - entice without spoiling anything.

Lol, but you're off the hook since Scott says it's Saran Wrap...

..are you pleased or sad about that?

Tennant

Tennant Stuart wrote:

Sorry if this has been answered before, but Triple Sec is a strong sour orange liqueur.

It can also be used to make another cocktail called a Kamikaze, with one part each Vodka, Triple Sec, and lime juice. Ah, so many memories from my youth ....

.. Joann

In article , "Joann M. Hnat" wrote:

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Ah thankyou for that.

Ah yes, if you recall Elizabeth & Sarah squirted Ross with Kamikazes in 624 "TOW the Proposal (part 1)". So, to recap...

Orange liqueur, lime juice, ice, and tequila is a Margarita.

Orange liqueur, lime juice, ice, and vodka is a Kamikaze.

Orange liqueur, lime juice, ice, and water? is a Virgin Margarita.

But doesn't that mean that a Virgin Margarita is also a Virgin Kamikaze?

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

    Ok, triple sec is not exactly a liquer, (I've never heard of anyone
having triple sec on the rocks for example).  Don't over play its importance
in any drink.  There is only a splash of it in margaritas (and in kamikazes
as well).
    On occasions one might have a kamikaze on the rocks, but it is typically
a shot.  I've nver heard of a "Virgin Kamikaze."  (I put myself through
college tending bar.)  People drink kamikazes because it is a fairly easy
shot to drink, and they've decided they want to get drunk quickly.  (If
falls into the same category of drink as Sex on the Beach, Skip and Go
Naked, Alabama Slammer, etc. ad nauseum, the general purpose of which is to
get drunk, and to do so quickly, without having to suffer the flavor of
alcohol.)   A margarita, on the other hand, is a drink one might have with
dinner (especially at a Mexican restaurant.).  I guess what I'm saying is
that despite some commonalities, you would not generally put a Kamikaze in
the same category as a Margarita.  A person might want a Virgin Margarita
becasue they like the flavor, but don't want the alcohol.  A Virgin
Margarita would not include triple sec because is has alcohol.
    (The first drink to be called "Virgin" in connection with having no
alcohol was a Virgin Mary.  This is simply a Bloody Mary without vodka.
This spawned a whole slew of non-alcoholic drinks preceded by the word
"Virgin," which are typically of the sweet variety, or made with fruit.
Again, these include Virgin Daqueri, Virgin Colada, and others.  I guess it
wouldn't make much sense to have a Virgin Martini, which would be air I
guess.  :) )
    The unfortunate fact is, however, most bars and restaurants (at least in
the US) have forgotten the original recipe and simply use some generic
margarita mix (if you'll recall this is a juice/water/sugar mix made up in
bulk, and sold in gallon jugs, intended to have the flavor of a margarita)
dumped in a blender with some tequila with ice, and there you are.  In most
cases, if you order a Virgin Margarita you'll get this margarita mix,
blended with ice, and served in a glass with a salted rim.   (I'm having a
flash on some sitcom which I can't remember in wich someone wanted to make
margaritas, but had to borrow everything from their neighbor.)
    (Unfortunately there are even more shortcuts available using a generic
"juice" mix called 'bar sour' which is used for margaritas as well in even
lesser restaurants and bars.  They'll aso use these for Daqueris (made with
rum) and Tom Collinses (Gin) and others.  The funny result being in this
case if you order a Virgin Daqueri you'll get the exact same thing as a
Virgin Margarita, except for the salted rim.)
    This is probably more information than you wanted.

Scott

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

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Well yes it was, but thanks all the same Scott, it was most interesting.

The sitcom in which someone wanted to make margaritas, but had to borrow everything from their neighbour, was in fact none other than "Friends".

In 520 "TOW the Ride Along", Monica sent Rachel over the road to Ross's apartment to 'borrow' his blender, plus some salt, some Margarita mix, tequila, ice, and any cash she sees lying around...

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

You know I remembered that later, and felt rather foolish. You see, I've only seen each episode five or six times. :) I can't remember all the details in my advanced age. Every episode on DVD is only a dream in the US.

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

Not really, you *can* buy players & discs over the internet, and get them working, at a cost of about $150 plus $50/season. Some Americans on ATF are doing this already.

The problem is that having only 8 episodes on a disc soon becomes too few, and I could really do with a 200 disc changer.

Tennant

say what?

it enticed me :)

annoyed :)

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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I know, it's new to me too. We call it orange liqueur.

Hehe...

Never mind, when you're Matthew's missus no-one will care anyway... ;)

Tennant

oh!!!1 thank you! <~~~looks up orange liqueur...

eh you're right :)

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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If you order a gin & orange or a vodka & orange in the pub, and the barmaid should ask if you meant orange juice or orange squash, then tell her that you want orange liqueur. :)

Of course, some people rather like being wrapped in cling film...

Tennant

duly noted, thank you :)

haha!!!!

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

that

there's

More information about margaritas you didn't want ... some better Mexican restaurants will make really special margaritas using top shelf tequila and Grand Marnier (a slightly orange flavored cognac) instead of the triple sec.

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

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And Grand Marnier really is an orange liqueur.

Tennant

Seran - I know these are really basic questions, but I'm new to this.   How
do you SNIP?   Also, what does ROTFL mean?

Thanks SusieP Seran Perry wrote in message ...

Hey! :)

no problem!!!

that's basically just cutting out a bit of the post. highlight it and delete it, or just don't highlight it when you quote the previous post.

hehe! that would be Rolling On The Floor Laughing

no problem!

Seran Perry wrote in message ...

delete

Thanks so much, Seran, I'm going to practise that now - the snipping, not the ROTFL - although I could practise that as well by re-watching the Holiday Armadillo's tail swinging around whilst Monica was trying to negotiate her way around it.

In article , "SusieP" wrote:

Eek! Please Susie, no spoilers above the spoiler space!

Tennant

I neevr got the original post!!!! How many posts am I missing???? AAARRGGHH!!!!!! You're welcome Susie :)

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

Up to & including 17th March, I have 42 posts in this thread.

Tennant

AOL do things a bit differently, I have no idea how many are in this thread...

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

That makes it a bit tricky to say how many posts you're missing...

Tennant

I know, it was a retoriqual question.

I like that spelling! It's 'rhetorical', btw.

Jac

and that's my spelling ladies and gentlemen :)

Tennant Stuart wrote in message ...

So sorry, Tennant, please forgive me! I'm still learning.

In article , "SusieP" wrote:

Okay, you're forgiven Susie, but please try to think of all the millions of fans around the world who haven't seen this yet. :)

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

It is fairly common for American parents to deny their children soda as it is "bad for you."

A Virgin Margarita is simply a Margarita without tequila. (Cf, Virgin Mary, Virgin Colada, etc.)

Saran Wrap is a brand name. It sounds like your "cling film."

It strikes me this joke would work better on women than men given the mechanics of each gender's us of said toilet bowl. I think a woman would be less likely to see it since she wouldn't lift the seat. (This assumes the cling film is over the bowl, not the seat, of course.)

This seems like a matter of personal preference, and harkens back to the jelly fish incident.

Not necessarily so. In the US High School immediatley follows junior high. Depending on the local school system junior high is typically 7th and 8th grade, with high school being 9th through 12th grades. Some school systems have separate junior high buildings (sometimes called "Middle Schools"), some have Kindergarten through 8th grade in the same building, while some have junior high schools and high schools in the same building. The real difference is the grade, not so much the location of the building. So, that said, Rachel could have been in 8th grade, thus junior high school, while Ross was in 9th grade, thus high school, and then only one year apart.

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

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Are these the same American parents who have guns in the house?

In that case, what is margarita?

Sorry to question your typing, but is that "Seran" or "Saran"? I'm especially interested since there is a girl on ATF named Seran, who may or may not be amused by the coincidence.

There must be many competing brands in America, so what is the generic name for this product?

Ooh, yes I guess you're right, I hadn't thought of it that way. I wonder which is worse, the instant panic as pee goes everywhere, or the gradual realisation of a certain warm feeling building underneath you...

Absolutely. But if you *are* going to get peed on, then bare skin (which you can wash & dry right then) is preferable to your clothing, isn't it?

Ah - thanks for the detailed explanation. But at least we do gain from the dialogue that Ross is older than Monica & Rachel, which some doubt.

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

Interesting observation. You're probably right. I, however, happen to be an American parent who allows my children to have soda at times, but have no guns. Not all of us are gun owners. I suspect the actual percentage of Americans who own guns is a relatively small, though vocal, minority. (I have no hard data on that, just my own sense.) I consider this an unfortunate stereotype.

I probably should have been more specific that a Virgin Margarita is made without alcohol. A margarita is a cocktail, originating in Mexico, made most properly of lime juice, triple sec and tequila, generally is blended with ice so it comes out sort of slushy, served in a large glass, with a salted rim believe it or not. There are variations and short cuts. In an attempt to make things easier for those looking for a short cut, one can buy "tequila mix," which has the flavors of the lime juice and triple sec. You would pour the tequila mix in your blender with some ice and tequila and there you are. This is probably what the typical person who wantes to make a margarita at home would do. There are variations served at the trendy Mexican restaurants found across America, such as the ubiquitous Strawberry Margarita, and as many other fruit flavors as your imagination can conger.

The correct spelling is "Saran." There are many brands. Glad Wrap is probably the most common other than Saran Wrap. The generic name is properly "plastic wrap," but calling any type of plastic wrap "Saran Wrap" has become common usage, much in the way people commonly call any brand of facial tissue "Kleenex," or any brand of small plastic bandage a "Band Aid."

If at home, you are right. If I am out for the day I'd much rather it hit my shoes. I can worry out it later. Odd discussion.

Damn!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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Once again the chance for fame eludes your grasp... :(

Tennant

I tried! I really tried but they won't change the name!!!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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How do you think Susan Sarandon feels?

Tennant

not bothered? Saran is just part of her name.

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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Yeah, but the other part means "tooth", so she's Clingfilmteeth!

Tennant

If we can find out what susan means we can make it worse"!!!! hehe!!!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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Susan is from the Hebrew word for a lily...

Tennant

Lily Clingfilmteeth. hehe!!!!!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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Grin. It doesn't quite have that Hollywood ring, does it? :)

Tennant

sounds like something from DR something orothers (I forget his name) name machine thing. I put my name in and it came out... loopy chicken sprinkles!

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

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Lol!

Tennant

In article , "Scott Letteney" wrote:

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Good for you. And anyway it seems to me that Carol & Susan wouldn't have guns in the house. No reason, just a feeling.

Ah. Pardon my ignorance, but what's triple sec?

Phew - Seran will be relieved! Or annoyed...

Thanks - that's the type of phrase I was looking for.

Ah, but we refer to a small plastic bandage as a "plaster". :)

Odd discussions are my forte!

If you were out for the day and your feet were bare then you would be at the beach or a pool or something so you'd be fine. :)

Tennant

Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...

That's just plain scary.

A really really yummy cocktail.

I thought it was Saran... but that's just what I heard :)

It works on both. I've tried that a billion times. Somehow I've never been toilet-wrapped myself. All my victims are probably lining up to take a shot at me though!

You can just throw out your clothing though!

Didn't we already know that? Monica describes herself in TOW The Thanksgiving Flashbacks as Ross's little sister, and we know that Monica and Rachel were in the same grade.

In article , "CandiGrrl" wrote:

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I know - an awful lot of children are killed each year like that.

Even without the tequila?

You're right.

Do you go for on top of the seat, under the seat, or over the bowl?

Not if you're out somewhere.

I know...

..but that was before the realignment in 714 "TOW They All Turn Thirty".

Tennant

Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...

:(

IMO, yes. Want me to post a recipe?

Yay me! haha

Over the bowl and under the seat. You really have to stretch it out so that it's not visible.

(which

it?

Or you could just do like Chandler and steal the toilet door.

Oh, well. The writers should really have set birth dates for all of them at the start and stuck to it!

In article , "CandiGrrl" wrote:

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Yes, please.

Yay you!

Yeah, but if you stretch it out under the seat, you only catch out the girls and the bad boys...

What if the person before you did that?

I reckon they deliberately made Monica & Rachel two years younger, which is why it's so curious that they made Phoebe one year older.

Tennant

then you don't use that toilet....

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

When Julia Roberts is hot to trot you don't worry about stuff like that.

Tennant

yeah alright fair point.

Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...

Dead simple.

1 1/2 oz Tequila 1/2 oz Triple sec 1 oz Lime juice Salt Mixing instructions: Rub rim of cocktail glass with lime juice, dip rim in salt. Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into the salt-rimmed glass, and serve.

There are a few variations on this, but it comes out pretty much the same.

No, you can catch out the boys too, by clinging it right underneath. They don't normally inspect the toilet first.

You could wrap yourself in tissue?

Why curious?

In article , "CandiGrrl" wrote:

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And if you change the tequila to water then it's a virgin margarita?

Yeah, but I'm a good boy, (lidwise), so I can have selective fun...

And look like The Mummy?

You'd think that the oldest member of the cast would the most want her character to get younger, and definitely not extra older.

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

same.

In order for it to be "Virgin" you leave out all alcohol. You don't replace it with anything. See my discussion in another post of "Margarita Mix."

Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...

same.

No idea. Sorry!

They

Uhm...

Why not? People would get out of your way!

Welllll... why? It brings Phoebe closer to LK's real age, so maybe it's easier for her to play?

In article , "CandiGrrl" wrote:

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Grin.

But Monica is now further away - here are the age gaps in months...

               CCA/Monica     82
               LK/Phoebe      43
               JA/Rachel      27

               DS/Ross        11
               MLB/Joey        6
               MP/Chandler    -4

               Girls          51
               Boys            4

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

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Okay, gross generalizations coming up here, but I tend to find parents who do not allow their children to consume any soda are very health conscious (most people will let their kids at least have some on special occasions). These people tend to be more left wing/liberal and less likely to have guns. So, I would be surpised if the majority of Americans are hypocritical soda-banning, gun toting parents.

That said, even such parents may not be behaving in a hypoctirical manner. Drinking soda can have detrimental side effects (empty sugar calories can lead to obesity and/or diabetes, artificial colours and flavours are probably not the best things to consume and sugar rots your teeth) while gun ownership is benign so long as the guns are never used (and everybody thinks that their guns will never be misused). Most American kids are probably more likely to get diabetes than to kill one of their playmates with a gun. One would have to examine the relative risks before making a judgement.

Recipes have been provided elsewhere. It looked like Rachel had some Margarita mix to which she would just have to add ice and alcohol.

So, nothing to drink but water, soda and Margarita mix? That fridge had healtheir food it in when Chandler lived there (Joey: There's no juice for the people who need the juice and want the juice. I need the juice.)

It is often called plastic wrap, cling wrap or cellophane (although cellaphone was invented earlier and is made using a different process). Much to the dismay of S.C. Johnson, it is also often just called Saran Wrap.

Ahem <Ross-like explanation coming up>, Saran is the common name for polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). It was initially developed in a Dow Chemical lab in the thirties and was used by the military to protect fighter planes from salty sea spray and by carmakers on upholstery. After the war (and after they got rid of its unpleasent smell), DOW began making it for use as a food contact surface.

Ah yes, but we had been told that before (e.g.):

Monica: It's this dumb thing that Ross made up `cause he was trying to fool our parents. It's a way of giving the finger, without actually having to give it. I remember I cried the night you made it up, `cause it was the first time that I realized that I was actually cooler than my older brother.

laura

In article , "Mouse" wrote:

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Yeah, I guess.

But what about simply fiddling with the gun & blowing their brains out?

Yeah.

Well, we've already discussed how Chandler made pancakes for Joey's conquests, even if in manly conversation he pretended not to, while Rachel's culinary prowess lies in meaty desserts. So now we have the two least cooks (I didn't say "worst") living together with an expert & generous chef just across the hall. No wonder that fridge is empty.

So, "cling wrap" is a closer approximation of our term "cling film".

Ah. Is the clinginess a natural property of the material?

Indeed, Laura - but remind me who was wondering if Ross should now be regarded as younger than Monica? :-)

Tennant

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

Is not needed at this point

    I'm just one American with young kids, but ...  it would really be an
unfair characterization to think the majority of
Americans are hypocritical soda-banning, gun toting parents.  I am sure we
could pick any group/culture/nationality here and find those not in those
groups/cultures/nationalities have serious misconceptions, or at least hold
certain views which are no more than less-than-accurate stereotypes.  (For a
more on-topic example, it would be a serious misconception to think our
"Friends" reflect the reality of lifestyle in the US.)  I personally agree
there are too many guns in the US.  (We could probably have a really long
discussion on the historical bases of this fact, which would go back three
hundred years, and whether our Constitution truly permits the unfettered
ownership of guns.)  It is also a fair argument, albeit overly simplistic,
that if the guns were not available then there would be no gun violence.
However, it would be grossly unfair to assume all, or even most, Americans
own guns, and further that those who do own guns leave them lying around in
places in which a toddler will find it and kill herself, or where a fifteen
year old will find it and kill all his friends at school.
    Should we assume that just because one teacher is accused of slapping
students and St Mary's Junior School, in Caldicot, South Wales, that the
entire British educational system is purely built upon corporal punishment,
or that the fact one mother left her baby on an elderly couple's doorstep in
Sawtry, Cambridgeshire during near freezing conditions that mothers don't
care about their children in England?   Does the Portman Group's million
Pound anti-drinking campaign, which is backed by the National Union of
Students, mean that all of Britain's youth are drunken fools?  Does the
failure of medical personnel in East Anglia, North West Thames and West
Midlands regions of the NHS to properly perform cancer screenings mean
everyone in the UK is dying of cancer?
    I apologize for the rant.  My point is it is easy to take a negative
event or occurrence and paint an entire country with a broad brush.  Easy,
but inappropriate.  The US has problems.  So does every country.  Hypocrites
exist everywhere.
    Once again proving I can give more than you want.
        Scott

"Tennant Stuart" wrote in message news:[email]...

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Although that tragically does occur, I believe that is still statistically quite rare. I chose the diabetes complication just because it too can be life threatening (although obviously not strictly related to soda consumption).

I'm not a fan of gun ownership, but I think that it is a little bit of a non sequitor to bring it up in the discussion of soda banning. I'm sure that if you ask most parents, there is not a day that goes by during which they do not do something that could be deemed slightly hypocritical. Heck, that is true of all of us. What am I doing buying organic vegetables at the same time I buy soda?

Yes, which begs the question of why Joey needed a new fridge at all.

BTW, I've been meaning to ask. Has anybody been able to determine if the fridge which was broken in TOW Joey's Fridge the same one that Chandler had in his appartment in TOW The Flashback while he is interviewing roommates? Joey claimed that the fridge had been in his family since just after he was born.

I guess. I checked the package I have in the kitchen and it says "Cling Wrap".

Yep.

It 'twas I, but I never believed it for a moment. I was just trying to point out that the time lines of their ages are all so mixed up that it is now nearly impossible to wave hands frantically enough to make the continuity errors go away.

laura

In article , "Mouse" wrote:

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The fridge was replaced by one with the handle on the other side, somewhere in Season Five IIRC, so that would be the Tribbiani's.

Ah.

It's curious that the British term describes what it is, while the American term describes what it does.

Oh, okay Laura, but beware that you can be very convincing... :)

Tennant

Tennant Stuart wrote in message news:[email]...

Hw do you know that she changed her dress? After seeing this episode I was given no impression that she had changed even though, yes, she had gone back to her room escorted by Chandler before appearing at Chandlers door. Why was it the same colour but not the same pattern, surely she would have changed into something completely different (different colour at least!!\). Just my opinion .....

Mrs C

In article , "Paul Clarke" wrote:

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Well, we knew she had changed her dress because it was different... :)

It's funny you should say that Pauline, since I've been looking at both scenes again, (from 424 & 716), and it seems to me that it's the same pattern, but a different colour - or more accurately a lighter shade of the same colour. I'm wondering now if it is exactly the same dress but the light in the bedroom was much brighter than in the restaurant.

Don't forget that they do keep the costumes, (in 714 Monica wore exactly the same dress for Phoebe's birthday as in the last part of 401), so it is easy for them to get it right, unlike the sets which are huge and get broken up - notice that the pictures on the back wall dchange, although we could assume that their sevenfold lovemaking became so energetic that at one point all the pictures fell off the walls!

And since the Union Flag hat on the bedside table was gone by morning, we can only wonder at what sex games the couple played...

Tennant

Interesting :) I'll try to notice that once I re-watch it.. whenever that'll be.

And for the record, crew people take polaroid pictures of everything before taping every scene of episodes.. so, its kinda strange that it *wasnt* the exact same dress. Unless they didn't care.. or have the original anymore.

Jaime, who never used to post..

In article , [email] (PanickedOz) wrote:

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:)

They certainly do care, in fact we've seen the woman who does this job, and she's very proud of the care that she takes. Maybe they couldn't bring the costumes back from London.

Tennant

Same thing happens with MP's character in TWNY!

Tennant, I had a lengthy reply to this review 3/4 done when AOL again chose an inappropriate moment to bump me and destroy all that I had written. I will be happy to start again if you or someone else could start the thread again for me.

Sammi

Appy50rider wrote in message ...

get

Yes, but did you notice that the sheets (in TWNY) are still amazingly tidy - I thought it was poor set dressing in this scene to have the pictures crooked but the bed looking as thought it just been made, even though they were still in it!

chose an

be

for

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Gosh!

OMG, how horrible! Why don't you save to disc as you go along, or is that a silly suggestion to you? Anyway, here's the review again...

The sweeps score four out of four!

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716 "TOW the Truth About London"

With Monica at work, Ross asks Rachel to mind Ben for an hour. She's a bit scared, but Ross tells her that she merely has to entertain the boy, and keep him alive. But after only 7 minutes Rachel has run out of ideas and is just as bored as Ben - when she reminisces how she looked after him as a baby since she was his daddy's girlfriend, and so he points out that she is not any more, because they were on a break!

Rashly, Rachel starts telling the boy about the tricks she & her sisters used to play on each other, and since he's fascinated she moves onto the good stuff, including how to ink the edge of a coin then bet the victim they can't roll it down their face. Much later, Ross comes to complain to Rachel about teaching practical jokes to his son, but to her surprise it's about cling film stretched across the toilet bowl, not the ink line running from his forehead down to his chin!

Ross declares he hates practical jokes because they're mean & stupid, so she visits Carol who is blissfully unaware she has an ink line down her face. While his mother prepares coffee, Rachel tries to make Ben stop the pranks, but she only makes him worse & teaches him two new swear words.

Rachel turns her charm up to maximum to persuade Ben to behave, and even convinces him that she & his daddy were on a break, when Ross turns up angry that he'd had a line down his face all day - while Carol says that practical jokes are funny until he tells her that she has a line too.

Since Ross insists that he's hated practical jokes ever since he was humiliated at school, Rachel offers to go back to being boring again, except Ross (he's so sweet these days) backs down & asks her to carry on being fun, so Rachel escapes just as Ben starts swearing again.

Ross brings Ben to Rachel's apartment and asks her to look after the child once more. She's happy to oblige, but as Ross exits she notices a POOP notice on his back. Rachel has learnt her lesson so she removes it, but to her alarm the big guy is furious & Ben stupidly cheeks him, so in a rage he tries to grab the little boy, and Rachel fears the worst as Ross chases him out into the hallway & up the staircase...

Rachel screams & screams as Ross slips & falls down the stairs smashing his head into the floor, and she spins in hysterical terror as Ross lies dead before her - but after a moment she sees the body is a dummy, then Ross & Ben appear, laughing at her discomfort while doing a high five.

                             ---o0o---

Chandler & Monica can't find a minister they approve of, but Phoebe has heard you can be legally ordained on the internet - yet before she can offer herself, Joey grabs the idea. Chandler won't hear of it, but after more fruitless searching Joey promises to do a good job, it would mean a lot to him, and Monica likes the idea, so Chandler gives his permission.

Meanwhile, Phoebe gets a horrible headache, and none of her alternative therapies have worked, so in desperation she accepts a couple of pills from Monica. Phoebe is delighted that her headache goes away, until she finds the list of possible side-effects in the packet, and she's shocked to realise that Monica has fed her Extra Strong Death Capsules.

As soon as Joey receives his certificate he starts work on his sermon, which consists of endless permutations of having, giving, sharing, and receiving love. Ignoring Phoebe who is imagining she has every possible symptom, Monica objects to Joey's sermon, so Chandler suggests he tells a romantic story about them instead, and while Phoebe's temper gradually worsens, Joey asks Chandler & Monica how exactly they got together in London - which is something I've always wanted to know.

I held my breath as Monica repeated what we already knew from 424 "TOW Ross's Wedding (part 2)", and Chandler added that after consoling Monica, she was so drunk that like a perfect gentleman he took her to her hotel room to say goodnight - then I let out a cheer as "Rule Britannia" played, a red double-decker bus crossed Westminster Bridge, and amazingly we were back in London at the end of Season Four!!!

The night before Ross was to marry Emily, Chandler was exercising before bedtime (one pushup) when Monica came, still boozing. She asked if Joey was there but he'd gone off with the other bridesmaid, and when Chandler told her to let the resentment go since at the dinner she had been the most beautiful woman in the room, Monica was so overcome by lust that she grabbed Chandler and started kissing him passionately.

Alarmed, Chandler asked if they were making out, so she replied that she was drunk enough to know she wanted to do this, yet not so drunk that he need feel any guilt about taking advantage! This was music to Chandler's ears. As they resumed Monica realised it was weird that it wasn't weird, and she was delighted to discover that Chandler was a really good kisser!

The pair dived under the bed covers to strip off, and once naked they both liked what they saw - except Chandler feared that their friendship was ruined. However, Monica merely informed him that they'd never been that close anyway, and they set to it.

Just then they were interrupted by Joey returning for some condoms, so Monica dived under the bed covers, thus back in the present day Joey is relieved to learn that Chandler had a good reason for acting peculiar.

But now Joey realises how close he came to preventing them getting together, he declares that Chandler & Monica were meant to be - and Phoebe, still fuming about being poisoned, spitefully reveals that it was not Chandler who Monica intended to hook up with that night!

Chandler reels as Monica pleads that she was really depressed & really drunk & just looking for stupid meaningless sex, so when she went to his hotel room that night, she was actually looking for Joey...

Chandler is beside himself with anger, while Monica is not best pleased with her friends. She reminds him that it was him she fell in love with, but he is disgusted that on the most romantic night of his life he was the second choice. Grimly, he tells Joey to forget about performing the ceremony, and slopes off leaving Monica disappointed with Phoebe & Joey.

Joey goes after his distraught friend, but Chandler's bitter that Monica wanted Joey first; so Joey insists that would have lasted half an hour, while Monica wants Chandler for the rest of her life - they are perfect for each other, the whole gang looks at them & sees them together & it fits, and they just know it's going to last forever. Chandler is touched by his sincerity, and tells him to use those exact words in the ceremony, but all Joey can remember is having, giving, sharing, & receiving!

Monica finally convinces Chandler that he over-reacted, but Phoebe can't let it go, asking what if Monica & Joey had hooked up - so in a splendid fantasy sequence we see a lovely Mrs.Tribbiani setting out nine plates for dinner when a very fat Joey enters. Monica gamely helps her husband sit down & move his huge bulk near to the table, and as he forks up his first lump of fried stuff with cheese, he asks it "how you doin'"!

                             ---o0o---

Sneaky little episode, this. For quite a while it's one delightful R&R story, with Aniston blazing away, Sprouse doing jolly well for his age, and Schwimmer giving me a chill - badly let down by two lame efforts about a headache & a sermon.

But suddenly weak support became main feature as its two halves came together, providing the motivation for one of the flashback stories I have most wanted to see, topped off by an smart little fantasy. It's a pity to pick one out of such a tight ensemble, but of the four it has to be LeBlanc for Joey's charming speech of reassurance to his best friend.

Wonderful wonderful stuff - and not so little actually, for this was the longest ever episode upon first airing, making full use of its extra 7� minutes to provide us with rich entertainment. Congratulations to the director, David Schwimmer.

                             ---o0o---

Romance magazines? That's such a delightful euphemism, but was Ross inspired by Zelda & the vicar?

Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"? Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"?? Ben called Rachel "Phoebe"??? Who does Ross talk about when he's alone with Ben?

Ross might have added another piece of advice, don't bang the boy's head (see 308 "TOW the Giant Poking Device")

Why isn't Ben allowed to have soda, and what's a Virgin Margarita?

"We were on a break" is the longest-running joke in the show, so it may come as a surprise that this line was originally said by Rachel, in 316 "TOT Morning After". Other episodes include 317/401/413/424/515/605/615.

When Ben says that sharing is good, what does Rachel mean when she suggests that he's one of those?

What is Seran Wrap? I'm assuming it's what we Brits call "cling film", thin plastic sheeting that exploits static cling to keep food fresh & paint brushes flexible. Is that right?

Since Rachel grew up in an all-girl household, how did she learn about magical force fields over the toilet bowl?

It was ironic to see Ross complain about Rachel's practical jokes while he had a line inked on his face, since it was he who drew on her face in 523 "TOI Vegas (part 1)".

Why is it worse to pee on bare feet? Urine is perfectly harmless, and it's much easier to wash your feet than your shoes...

This is the first we have seen of Carol this season, and Susan has only appeared twice since October 1996. If Jessica Hecht is unavailable, will there be a story where Susan leaves Carol, who wants to go back to Ross?

There were a few signs of cold weather, but none that it was the depths of winter: some people had their coats with them; but Rachel wore her little blue scarf only to be fashionable; and although Ben was wearing gloves, he kept them on while he peed, so they must have been new.

Rachel's chemistry with Ben was very good, just as she is with Joey, Chandler, Phoebe & Ross - so why was there no spark with Tag? I omit Monica since she hasn't had a duet with Rachel for nearly two years.

It was nice to see a last-name test where we know the answer (Willick) unlike Gunther Central-Perk.

Carol was an awful long time making that coffee, wasn't she? What was she up to in the kitchen? Throwing up? When she finally returned with the two mugs, you could just see that Jane Sibbett was pregnant, then if you return to the earlier scene you can see her hiding it.

We learnt that Ross was in high school while Rachel was in junior high, so he is much older than she is.

Wasn't the student correct? Ross did go all day without washing his face, didn't he? How much time elapsed between Rachel minding Ben & visiting Carol, and then to the final scene?

Okay, so be honest - did you see the revenge joke coming?

How fast did you realise that the dummy was meant to be a dummy, since if Ross actually did fall then David Schwimmer wouldn't?

Like the fans who were either SMUG or AGHAST at the ending to 625 "TOW the Proposal (part 2)", were you fooled long enough by Ross's anger to derive maximum enjoyment from the surprise?

Did Ross base his prank on what he did to little Sarah Tuttle on a similar part of the staircase, in 310 "TOW Rachel Quits"?

Does anyone have the URL for becoming ordained on the internet?

It was so cute to hear Monica refer to her breasts as "The Ladies". By their sixth date Paolo had already named both of Rachel's breasts, but where have I heard of a pair being called "Simon & Garfunkel"?

Note that Chandler might consult with Monica, but it's only when he gives or refuses permission that the decision is made.

Anyone who doubts that Monica will make a good mother should note how she instantly started clucking over a sick Phoebe.

Was that drug Excedrin PM, as in 706 "TOW the Nap Partners"? At the end Phoebe felt a temporary euphoria, but what about drowsiness?

Was the list of possible side effects authentic? And if so, was one of the writers inspired to create this story after noticing that headaches were included?

Did you like Joey's HGSR sermon? So much so that you started saying the words along with him?

How accurately does the 2001 Monica resemble the 1998 Monica? I know she wears a different dress, but that was after changing in her room.

Monica being turned on by Chandler telling her she's the most beautiful woman in the room worked on the same principle as two hundred people looking at her in a clean white dress in 701 "TOW Monica's Thunder".

When the 1998 Chandler said he had kissed over four women, he was being a bit hard on himself, even if over 4 does include 11 - Janice, Aurora, Nina, Jade, Susie, Mary-Angela, Marie-Theresa, Ginger, Joanna, Kathy, and Marjorie.

The box of condoms was a reference to a moment cut from 423 "TOW Ross's Wedding (part 1)", but which may be found on the Director's Cut...

CHANDLER: Six-hour trip to London. That's a lot of Monica. JOEY: What do you got there? CHANDLER: Condoms, dude! JOEY: (Looking at the box) how come the writing is in Spanish? CHANDLER: Don't read my condoms!

Chandler was offended that Monica came looking for meaningless sex, but isn't the whole point that she didn't find it, but a meaningful relationship instead?

For most of this season, Monica has been fretting about leaving Joey alone with the food, and now we saw what would happen if she gave him as much as he wanted.

"How you doin'" is the second longest-running joke in the show, since Joey didn't say it with the proper intonation until 413 "TOW Rachel's Crush", where Rachel said it even better. But the first people to say those words were Susan Bunch in 211 "TOW the Lesbian Wedding", and Susie Moss in "213 TOA the Superbowl (part 2)".

                             ---o0o---

This was the last episode of the February sweeps, and for the first time ever I loved all four episodes. Thus it is interesting to look at who wrote them...

713 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones 714 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Vanessa McCarthy 715 Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer and Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen 716 Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones and Zachary Rosenblatt

..just look at the same four names that keep cropping up, which is most unusual. It seems that Bilsing/Plummer/Buckner/Jones deserve an awful lot of credit. Meanwhile, there have been some complaints that the supersized episodes were not much bigger than normal, and one critic even complained that this episode ran short! This was so not so...

S7-12 S7-13 S7-14 S7-15 S7-16

        Teaser    1:45     1:49     2:42     3:24     2:40
        Act 1    11:07     9:00     6:11     6:02     8:55
        Act 2     8:17     9:04     7:02    10:21     8:56
        Act 3     0:00     6:53     8:20     7:51     8:04
        Tag       0:38     0:34     0:30     0:24     0:34

Total 21:47 27:20 24:45 28:02 29:09

Slot 30 40 40 40 40

Percent 73 68 62 70 73

Times given for the tags of S7-14 & S7-15 cover the end titles only. The S7-14 tag was a promo for another show, so when shown in Europe it could be something new, or it could be the last scene of the third act, in which case the total time will become 24:15 which will easily fit a normal slot. The S7-15 tag was the beginning of the blooper show (whose three parts were 9:14/6:32/1:22) so in Europe the show might have the lost tag (Ross & Phoebe duetting on bagpipes & guitar), or the total time might become 27:38 which is less of a squeeze for the slot.

No spoilers PLEASE from anyone who has already seen episode 717.

Tennant Stuart

Thank you so much! Sunday night I piggybacked onto Marita's first reply, so you may have to dig within the original thread to find it.

Actually, I hadn't thought about saving, but I will seriously consider it if AOL keeps this up.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

I don't have to dig for anything, your posts pop right up. :)

Do it anyway.

Tennant

On Tue, 13 Mar 2001 22:05:13 GMT, Tennant Stuart wrote:

I'd say it scored three out of four since I felt that two of them only deserved a half point.

There was no "613" this year, that's for sure, and this episode made up for some stories that I found more boring than you did... This was excellent stuff.. :))

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E S

S P O I L E R

S P A C E S

Finally! It's time to update the TWWWS list! Check! Yay!! I've waited for this ever since I saw her in his bed in 424... <bg>

"Look, Benny, spoon!" (308) She was good with Ben once she got used to him in 220 TOW Old Yeller Dies, but then she got bored in 308 TOW The Giant Poking Device. Perhaps Rachel had been a really good "stepmom" if R+R hadn't broken up. However, she's such a good mother for dear little Joey nowadays that she'll be a great mom at 35...

Ooh!! The Green sisters making Sandra's life a living hell! (TWWWS list, don't you think? ;) )

Yeah, Carol was just as lovely as she was in the first couple of seasons. However, I was so stunned by Jane's pregnancy, that I kept waiting for an explanation for that. Had she and Susan pulled an Melissa Etheridge/Camryn Manheim/Jodie Foster? After a couple of minutes of chatter about coffee, sugar and salt, I realised it was a pregnancy that "was not supposed to be there, so we dressed her in black to hide it", and I was a bit disappointed by that. The writers could do a lot worse than having Carol pregnant again, with Ross dealing with the thought of his son getting a sibling.

Finally a "we were on a break" quote that was actually rather cute. :)

Now this was a R+R story that gave the R+R fans hope, and as for the rest of the fans it was a reminder of how well DS and JA work together. (Gosh, this reply is going to be *too* positive... Oh well.. <g>)

Ben has been the source of a lot of laughs this season, and this episode continued that trend. I think it's a good thing that the writers remember him and include him in various stories. After all, old Ross was lovely in 709, 710 and 716 where Ben also showed up. Oh my, maybe that's why we enjoyed Ross so much? :)

*laughs at the thought of it*

The Geller revenge...

Chandler's remark about the veil was great. "That's easy for you to say, you'd be wearing a veil!" Lol!

This also provided a solution to a problem I had been wondering about ever since Chandler proposed. Would he have two best men just like Ross (and thus being rather predictable), or would he choose one of his best pals and eventually make the other one furious? This question was suddenly no longer a "question for science fiction writers", it was *very* real. If Chandler decides to go with his choice from 422, we could still see two best men next to him at the altar (i.e. Ross and Gunther), but I think we can be sure that Ross will get the honour. Which means that this time around the bridesmaid and the best man will be Rachel and Ross. I hope the writers don't opt for the easy and obvious choice here...

And Joey as the minister? Fabulous stuff! He's already been the vicar (<g>), so why not become a minister? I'm sure he'll do a great job, even Rowan Atkinson's nervous priest managed to get the job done in Four Weddings and A Funeral, so why not Joey?

Grin. Poor Phoebe... A bit of Ross's Paranoid City, perhaps? j/k

Joey's speech was the epitome of wedding clich�s. If he had started talking about how the "dearly beloved should honour their families and friends on this wonderful occation" the speech had been complete.

Phoebe's line at the coffee-house made me crack up, even though her plot was rather thin: Phoebe: "I have liver damage. Ow.." Monica: "Phoebe, your liver is right here." Phoebe: "Okay, well, then I must be disoriented." :) However, it was obvious to everyone that Phoebe did not have a big part of any of the main stories.

And then there was the flashback. <bg> This has captured the #1 position of my private TWWWS list for a looooong time.

Our theory was correct! Chandler was not as drunk as some thought he was. He seemed rather sober to me.

..Monica didn't seem that hammered either. She was perfectly aware of what she was doing. She wasn't completely sober, she said so herself, and she looked quite "confused" when Chandler started telling her how beautiful she was, but she was not the drunk Monica we saw in 714.

Perhaps he had improved since January 1997 when he kissed her at Joey's birthday party. :)

Hah! That's the biggest lie I've ever heard! The two of them not being close before that night in London... yeah right. :)

Ahem.. Joey took all of Chandler's condoms and gave him one. One? Hello? Wasn't this the night of seven times? Chandler must have been rather desperate running around the London Marriott looking for more. (However, if we look at the details, Joey did not take the box Chandler brought.)

I cannot believe Phoebe did this! This was so vicious and cruel. We have seen her dropping spiteful comments about Chandler in the past, but this was just mean.

Poor Chandler. I felt so bad for him here.

Can you imagine what would have become of their relationship if Phoebe had told him this in e.g. season 5, or if he had found out on his own before 514? Chandler would have been devastated, and I don't know whether Monica would have been able to calm him down.

*Sniff* C+J moment! :) If only Monica had had a pad nearby so that Joey could have written down his speech as he said it.

I am *so* glad I didn't know this was coming! :) Fat Joey was terrific! Lol!

The headache wasn't good, I agree there, but Joey's speech was funny because it was so filled with the usual, mindless "blah-blah-blah" you often hear at weddings.

It was lovely, wasn't it? I don't think Monica's speech of reassurance to Chandler when he returned from CP could be that bad either. :) I don't want to pick a favourite moment, though, since there were so many of them. :)

I know! I loved every second of it. It's one of the season's best IMO.

Lol.

One of those "good kids"? Or perhaps one of those Gellers...

Would Rachel have worn that grey sweater if it had been spring or summer, though?

Because Tag had the personality of a hat-and-coat stand. ;)

Jane obviously had to stay in the kitchen as long as possible to hide her pregnancy. :)

He had to go all day without washing it, but I don't know how long the timelapse was.

I don't know if I'm stupid or not, but I didn't see the end coming. I realised that it was a doll before Rachel did, though. :)

Surreal. :)

Yep.

Awww... Yes, she was back to being the "mother hen" she was supposed to be in season 1. If anyone calls her screechy Monica now, *I'll* be the one who screams! ;)

Yes, I enjoyed it, even though I hope he'll stick with the speech he made in Central Perk in the end. :)

That's true, but isn't it a bit weird that she has two dresses who look almost exactly the same? The pattern on the one she wore in this episode is brighter and not as brown, but that's it.

However, the thing that I noticed was the footstool in front of Chandler's bed that we can spot the next morning when Ross bursts through the door. It was not there when Monica entered Chandler's hotelroom, so who knows? Perhaps she was busy moving it around while her friend was out looking for... er.... supplies?

Grin.

But coincidentally (?), "4" kind of matched his first number of women he had slept with in the alternative universe.

Awww... Yes, it was!

Hehe. And he wasn't happy just by eating the food, he flirted with it as well!?!

Well, we can always hope, but I doubt it. Maybe the tag scene just disappeared like the original tag for 623.

717? I'll stay mum. :)

Sorry to jump on your reply here, Marita, but AOL ate my original Tennant review.

Yeah!!! I was fully prepared to be disppointed with this ep once I heard the title (as I was with the return of Janice), but was very pleasantly surprised. It felt very season 5-ish to me. DS did a great job.

Cute line, and it wasn't obvious at all to me. CMS delivered it well.

Sandra?

He's obviously been the butt of many a joke.

I think so too. I've imagined a storyline where Carol and Susan approach Ross to father another child for them, ultimately rekindling some attraction between Ross and Carol while simultaneously eliciting jealousy in Rachel. Subplot has Monica spurring Chandler on to beat Ross to the punch.

I agree

As in TOW Chandler can't cry, we get our annual reminder of how much R and R still care for each other. Although I wouldn't be surprised if this time it starts to lead somewhere. Tag may have been called Tag for a reason.

exactly :-)

In that case, bring on the Ben!! I still think he'd make a great ring bearer.

Apparently, this scene was to have continued with Rachel finding out how much Ross spent on the dummy and being touched he would go to the trouble... something like that. Maybe it was cut because the dummy really looked pretty cheap.

Yes, CHANDLER gives HIS permission. I certainly got the feeling here that he was in charge, though C and M properly discussed the problem together.

I wonder how his humorous anectode of the time Monica got stung by the jellyfish will be received? I mean, they just have to mention it- it's too good to pass up!!

My first choice for future editing, though, would be Joey's "ass man" comment. A bit too crude for my taste, and unprecedented, as far as I can recall.

Joey also bugged me with his "yeah, baby"'s a little. "Grandma's chicken salad" was ok, because it wasn't over-used, but here I thought it got a bit thick.

and Monica quickly becomes Momica, Chandler perfectly content to share her, even when Joey tries to hone in on it.

I realize that this could have really irritated some viewers, but when I watched it again, I still laughed as many times as I did the first time. I loved MLB's authentic inflections.

Just wait, he still could!

Unfortunately, the first thing I thought of was that MP should be pointing out to Phoebe where her liver was...

Kind of a hand-twin- ish subplot. :-(

And is probably the # 1 fan fic topic, from what I've seen.

Unfortunately, the clock on the tower and Chandler's wristwatch were not in sync. 8:30, I think, versus 9:15.

I've always suspected that Monica would have been the first to make a move.

When she asked where Joey was, I took it as a perfectly innocent question.

I loved that line reading," We're making out?", as if Monica had just suggested they go out for a bite to eat, and he was perfectly willing to go along!

An important point, right from the start.

I agree!! But they were both willing to live the lie!

Poor Chandler, as in 505 with the eyelash curler, allows Joey to think even less of him in order to protect Monica.

LOL!!! Another one for your TSWWWS list!!

Well, unless you've bought the Best of... set, you don't know anything about Chandler's condoms. I've been meaning to ask, though, is there any significance to the fact that the writing on the box was in Spanish?

Yes. In TOW in Vegas, she was kind of trying to be helpful be spilling the beans about "the Richard thing", but this was just plain mean. I'm glad Monica glared at her as much as she did.

Exactly!! But note, he never had any thought to postponing the wedding or calling it off.

Oddly, this was the biggest story of the episode, yet the ep. descriptions I saw chose to emphasize Rachel and Ben's subplot.

Chandler could probably remember it, though. He *is* a writer!

This was the best *serious* C and J moment since TOW the Giant Poking Device, where Joey was consoling Chandler about Janice.

Judging from her "yeah, baby', I took it that Monica convinced Chandler that he really is her Batman, and proved it.

I didn't have a clue! It was great. It's possible that they filmed it without an audience, since CCA said it took her 3 hours to get into Fat Monica makeup.

I agree with you, Marita.

I was actually glad that we didn't see this scene, because we may have had too many C and M reassurance speeches for them to be totally effective anymore. It would have been a nice change of pace, though, to see Monica reassuring Chandler about something, though.

I agree.

Again, agreed.

I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think it's gonna happen.

One of those boring unspoiled kids, so different from herself.

Oh, the memories...

:-)

I was surprised.

You aren't stupid in the least!! And you're pretty damn funny!!

Ah, yes.

I think it was vital that she be as attractive, loving, and charming as possible in this episode to eliminate any doubts about why Chandler wants to marry her.

Me too.

I knew they kept her hair up in 1998 for a reason.

The vast majority of viewers won't notice this in the least. It's only us obsessive few who do.

LOL!!! Did she also tidy up the bed before Ross burst in in the morning?

He picked the right buttons from the start!

That's what I thought too. Very clever writing!

Exactly!

He's doing some food- flirting!

Me too :-).

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

And you still use AOL because...

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

L E R

S P A C

E S

S P O I L

DS was very good, but certain parts were more late season 4-ish... ;)

We saw how good an actor he was in the blooper show.

Their mother -

Rachel ........ Sandra & Leonard Phoebe ........ Phoebe & Frank & Lily & #2 Joey .......... Gloria & Joey Ross/Monica ... Judy & Jack Chandler ...... Nora & #1 & #2 & #3 & #4

Yeah, but he's played many too, mostly on Monica.

That's a good idea. I still reckon, though everybody disagrees with me, that Carol is bisexual, while 114 "TOW the Candy Hearts" showed there was still an attraction between her & Ross despite her betrayal of him.

Ah, "Hope springs eternal from the human breast". :)

That could well be the case, though I guess that a dummy which an ordinary person can obtain would actually cost a fair bit, and one that would fool the viewers would be astonishingly expensive.

Yep, but the cynics are still calling him hen-pecked & whipped.

Well, please try to see, and I'm not having a go at just you Sammi, that the misconception has arisen that Joey was writing a speech, the sort of thing that you would hear at a reception. But he was not, he was writing his *sermon*, the words he would say as a minister, part of the process of marrying the couple in the wedding itself.

Like all good mommies she knows when her children are faking it. :)

Ouch.

Not at all Sammi, it wasn't a sub-plot in that sense, it was part of the process of getting Phoebe into position to betray Monica's confidence.

Oh yes, but it's a shame that they've all been wiped out - like all the old science fiction stories about Martian canals were ruined when space probes showed that the red planet was covered in craters instead.

Lol, that means it takes 45 minutes to get from Westminster Bridge to the London Marriott hotel!

Oh yes.

But of course, we all did, Monica's words were so neatly written and so beautifully acted by CCA that the character was true to the plot, without any of the viewers suspecting a thing until Phoebe dropped her bombshell.

I half expected Chandler to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming.

No, it wasn't a lie, it was sarcasm - Monica's meaning is that they *are* very close friends but they should not let that stop them.

Awww, yes you are so right. :)

Hah, two words for you, my dear Sammi - ROOM SERVICE

That's what the headache pill non-subplot thing was there for.

Well, by this point Chandler is very secure & settled with Monica, and only a much bigger bomb could dislodge that, but he dropped Joey on the spot.

The spoilers I read afterwards played it as Ross & Rachel flirting.

Lol, but I don't think there's been any doubt since the sock bunny... ;)

Aren't you glad you don't read spoilers in advance? :)

Thanks.

Grin.

Could be.

Yep.

Awww...

RACHEL: Joshua invited me to this fancy club opening tonight, but I
        already told Mr.Waltham that I would take his niece to this
        dumb old opera. Monica, help me!
MONICA: I can't! I have to work!
RACHEL: Phoebe?
PHOEBE: I would, but I get morning sickness in the evening. Unless
        she wants to spend the night holding my hair back for me.

Yay! Good for you! :)

Oh, good point.

How exactly do you mean, Sammi?

But of course. :)

She probably did it seven times...

Yep!

You ladies all say that - I'm thinking you must be right then.

Thanks.

Lol - was it Arabian Prince Day?

Tennant

...because life is a series of compromises, and you don't always get what you want!

(or... don't get me started...)

You know, this entire season has felt season 4-ish to me. Not spectacular overall, but some excellent ep's thrown in here and there, building to a wedding climax.

yep, and he looks like a very normal, likable kid, too.

oh yeah, thanks.

the question is, when will Mr. Bing make an appearance?

That's a requirement for siblings.

oh, I think she definitely is.

:-) I'm a natural-born optimist!

I guess you're right.

watching season 3 post-Janice ep's in syndication this wek, I can see how different he is. He had a very hard edge back then. Perhaps after the wedding, less focus will be given to every step in the C and M relationship and more to C and M as individuals, allowing Chandler to be funnier and edgier.

I understand what you are saying, but Chandler did specifically say that he wanted Joey to tell romantic stories. So when will he tell them? Or was that only an excuse to retell the London story, never to be addressed again?

Of course!

One of the problems of a well-publicised personal life. :-(

Ok, I see what you mean.

Yep. But MP and CCA did a good job, recapturing the frantic lust of 501.

does it? Or did we see a fast-forwarded version of a 45 minute push up?

Yep.  :-)

:-)

we know.

:-)

But that wouldn't be as funny.

Or perhaps Monica had retrieved her diaphragm from Richard's place and came prepared?

Yep.

right.

I think last year's NBC promo team would have made a big spectacle of whether this would have been the end of C and M.

Oh, I was thinking of it the other way...

oh yeah, but once in a while I still get a little spoiled when visiting other message boards, populated by spoiler novices. I'll have to be really careful from now on.

More like: BLeeeech..... I'll be interested to see if Chef Geller has any problems continuing her profession when her inevitable pregnancy occurs. Morning sickness can rule your life for a while.

Thanks.

The London scene was begging for a flashback from it's inception. think it is much easier to maintain continuity with a woman's hair up than trying to match it with a wig. Of course, how could they have known back then that MP would go through so much physical transfigurations over the next 3 years.

ha ha...

of course we are!

eh?

Sammi

Appy50rider wrote:

Oh well, it's surprising how much more quickly you can type something out when you are doing it for the second time... :)

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

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Rachel living at #19 and Chandler living at #20 is also 4-ish.

Betcha Chandler says "Monica" though, the duck won't eat the ring, the church won't be demolished, Phoebe will turn up, the Gellers won't pay for half, and Joey won't bed the bridesmaid - but he might bed the MoH.

I agree, but what does the cast think of the boy sending them up?

YW

Fingers crossed for the wedding.

Yep. :)

Ah, *thankyou*, Sammi! :)

Maybe Ross will be so depressed at the rehearsal dinner that.......

Don't forget that MP's health problems must have been an influence too.

Well, I've long said that the Great Romance thing should be more into the background, at least until they have a really good story to tell.

Being married *might* help that happen, but then there will be the baby storyline, unless the Arquettes don't co-operate.

But for all we know, the writers might have a surprise in store for us, and C&M do not get married after all...

Chandler didn't seem to grasp that it was a sermon either. But note that Joey's words at the end, that Chandler so liked, they could be a sermon.

:)

Yep. If big problems come from that, and I sincerely hope they don't, then Chandler might be sent abroad on business or something, and the wedding will not take place - or BKC might have a quiet wedding already in the can as a back-up, in which case they marry and then he departs.

Oh God yes, it was wonderful, they were so spot on. It's fun pointing out small differences in the set, but their characterisation was just perfect, which is all that really matters.

Lol - what I don't understand is why the rehearsal dinner finished so soon, I'd have thought that an early night would be more like 11:15.

Oh, don't forget that just because I make some comment doesn't mean that your wish didn't go straight into the TWWWS list. The entry says...

716/Chandler desperately searching the London Marriott for more condoms.

Ah - that is an *excellent* point! Several of us have been debating this subject for some while now, and you are the first person to suggest that Monica might have been prepared. She might even have bought some condoms herself. After all she was looking for sex, and she wasn't *that* drunk.

Oh yes, good point, so why didn't they?

Oh, how do you mean???

It's tricky, isn't it?

Soon it will be April, and time to batten down the hatches. :(

What if Monica goes into denial about it, like that head cold?

YW

Well, MP had been through one only a year before... :(

Grin.

Phoebe did some foot-flirting, claiming it was Arabian Princess Day. :)

Tennant

wait- are you talking about me, or are you having to type things out a second time because of my stupid ISP?

LOL!!

JA and DS *seemed * to like him on the blooper show. The others really haven't had to deal with him much.

I once again wonder if John Bennett Perry will be cast in the role, but this time to perhaps provide some on-set stability for his wayward son. (also, he kind of has the body type we saw a glimpse of in TOW All the Thanksgivings)

YW

:-)

Yes, I was trying not to mention that. Oddly, everyone is denying knowing that anything was going on this time. There are unsubstantiated rumors quite to the contrary, though. :-( Maybe the whole of Hollywood is in denial.

Oh, it will be easy enough to stuff a pillow under CCA's costumes, though. But you are right, unless there is something important to tell, C and M should remain distinct personalities.

We'll see...

Yep.

We have heard that he was back on the set for the table read on Tuesday, and that he "looks great". I'm hoping that his rehab is continuing and that it will for a long time.

Exactly.

good point

:-)

Maybe not condoms, though, since all she was holding when she entered the room was her card key and a drink.

I'm so honored to be the first to suggest anything!

Maybe Jeff Zucker doesn't like that kind of misleading crap. We'll see in May.

Well, by mentioning the sock bunny, I assume you mean that *she* was there for *him*. I thought this time *he* was there for *her* in a very substantial way. :-)

sigh...>> I'll be interested to see if Chef Geller has any problems continuing her

I guarantee you, that isn't possible.

But we all thought (hoped) that was the end of that...

I remember the foot flirting (that is what I was referring to) but I don't recall the Arabian Princess stuff.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Oh it didn't affect me, don't worry. I'm just trying to help you. :)

I used to be Head Of Software Support for a large aerospace company, and there would always be people who lost hours or even days of work because they didn't save as they went along, and expected my staff to get it back for them. The best way to teach these people to be more responsible was to tell them not to worry for they would be surprised how more quickly they would be able to type it out for the second time.

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

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Grin.

Indeed.

It's just the way CMS imitated JA's hand gesture that makes me wonder...

He would be an excellent choice, for all the reasons you say.

I see no difficulty in his having played Joshua's father in 418.

Probably a natural reaction to living in a goldfish bowl.

Yes, except the production runs into big trouble if CCA becomes pregnant several months after Monica does.

They should be distinct personalities anyway, but of 16 episodes so far this season, they've been in the same story for 13, which is too many.

The pairs Joey & Rachel, and Monica & Ross, have both been in the same story for only 7 episodes, and all other pairings much less than that.

And except for various odd little snippets like greeting Cecilia Munro, ex-roomies Monica & Rachel have been kept apart since the season opener.

Oh, that's wonderful news, thanks Sammi!

Why (outside of spoilers) hasn't this been announced on ATF?

Yeah, that's why I said "bought" not "brought". After their first session was a success, and Chandler was up for more, she nipped back to her own bedroom to fetch a box of six.

There's a lot of competition from some very bright & insightful posters in this forum, and IMO your possible explanation is the most reasonable.

Oh of course, Jayzee our hero, the guy who fought back with these longer episodes instead of bottling out with clip-shows & repeats, and who is a great improvement on Garth Ancier who never really liked the show. If he is still the boss in a year's time, then we will get Season Nine.

I think we have our timelines crossed. In 1998 he was there for her in a very substantial way. In 2001 she felt very guilty about how she had treated him, but not quite as guilty as she'd felt the year before. :)

Phoebe lied about hers to get out of taking Emily to the opera.

Oh dear, maybe your copy is from syndication, sans punch line... :(

RACHEL: Pheebs, is that a new ankle bracelet? MONICA: Wow! And you got a pedicure. Your feet are all dressed up. CHANDLER: Because that's the only part of you he can see when he's on the table! MONICA: You're gonna do some feet flirtin'! PHOEBE: I don't what you're talking about. ROSS: Then how do you explain the toe ring?! PHOEBE: Because it's Arabian Princess Day at work!

Tennant

So I have been properly admonished!

Hmmm...

Me neither. Now IMDB has revealed that Morgan Fairchild was present for "table reads" (plural), but no mention of dad.

I'm glad I don't :-(

Well, not really unless Monica were to deliver before the season finale. Even then, it is much more realistic to have some abdominal baggage present after a birth than to be slim again the next episode. They could always resort to the old standby of having Monica holding boxes or being partially obstructed. It was pretty funny on Seinfeld when they totally ignored JLD's pregnancy for the duration.

yep.

Yes, both pairs of former roomies have been sadly ignored.

It has now. But I try not to jump on stuff until it has wider coverage than just one source.

Oh, I did not catch that.

Gee.....  :-)

New phrase at NBC: Don't muck with Zuck!

Ok, I see now.

Not necessarily! Believe me! Spaghetti dinner makes sudden unnannounced reappearance... news at 11. It happens!

Ah, I don't recall the last 2 lines. Bad syndication.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

You'll thank me the next time AOL strikes, and you have most on disk. :)

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

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Indeed.

That's because it would be surprising & peculiar if she wasn't there. He is the big surprise, so unless you hear that he will be played by a relatively unknown actor, don't tell me, okay?

Yeah but look at the mess "Roseanne" got into when a fictional pregnancy turned real, and the sex of the unborn baby changed.

Indeed, here are the episodes with stories including Monica & Rachel...

  S1  ...*........***.***.....
  S2  .**.*...*...**..***..*..
  S3  ...*...**.*.....*.....*..
  S4  .*.*..*....*..*...**.*..
  S5  .......*.***.*.....*.*..
  S6  .*.*.*.....*.....**......
  S7  *...............

..and then the same thing for Chandler & Joey.

  S1  ...*......**.*...**.*...
  S2  *..*.*.**....****..*.**.
  S3  .*..*...*.*..****...*....
  S4  **..*****..*....*******.
  S5  ....*.*.**...*.*...***..
  S6  .*.*.*.*..*...*....*.....
  S7  ........*...*..*

You can see that the boys are returning to something like their former frequency, (apart from their splurge of S4), while the girls have had fewer stories together and they're even rarer now.

Quite so, but I trust you.

LOL!

ROTFL!!!

Even so, two episodes later her morning sickness was in the mornings.

That's exactly what I was afraid of, it's so awful for you guys. :(

Tennant

Yes, Professor Stuart.

Will do. Or actually, won't do! :-)

My first choice, though, is Steve Martin, but a little thing called the Academy Awards is kind of in the way!

Would anyone have noticed Rosanne being pregnant if it wasn't announced?

Wasn't that the last season of Rosanne? I gave up on the show that year.

Too true. I'd like to see Chandler giving Joey boyfriend lessons, and Monica attempting to turn Rachel into a domestic goddess!

Thanks!

I actually read that somewhere, on Variety, I think!

Anywhere, anytime. You can't question it. Like hiccups, another of Mother Nature's little jokes on humankind.

Yes, especially if you're like me, and didn't start taping to save until late in the game.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Grin.

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E S

Thanks! :)

I'd prefer someone who could be seen more often, like John Bennett Perry.

Yes, she was huge.

No, that was Season 8. The last season was 9, and although I didn't give up on the show, it really jumped the shark when Roseanne won the lottery.

Lol, Joey does need to learn how to keep his catch - but Rachel never was one for housework, and now she's discovered the joys of being a slob.

Why is it called *morning* sickness then?

Why don't you import the DVDs from Europe or Australia?

Tennant

Yeah, he'd probably be a little more available. I'm hoping for a father and son storyline over a couple of episodes.

Huge (r)  ;-)

Oh, then I guess I gave up on it in season 8. The lottery thing was a pretty ridiculous idea.

Ross better earn a lot of money so they can afford a maid!

Well, it is at its worst in the morning, mostly aggrevated by hypoglycemia (which is one reason why pregnant women eat all the time). My sense of smell became very heightened, and I became very sensitive to odors that didn't bother me before. I had to speed- shop through the grocery store (the coffee aisle set me off the worst), and had to avoid a lot of foods all together. I even had to leave the kitchen sometimes when family members were eating certain things for dinner. And my husband's after shave was probably the worst of all!

Wouldn't I also have to buy a European DVD player, too?

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yep.

What does "(r)" mean?

Yeah, it ruined it the show I'm afraid. But we'll always have the glory of the early years when it had a real edge, especially Season Two.

I dunno, these days Rachel would prefer a water balloon fight to seeing an excellent play...

So why would Phoebe say that she had her morning sickness in the evenings, apart from the fact that it got her out of taking Emily to the opera?

No, just any multi-region player - or if you already have a DVD player, get it set to be multi-region, (not region-free).

Another option is a DVD-ROM drive for your computer, check out the thread "Friends DVD (not Best of)".

Tennant

bad grammer- I meant *huger* than she was before!

Yeah, it was pretty good for a long while.

:-)

It changes. For a while it may be worse in the morning, then a few weeks or months later, it can become an afternoon or evening problem. Or you can happily suffer all day long!

We do have a DVD-ROM drive on this computer- do they come multi-region?

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Lol!

ROSEANNE: Darlene, here's 60 bucks. Can you go down the store and get
          me some milk? Yeah, and some bread? Oh, and on your way back
          home, could you swing by the jail and get your father out?

And someone whose psychic abilities tend to come & go when it suits her, or is still using her mother's suicide to get her own way, wouldn't claim to have more sickness than she does to avoid unpleasant duties? ;)

It's just a question of having the right device driver, possibly even just changing one number somewhere in the code. Some of the latest ones have a hardware fix to stop you doing that, but most others don't, and all the older drives are fixable.

Don't forget that *all* DVD-ROM drives and *all* DVD players in the world are multi-region, nobody wants to reduce profits by making separate models for each country. For players, all you need to know is the secret code to type into the remote control to access the service menu.

Tennant

LOL!!

Well, ok. My mind doesn't work like Phoebe's. I'm nowhere near as devious.

Hmmm. This computer is pretty new- last year's Compaq Presario.

Tha makes sense. Thanks.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yeah, and the resulting role-reversal scene was brilliant...

A fact which all your friends appreciate. :)

You need to find out what DVD-ROM drive you have, and start looking on the internet for information about it. There are lots of sites. Or ask here.

YW

Tennant

On 19 Mar 2001 07:20:43 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

No problem, Sammi, I've had my share of newsreader problems in the past, so I know what you're talking about. :)

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

L

Just the fact that C+M were "sneaking around" for a couple of minutes again made it memorable.

Poor Chandler! Or perhaps not.

Tag got his name because it rhymes with "drag". :)

I agree. Little Chandler should have a task at the wedding ceremony, but Ben is the boy for the ring bearer job.

Lol!

Joey hit the mark here, didn't he? :)

Oh, dear, you're right..

Absolutely, there must be at least hundred different versions out there with all kinds of ratings.

Me too. Chandler would be too scared to do anything.

Awww...

You read my mind. :)

I always thought it had something to do with him buying them in Spain or Mexico, hence they were really old, but I don't know.

Yep.

Grin.

I agree.

Hehe. You're right.

Knowing Monica, she probably did.

Seems like several of us thought of this. :)

You are very sweet!!

Yes! I had hoped they might get a chance to do it with the birthday flashbacks, to help establish timelines, but no such luck.

. Subplot has

There is a lot of humor to be mined from attempting to become pregnant, especially with someone as competitive as Monica!

LOL!!

Though if the 2-plus Little Chandler, Leslie, and Frank Jr. Jr. are anything like my youngest, chaos would rule!

This is, finally, the year of Joey.

Oh, yes.

I wrote that the first time I tried to reply, but forgot it this time.

Great minds....

I've been meaning to ask, though, is there any

Or maybe Nora got them for him on one of her book tours?

Ooh, I just remembered... Chandler keeps one in his wallet, too.

See?  :-)

And again!

Sammi

On 24 Mar 2001 07:20:19 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

They should have done it, though, since it would have been an extra treat for the fans. Not to mention the fact that they had the chance to do it since some of the birthdays took place so long ago.

I know! The show doesn't have to "die" if she becomes pregnant. Besides, there will only be a few episodes involving a kid anyway, since they'll most likely end the series next year.

Chaos is great fun at weddings... unless you are the bride of course. :)

Yes!

Monica has always been more aggressive than Chandler in the dating department.

..think alike. ;)

Lol! Maybe a fan (Rachel???) gave it to her as some sort of sick gift.

And I think it's very likely that Nora bought him that one.

I agree. It could have shown the progression of who knew what and when. Maybe they didn't want to make it seem like yet another C and M episode, though. :-(

Exactly! Just more C and M haters fearing that much less air time for an R and R reunion.

I attended a wedding in which one of the poor bridesmaids had a coughing fit during the ceremony. You could see the poor woman trying to decide which was worse, waiting the coughs out or making even more commotion by stepping out of the perfect little bridesmaid's line to go cough elsewhere. The evil bride counted the number of coughs later when viewing the videotape, decided the bridesmaid had ruined the entire wedding, and never spoke to her former friend again!

Did you ever visit the site, "Magic Beans?" It has been abandoned this year, but the webmistress had an obsession with statistics and kept multiple charts updated after each episode with the number of lines each character had per episode, how many dated/relationships each had had, how many and what jobs each had, etc.

Seasons 1-3, Ross had the most lines by far, with C, J and P at the bottom.

Seasons 4-6, Chandler was #1.

Monica and Rachel were pretty much always in the 2 and 3 spots. Joey and Phoebe were always 4-6, and once Chandler left the dungeon, they became 5 and 6 permanently.

As of 625, Monica held the record for the fewest lines in an episode in TOW the Ring, and Chandler had the most lines in TOW Chandler Crosses the Line.

Anyway, I think Joey could easily be in the 2-4 area this season.

Yep. Good thing for Chandler! :-)

And finish each other's sentences!

Eww...!!

You're right. Probably the one she referred to in season 1!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

I can generate this sort of stuff at the drop of a hat if you're interested.

Tennant

Sure, what can you give us?

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Well, for example it's trivial to count the number of lines, but the snag is that somebody saying "Hi" is treated equally with someone delivering a three minute speech. On the other hand, if you count the number of words, then you have to be very careful of the stage directions, so...

ROSS: Hello (at that moment the monkey hops off his shoulder) Rachel.

..must be treated as the two words "Hello Rachel."

This is why most of the statistics given in Magic Beans are *wrong*.

For example, Monica had 49 words in 623 "TOW the Ring"...

MONICA: Still crying?
MONICA: Y'know, I only know of two surefire ways to shut a man up. And
        one of them is sex.
MONICA: I don't know, I've never had to use the other one. I'm just
        saying y'know, if we're having sex, he's not gonna be talking.
MONICA: Oh, we have some.

..but Ross only had 40 words in 403 "TOW the 'Cuffs"...

ROSS: Come on, I think this is a good thing. I don't think Mom would've hired you if she didn't think you were good at what you do. ROSS: I'm telling you it's totally unconstitutional. ROSS: The volcano? ROSS: With such a sad history.

As for the largest part, that wasn't Chandler in 407 "TOW Chandler Crosses the Line" (756 words), but Ross in 316 "TOT Morning After" (997 words).

Magic Beans wasn't much better with season totals. This is from 101-717...

  Words������S1������S2������S3������S4������S5������S6������S7����Totals

  Chandler��8580����8227����8800����9044����8412���10563����6240����59866
  Joey������6034����7170����8364����8153����9447���10632����6459����56259
  Monica����7437����7752����8174����7244����8363����8635����6267����53872
  Phoebe����6242����8710����9000����8201����8472����8255����5877����54757
  Rachel����8540����8478����8668����9092����9863���10770����8748����64159
  Ross�����10027����8818���10493����8393����8841����9928����6320����62820

  Most������Ross����Ross����Ross���Rachel��Rachel��Rachel��Rachel��Rachel
  Least�����Joey����Joey���Monica��Monica��Monica��Phoebe��Phoebe��Monica

  Males����24641���24215���27657���25590���26700���31123���19019���178945
  Females��22219���24940���25842���24537���26698���27660���20892���172788

  Totals���46860���49155���53499���50127���53398���58783���39911���351733

The first time anyone said a single word was the 13th line of the pilot...

PHOEBE: No.

..whilst the longest line had these 150 words spoken to Carol in 114...

ROSS: No, it's just... you know, the whole "getting on with your life"
      thing. Well, do I have to? I mean, I'm sitting here with this cute
      woman, and, and, and she's perfectly nice, and, but that there's,
      that's it. And um, and then I'm here talkin' to you, and, and it's
      easy, and it's fun, and, and I don't, I don't have to... You know,
      here's a wacky thought. Um, what's say you and I give it another
      shot? No no no, I know what you're gonna say, you're a lesbian.
      But what do you say we just put that aside for now you know? Let's
      just stick a pin in it, ok? Because, we're great together, you
      know. You can't deny it. Besides, you're carrying my baby. I mean,
      how perfect is that? But see, you know, you keep sayin' that, but
      there's somethin' right here. I love you.

Anyway Sammi, that's just a sample, what else would you like to know?

Who said "Oh my God" the most? It wasn't Janice, nor Chandler...

Which breeds of dog have been mentioned? US ports? Santa's reindeer? Snow White's dwarfs? Books of the Bible? Al Pacino movies?

Who has the most solos? Which are the commonest pairs?

Who says their own name the most, and who the least?

What was the longest speech, ignoring interruptions?

Which was Gunther's best episode? Or Carol's?

Who are the most & least prolific writers?

Believe it or not, those were all things requested in the past...

Tennant

I can give you the answer to the oh my Gods. Rachel; has said the most.

In article , [email] (Seran Perry) wrote:

You remembered! I'm so pleased. :)

Tennant

Ah-ha. That makes things look a lot different.

Too bad.

That makes sense.

Season 5 surprises me.

Seran says it is Rachel.

Ok

yes please.

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Ya, but at least you haven't lost something worth having, yet you do still have me! :)

Ya, except that the greatest number of words does not guarantee the largest part, since speaking speed affects this, and anyway an actor could really dominate an episode without saying much. However, some writers are paid by the word, and it's something we can measure.

How do you mean? That Rachel & Joey had the most to say in a season which is popularly assumed to be dominated by Chandler & Monica?

She remembers our previous discussions well.

Most Solos

36 Joey 36 Phoebe 30 Ross 20 Rachel 19 Chandler 17 Monica

Commonest Pairs

  36  Rachel + Ross
  28  Chandler + Joey
  26  Chandler + Monica
  13  Monica + Phoebe
  11  Joey + Phoebe
  11  Phoebe + Rachel
  11  Phoebe + Ross
  10  Joey + Ross
  10  Monica + Ross
   9  Joey + Rachel
   9  Monica + Rachel
   7  Chandler + Rachel
   5  Joey + Monica
   4  Chandler + Phoebe
   3  Chandler + Ross

Gunther's was 106 words in 310 "TOW Rachel Quits", and

Carol's was 236 words in 317 "TOWo the Ski Trip".

Tennant

"I'll be there for you...."

Where is this "ya" coming from all of a sudden? ;-)

TOW with Chandler in a box comes to mind. That waving finger said volumes.

Are script writers paid by the word, or is that only restaurant reviewers for the Chelsea ...(um...I don't remember the rest)?

Yes, that's what I mean. This year, too, those who aren't paying close attention will assume that C and M are the dominant force again.

I'm not surprised that Joey and Phoebe have the most solos. Up until this year, though, Joey's were often pretty lame stories. Phoebe had some pretty good ones, especially in season 4 (which is why LK won her Emmy).

Which proves that, even after being together for 3 years, C and M are NOT being force-fed to us. I'm surprised that Monica and Rachel haven't been together more often.

Wow!

Where had Gunther been this year? I saw the actor (can't remember his name) on another show sometime this season, but I'm drawing a blank.

Thanks so much for sharing, Tennant.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Lol!

But yes indeed I shall. :)

Talking to Norwegians.

Well, there you go then. A *wonderful* moment too.

Well remembered...

MONICA: Hey! My first review is out!
PHOEBE: Oh, the Chelsea Reporter, ohh, this used to keep me so warm.
MONICA: Alright, look at my review on the back page.
PHOEBE: Oh, okay! (reading) "Would I go back to Allesandro's? Sure,
        but I'd have to order two meals, one for me and one for the
        guy pointing the gun to my head." (to Monica) Wow! You really
        laid into this place.
MONICA: Hey, they don't pay me a penny a word to make friends.

That was a neat line about the two meals, Monica is a good writer.

Hmmm... solo Phoebe stories from S4...

401 "TOW the Three Losers" 404 "TOW Arabian Princess" 410 "TOW Hanukkah & Budolf" 411 "TOW Phoebe's Uterus" 412 "TOW the Embryos" 417 "TOW the Relaxicab"

Indeed, though do bear in mind that the above is just their duets, the stories with Chandler & Monica & others are not included.

Me too, and even if you look at stories with Monica & Rachel & others, there hasn't been one since the season opener. It's also surprising that college buddies and best friends Ross & Chandler have only had 3 duets out of 162 episodes (these data are for 101-716).

Grin.

In 701-717, the only thing he has said is "Here you go" in 710.

I saw the actor (can't remember his name) on another show sometime this season, but I'm drawing a blank.

James Michael Tyler hasn't been all that busy as far as I know.

Thank *you* for everything you do for me, sweetheart. ;)

Tennant

Thanks!!

Ah-ha! I'll have to teach you some valley slang from California!

Yep.

...or the writers who are being paid a penny a word to srite for her are good writers!

I must have liked season 4 better than you did. ;-) I went from regular viewer to viewer who tapes the episodes occasionally to viewer who tapes every episode and keeps them because of episode 412 and the Chandler-Kathy-Joey arc.

I also think that Frank Jr. and Alice are two of the best acted, written, and funniest recurring characters the show has had, and they had some good moments with Phoebe in season 4. Unfortunately, I hear it is unlikely that Giovanni Ribissi will come back (he apparently hated his role), and Debra Jo Rupp is busy with her own series on Fox.

Oh yeah.

Well, maybe more of both pairs will be on the horizon. If only BKC would take a look at your stats, they'd know what they've overdone and what pairings could bring some new stories out.

But he's been in the background in more episodes than just 710, hasn't he? Maybe he and Rachel should date!

The best deeds are done from the goodness of one's heart. :-)

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Could be - over here, "ya" is Sloane Ranger.

That's the objective point of view...

What makes you say that?

412 was one of the best episodes ever, and it's teaser is *the* best.

But I became a fan when Madonna sang "Take A Bow", and Rachel waited at the airport, her little face full of hope, little realising what we had just seen lay in store for her...

They were good, we all loved they way they jumped on each other at any opportunity, but as you say we might not see them again.

Let's hope somebody out there is having a little lurk...

Probably, but in my book only speaking roles count.

How about if her older butch sister takes a fancy to him?

Awww...

Tennant

>Believe it or not, those were all things requested in the past...

Ok, can you do:

What phrase does each character say the most

How often has Joey said "How you doin' " " " " Chandler used the word "be" in a sentence

    "      "       "      Monica said "I know"
    "      "       "       Ross started a sentence with, "Technically... ."

Who characteristically has the shortest/longest sentences/speeches.

That's all I can think of right now.

My last reply got sent before I was finished, so this is the tail end of it!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Up to how many words in a phrase?

Actually this often surprises people, so here's anybody saying it...

211 "TOW the Lesbian Wedding"

SUSAN: How you doin'?

213 "TOA the Superbowl (part 2)"

SUSIE: How you doin' there squirmy?

413 "TOW Rachel's Crush"

JOEY: I look a woman up and down and say, "Hey, how you doin'?"

JOEY: (to Phoebe) Hey, how you doin'?

RACHEL: You know what, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna call him up, and I'm gonna ask him out. I can do that. Ask him out. How you doin'?

RACHEL: (as Joshua's license) How you doin'?

420 "TOW All the Wedding Dresses"

JOEY: (In his sleep) How you doin'?

424 "TOW Ross's Wedding (part 2)"

JOEY: (To Felicity) Fuggetaboutit. How you doin?

516 "TOW the Cop"

JOEY: (Ro Rachel) How you doin'?

524 "TOI Vegas (part 2)"

JOEY: Okay! How you doin'?

JOEY: Hey Rach, how you doin'?

RACHEL: I'm doin' good, baby. How you doin'?

605 "TOW Joey's Porsche"

JOEY: Hey! How you doin'?

607 "TOW Phoebe Runs"

JOEY: (To Chandler) How you doin?

JOEY: (To Janine) How you doin?

613 "TOW Rachel's Sister"

JOEY: (To Jill) Hey, how you doin'?

615 "TOT Could Have Been (part 1)"

JOEY: (To Rachel) So uh, how you doin'?

617 "TOW Unagi"

JOEY: No! No! No! No! No! How YOU doin'?! How YOU doin' - Damnit Carl!

621 "TOW Ross meets Elizabeth's Dad"

JOEY: Hey, how you doin'?

705 "TOW the Engagement Picture"

TAG: How you doin'?

716 "TOW the Truth About London"

JOEY: (picks up a piece of food.) How you doin'?

..notice that Joey was only the third character to say this (Ross wasn't the first to say his catchphrase either) and that more women than men have said it. The totals for each character are as follows...

  Joey .... 16
  Rachel ... 3
  Susan .... 1
  Susie .... 1
  Tag ...... 1

..but note that this changes if you include the phrase "How you doing".

335

113

Well, technically he's only done it twice, but since he's said the word only six times altogether, here are the first four occasions...

107 "TOW the Blackout"

ROSS: No, no, no. Technically the... sex is not... being had.

204 "TOW Phoebe's Husband"

ROSS: Technically, huh, no.

618 "TOW Ross Dates a Student"

ROSS: Well, not really. I mean technically it's-it's not against the rules or anything, but it is frowned upon.

712 "TOW They're Up All Night"

ROSS: Well, technically it was seven billion years ago.

Lines Sentences Words W/L W/S S/L

  Monica    5664     9420    53872     9.51    5.72    1.66
  Chandler  5930     9886    59866    10.10    6.06    1.67
  Ross      6072    10791    62820    10.35    5.82    1.78
  Rachel    6152    11053    64159    10.43    5.80    1.80
  Joey      5361     9959    56259    10.49    5.65    1.86
  Phoebe    4977     9373    54757    11.00    5.84    1.88

As you can see, there's little variation in average sentence length, so the characters have been sorted in order of average line length, which is the same order as the average sentences per line.

Three cheers for AOL again?

Tennant

On Mon, 02 Apr 2001 05:20:33 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

I've got another suggestion. Wouldn't you say that Chandler's "how you doin' " to Monica at the rehearsal dinner in 424 would count? That's more of a "how you doin'?" than "how you doing?" IMHO. :)

I don't really agree, Marita (oh no! Can we still be friends? :-) ).

That wasn't really intended as a pick up line, I think, more of a question of genuine concern.

I'm glad you mentioned it, though, because I hadn't noticed. It's pretty funny now that we know what really happened!

Sammi

On 03 Apr 2001 03:31:12 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

But, see, I agree with you. So we can in fact be friends... :) (Not that I would be offended if I disagreed..)

I totally agree. I didn't mean that Chandler was hoping to hook up with Monica and said "how you doin'" as a pick up line, but I meant that phonetically, his line sounded like the expression Joey has made famous over the years. He had the same tone of voice as Joey, IMO, even though he wasn't trying to hook up with Monica. I think that the lack of an English /ng/ sound in the end of the word changes the question. If you listen carefully, he says "doin'", not "doing". However, I could be wrong of course, since English is not my mother tongue. :) *And* if this list is only for the "how you doin'"s that were intended as pick up lines, I'll rest my case. :)

I know! I'm starting to believe that this line works regardless of who's saying it. Perhaps the words are magical...

:-)

You are right, he does say "doin' ". But to my ear, the inflection is different than Joey's pick up inflection- he emphasizes the "doin' ", not the "you". We Americans can be pretty sloppy with our language sometimes, and I think the "doin' " just made the question less formal and more intimate (not that way) than it would have been if he had said, "How are you doing?" My mother asks the same question, emphasizing the "How", dropping her voice for the "you" and "doing" to make it a question of parental concern.

Are you going to try them out sometime?

Sammi

On 04 Apr 2001 03:42:34 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Okay. That sounds reasonable. :)

Well, the Norwegian version ("st�r til?") doesn't have the same ring to it, so I think I'll pass or save it until I'll go to the USA. :)

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

They're not magical for Joey, most of the time he has *not* said "how you doin'" as a pick-up line; while on the few occasions he has, it did not really work, (except once with Rachel in the alternative universe).

Tennant

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

Do you mean after Monica's "I didn't want everyone to think I was stupid"?

If so, the transcript has Chandler saying "So how are you doing?"

Tennant

On Tue, 03 Apr 2001 23:20:12 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

Yep.

Well, I don't agree with the transcript. I think he says "doin'", not "doing", but Sammi said that it had to do with the American tone of voice.

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

Okay sweetie, dinna fash yersen, I already have the DVD in the player, so I'll take a decko - ooh, Joey turns down some free food, goat cheese watercress & pancetta hors d'oeuvres - anyway, whizz down to 28:48, and the subtitle says "So how are you?" (in Norsk it's "Hvordan g�r det?"), while the soundtrack is "So how are you doing?", but he says "how are" so fast that it could be "how're", and "doing" with such a falling tone that you could easily miss the final letter. Anyway, he doesn't say the phrase in anything like the way that Joey or Rachel do.

Tennant

On Sat, 07 Apr 2001 05:34:13 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

Ruller p� gulvet og ler!!! It's just not the same without that New York-accent.

I'm perfectly aware of that. He doesn't have the same intonation as Joey and Rachel, and that's not what I'm trying to say either. All I'm saying is that the letters themselves are the same. Now, I don't know the English terms for these letters and sounds, I only know them in Norwegian and Latin, but here goes: I think Chandler said "doin'", which means that he used /n/, a voiced, nasal, alveolar sound. If he had said "doing", he would have used a voiced, nasal, velar sound.

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

Ah, but what about "Bestemors kyllingsalat"?

You mean that the N in "doin'" is produced by the tongue against the root of the upper teeth, while the NG in "doing" is produced by the back of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Imitating Chandler, while thinking about my own tongue, it seems to me it's somewhere in between... :)

Tennant

On Wed, 11 Apr 2001 03:10:00 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

Juicy phrase, isn't it? ;)

Yep, that's what I meant. I tried to say it out loud several times, and that was my conclusion. However, I guess I should listen to someone whose mother tongue is English. :)

Joey has a New York accent, Chandler has a California accent (except for a few words that give away MP's early Canadian upbringing).

You guys are correct about the placement of the tongue for the "n" and "ng" sounds. The "d" , though, is much harder in Joey's "doin' " than in Chandler's.

Sammi

On 13 Apr 2001 03:29:01 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Really? I didn't know that. :)

IC.

To go further, DS has a mostly Long Island accent (from what I hear, I'm not that good at placing East Coasters by region), but I think he grew up in Beverly Hills, CA!

LK has tha most Valley-girlish accent of the women. Natural, since she grew up in the "Valley" in CA.

JA has a California accent

CCA has cultivated a California accent, but her Alabama upbringing comes out sometimes.

It is interesting that most performers on tv develop the California-type accent, especially news casters. You can go to almost any major city in the country, and the majority of the newscasters have developed the same bland California-ish accent, even in New York and Dallas where the regional accents can be very strong.

Last week they showed clips of interviews with JA and MP at age 25, when Friends's pilot was first set to air, and oddly, MP sounded a lot more east-coast-ish back then. (and JA's voice was a LOT higher!)

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Is this why to British ears they sound less American? Also, sometimes when you watch an actor on Leno or Letterman, it's often surprising how they sound more American than they do on their own TV show.

Tennant

Depends on what you mean by "sound"ing American- do you mean with regional accents, like southern or New Yawk, or the more homogenous accent that all the Friends actors except MLB and DS have? I am kind of prejudiced since I grew up in California myself, so most actors and newscasters sound like me and my family. I can pass for a local almost anywhere in the country except the southern states, New England, and the upper mid-west.

I saw Megan Mullaley (from W and G) on a talk show once, and she has the most Valley-girlish accent I have ever heard!

BTW- hoping to bury this in this thread so it doesn't get picked up by the doomsday crowd: Last night's episode had one of the lowest ratings for a first-run ep in the history of the show- 16 million viewers. Survivor had its usual 28 million, and ER was near that. I think it is because people weren't aware that the new episodes were starting up again, and TV guide and USA Today had the wrong episode description, making it sound like a clip show.

Friends is now tied with ELR for 5th place overall for the season, mostly because it is getting poorer rerun ratings. I would expect that 3 of the next 4 episodes should do quite well, though, especially the last ep. The ep on 5/3 may suffer because it is against the Survivor finale (though on the first Survivor, NOTHING happened until the last 20 minutes of the 2-hour broadcast), and they are showing the 30-min version of 716 at 8:30 on 5/3. Ep 723/724 should be a blockbuster, though.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

I can't really answer that, since I can't pick out accents as well as a native can, but in terms of decreasing American-ness it goes...

People in weird news items from the hinterland. Ordinary people on Springer/Oprah type talk shows. Actors & newsreaders being themselves on Leno/Letterman. Actors & newsreaders doing their own jobs on television. Brits talking with what we call a mid-Atlantic accent. Brits talking with an ordinary British accent. Actors pretending to be British on American TV.

The girls in "Clueless" all sound & act in a very peculiar way, but sometimes at the end they show an out-take where the actresses then drop out of character, and suddenly they sound & act quite normal.

Yes, I've already seen posts elsewhere from people puzzled that it wasn't the clip show they were expecting, all about C&M's history together. The messages are full of pleas for help from people who missed 719. It seems peculiar to me that you guys get reruns interspersed with new material during peak hours, totally destroying any momentum that's built up during the course of the season. Anyway, I hope you got 719, yes?

Ah - do you think the 3rd May episode might be supersized?

Tennant

.> Ordinary people on Springer/Oprah type talk shows.

These people tend to have a lot of regional accents. I don't want to sound too snobby, but while these examples may represent the majority of the American people in terms of numbers, they are generally not what most people would aspire to be or sound like!

Here they can *be themselves* a bit and try to let go of their characters, so any normally supressed regional accents may reappear.

Unless the program is meant to have a regional flavor, this is the accent that many people educate themselves to have or are trained to acquire (or if you are lucky enough to have grown up in the west, you already have it). These are the people that, to me, have no accent!

I'll have to take your word on that!

How well do they do? BTW, have you seen Bridget Jones's Diary? If so, how did Rene do?

The frightening thing is that for several years in the 80's, MANY people growing up in the "valley" near Los Angeles thought this was a very fashionable way to talk.

That is probably another reason why people weren't tuned in. It is VERY irritating that, right after the Feb. sweeps, like you say, all momentum is lost. The West Wing aired a crucial episode early in April in the middle of several reruns, and there have been several on-line discussions in the genreal entertainment news about what a mistake that was. Zuck even admitted it was a huge blunder.

I use my husband as a gauge of how well upcoming episodes are being promoted, since he doesn't expose himself to all of the internet information that I do. He had no idea the last two months when any new episodes were on, and consequently wouldn't have watched if I hadn't told him.

Anyway, I hope you got 719, yes?

Never fear!

No, I don't think so. As far as I can tell, it will be the episode that everyone thought would be on 4/19 (the clip show), followed by a repeat of 716. Do you want to know the names5845 of 720 and 721`?

The episode on 5/10 is called TOW With Chandler's Dad, and you can guess what 723/724 will be called. 722 will be followed by a *special* showing of The Weakest Link featuring some of the Survivor cast from the first season. NBC has to promote it without using the word "Survivor"!!

Sammi

On 22 Apr 2001 20:42:17 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

I watched 719 a couple of days ago, and I hadn't read what USA Today wrote about it. I read what the critic said afterwards, though, and I had no idea what was going on. I realised afterwards that this episode was supposed to be number 721 (according to the spoiler for the episode here on this ng), so MP's absence has probably once again caused mixing with the episode numbers. And BTW, it was really sad that so few people tuned in to see the episode. I thought it was much better than the last two. I was ROTFL. :)

And did you hear that they were all ganging up on Richard to get their revenge? Lol!

, so MP's absence has probably once again

Actually, I think it had more to do with CBS's sudden decision to extend Survivor another week. NBC probably decided to put a clip show on against the Survivor finale rather than a full episode. Besides, it makes more sense to have that particular subject (that of the clip show) closer in time to the Friends season finale.

I liked it MUCH better than 718. Oddly, MP looked and acted so normal in 719, and as far as I know, it was filmed before 718. He did not look well in 718. We'll have to see how he looks in 720, because I think his small parts in 718 were filmed at the end of the taping for 720, and that took place one week before he entered rehab.

Yep!! If it is true, good for them!!

Sammi

Appy50rider wrote in message ...

too

so

that

are

the

did

I saw Bridge Jones's Diary over the weekend. It was hilarious and Rene Zellweger's accent was surprisingly good. The film managed to retain its Englishness, although they did talk about weight in pounds, rather than stones. As a film of a book, the plot naturally differed from the original, although they did manage convincingly to retain its essence. Recommended. Susie.

fashionable

of

news

promoted,

do.

716.

what

NBC

I'm glad you liked it too, Susie. I laughed a lot, and it was nice to se Hugh play a lout for a change.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yes indeed, I'm not judging them, merely saying that to British ears these people sound more American than does the rest of the list.

Absolutely.

But of course, same here! :)

We're now well down the list, moving far away from the American sound.

I haven't seen BJD, but I have been impressed by Meryl Streep & Gwyneth Paltrow. However, most British characters on American TV either sound rather weird, or exaggeratedly correct - for example, Helen Baxendale.

Indeed, for ages after seeing Bill & Ted I wanted somebody to say "no way" to me so that I might retort "yes way", but everyone stopped doing it...

It's the fault of the sweeps system. They should take notice of ratings all year, it does the advertisers no good to go by a special period when the networks try harder. It's like announcing a surprise inspection.

Absolutely. We might not start until January, but then we get one or two new episodes *every* week until the run completes not long after America.

Ah, well done. :)

That's the same day as the "Survivor" finale, yes? I'm afraid that it looks to me as though Zucker is giving up on the competition.

Is "5845" a weird typo?

Anyway, if they're spoilerish, best not - but thanks sweetie.

Well, Monica has already mentioned May 15th, so that's to be expected, and I'd be more surprised if Mr.Bing did not appear. But whoever they cast for the part, I bet that it's none of the actors that any fans have predicted.

If you should find out, please don't tell me. On the other hand, if you happen to learn the CHARACTER'S first name, and it would not spoil the plot or a good joke, then you may tell me.

Lol, TWL has been a big hit here, and you're lucky to be getting the host who made the show what it is, Anne Robinson, and not your typical American guy who is nice to everybody. Whether you enjoy the show or not depends on whether you were naughty at school, and faced the principal's wrath...

Tennant

I'm afraid they're not our best and brightest.

Isn't HB British? Did she purpose exaggerate her accent?

No way!

Sigh...

So you get the momentum going. The only we we can do that is if we tape all the episodes, but don't watch until they have all been shown. But then of course, all the secrets will have been spilled.

Not much can be done against the Survivor Finale. It will be interesting to see how its ratings match up against the Friends finale.

How the hell did that get in there? I didn't see it before. I can't even figure out how it could have eminated from my keyboard!

Oh, you'd never guess in a million years! Beware future promo's, though, because they are showing who plays him.

Haven't heard his name yet.

I tend to hate all reality shows, but I watched TWL and actually liked the fast pace- WWTBAM is glacially slow, and a Regis love-fest. I don't mind Anne Robinson's sarcasm, it's pretty generic and low key, I think. And she's a woman-OMG!

Sammi

Appy50rider wrote:

Yes, you wouldn't recognise her voice if you only heard her in Friends then met her, or saw her in Cardiac Arrest or Cold Feet. The accent that Emily has is posher and more precise than HB's own voice, and most of RP Britain. Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary, and Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors both have posh sub-Sloane voices, which is ok for GP's character but out of character for Bridget, who has no character-driven reason to be posh. Everyone else in the film has normal accents, hers is slightly too forced (but perfectly ok if she were playing a posh Brit, not a bad accent per se, just wrong for Bridget).

Jac

RP Britain?

Thanks for the info- I would never have known.

Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary, and

I see- thanks!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Received Pronunciation.

Tennant

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Don't worry about it, that was the atypical end of a continuum.

Yes, Helen is British, but Emily was more British, even too British, at the other end of that continuum.

Yes way!

Yeppity...

It's time for Americans to stand up for their rights - 36 episode seasons, as in the good old days of shows such as "Bewitched" in the mid-sixties.

I'm surprised that CBS didn't run Survivor all through the May sweeps.

That's why I mentioned it. If you squint a bit, it looks like SEAS.

Bet you I could - guess #1 is Antonio 'El de Chipiona'.

Eek.

Okay. :)

Yep. She's actually very fair with people who are honest & try hard...

..unless they happen to be members of MENSA, that is. :)

Tennant

Oh, OK.>>> Indeed, for ages after seeing Bill & Ted I wanted somebody to say

Happy now? :-)

Sorry, ain't never gonna happen. We'll be lucky if we can get to next season strike-free.

Maybe they weren't sure enough of its ability to stand up against Friends.

Oh no, you caught my subliminal message! ;-)

very wrong. Who is that, anyway?

I'll let you know...

She does seem to like to pick on *smart* people! She actually smiled and winked at the end of last night's show!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yes thankyou sweetheart - you made my day. :)

Yeah - the sad thing is you guys think you live in a free country, and yet the ordinary people are downtrodden by the system.

Yay!! :)

Lol, here's one for you - 318808

The first name in the IMDb - guess #2 is F�lix 'El Gato'.

(At this rate, I shall reach Matthew Perry on 27th December 2024.)

Thanks, sweetie. :)

Yep! My favourite so far is when one contestant tried to jolly her along, and got asked "Do think this is meant to be funny?"

I always look away when she does that...

Tennant

;-)

sigh...

Oh, but now we hear that on May 10, CBS is going to do a 1- hour "Back From the Outback" special following the contestants as they come back home. More fuss is being made about this going against the 8:30 Weakest Links -Survivor special than about it being against Friends.

Grin!!!

Wrong again...

Then you won't reach the real answer for quite a while... One hint: it isn't Matthew Perry!

YW

:-)

Too scary!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

I wish I were surprised, but I'm not. I fail to see the attraction in shows such as "Survivor", so a special about the losers in the contest is lost on me. I suppose at least "The Weakest Link" has more in common with it than "Friends" does.

No fooling you! :)

Oh dear. Ah well, guess #3 is Pollino 'Romero'.

Yes, but a lot faster than a million years... :)

Damn!! ;)

Actually I could guess quite quickly if I wanted to. Since Chandler's dad will be played by somebody famous, I could restrict it to just 2584 names of people with any biographical details, born between 1920 & 1960 who are still alive. Though it includes actresses, composers, directors, writers, and even some politicians, (Clinton, Bill 1946), it is much smaller than the full IMDb. If we played "Higher or Lower" then this would be reduced to just a few names in only ten guesses.

But of course the last thing I want to do is learn the secret too early!

Yep! :)

Tennant

"Media" like Entertainment Tonight seems to have a fascination with the former Survivor cast, for whatever reason. However, as there are more *former* survivors, each one will be less interesting. The interest will die off soon enough.

Nope.

But that is only if you IMDb for help.

Or Matt LeBlanc

You are safe so far with 719 and 720.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Mmmm... Ooo-ooo, guess #4 Izzy 'The Religious Nut'?

But of course.

Tag!!! (It's a new expletive)

Including the promos in the commercial breaks?

Tennant

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

I know, it sounds like "Beast Moors Killing Salad", a sort of vegetarian version of the Sherlock Holmes story "Hounds of the Baskervilles"...

Well, in that case we should listen to Sammi, since she's American. :)

Tennant

On Sat, 14 Apr 2001 19:11:09 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

LOL! So Sherlock Holmes will solve Joey's dirty food mystery... This could be something for the Norwegian-British version of the TWWWS list. Beast moor.. I wonder how my grandma would react to that one. :)

Yep.

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

Slim. Can you ask her? Or them?

Tennant

On Sat, 21 Apr 2001 19:50:13 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

They won't understand the joke. I'm afraid neither of them speak English. :)

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

Well, at least you know more than just the bad words in Norwegian.

Tennant

On Fri, 27 Apr 2001 02:24:29 BST, Tennant Stuart wrote:

So I guess that proves that I had a good childhood, then! And neither my mom (no big ring) nor my dad beat me.. ;)

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

I'm so glad to hear that. And me too. :)

Tennant

I think I hear something more like, "So, how're you doin' "

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yep, could be, but it's definitely nothing like Joey's intonation.

Tennant

I don't know, maybe try 10.

So that didn't become Joey's until season 4.

I'd like to hear Ross, Chandler or Monica use it!

I guess you can't tell the inflection from scripts.

wow

ha ha

interesting. I wonder if there is a reason behind this, or if it just makes for good cadence.

so Phoebe either talks a lot or has lots of little non-content words in her sentences, like um and you know.

No, AOL is not to blame. I had some assistance from Mommy's little helper!

Thanks again!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Eeshk, what sort of 10 word phrases do you say? The average sentence in "Friends" is only 5.82 words long, and a phrase is less than that.

Yep, and he rarely uses it to pick up a girl. In 413 he was demonstrating, in 420 he was asleep, in 424 he was already dating Felicity and she asked him to say something American, in 516 he tried it on Rachel who gave him sisterly advice instead, in 524 he used it to test if Rachel was drunk, in 607 he used it to explain his frustrations to Chandler, in 613 he used it out of habit to greet Jill then looked hurt when Rachel objected, in 617 he was teaching his 'twin', and in 716 he said it to some food.

So, when did he use it to pick up a strange girl? In 524 he tried it on a croupier who instantly rejected him, in 605 he tried it on a girl who was more attracted by his Porsche (immediately revealed to be a pile of boxes), in 607 he tried it on Janine who misunderstood him, in 615 he used it on an unknown Rachel with some success but this was an alternative universe, and in 621 it did work except he had to let his geeky colleague have her!

Joey might enjoy success with the fair sex, but not with "how you doin'".

Why not Phoebe? Anyway, Rachel says it much better than Joey does. :)

Not really, and anyway Chandler doesn't really do that.

Well yes, as much as a third of a little word like Chandler's "be", although you didn't ask me about the other characters...

                       182  Rachel
                       147  Phoebe
                       113  Monica
                       106  Ross
                       100  Joey
                        94  Chandler

..so you see how these preconceptions that people have (not just you dear) have a nasty habit of turning out to be quite wrong... :)

Grin.

I think the best explanation is a house style for the writing.

Yep, but even so there's not much variation.

Awwww... :)

You are *SO* welcome, sweetie!

Tennant

OK, Never mind.

LOL!!

Yes, we rarely see Joey being successful with women on screen- most of his expolits are done off screen.

I agre about Rachel! Especially in ToW in Vegas! I didn't pick Phoebe because she is much more enamored of her "sexuality" than I am.

In the first season, MP did use some interesting inflections (which he says he's done since he was a kid), but he kind of dropped that. The "be" emphasis is now commonplace on tv and in some movies, but I really do think he started that. Which is the 1st season episode where they tease him for the way he talks?

Ah. Which is poorly copied to death on many inferior shows today.

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

No no no, because it's you, 10 words she wants, 10 words she gets.

But the minimum will have to be 3, else we'll get a silly answer.

This means that the very first line in the show...

MONICA: There's nothing to tell! He's just some guy I work with!

..contains the 18 phrases...

there's nothing to there's nothing to tell nothing to tell he's just some he's just some guy he's just some guy I he's just some guy I work he's just some guy I work with just some guy just some guy I just some guy I work just some guy I work with some guy I some guy I work some guy I work with guy I work guy I work with I work with

..while something a little more substantial, like "I just went to your building and you weren't there and then this guy with a big hammer said you might be here and you are", contains 164 phrases...

..and there's only 48,304 lines of text to analyse!

<goes away & does some serious number crunching>

It turns out that long phrases are not common, and many of the phrases they do often say are not what you'd call catchphrases, so what I've done is list every phrase each character says more than 10 times...

Chandler - out of 123,589 phrases...

50 I don't know 50 oh my God 50 what are you 37 I can't believe 32 you have to 26 a lot of 26 what do you 25 you know what 22 I don't think 20 are you doing 19 do you want 19 don't have to 19 wait a minute 19 why don't you 19 you don't have 18 don't want to 18 I have to 17 this is the 17 what are you doing 16 do you know 16 go to the 16 no no no 15 don't know what 15 I don't want 15 I love you 15 I was just 14 I think I 14 in love with 14 we have to 13 going to be 13 gonna have to 13 I'm going to 13 you don't have to 12 do you think 12 here we go 12 I think it's 12 I wanted to 12 I'm gonna go 12 I'm not gonna 12 Monica and I 12 that would be 11 a couple of 11 all of the 11 and then I 11 by the way 11 how do you 11 I don't know what 11 I have a 11 the fact that 11 there you go 11 to be a 11 to go to

Joey - out of 110,595 phrases...

91 I don't know 45 what are you 31 oh my God 30 what do you 27 don't want to 24 check it out 23 are you doing 23 you know what 22 do you think 22 I can't believe 21 I don't want 20 I don't think 18 why don't you 17 I don't want to 17 this is a 16 a lot of 16 days of our lives 16 talk to you 16 to be a 16 what are you doing 16 you want to 15 are you gonna 15 I didn't know 15 I have to 14 how you doin 14 I don't have 14 wait a minute 14 what the hell 13 come on man 13 do you want 13 going to be 13 one of those 13 want me to 13 want you to 13 you guys are 12 go to the 12 I got a 12 one of the 12 supposed to be 11 get out of 11 I don't need 11 I think I 11 we have to 11 you don't want 11 you have to

Monica - out of 106,853 phrases...

140 oh my God 63 what are you 48 I can't believe 45 are you doing 43 I don't know 40 you know what 35 what are you doing 27 why don't you 26 I love you 26 what do you 22 I have to 22 wait a minute 21 you have to 20 all the time 20 do you want 20 you don't have 19 do you think 18 go out with 18 I'll get it 18 you want to 17 are you talking 17 I don't think 17 I mean I 16 are you talking about 15 this is so 14 a lot of 14 don't have to 14 don't want to 14 don't you just 14 I thought you 13 are you okay 13 do you know 13 what are you talking about 13 what is it 13 why don't you just 12 do you wanna 12 I am not 12 I got it 12 I'm gonna go 12 to go out 11 do you want to 11 going out with 11 gonna have to 11 I don't have 11 I was thinking 11 Mom and Dad 11 thought you were 11 want me to 11 want you to 11 what did you 11 what's going on 11 you are so 11 you have a

Phoebe - out of 109,547 phrases...

108 oh my God 62 I don't know 36 you know what 32 I can't believe 27 I have to 26 what are you 22 you have to 20 do you want 19 do you think 19 I have a 19 la la la 18 this is so 17 are you doing 17 I don't think 17 what do you 17 why don't you 16 do you know 16 don't want to 16 I'm going to 15 I'm gonna go 15 what's going on 15 you want to 14 a lot of 14 I know that 13 have to go 13 this is a 12 don't know what 12 go to the 12 going to be 12 I don't want 12 one of the 12 that is so 11 can't believe you 11 I can't believe you 11 I don't have 11 I had a 11 I want to 11 one of those 11 talk to you 11 this is my 11 what are you doing 11 what is that 11 when I was

Rachel - out of 127,766 phrases...

170 oh my God 84 I don't know 64 what are you 59 you know what 39 wait a minute 33 what do you 32 I can't believe 29 are you doing 25 I don't think 24 I have to 23 you have to 22 what are you doing 21 no no no 21 why don't you 20 do you think 19 a lot of 19 gonna have to 19 I'm just gonna 17 I don't care 17 I don't have 17 look at that 17 this is a 16 do you want 16 don't want to 16 I have a 16 I know that 16 I was just 15 are you gonna 15 I am not 15 I am so 15 I don't want 15 I love you 15 I'm so sorry 15 you guys are 15 you want to 14 I'm not gonna 14 this is just 14 this is so 14 want you to 14 when I was 14 yes I am 13 I did not 13 I think I'm 13 I thought you 13 I told you 13 the first time 13 to talk to 12 by the way 12 do you guys 12 have to be 12 how are you 12 I gotta go 12 I'm going to 12 it would be 12 one of those 12 talk to you 12 this is not 12 this is the 12 to tell you 12 want me to 12 what am I 11 and I know 11 are you talking about 11 did you get 11 do you know 11 give me the 11 have to go 11 I can do 11 I think you 11 I'm gonna go 11 I'm telling you 11 it was a 11 it was just 11 out with him 11 that is so 11 we have to 11 you and I 11 you talking about 11 you want me to

Ross - out of 119,022 phrases...

86 I don't know 50 oh my God 45 what are you 35 what do you 31 are you doing 28 you know what 26 I can't believe 26 I don't think 25 I have to 24 don't want to 24 I have a 24 what are you doing 20 do you think 20 I love you 19 don't know what 19 I don't want 19 what's going on 18 a lot of 18 I don't know what 18 you have to 17 a couple of 16 don't have to 16 I was just 16 why don't you 15 I am not 15 I'm gonna go 15 wait a minute 14 for a while 14 have to go 14 I think I 14 want me to 14 you want to 13 are you gonna 13 by the way 13 do you want 13 I don't want to 13 I got it 13 I had to 13 I just wanna 13 to talk to 13 to tell you 13 you and I 12 all the time 12 here we go 12 I want to 12 supposed to be 11 and I have 11 do you have 11 going to be 11 how do you 11 I gotta go 11 I'm having a 11 it was a 11 not going to 11 that would be 11 this is a 11 this is so 11 what am I

..which is a grand total of 697,372 phrases.

If you look through the list, there are some small surprises, such as how many times they say "I love you", or that only Chandler has a phrase with another person's name, or how much Monica talks about her parents.

One very interesting analysis is to see how self-centred the characters are, by counting how many of their phrases contain "I" or "you"...

I U I-U

            22    16     6   Ross
            31    28     3   Rachel
            17    15     2   Chandler
            14    14     0   Phoebe
            11    16    -5   Joey
            13    27   -14   Monica

           425   325   100   Ross
           269   249    20   Phoebe
           537   523    14   Rachel
           292   305   -13   Chandler
           249   299   -50   Joey
           263   551  -288   Monica

..with an even stronger result in the second table where each phrase is multiplied by the number of times that the character has said it.

Grin.

Hmmm... as you say, most - but we have seen some, and his phrase has not really done him much good, and he usually says something else.

Yeah, I think that is supposed to be the joke, actually.

Ooh easy, it's where Pheebs was his secretary, 122 "TOW the Ick Factor"...

PHOEBE: They even do you. CHANDLER: They do me? PHOEBE: You know like... uh... 'Could that report *be* any later?' CHANDLER: I don't sound like that. ROSS: Oh, oh Chandler... JOEY: Oh... Yeah, you do. ROSS: 'The hills were alive with the sound *of* music.' JOEY: (reaching for his scones) My scones. PHOEBE, JOEY & ROSS: 'My scones.' CHANDLER: Okay, I don't sound like that. That is so *not* true.

..from which we see that he was supposed to emphasise various words peculiarly, mot just "be". And what's all that about scones?

Which thankfully we don't get over here, except in graveyard slots.

Tennant

Wow, this is great!!!

Can you sort it out as to who each I love you was directed at?

That pretty much comes out like I would have predicted it, based on their personalities. Very interesting!!!

Yep.

! I didn't pick Phoebe

I know, and it is pretty funny. I hope LK isn't offended by it!

I don't know what the scone thing was about. He had one in 716, too, didn't he? I don't think I've ever eaten one. They are around, but not a big deal over here.

I just try to avoid them all together. In fact, this season has been so poor overall, my tv isn't even on (except for the kids' videos and Nick Jr. or the news) Friday through Monday. I watch one show on Tuesday (Frasier), a couple of dramas on Wednesday, and the Thursday night lineup on NBC.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yeah, easy. These are the episodes, lovers, and lovees...

         108    Ross       Monica
         108    Ross       Phoebe
         108    Ross       Rachel
         114    Ross       Carol
         115    Rachel     Ross
         117    Rachel     Monica
         124    Joey       Ross
         124    Chandler   Rachel

         202    Monica     Rachel
         202    Rachel     Monica
         202    Phoebe     Monica
         202    Phoebe     Rachel
         212    Monica     Joey
         217    Monica     Ross
         218    Monica     Richard
         219    Phoebe     Rachel
         219    Phoebe     Monica
         220    Ross       Rachel
         220    Rachel     Ross
         222    Rachel     Ross
         222    Rachel     Ross
         224    Monica     Richard

         302    Rachel     Ross
         302    Rachel     Ross
         302    Ross       Rachel
         303    Rachel     Ross
         304    Joey       Phoebe
         304    Chandler   Janice
         306    Phoebe     Monica
         306    Monica     Phoebe
         310    Rachel     Mr.Kaplan
         312    Ross       Rachel
         312    Ross       Rachel
         314    Ross       Rachel
         314    Rachel     Ross
         314    Rachel     Ross
         316    Rachel     Ross
         316    Ross       Rachel
         316    Ross       Ross
         316    Ross       Rachel
         318    Phoebe     Frank
         321    Chandler   Yasmine
         321    Chandler   Dick
         323    Monica     Pete
         324    Monica     Pete

         401    Monica     Chandler
         403    Chandler   Rachel
         405    Monica     Kathy
         417    Monica     Emily
         417    Monica     Ross
         417    Ross       Emily
         417    Ross       Emily
         417    Ross       Emily
         419    Ross       Emily
         423    Phoebe     Rachel
         424    Joey       Chandler
         424    Joey       Ross

         501    Ross       Emily
         504    Ross       Emily
         504    Ross       Emily
         504    Ross       Emily
         506    Ross       Emily
         506    Ross       Emily
         508    Chandler   Monica
         510    Joey       Chandler
         510    Joey       Chandler
         514    Chandler   Monica
         514    Monica     Chandler
         516    Monica     Joey
         516    Joey       Monica
         516    Chandler   Monica
         522    Monica     Chandler
         523    Monica     Chandler
         524    Chandler   Monica
         524    Chandler   Monica
         524    Chandler   Monica
         524    Monica     Chandler
         524    Monica     Chandler

         601    Chandler   Monica
         601    Monica     Chandler
         601    Chandler   Monica
         601    Monica     Chandler
         601    Chandler   Monica
         601    Monica     Chandler
         608    Rachel     Phoebe
         614    Monica     Chandler
         614    Chandler   Monica
         615    Rachel     Joey

         701    Monica     Joey
         701    Monica     Phoebe
         701    Monica     Rachel
         701    Monica     Ross
         701    Monica     Chandler
         702    Monica     Chandler
         702    Chandler   Monica
         702    Monica     Chandler
         703    Monica     Jack
         705    Ross       Ross
         706    Monica     Phoebe
         706    Monica     Rachel
         706    Monica     Chandler
         709    Phoebe     Ross
         714    Monica     Chandler
         716    Joey       Chandler
         716    Joey       Monica
         716    Phoebe     Hexadrin

...notice that Chandler didn't tell Monica he loved her until 508, and apart from an "I love you but" in 401, she didn't tell him until 514. Here are the summaries for each main character - note that the numbers will be different from the phrases since some were said to more than one person...

         Chandler  11   Monica
         Chandler   2   Rachel
         Chandler   1   Dick
         Chandler   1   Janice
         Chandler   1   Yasmine

         Joey       4   Chandler
         Joey       2   Monica
         Joey       2   Ross
         Joey       1   Phoebe

         Monica    15   Chandler
         Monica     3   Joey
         Monica     3   Phoebe
         Monica     3   Rachel
         Monica     3   Ross
         Monica     2   Pete
         Monica     2   Richard
         Monica     1   Emily
         Monica     1   Jack
         Monica     1   Kathy

         Phoebe     3   Monica
         Phoebe     3   Rachel
         Phoebe     1   Frank
         Phoebe     1   Hexadrin
         Phoebe     1   Ross

         Rachel    10   Ross
         Rachel     2   Monica
         Rachel     1   Joey
         Rachel     1   Mr.Kaplan
         Rachel     1   Phoebe

         Ross      10   Emily
         Ross       8   Rachel
         Ross       2   Ross
         Ross       1   Carol
         Ross       1   Monica
         Ross       1   Phoebe

..and inverting the matrix gives this...

         Monica    15   Chandler
         Joey       4   Chandler

         Monica     3   Joey
         Rachel     1   Joey

         Chandler  11   Monica
         Phoebe     3   Monica
         Joey       2   Monica
         Rachel     2   Monica
         Ross       1   Monica

         Monica     3   Phoebe
         Joey       1   Phoebe
         Rachel     1   Phoebe
         Ross       1   Phoebe

         Ross       8   Rachel
         Monica     3   Rachel
         Phoebe     3   Rachel
         Chandler   2   Rachel

         Rachel    10   Ross
         Monica     3   Ross
         Joey       2   Ross
         Ross       2   Ross
         Phoebe     1   Ross

..note for instance that Joey has told Chandler he loves him 4 times, but Chandler has never said it to Joey; Phoebe & Joey are most loved by Monica; only Monica has expressed love to a parent, (remember that only she often talks about her parents); Ross has told Emily he loves her more than he's said it to Rachel; only Monica has had all the other five say that they love her; and only Ross has said it about himself (twice).

Finally, let's see who loves the most, is loved the most, and add these two scores together to see which of them is the most loving character...

Loves Loved Total

         Monica     34     19     53
         Ross       23     18     41
         Chandler   16     19     35
         Rachel     15     16     31
         Phoebe      9      6     15
         Joey        9      4     13

It does, doesn't it? Quite amazing for such an objective technique.

Thanks, sweetie!

Maybe that's another one for a DVD extended version.

Yeah, I don't see much British TV either. The best thing is to keep the set switched off as much as possible, that helps no end. :)

Tennant

so the show is more aptly titled, "Everybody Loves Monica" :-)

Or perhaps, "Joey Loves Chandler"

Yep!

Shh... don't tell the networks!

Oh, you mentioned something about hoping the networks had lurkers around. I read somewhere that CBS is doing just that in some message boards, and is also planting messages to monitor the responses. Hmmm...

Something else I've been meaning to pass on...

I read bits of an interview with "Wanda" a while back. I didn't see much and can't for the life of me remember where I found it, but I do remember a couple fo things. She was asked where she gets her scoops, and she said it came from actors, publicists, producers and audience members. When asked if she was ever given wrong information, she responded YES, that for one particular show (she didn't give the title), she was given an extremely inaccurate episode description which turned out to have been fed to the individual by the producers to determine if that person had been the source of some sensitive leaks. Sounds like spoiled shrimp to me!!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yep. It's amazing how such abstract statistics reflect characterisation.

Grin.

Hmmm...

Ooh - but don't you see, that would mean that the individual really was giving out genuine information, even when fed a lie by the producers.

Or else Wanda was cleverly covering herself here.

Tennant

I did read at the beginning of the season that the producers were concerned that someone was sending out spoilers that were not appreciated. I think that the situation probably really did occur. Wanda was very contrite as soon as she realized she had been duped.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Yeah, I guess it's bit like the false entries which are placed in dictionaries to trap plagiarists.

Tennant

On 28 Mar 2001 05:04:22 GMT, [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

That's probably why they didn't do it. But I'd rather have an awful C+M episode instead of another Tag+Rachel story. :)

And if Brad Pitt gets his way, Rachel is probably the one who's preggers next year.

OMG! I think the worst wedding story I heard was when my cousin was getting married and some of his friends decided to have a little fun with him and his bride. They managed to sneak inside their house right before the reception and take their bed to pieces. Afterwards, they hid all the pieces, so the bride and groom couldn't find their bed on their wedding night! :)

Yeah, I did. But then I lost the address. :( When I quoted the site here on the ng, however, Tennant told me the information was wrong..

Somehow I'm not that surprised by this. :)

:)

Grin.

You never know. :) After all, it's the Kung Pow Chicken woman we're talking about here. OMG, I just remembered something. Monica said they were going to have chicken at the wedding in 707 TOW Ross's Library Book! Ewww...

Yep! :)

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

This so. See my other post.

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

Sadly for your cute theory, he still had it a year later in 524.

Tennant

Yes, but remember that he was quite aware that it probably wouldn't stand up to the test! He must have been keeping it for sentimental reasons.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

Whatever, he didn't use it as his second condom in London.

Tennant

For Monica's sake, I certainly hope not! ;-)

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

Indeed but looking back on it now, she wouldn't have caught anything, (since he hasn't), and she could've had a two year-old child by now.

Tennant

She'd probably be pretty happy about that, but I was really meaning that ancient latex has to be pretty disgusting, all crumbly and greasy! Blechhh!!!

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

Err, it seems you've seen more ancient ones than I have, Sammi... ;)

Tennant

YUCK!!! NO I said "ancient latex", not condoms specifically. I have run across a few balloons, medical exam gloves, etc. that have sadly not stood the test of time and heat exposure that something sitting in one's back pocket wallet would have experienced.

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

LOL! Sorry about that, Sammi! :)

Tennant

OK, you're forgiven! :-)

Sammi

In article , [email] (Appy50rider) wrote:

Phew! Thanks!! :)

Tennant

In article , [email] (Marita Bakken) wrote:

British/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 716...

S P O I L E R

S P A C E S

S P O I L E R

S P A C E S

Eek - when you consider the angst caused by the English word...

Okay, and now it's 1461 - but these episodes have less than 5 entries...

103 420 422 505 507 510 513 515-24 601-4 606 608-13 615-7 623 702 705-7 711-3 715 717-8

Ah yes, plausible deniability. :(

Okay then, is this acknowledged by Miss Foster herself?

I totally agree. To pick one, it ought to be Nora, since...

a) Monica wouldn't be best pleased with Nora either. b) Chandler would indeed be disgusted. c) We'll see a lot more of Morgan Fairchild. d) She's the youngest of the five. e) No messy continuity problems.

Good. Thanks.

Set your newsreader to sort new messages by subject title, then mark all those that don't begin "Friends S7-" as already read. Be very careful to not look at the list too closely, since titles can contain spoilers.

After you watch the finale, set your newsreader to sort old messages by the date, then mark all those that don't begin "Friends S7-" as unread.

Yep, what made it worse was that I didn't know if the magazine photo of Ross & Rachel emerging from the chapel was the actual cliffhanger, thus I still nurtured a hope that the real surprise was bigger than that, and as we neared the end I was suspecting it would be Monica being arrested by the cops, possibly even she & Chandler being in a gunfight - but this was dashed when Season 5 ended on that photo.

Well, at least there was plenty about S5 that you didn't know.

Ah. Gotcha.

And?