Perhaps my expectations had been over-hyped by US praise of this episode, but I still felt slightly let down. OK, so it was the best of the 4 so far, but it didn't have me LOL (much) like the best episodes of previous seasons could.
Two major & 2 minor storylines this week.
Firstly, Phoebe and her psychic.
We start off in with Phoebe again having a go at Ross about being in love with Rachel, irritating him so much he even accuses her of being in love with her! Next she tells Rachel that she's still married to Ross, but then passes it off as a joke. She then finishes by telling them her psychic says she's going to die in a week.
At one point she says if Joey should die with her, they should haunt the gang.
Ironically though, it is her psychic that dies!
Next, Ross's new job.
He's been asked to give a Palaeontology lecture, and he asks to practice with his friends listening, they are unenthusiastic but agree anyway. They soon regret it, and phoebe quips that that will probably be what kills her! After much ribbing, including a suggestion from Joey that 'naked chicks' would liven up the presentation, he says he'll go it alone. Chandler than says 'That's how I did it until I was 19' :)
Much later on, Monica & Rachel sneak into Ross's lecture, only to find he's reading it with an English accent! After the lecture they tease him, Monica with a Scottish & Rachel with an Indian accent.
In a later lecture he finally admits to his audience that the accent is fake, and that he'll be honest from now on, but his lecture is then ruined anyway.
Rachel has just heard from Ross's lawyer that she's still married to Ross, and charges into his lecture & lays into him!
The main storyline though, is Joey's insurance.
Since he hasn't worked for a while, his health insurance has lapsed, and of course he now starts accidentally injuring himself! First walking into a door, then more seriously, getting a hernia while exercising.
He refuses to go to a hospital because of the cost, and goes to several auditions despite his condition. He flunks them, naturally, but finally gets a role playing a dying man!
He finally gets his insurance back, though not before having trouble getting his child co-star to cry on cue, which he achieves by showing him his hernia!
The moving arrangements were very much on the sidelines this week, but Monica & Rachel had a spat over a pair of candlesticks, which they both thought belonged to them.
605 "TOW Joey's Porsche" was a very funny episode, even though two of the plots were a little familiar...
Joey found some keys in Central Perk, so he pretended to own a Porsche. In 516 "TOW the Cop" Phoebe found a police badge in Central Perk, so she pretended to be a plain clothes officer.
Chandler got a small toy stuck in his throat, so Monica had to rush him off to hospital, leaving the triplets with Phoebe. In 206 "TOW the Baby on the Bus" Ross's tongue swelled due to an allergy, so Monica had to rush him off to hospital, leaving Ben with Joey & Chandler.
Even so, both stories had original touches and were nicely done with plenty of humour - Joey was cute, Phoebe was great with the babies, and Monica & Chandler were *so* sweet. Also, Monica was a bit more back to normal, and didn't little Chandler look like big Chandler!
But the star turn was a brilliant story where Rachel's anger over Ross's deceit made her exaggerate the grounds for their annulment, causing it to be denied! Rachel may have foolish, but she was human. The chemistry which R&R fans always talk about was very much in evidence, as the performances of JA & DS totally sparked off each other - it was dramatic yet *very* funny.
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Tennant Stuart doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
*Have* to agree here - it really was a genuinely very good story, the first really very good one of the season. I wasn't very fond of the way Rachel went about getting the annulment, and to be honest I'm glad she got called on it, but it was funny as hell. (The running 'bunnies' joke had me almost crying with laughter the first time I saw it - plus the way David said it... yum. :)) And towards the end, David and Jennifer really were getting a chance to show that chemistry of theirs, for what I think is the first time in a long while and long overdue. If it had been anyone else delivering the lines 'I did those things because I was in love with you!' 'Right!', I don't think it would have been nearly as effective, and I think the meaning would have been lost. You're right, they were absolutely sparking off each other in that episode, and it really showed - the scene was a hundred times better for it.
And before people start telling me stuff about 614, just be warned that I blot out at least negative opinions until I've seen the episode so I can form my own opinions. :)
This posting reckons that episode 611 as originally recorded was VERY different from the version shown on British television tonight...
C4 UK/Anzac/Euro SPOILER SPACE for 611...
611 TOW the Apothecary Table
This episode as aired begins with a massive continuity error - Joey bursts into Monica & Chandler's apartment IMMEDIATELY after kissing Janine at the end of episode 610, yet all signs of Christmas have suddenly vanished. This can't be because the holiday is over, for it is still the night when Janine took Joey, Monica, and Ross to the studio, 2 weeks before New Year's Eve.
My explanation is based on the fact that this episode was originally number 610, and that 610 "TOW the Routine" was originally 611 "TOW the Rocking New Year". I haven't seen 612 yet, (so I request those who have to bear with me, no spoilers please), but it seems to me that Miss Macpherson was not doing well in her role as Janine, and her part was drastically cut back.
My theory is that Janine left an episode early having been virtually cut out of 609, and that the storyline originally went like this...
609 TOW Ross Got High : Janine has a lot more than 43 seconds of screen time, and Phoebe does not have dreams about Jack Geller & Jacques Cousteau. Ross & Joey finally get away from the Thanksgiving dinner, but when they arrive at the dance studio, they discover that Janine's dancer friends are all men. Janine sees how disappointed Joey is, and kisses him.
610 TOW The Apothecary Table : Joey runs into Monica & Chandler's apartment immediately after kissing Janine at the end of episode 609, well before Christmas. Phoebe appears on the US version of the BBC programme "Antiques Roadshow" with Rachel's apothecary table which comes to an untimely end. Janine refuses to get involved with a roommate, so Joey convinces Chandler to pretend to break up with Monica, then swap rooms with Janine. However, Monica & Chandler have nowhere to make out - after a lot of sneaking around, Janine finally catches them, but instead of being mad, she's touched that they would go through all of that trouble for her.
611 TOW The Rocking New Year : This does not takes place on December 17th. Instead it begins just before Christmas Eve, then moves on to New Year's Eve, (as did episode 110 "TOW the Monkey"). Monica forgives Chandler for what he said at the end of 610, and takes him back in. Phoebe confesses to Rachel that she invented Denise as she wasn't ready to take in a roommate.
612 TOW ? : Joey discovers that Janine dislikes Monica & Chandler, so he makes a difficult choice, and Janine departs.
Comments about this are welcomed as long as they contain no spoilers about the BROADCAST version of episode 612. If I am treading on anyone's toes by writing a week before the UK sees 612, then I apologise in advance.
If anyone downloaded early spoilers of quite different versions of the Thanksgiving & New Years episodes, then let's see them.
Assuming that spoilers are written by fans who attend the Burbank studios for recordings, can anyone who actually saw "TOW The Apothecary Table" being made confirm or refute all this?
Tennant Stuart, (appending the original version as of November 1999).
I have *slightly* rearranged the following to put events nearer to a rough chronological order. The spoiler as downloaded gave all of the Rachel/Phoebe/Ross story followed by the Joey/Chandler/Monica story...
610 TOW The Apothecary Table
The gang are watching Antiques Roadshow (a show that travels around the country & appraises people's antiques), and everyone loves it except Chandler. Suddenly Joey runs in & announces that he & Janine just kissed. They ask him what happened after that, and he says he came right over to tell them. Monica asks "What about Janine?", and Joey goes "Oh!", then bolts out of the room.
Rachel buys an apothecary table from Pottery Barn, but Monica tells her that Phoebe probably won't let her put it in their apartment because it is not a real antique: Phoebe hates mass-produced furniture. Therefore, Rachel tells Phoebe that she bought the table at a flea market, and Phoebe loves it. Ross invites Phoebe & Rachel over to watch movies. Rachel arrives first and finds that Ross has purchased the exact same table for his apartment. Rachel tells Ross to cover the table with Pottery Barn sheets, but when Phoebe arrives, Ross tells her that he purchased the sheets at a flea market.
Janine tells Joey she can't get involved with him because they are roommates & it thus will get too complicated, so Joey convinces Chandler & Monica to pretend they broke up because Chandler cheated with Phoebe. Janine agrees to give Chandler his room back, but she's very sad because she has nowhere to go. Joey suggests that Janine move in with Monica, and she accepts, causing Monica & Chandler to have nowhere to make out. Joey & Chandler suggest that Chandler & Monica go over to Joey & Chandler's apartment to make out, but then Monica would have to tell Janine where she is going, and she doesn't want to lie to her any more than she already has.
Later, Ross is watching "Antiques Roadshow" on TV, and he sees that they have come to New York, and Phoebe is on the show, trying to get Rachel's table appraised. The horrible truth is revealed to Phoebe on national TV. While she is trying to bring the table back home after the show, it flies off of the dolly it is on, and gets all smashed up. Phoebe tells Rachel, "At least now it is a true original piece." It ends with Rachel asking, "An original piece?", and Phoebe says, "Well, five pieces, to be exact."
After a lot of sneaking around, Janine finally catches Chandler & Monica making out in the hallway of the building. Chandler, Monica, and Joey fess up, but instead of being mad, Janine is touched that they would go through all of that trouble for her, and starts kissing Joey. Then Chandler foolishly says, "If I was REALLY cheating, it would be with both Phoebe AND Rachel, not just Phoebe." Monica runs into her apartment & slams the door. Chandler says to the other two, "Can I hang out with you guys tonight?"
This spoiler was originally posted by me, and it wasn't written from seeing a filming, it was written from a table draft of the script. So as you can see, lots and lots of rewriting gets done before an episode is filmed.
Episodes switching around? I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention to the vanishing Christmas thing. I reach a point where I just don't care about the continuity, sorry. :(
Doubtful. There are *lots* of stories that they've canned and never used.
Who knows? And it's not *a* rewrite, it's *many*, *many*, more than any human should ever be put through, rewrites. ;)
I think those are all from filmings. It's hard to know when a table draft is going to be extremely different from what is filmed - case in point, 611. Then again, there are episodes like 602, whose spoiler I wrote from the table draft of the script, and it barely changed at all. IIRC, I was given that script the day after I went to the 601 filming, but I'm thinking it (602) probably didn't change that much in a week because they already had about five episodes after that written. If they would have changed a lot, it could have messed up future storylines. I'm pretty sure all spoilers after 611 were written by people who went to filmings, so you shouldn't see too many differences from now on.
so did they cut out tow rocking new years eve or something? i remember reading a spoiler from somewhere when rachel wakes up in cp after the millennium
Alright then, sloppy editing in that part? That seems to happen occasionally on Friends.
Hmm, I'm not sure, but I'll ask. Ooh, I do know one off the top of my head though - they were thinking of putting Chandler and Monica together at Barry and Mindy's wedding, but saved that for later. But I think the majority of storylines are canned just because they don't work out, and they don't work out because they're not funny, so they probably don't want to come back to them later.
Sounds kinda like "poor Roschelites being made to wait for three years." :)
Adriana
Ross: I don't know if anything is ever going to happen with us again, ever, but I don't want to know that it never could. So I stopped it, and she got mad and broke my projector. -TOW Chandler Can't Cry
Really! :) Okay, just for you, some more storylines that were canned and used later were Chandler in the box (which started out as Joey in the box doing some kind of ancient Indian cure as described by Phoebe), and the Phoebe's mom is a cat story (which some people might agree should have stayed nonexistent).
And one more, from episode 614, so here's some spoiler space:
s p o i l e r
s p a c e
Ursula the porn star (which had been floating around as "Phoebe in porn" for a while).
I don't think so. I got the impression that they had the Kathy story already and were just finally able to use the box thing because it fit in nicely there. It probably wasn't very funny how they tried it before.
I dunno. But I'll ask about that and the confirm the box story for you sometime.
Many, I'm sure. And what I said is now confirmed, so it's not just my impression. :)
Welcome. :) The cat story was first thought up in season two, and they debated on whether or not Phoebe's mom actually was in the cat, whether or not Phoebe really believed it, etc. Eventually the story just went away, until after Marta Kauffman's mother died, and Marta's daughter had a dream that her grandmother came back in some form or another, and then Marta decided to make them do the story.
With very unfortunate results. Even MNL agreed with some of us that it was wrong to make Ross apologize to that cat. Apparently, according to him, "about half" of the writing staff felt the same way.
I still regard it as the single worst story the show has ever had. Hand Twin was lamer, but not as immoral.
Yep, he didn't seem too enthusiastic about it - notice I said Marta "made them" do it. He also hated the hand twin story you know. Wow, maybe *all* of his professional decisions weren't so bad. ;)
At least there was Joey's song with the hand twin story. What humor did the cat story have?
Wasn't it reported by TV Guide that it was originally Joey and Monica who were supposed to hook up and not Chandler and Monica? I mean especially of what happened in TOW the Flashback about how Monica had a crush on Joey.
Sky have announced that they will follow NBC's lead, by showing 615 & 616 as an hour-long special, on April 20th. Don't make the mistake that a few American fans did - set your VCR to record for the whole hour!
Once we have seen this, Britain will be only 4 episodes behind the USA.
That's an excellent suggestion, but fortunately one of the guys who comes round on Saturdays to see Friends has scrounged an old receiver which will do for tomorrow night. Phoebe is so right about karma...
Gah you might as well have binned it. I'd be suprised if analogue satalite isn't turned off within the next 5 years. Still, nice to know people are actually repairing things out there. :)
In August we either go Sky Digital or On Digital, whichever (if any) broadcasts Season 7 of Friends in 2001, so the analogue had to last a while. Plus there's the benefit of still watching German TV if we go for On Digital. Then there's the satisfaction of beating capitalist built-in failure & obsolescence.
I watched this episode at a friend's house (he's got Sky, I'm too cheap to shell out), and I laughed all the way through it. Ross' "ohh, saved by the bell" was brilliant!! Thing was, Monica totally ruined my enjoyment of the episode. Sorry to all the CCA fans out there but her voice has changed so much since TO In Vegas and it's just nippy now!
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Tags doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
I doubt you'll need your flame bunker; a lot of people have echoed similar sentiments. I'm unsure as to whether it's the directors telling Courteney to act like that, whether it's a choice of Courteney's to make Monica like that, or whatever, but it's insanely annoying. I liked her a lot more when she wasn't so whiney and loud; these days, whenever I'm watching her I just tend to be thinking 'Shut UP already!'. If this is an attempt to make Monica more likable, all it's doing is having the complete opposite effect.
I have a horrible feeling you are 100% right Tina. What I could never understand is why (in the old days) so many people used to say that they didn't like Monica, when she was so lovely a person.
At least overall in 604 she was a bit calmer than 603, and that was a bit better than 601/2 - does this trend continue?
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Tennant Stuart doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
I know. Actually, they didn't say they disliked her then, they just said that she was their least favourite. Now it's actually turning into dislike, which is a BAD THING (tm).
I actually quite liked her in 603 and 604 - in 602 I was screaming at the TV yelling 'Friends don't *do* that to friends!' when she was basically trying to milk Rachel for some hurt... that was just low. Why couldn't she have just asked Rachel why she wasn't more upset in the first place? Oh yeah, I forgot, it's a sitcom.
Whenever I would complain about things like this, people used to tell me that it's just a movie or it's just a telly programme - if it didn't happen that way, there would be no story.
At this point I'd hide my annoyance but reply that with good writing there's no need to excuse poor motivation or bad science for the sake of the story - watch a decent sitcom like that new show "Friends" to see how it's done.
Hellooooo!!! After getting drunk in Vegas, Tennant Stuart doodled cat whiskers on his/her face and miaowed this little lot at a statue...
Exactly. The show *used* to be at the top of its game. Technically, it still is, but only really because there's no other decent sitcoms around anymore, and it has an impossibly loyal fan base. (They owe us R&R fans BIG TIME for sticking with the show this long, but the only thing I'm thankful for atm is that it appears we're actually being acknowledged for once.) The writing nowadays is only at the top of its game when they're writing for sweeps episodes... the rest of the time they just seem to be getting down whatever they can on paper so as they can get home, even though I know that's not the case. To be honest, I'm hoping that Jesse and Veronica's Closet (particularly VC because that is *crap*!) get canned, because they're only really wasting resources that would be better spent on Friends; they're being used just to keep from getting cancelled, whereas on Friends they know they're not in danger of being canned any time soon so they're not focusing on it. That, IMHO, is wrong; they should be focusing on Friends and pretty much giving up on Jesse and VC because in the long run, Friends could probably out-run both sitcoms put together. There's such a thing as spreading yourself too thin, you know. (I'm hoping my suspicions are right, and that Jesse's been canned, because at least there's then some hope that MK and DC can come back and focus on Friends a bit more. The show really needs it right now.)
I am (was?) a huge fan of Monica, but sadly you're right. You couldn't have a better contrast than how CCA & JA handled exactly the same situation - CCA's joke accent was embarrassing, JA's a delight.
Monica *has* shown signs of this in Season 5 - her dreadful laugh in 512 TOW Chandler's Work Laugh - but now she's far worse. At least in the rest of 604 she was a *bit* more normal than 601/2.
A little better but still disappointed with the series so far though.
Maybe things will get better soon.
I know what some of you are saying about episode 6 being better as i saw it through the net but I hope it is not going to be another one of those seasons where there is the occasional good episode among many mediocre ones. Season 5 was great and will take some beeting.
Maybe it should have been left at that point. If it carries on then maybe it's time to call it a day. I know this is going to annoy some people as we would all like a staedy supply of new episodes but i think it is reaching the stages of dragging things on. Season 7 would be flogging a dying horse I think.
I hope I have to eat my words and season 6 takes off but I am also prepared for the end.
((((Al))))) no, not just you. It's just that your post was the straw in the camel/back situation. If you're going to play nice, then I won't do it. (As you can see I haven't yet.) Now be nice chaps and stop sniping at each other, we've got too many trolls to have regular members being horrid, and I just don't need it right now....
Jacqui was performing a quirkafleeg, while saying:
:
Yeah, okay, it's just theres some other stuff that I don't want to go into, and I don't want it brought up particularly in the group, either. Certain members will know what I mean..
Yes, the Susan and Tad scene was great stuff, really nicely handled. And Amy's dilemma has been well-written too, even though Anne seems a little naive... as if *anyone* is going to admit to sleeping with Lance <g>
SPOILER SPACE FOR "NEIGHBOURS" - as if anyone's actually going to admit to *enjoying* that appaling antipodean portrayal of life as we know it...
Okay... so, my sources on the other side of the world (although I don't see why it hasn't occured to me before to just look at some Aussie web site) say that Amy's actually pregnant by some bloke called Damien, who I guess works at the airline. In Aus, Lance has only just found out it's not his baby and Anne and Bill are still trying (after getting back together) to work a long-distance relationship.
Mike, why do you slag off the show, and then go on to discuss with glee all the latest developments?
And for the record, *I* enjoy watching "Neighbours", even though I'm not a soap fan per se - it's the only one I watch, (unless you count "Friends" as a soap too). From what little I've happened to see of some of the grimmer British offerings, especially "EastEnders", the portrayal of antipodean life in Melbourne seems quite preferable to me.
BTW, some of your titbits from Australia have already aired on British TV.
So *do* you enjoy "Neighbours" after all? Speak up with pride now... :)
On Sat, 18 Mar 2000 20:26:16 GMT, Tennant Stuart wrote:
Because I go in for all that postmodern irony. ;)
Ah, but that's because in Britain we *are* all miserable gits. That's why Australia's so great - the people are like what we'd be here if the weather wasn't so awful! (ie, friendly...)
Not enough time to watch it recently... some of my pals from the nether regions sent me all I know.
Argh! All this psychoanalysis! How am I meant to cope with the little goblins watching my every move?! :)
Oh - I really really like "EastEnders". Well... sort of. I watch it, anyway. I guess it makes me feel better, because at least I know that some people's lives are worse than mine! Well... sort of.
"Live Through This", played over Amy's phone call to Lance etc, is by Hole (that's Courtney Love). It's not the kind of song you usually hear on a soap...
Hunters and Collectors were a really brilliant Aussie band (unheard of here, more or less), who did a beautiful song called Throw Your Arms Around Me, which used to play on the coffeeshop jukebox. I lost my copy in a burglary, and it's taken ages to find another one. I just love hearing it.
We reran this episode last night for someone who missed it, and a guest wondered how they got Chandler's big white porcelain dog out of that little window onto the balcony.
The window's not all that small; they climb in and out of it quite easily. The dog is quite streamlined so if they took it off the base I should imagine it goes through quite easily (front paws first, angle it to get the head through, angle it some more for the feet...)
Okay Jacqui, sometimes you sound just like me, coming up with the rational explanation. <g> But for an expensive objet d'art like that, you'd pop it into Rachel's old room - unless of course you could just trundle it out of the building and through the air until it was on the balcony, preserving the overall design, yet providing sufficient room for a party of eight?
I thought Monica said she didn't want it in the apartment - the balcony is putatively "not in" the apartment, but Rachel's old room most definitely is.
Near the end of 606 "TOO the Last Night", Monica notices Chandler's dog and complains; when we next see their apartment in 607 "TOW Phoebe Runs", the dog is already out on the balcony. I just didn't notice until 609... :(
I *do* know now Tina, he isn't. Jansen Spencer has one brother Kristian, who is 2� years older than him, and their parents are Elaine & Paul Spencer.