How come ...

Has it ever been revealed precisely how come Chandler and Monica came to be living in opposite appartments? (In the first few seasons I assumed they became friends because they were neighbours, but then came the flashback episode which revealed that they knew each other years before.)

I assume she moved into her grandmother's flat, and told Chandler about an empty flat opposite.

Lauren Peter Morris wrote in message news:8qd49j$618$[email]...

In article , "Peter Morris" wrote:

My guess is that Monica & Ross left home to get away from Judy, accepting an offer to live with their paternal grandmother. When Bob decided to move out, they told Chandler about the coming vacancy at Kip's.

Tennant

Let's see...Ross and Chandler were college roommates, then Ross went ? before marrying Carol, then got his own apt. Monica was living with grandma until she died, which left extra room...didn't she have another roommate who got married, leaving her a room for Rachel? And like Tennant, I would assume they helped Kip find a roommate and thought of Ross' old roomie Chandler. Who then found Joey. But have we ever seen where they met Phoebe? Was it at Central Perk when she was singing? Help Tennant?

Vicki

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

According to the FAQ (I think), Monica found Phoebe through some kind of roomate placement thingie...

Ah... here's the link.

This question is answered in the FAQ, which you can find here:

http://www.friends-tv.org/faq.html#2.06

"Monica found Phoebe through a roommate-matching service"

In article , "Dr. Briefs" wrote:

Yeah, but this has never been said on the show, which is what counts.

Some of the other 'explanations' in FAQ 2.06 have already expired.

Tennant

True, true. I noticed things that didn't match, but didn't want to bother trying to explain more than what was already in the FAQ--I thought most people could figure it out themselves...

Anyway, what we do know are the following:

1.  Ross and Chandler were roomates in college.
2.  Monica's apartment is a rent-controlled one that she is subletting
    from her grandmother.
4.  Monica had to find a new roomate when her grandmother moved to
    Florida.
5.  Phoebe was Monica's roomate, but she moved out because she couldn't
    stand Monica's strict rules.
6.  Chandler's old roomate, Kip, moved out, and Joey eventually became
    Chandler's new roomate after Chandler placed an ad for the
    apartment.

And the following events probably transpired, though we cannot say with absolute certainty:

1.  Chandler probably became Kip's roomate through Monica/Ross.
2.  Monica probably went through some roomate matching service after
    her grandmother moved to Florida, which resulted in Phoebe
    becoming her roomate (which means she had no ties to the rest
    of the friends prior to that, allowing Rachel to 'justify' her
    "lift right-out" comment regarding Phoebe).

In article , "Dr. Briefs" wrote:

Yes, of course.

Yeah, but #1 is bit bland though we're probably stuck with it, while #2 is very boring compared with the interesting stories that could be told.

I've never subscribed to the "lift right-out" theory myself. It seems to me that five of the group lie in a relationship chain...

Joey -- Chandler == Monica == Ross -- Rachel

..with some bonds stronger than others, as shown by '==' signs. This means that their relatedness can be ranked as follows...

                        Monica ..... 4
                        Chandler ... 3
                        Ross ....... 3
                        Joey ....... 1
                        Rachel ..... 1

..while Phoebe's off-axis position means that she relates equally to all of them, and they to her, (and she has Ursula), like this...

                       Monica     Chandler
                             \   /
                    Ross -- Phoebe == Ursula
                             /   \
                         Joey     Rachel

..so Phoebe has gotta average at least 1 point herself.

If you disagree, look at the episode where the "lift right-out" comment comes from, 505 "TOW the Kips", where Rachel's remark is predicated on the fact that Phoebe lived far away, which is no longer so. In any event, poor Rachel feared that *she* was the one who was about to be expelled from the group, and she tried to persuade Phoebe & Joey to depart with her, who are literally the outsiders in that relationship chain.

Tennant

"VickiB" wrote in message news:8qeioc$qro$[email]...

grandma

who

Monica's old roommate who moved out *was* Phoebe.

In article , "VickiB" wrote:

No, wrong grandmother. Judy's mother Althea died. Jack's mother owns the apartment, she went to Florida. We don't know her first name.

Phoebe moved out about one year before Rachel moved in. There is no evidence for any other roomie in between. We don't know how much rent Monica pays, except that it's less than the full amount which would be huge, and more than zero since she ran into financial trouble, but you could argue that she needed someone else to help with the bills.

Yep, but this is a guess, there's no direct evidence. The fact that it's so obvious makes the explanation rather boring, so if a writer can think of a more interesting & unlikely story, that's what will happen in any future flashback episode.

We don't really know. Jeff Greenstein, Supervising Producer in Season 1, surmises in the FAQ (see section 2.06) that Monica found Phoebe through a roommate-matching service, but beware he describes this explanation as "quasi-definitive as he knows it". The big problem is that any background not revealed in the show is liable to change for the sake of a story.

In the same paragraph, Mr.Greenstein guesses that Chandler was already living with Kip when the other apartment became vacant, so he alerted Monica. The FAQ carries an explanation from Alexa Junge that Monica got the apartment from her grandmother, which directly contradicts this.

The big difference is that one version has been broadcast, the other one has not. This is why much of the back-story is still so vague, if it was all announced in advance, creative freedom would be severely curtailed.

Tennant

My guess is that: Monica moved into Grandmas appartment after she moved to Florida. Then she became friends with Kip accross the hall. While Monica was looking for a roommate. Chandler was looking for an appartment. They istantly recognised each other when he came to view her appartment, and didn't want to know. Then Chandler bumped into Kip in the hall, and they started talking, then Kip mentioned he had a spare room and would he like it. Then Ross introduced Phoebe to Monica, who was also looking for an appartment. Ross knew Phoebe because Carol met her at the gym! There hows that?