With ten seasons, two-hundred and thirty-six episodes, a slew of characters, backstories, arcs, immense popularity, and teams upon teams of writers, it was inevitable for Friends to have some continuity errors. There have been so many stories throughout the show, big and small, and unfortunately, a lot of them have some head-scratching errors. The same goes for character moments for the shows amazing personalities that are contradicted later or even ignored in some instances.
Most TV shows and even movies are riddled with errors in some form or another, whether related to the continuity or the overall craftsmanship, but they are not always obvious; Friends is no exception.
Updated October 19th By Rhys McGinley: While Friends remains one of the most iconic and rewatched sitcoms of all time, there is an insane amount of errors littered throughout the ten seasons of the show. These range from the famous and iconic ones that fans of the show laugh about, and others that are a bit more obscure and missable, but can get very annoying when noticed.
Ross’s Hatred Of Ice Cream
Ross is a bit of a finicky fellow at times and has no shortage of complaints and triggers that set him off or things he simply does not like. One such thing he makes that claim about is ice-cream.
Ross once claims that he does not like ice-cream, claiming it to be too cold. However, fans have seen Ross eat ice-cream more than once with Rachel, and once shared a cone with his beloved monkey Marcel. A binge of the show likely makes this easier to spot, though.
Joey’s Messy Shirt On Thanksgiving
The thanksgiving episodes are always something to look forward to for Friends fans, being home to so many memorable moments — from Brad Pitt to Monica and Chandler’s adoption announcement.
The latter comes in this thanksgiving episode, which sees the gang all miss Monica and Chandler’s meal. Joey ends up crashing into all the food, with his clothes ruined. However, right after Monica and Chandler’s announcement, Joey’s clothes are miraculously much cleaner; it is doubtful even Joey consumed all that food off his shirt that quick.
Chandler’s Hospital Wristbands
Speaking of Chandler and Monica’s adoption announcement, they finally get their longstanding wish of children at the end of season ten in a truly heartwarming event for fans.
In the hospital, while the pair hold their twins, Chandler is wearing hospital-issued wristbands which appear to magically disappear and reappear on his wrists between the cutting of shots.
Ross Spelled Rachel’s Name Wrong
Rachel and Ross have a long and tumultuous history through the show, being the resident will-they-won’t-they couple of the series — something that gets thrown in doubt by Emily Waltham.
When Ross and Emily announce their marriage, they must send out wedding invites, with Ross struggling with whether or not to invite Rachel. When he eventually does decide to send her one, fans get a glimpse of the letter that reads “Rachel Greene.” Of course, all fans know Rachel’s name is spelled “Green” like the color, and this is the guy who obsessed over her for over a decade?
CHANDLER AND RACHEL FORGET THEY KNOW EACH OTHER?
In the great pilot of Friends, Rachel comes running into Central Perk in full wedding gear to find Monica. Monica then introduces her to the gang, reminding her of her brother Ross, then introducing her to Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler.
But, Rachel already knows Chandler. In multiple future episodes, fans see Chandler attend multiple Thanksgivings at the Geller’s place with Rachel in attendance. On top of that, Rachel and Chandler kiss at a college party. Was the kiss so bad they just chose to forget one another?
THE AGES AND BIRTHDAYS OF THE GANG
The ages of the gang become very messy as the show goes on. Joey is supposed to be the youngest as he is 25 in season one, with the rest of the gang meant to be between 26 and 27. However, Rachel is the last to celebrate turning 30. Also, Ross refers to being 29 in seasons three, four, and five, despite multiple Thanksgivings and Christmases.
As for the birthdays, Rachel claims that her birthday is in May to Gunther; Ross, in the same episode, tells Gunther he was born in December. Later, Rachel reveals she is an Aquarius, putting her birthday in January/February, while Ross later reveals his birthday to be in October.
PHOEBE & BAMBI
Phoebe is undoubtedly the quirkiest member of the gang, but why she lied or forgot about the whole Bambi thing is anyone’s guess. In an early episode, some of the group are watching sad movies only for Phoebe to call them happy ones. One of these films she mentions is Bambi.
Phoebe sees these movies as happy because her mother used to turn movies off before the sad part. In a later episode, though, “The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry,” Phoebe reveals that she cried for three days after watching Bambi, with her mother ending herself on the third day.
JOEY DID THINK CHANDLER WAS GAY
In season one, one of Chandler’s coworkers tries to set him up with another guy, attributing a “quality” as to why she believes he is gay. When Chandler questions the group as to whether or not they thought he was gay when he first met them, the girls think he is, Ross and Joey do not.
But, in a flashback episode to when Joey and Chandler first meet, Chandler is interviewing Joey to be his roommate. In this meeting, Joey tells Chandler that he is “totally OK with the gay thing.”
RED ROSS
In the early days of Ross and Emily’s relationship, the pair run into two old friends of Emily. They have been playing rugby, and to impress Emily, Ross agrees to a game. Halfway through the game, Ross talks about “‘Red” Ross, basically just a furious Ross.
Ross recalls turning into “Red” Ross as someone cut in line in front of the gang at a viewing of Dances With Wolves. Once Ross turns into “Red,” Ross, Joey, and Phoebe remember it. The only issue is, Dances With Wolves came out in 1990, with no rereleases. As Ross and Chandler are 1987 freshman, they still would have been at college in 1990. Alongside that, Joey became part of the group in 1993. That is except for another plot hole.
WHEN DID JOEY JOIN THE GANG?
In “The One With The Flashback,” we see how and when Joey came to be Chandler’s roommate and member of the gang. After Mr. Heckles got rid of Eric, the guy who got the apartment, Joey moved in, in 1993.
However, in season six episode “The One With All The Thanksgivings,” it is shown that Joey was a member of the gang a year earlier in 1992. It begs the question when did Joey join the group: 1992 or 1993?
JOEY’S JOEY APPLE
In a classic Joey moment from the later seasons, Joey takes off his tie as he says it hurts his “Joey’s apple,” to which Chandler reminds him it is not named after each individual. A silly, innocent moment that does not inspire much thought, just a laugh.
But, back in season two, Joey talks about an experience he had when he first moved to the city. He talks about how he was dating this woman, who he described as “super hot, great kisser, but she had the biggest Adam’s apple.” Showing that Joey did know what it was in his earlier days.
PHOEBE AND THE CHORDS
In another example of a gang member seemingly forgetting what they know, Phoebe seems to forget about guitar chords. When teaching Joey guitar, she says she does not know the real chord names, so names them himself. She calls them things like “iceberg” and “old lady.”
In an earlier episode, Phoebe is replaced in her Central Perk gig by a professional guitar player, Stephanie. While outside playing her guitar, Phoebe encounters Stephanie and questions her on her guitar knowledge, going through multiple chords she knows.
HOW CHANDLER’S PARENTS DIVORCE WENT DOWN
Chandler’s parent’s divorce shaped a lot of Chandler’s life. From his smoking habit to his humor defense mechanism, the divorce hurt him. But, how Chandler found out about the divorce is a source of confusion.
In season one, when we hear of Chandler’s parent’s divorce, Chandler says he found out at Thanksgiving with a mouthful of pumpkin pie (a part he says he remembers perfectly well). However, later when telling the story in “The One With All The Thanksgivings,” Chandler tells the story that the house boy had just offered him more turkey, and his plate contains a main course in the flashback.
ALL THE ACTORS THEY REFERENCE AND MEET
There are many references in Friends to various pop culture properties, most of which are related to performers, movies, and TV shows. What never fails to be strange is how many of these referenced celebrities the gang meets.
The most obvious one is Bruce Willis, the father of Elizabeth, who Ross dates. None of the gang fail to realize that it is Bruce Willis, star of Die Hard, a movie loved by Chandler, Ross, and Joey. There is also Sean Penn, who is referenced as the capital of Cambodia by Chandler and Eddie, who later dates Phoebe. Another is Ross claiming he came up with the idea of Jurassic Park first, with Jeff Goldblum popping up. Another is Winona Ryder, who Ross put on his “freebie” list, who appears later in the show and, of course, Ross referencing Magnum PI, played by Tom Sellick, aka Richard Burke. The worst is Kathleen Turner, who plays Chandler’s father, and also voices Jessica Rabbit, who Chandler says is on his list of five celebrities he would want to sleep with.