WEBVTT - Friends: A Deleted Scene & Very Weird Sex Stuff 0:00:11.189 --> 0:00:15.349 You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mom and Mayor 0:00:15.429 --> 0:00:18.669 acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters that this 0:00:18.749 --> 0:00:31.349 podcast is recorded on Hello, and welcome to Cancel, the 0:00:31.389 --> 0:00:35.109 podcast that looks at silly celebrity crimes and assigns charges 0:00:35.109 --> 0:00:37.189 and sentences to them so that we can all move 0:00:37.229 --> 0:00:40.069 on with our lives. I am Jesse Stevens and I'm 0:00:40.149 --> 0:00:43.789 joined by Claire Stephens, and today we're talking about a 0:00:43.869 --> 0:00:48.429 little known American sitcom which aired on NBC from nineteen 0:00:48.509 --> 0:00:51.789 ninety four to two thousand and four, lasting ten seasons. 0:00:52.309 --> 0:01:00.149 It is named Friends, Yes, heard of it. I was 0:01:00.149 --> 0:01:02.149 a little extram again that I done pretty good deal? 0:01:02.709 --> 0:01:05.869 How much thousand bucks? 0:01:06.429 --> 0:01:07.269 Honor chat? 0:01:08.469 --> 0:01:19.709 We're not, Oh, well, what I do is I look 0:01:19.709 --> 0:01:24.509 a woman up and down and they say, hey, how. 0:01:24.349 --> 0:01:28.869 You do it? Did you know that wasn't its original? Mate? 0:01:29.269 --> 0:01:31.709 Oh my gosh, I love these facts. Okay, well, no, 0:01:31.909 --> 0:01:34.189 three seconds. You get to decide, you get to have 0:01:34.229 --> 0:01:37.269 a little little okay, okayttle guesses would be blag to 0:01:37.509 --> 0:01:41.229 Shoey and Rachel like like maybe like the names of 0:01:41.309 --> 0:01:43.829 like characters. Okay, no, just to have another guess because 0:01:43.869 --> 0:01:45.909 that was such shit. It was the one word two 0:01:45.909 --> 0:01:49.989 words the friends. Okay, nice nice, No, it was Insomnia Cafe. 0:01:50.429 --> 0:01:52.829 That's the single worst name for a show I've ever heard. 0:01:52.869 --> 0:01:55.869 It's misleading. It is it is. That's not even what 0:01:55.909 --> 0:01:59.189 the cafe was called. No, it's called Central per Yeah. 0:01:59.269 --> 0:02:01.629 It makes it sound like a thriller when no one 0:02:01.709 --> 0:02:05.469 can sleep. Would watch I would watch Insomnia Cafe. It's 0:02:05.509 --> 0:02:08.589 just not what Friends was. David Crane and Marta Kaufman 0:02:08.949 --> 0:02:12.069 began developing and So Cafe in nineteen ninety three and 0:02:12.109 --> 0:02:15.629 pitched it to NBC. If I'm NBC, I'm going what's 0:02:15.629 --> 0:02:18.429 the genre? Oh? Is a sitcom? No? No, no, I 0:02:18.469 --> 0:02:21.669 want a thriller or nothing? Yeah, And it went through 0:02:21.709 --> 0:02:26.709 a few name changes. Firstly six of one six kind 0:02:26.709 --> 0:02:30.189 of like Party of five. I don't mind that, and 0:02:30.229 --> 0:02:34.349 then Friends like Us would have worked. Eventually it became 0:02:34.389 --> 0:02:37.589 friends Friends like Us. We have a lot of arguments 0:02:37.629 --> 0:02:40.869 at work, this place that we work at, where our 0:02:40.909 --> 0:02:43.109 boss she wants to put it the in front of everything, 0:02:43.309 --> 0:02:46.069 which is very the Facebook. Yeah, so we canceled. It'd 0:02:46.069 --> 0:02:47.629 be like, I think we should called it the canceled. 0:02:47.829 --> 0:02:51.189 It's like hundred crap years old, So what We're gonna 0:02:51.229 --> 0:02:53.629 do is We're gonna drop the other? Yeah. The premise 0:02:53.789 --> 0:02:57.709 is that six friends, Ross Rachel, Wonika, Joey Chandler, and Phoebe, 0:02:57.709 --> 0:03:00.829 all twenty somethings, live in New York City. Over the 0:03:00.829 --> 0:03:03.469 course of ten years, they go through many life lessons, 0:03:03.589 --> 0:03:07.589 love stories, drama, friendship, and of course comedy. That sounds 0:03:07.589 --> 0:03:11.269 like a terrible premis like where is the dead body? 0:03:11.549 --> 0:03:15.549 Where is the local suburban drug dealer? Allah, breaking bad? 0:03:15.709 --> 0:03:17.709 It's weird that, like, what are the stakes? Tell me 0:03:17.709 --> 0:03:21.869 about that? Coms? You couldn't really have a sitcom now? Oh, 0:03:21.949 --> 0:03:24.149 I guess it's like the Office. You couldn't have a 0:03:24.149 --> 0:03:27.869 sitcom because everything we watch needs a dead body. Yeah, 0:03:27.989 --> 0:03:32.069 we'd need like Rachel to be a dead woman and 0:03:32.149 --> 0:03:35.549 Jowey to be a detective order for it to work, 0:03:35.589 --> 0:03:39.029 because I don't know what the conflict, think about it 0:03:39.069 --> 0:03:41.589 and maybe just thinking about the perfect couple A gory 0:03:41.709 --> 0:03:45.949 grapdowns at the beginning, We life, real life, Who's gonna be? 0:03:46.149 --> 0:03:50.869 Well last night, I've been into that and in fact 0:03:50.869 --> 0:03:52.789 I kind of did one on that couch. Ah. But 0:03:52.989 --> 0:03:55.989 despite my feedback, the final episode of Friends became one 0:03:56.069 --> 0:04:00.429 of the most watched finales in television history. Fifty two 0:04:00.589 --> 0:04:04.429 point five million Americans watched it. Did you hear the 0:04:04.509 --> 0:04:08.149 part where I said one of the most oh finalese, 0:04:08.229 --> 0:04:10.389 one of the most watched. I then became a sessed 0:04:10.429 --> 0:04:13.069 we've raising out of beat. We've got to be thinking 0:04:13.149 --> 0:04:16.669 pre streaming. Oh yeah, I thought, great. So I don't know, 0:04:17.029 --> 0:04:21.349 Friends is the fifth most watched finale. I'm gonna need 0:04:21.589 --> 0:04:26.309 you to throw out someone's city incorrect again. I don't 0:04:26.389 --> 0:04:29.549 think watching that live. So I feld, yes, that was 0:04:29.629 --> 0:04:34.029 number four, number three, The Fugitive You've never heard, I've 0:04:34.069 --> 0:04:40.149 never heard of it, Number two the Sopranos, She is okay, Yeah? 0:04:40.269 --> 0:04:44.669 And then number one, No. Number one, most watched finale 0:04:44.709 --> 0:04:47.509 of all time. Nearly one hundred and six million Americans 0:04:47.509 --> 0:04:50.949 watched it. No, you've watched an episode of this, it's 0:04:51.029 --> 0:05:03.389 one that you've watched. Mash oh Nan loved Masha six PM. Yeah, 0:05:03.389 --> 0:05:06.069 and it always made me think Mash usually she'd have 0:05:06.149 --> 0:05:08.669 some she would she would, and so I was like, Mash, Mash, 0:05:08.709 --> 0:05:11.829 this show is terrible. I googled the population of America 0:05:12.029 --> 0:05:14.949 at the time this actually broadcast, because it was nineteen 0:05:14.989 --> 0:05:16.989 eighty three, the population of America was two hundred and 0:05:17.029 --> 0:05:19.709 thirty three million. I repeat, one hundred and six million 0:05:19.749 --> 0:05:22.389 Americans watched it. Okay, half of America, so half of 0:05:22.389 --> 0:05:25.269 America's were not busy and said, I will be watching 0:05:25.349 --> 0:05:28.349 some mash. What a beautiful cultural moment. I've watched a 0:05:28.389 --> 0:05:32.669 lot of Mash can't again. Not following Vietnam War, Apparently 0:05:32.709 --> 0:05:34.149 the series went for a lot longer than the war. 0:05:35.109 --> 0:05:38.949 In the final two seasons of Friends were not canceling. 0:05:39.029 --> 0:05:42.149 Mash Nan would roll over in her go no Mash 0:05:42.229 --> 0:05:44.389 can stand. She'd say, I think mash was meant to 0:05:44.429 --> 0:05:46.989 be funny. I don't know anyway. The cast were paid 0:05:47.149 --> 0:05:49.989 one million dollars each per episode. And how many episodes 0:05:50.029 --> 0:05:52.109 were their final season do you reckon? I think they 0:05:52.149 --> 0:05:54.389 were eight. I think there was normally sixteen and they 0:05:54.469 --> 0:05:57.989 cut it ah down. It's credited as being the first 0:05:58.189 --> 0:06:01.509 real ensemble show. They all fought for them not to 0:06:01.589 --> 0:06:04.269 be a main character and wanted it, and didn't they 0:06:04.429 --> 0:06:07.829 negotiate together? And they did. They did unionized. They went 0:06:07.869 --> 0:06:10.869 full Hamilton and they said, we'll be paid together. But 0:06:11.029 --> 0:06:14.709 Claire Friends aired in the nineties, and if there's one 0:06:14.749 --> 0:06:18.229 thing we know about the nineties. Problematic is that they 0:06:18.269 --> 0:06:22.429 were funked. My structure for today is as follows, Fat Monica, Ah, 0:06:22.589 --> 0:06:27.509 I remember Chandler broadly, weird sex stuff, a deleted episode, 0:06:28.109 --> 0:06:31.749 a note on the general takedown of friends, and finally 0:06:32.589 --> 0:06:36.709 the laugh track. Yeah, okay, on the laugh track. I 0:06:36.749 --> 0:06:38.629 have a bone to pick with the editors of this podcast. 0:06:38.949 --> 0:06:42.189 What I think we could have a laugh. Oh my gosh, 0:06:42.309 --> 0:06:43.989 we need a laugh I think we need a laugh track. 0:06:44.149 --> 0:06:47.629 Whenever things get awkwards, there's a pause. Okay, we need 0:06:48.069 --> 0:06:51.309 the lovely person who does the audio editing of this Leah. 0:06:52.189 --> 0:06:54.869 I want her to insert a laugh track when she 0:06:55.189 --> 0:06:58.389 feels that it's needed. And maybe we weren't even making 0:06:58.469 --> 0:07:02.109 a joke so true, Maybe she just anything funny. Yeah, 0:07:02.229 --> 0:07:06.349 laugh track? Yeah, I got out of bed. I really 0:07:06.429 --> 0:07:09.149 want her to do that. It would make the podcast airable. 0:07:09.669 --> 0:07:13.189 Fat dude, don't do that to me. And it's cool. 0:07:13.309 --> 0:07:15.309 You can stay here. My parents won't mind. No, it's 0:07:15.349 --> 0:07:16.749 not that I just want to be stuck here all 0:07:16.789 --> 0:07:21.109 night with your fat sister. Eh. Claire Monica, played by 0:07:21.149 --> 0:07:25.029 Courtney Cox, gets a lot of flashback scenes. In particular, 0:07:25.229 --> 0:07:27.869 there's an episode titled the One That could have been. 0:07:27.949 --> 0:07:30.949 And it's a two parter when Monica never lost weight. 0:07:31.789 --> 0:07:34.589 In case he didn't notice this while watching Fat Monica, 0:07:34.829 --> 0:07:37.909 who appears in flashbacks, he is just Courtney Cox in 0:07:37.989 --> 0:07:42.029 fat suit. It went full shallow. How the nineties the 0:07:42.029 --> 0:07:47.309 early two thousands, they thought nothing was funnier and or 0:07:47.389 --> 0:07:52.349 more creative than a thin person. Yeah CODs playing, Yeah, yeah, 0:07:52.389 --> 0:07:54.829 as somebody bigger than they were. There was definitely someone 0:07:54.829 --> 0:07:57.429 who went around to writers' rooms and whenever it comes 0:07:57.469 --> 0:07:59.029 there there was a lull. Have you thought of a 0:07:59.069 --> 0:08:01.909 fat suit? My work here is done, walked out. I 0:08:01.949 --> 0:08:03.789 want to show you a picture of her, and I 0:08:03.909 --> 0:08:06.189 want you to tell me if you notice anything looking back. 0:08:06.469 --> 0:08:09.949 All right, this is a picture of fat Monica. Oh wow, 0:08:10.109 --> 0:08:13.389 Oh she's not fat. Yeah, that's what I said. She's 0:08:13.469 --> 0:08:17.189 not fat. That was my note. She's just I've written 0:08:17.229 --> 0:08:19.629 this in my notes. She's simply a woman with breast. 0:08:19.829 --> 0:08:22.709 She is. She's a woman with breasts and hips. And 0:08:22.989 --> 0:08:25.629 they've crimped her hair as if to say, if you're 0:08:25.709 --> 0:08:29.509 not stick thin, your hair is bad, your hair is weird. 0:08:29.789 --> 0:08:35.349 And she's always holding food. Oh my god, my memory 0:08:35.469 --> 0:08:39.029 had been totally arrased. Yeah, this is why we were 0:08:39.109 --> 0:08:42.389 also fucked up in the ninety I know. Okay, So 0:08:43.069 --> 0:08:46.349 there's an alternate opening sequence with Fat Monica, and I 0:08:46.389 --> 0:08:47.869 have it right here for you, and I want to 0:08:47.949 --> 0:08:50.429 just show you by alternate, do you mean on the 0:08:50.509 --> 0:08:53.589 episodes that she was in, it had this as the 0:08:53.949 --> 0:08:58.429 friend's intro, just press play. Okay, So what happens is 0:08:59.029 --> 0:09:02.109 Fat Monica jumps on the couch and the couch tips 0:09:02.149 --> 0:09:07.269 over because she's fair. Classic. Yeah, that's what happens. Classic. 0:09:07.429 --> 0:09:12.069 That is just right. The work that must have taken. 0:09:12.149 --> 0:09:14.349 I come up with that joke getting your fat suit 0:09:14.589 --> 0:09:20.229 just so many hours and then analyzing why it's funny. Yeah, 0:09:20.669 --> 0:09:23.749 but it's not really very funny. In that episode, one 0:09:23.789 --> 0:09:26.869 of the complications is that Fat Monica is becoming increasingly 0:09:26.989 --> 0:09:30.109 concerned that someone sat on her chocolate bar. I believe 0:09:30.149 --> 0:09:33.389 it was a kit cat, which, by the way, genuinely distressing. 0:09:34.029 --> 0:09:36.189 It doesn't matter your size. It doesn't matter your size. 0:09:36.669 --> 0:09:38.709 If somebody sat on my kit cat, that would be 0:09:38.829 --> 0:09:41.749 enough of complication in my story. In my day, if 0:09:41.789 --> 0:09:45.829 someone sat on my chocolate bar, I would be wondering 0:09:45.829 --> 0:09:48.429 if their body heat made it melt. If it became 0:09:48.469 --> 0:09:50.509 that chocolate where it's like it's not even chocolate anymore. 0:09:50.549 --> 0:09:53.789 It's just like stuck to the sides, and it's no 0:09:53.909 --> 0:09:55.949 longer the texture that I need it to be. The 0:09:56.029 --> 0:09:58.669 other day, my husband and I we went to Subway, 0:09:58.829 --> 0:10:02.149 and naturally we got several cookies. Obviously, some of the 0:10:02.229 --> 0:10:04.629 cookies were mine, some of the cookies were his. I 0:10:04.869 --> 0:10:07.109 was wrangling our baby, and while I was doing that, 0:10:07.589 --> 0:10:10.029 I witnessed him start to eat one of my cookies, 0:10:10.629 --> 0:10:13.829 and I was it by mistake, No, okay, he was 0:10:13.869 --> 0:10:19.269 being sneaky. I snapped where cookies go. And there's nothing 0:10:19.429 --> 0:10:26.509 more more shameful shameful about snapping about somebody eating your treat. Yeah, yeah, 0:10:26.789 --> 0:10:29.549 but I was so upset. I don't ruin that for me. 0:10:31.589 --> 0:10:33.669 Get almost I've been sitting on the couch and he's 0:10:33.709 --> 0:10:35.669 said he's almost gone over to get like some of 0:10:35.749 --> 0:10:38.549 my brownie or whatever, and it's like, have a really 0:10:38.629 --> 0:10:40.989 violent instinct to like flip his hand away, and then 0:10:40.989 --> 0:10:43.189 I I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me. 0:10:43.709 --> 0:10:46.149 Was like, don't touch it, don't take my foot anyway. 0:10:46.229 --> 0:10:49.469 Fat Monica is characterized as a previous version of Monica, 0:10:49.589 --> 0:10:54.029 who exclusively ate sloppily wiping chocolate from her face or 0:10:54.109 --> 0:10:57.709 licking powdered sugar from her fingers. Again, these are two 0:10:57.749 --> 0:10:59.509 things that are critical if you don't want to waste 0:10:59.589 --> 0:11:03.669 chocolate or cinnamon, for example, no judgment. So in the 0:11:03.789 --> 0:11:06.749 alternate plot line where Monica didn't lose weight, she also 0:11:06.909 --> 0:11:09.789 remains a virgin, probably because it's caughtney cocks and a 0:11:09.829 --> 0:11:13.109 fat suit and suitors couldn't find her vagina hole. Yeah. Yeah, 0:11:13.269 --> 0:11:15.189 people probably want to have sex with her. Yeah, but 0:11:15.269 --> 0:11:17.389 they were like, where's is it? Yeah, where's the z 0:11:17.389 --> 0:11:19.109 it mate? And she's like, I don't know, but I'm 0:11:19.109 --> 0:11:22.589 wearing an entire suit simply to give the impression that 0:11:22.669 --> 0:11:26.109 I have breasts. Kelsey Miller, writing an op ed for Vox, said, 0:11:26.949 --> 0:11:30.109 fat Monica isn't even a person. She's not Monica Fat. 0:11:30.549 --> 0:11:33.669 She's a cartoon character with a weird, screamy voice and 0:11:33.749 --> 0:11:36.789 a totally different personality. Yes, if you can call an 0:11:36.789 --> 0:11:39.949 affinity for mayonnaise and KitKat a personality, I hope you 0:11:39.989 --> 0:11:42.909 can see that's mine. Yeah. Her entire life is eating 0:11:43.069 --> 0:11:46.469 and pining and occasionally dancing to disco music with doughnuts 0:11:46.509 --> 0:11:51.029 in her hands. For no reason she's a clown. There's 0:11:51.029 --> 0:11:53.269 a scene where she can't get up off the bean bag, 0:11:53.349 --> 0:11:56.389 allegedly due to her weight, and respectfully, show me a 0:11:56.429 --> 0:11:58.149 person who can get up off a bean bag. Yeah, no, 0:11:58.229 --> 0:12:00.909 it's really tricky. There's also a memorable line from Joey 0:12:01.149 --> 0:12:03.429 when they're watching a video of Monica in her prom 0:12:03.509 --> 0:12:07.749 dress eating a sandwich, and he yells, I'm girling, Monica. 0:12:10.869 --> 0:12:13.149 Shut up. The camera adds ten pounds. 0:12:13.709 --> 0:12:19.109 Huh so, how many cameras are actually on you? Have 0:12:19.269 --> 0:12:22.869 you ever heard of anything more nineties? No? I wonder 0:12:22.909 --> 0:12:25.429 if anybody at the time noticed or if it was 0:12:25.589 --> 0:12:30.069 so insidious our fat phobia that everybody just took it, 0:12:30.269 --> 0:12:31.749 or they saw it and they went they had like 0:12:32.229 --> 0:12:34.029 a moment of inspiration where they went, you know what 0:12:34.109 --> 0:12:37.029 we should make is a film named Shallow How. Yeah, 0:12:37.189 --> 0:12:41.389 Jack Black should be in it, and I'm thinking, on 0:12:41.389 --> 0:12:44.229 a fat suit, I'm feeling it. But then the whole 0:12:44.349 --> 0:12:47.229 premise of Shallow How is of course that he sees 0:12:47.269 --> 0:12:50.829 her as thin, but joke's on him. She's fat. And 0:12:51.389 --> 0:12:54.709 can you love someone when they're fat? A man? Yes? 0:12:55.029 --> 0:13:08.709 Because black black? Yeah? Yeah. Chandler a reappraisal of Friends 0:13:08.909 --> 0:13:13.749 thirty years on has a lot of people saying fuck Chandler. Okay, 0:13:14.029 --> 0:13:17.309 but Matthew Perry rip, I should stayed on the record. 0:13:17.389 --> 0:13:20.269 Matthew Perry and Chandler are not the same person. No, no. 0:13:20.509 --> 0:13:24.949 Matthew Perry famously said he didn't recall shooting like three seasons. Yeah. Yeah. 0:13:25.589 --> 0:13:28.429 There was an article published in Slay titled Chandler bing 0:13:28.629 --> 0:13:30.989 is the worst thing about Watching Friends in twenty fifteen. 0:13:31.549 --> 0:13:34.869 The writer Ruth Graham argues that he is endlessly paranoid 0:13:34.949 --> 0:13:37.709 about being perceived as gay. I went back and watched 0:13:37.709 --> 0:13:39.269 a whole lot of scenes, and I was like, very 0:13:39.389 --> 0:13:43.629 astute observation. This man is homophobic in the sense of 0:13:43.749 --> 0:13:46.749 like a pathology really like not in the sense of 0:13:46.869 --> 0:13:49.429 talking about something broadly being homophobic, but he is so 0:13:49.709 --> 0:13:52.389 anxious about being seen as gay. Like what I can't remember. 0:13:52.629 --> 0:13:56.149 Like there's a scene where Joey has a handbag. He 0:13:56.189 --> 0:13:58.789 walks in with a handbag. Chandler just has like this 0:13:58.989 --> 0:14:01.829 visceral reaction of like you're gay, and like he just 0:14:02.029 --> 0:14:04.309 really doesn't like it. And then he's like metal like 0:14:04.389 --> 0:14:07.109 it I'm after my audition. How do I ever, Ah, 0:14:08.309 --> 0:14:09.549 I think you'll a great Joey. 0:14:09.629 --> 0:14:11.069 That bag is to get you that part. 0:14:11.269 --> 0:14:13.429 And a date with a man. He's worried that people 0:14:13.429 --> 0:14:15.309 are going to see him as gay as well if 0:14:15.349 --> 0:14:18.269 he does anything moderately feminine. Okay, he's not the most 0:14:18.309 --> 0:14:20.509 masculine guy in the world, but he's got a real 0:14:20.589 --> 0:14:23.789 hang up on his sexuality. He is identified in the 0:14:23.909 --> 0:14:26.869 first season as having a quality of gayness about him, 0:14:27.069 --> 0:14:30.389 whatever that means, and then he spends ten seasons suppressing 0:14:30.509 --> 0:14:35.189 anything mildly feminine about him. I've heard him described as 0:14:35.269 --> 0:14:39.989 simply embodying gay panic Yes, and that could not be 0:14:40.149 --> 0:14:43.709 more accurate. Yes, he is terrified of gayness, which I 0:14:43.749 --> 0:14:46.189 think is also a lot of characters again in the nineties. 0:14:46.629 --> 0:14:50.469 It is also interesting that this was a show set 0:14:50.549 --> 0:14:55.869 in New York in the nineties with very little queer representation. 0:14:55.989 --> 0:14:58.069 I can think of one example, which we may get too. 0:14:59.149 --> 0:15:03.749 There was a very big population of gay I know, 0:15:04.149 --> 0:15:06.069 but it was pre same sex marriage. Like it was 0:15:06.109 --> 0:15:08.749 a totally different world. And in fact, I don't think 0:15:08.789 --> 0:15:11.909 I get into this here, but they had a gay wedding. 0:15:12.189 --> 0:15:15.869 So two women marry right, oh yeah, and just did 0:15:15.949 --> 0:15:20.029 a lot of Yes, went a long way towards degrading that. Yes, 0:15:20.709 --> 0:15:23.429 but two states in the US wouldn't broadcast it, like 0:15:23.549 --> 0:15:25.349 they wouldn't put it on television, and they couldn't have 0:15:25.429 --> 0:15:27.309 them kiss because they were worried they would get so 0:15:27.349 --> 0:15:31.109 many complaints. Like that is what the nineties were anyway. 0:15:31.469 --> 0:15:34.269 Other things about Channeler who chooses a roommate because their 0:15:34.309 --> 0:15:37.069 sister is a porn star. He dates this Janis character 0:15:37.189 --> 0:15:45.629 who he openly hates. Oh god, I don't think Channela 0:15:45.749 --> 0:15:49.269 likes men or women. No, I remember Janis. Can you 0:15:49.389 --> 0:15:51.189 believe this happened? No? 0:15:51.669 --> 0:15:57.709 No, goodbye, Janis kiss me. 0:16:00.229 --> 0:16:02.989 I think that was a little bit of a funny storyline, 0:16:03.069 --> 0:16:07.669 because sometimes people who can't say not with the Janis 0:16:07.709 --> 0:16:10.669 for the rest you end up surrounded by peo that 0:16:10.869 --> 0:16:13.509 they can't stand. I think he told Jana said he 0:16:13.709 --> 0:16:17.029 he was moving to Yemen or something, and Janis was convinced. 0:16:17.069 --> 0:16:18.549 And I was like, why would Jannis be convinced? And 0:16:18.549 --> 0:16:20.589 I was like, because Janie is weird. But it's a 0:16:20.629 --> 0:16:23.229 treatment of his father that has copped the most criticism 0:16:23.309 --> 0:16:26.149 in a post friend's world. I saw this on TikTok recently. 0:16:26.389 --> 0:16:29.229 Let's discuss the whole Chandler's dad is a drag queen thing. 0:16:30.389 --> 0:16:35.389 So Chandler's dad is named Charles Bing and Charles has 0:16:35.429 --> 0:16:39.429 a drag queen persona named Helena. But Charles is played 0:16:39.469 --> 0:16:42.469 by Kathleen Turner, who is a woman. So a woman 0:16:42.549 --> 0:16:45.069 plays a man pretending to be a woman. Do you see. 0:16:46.589 --> 0:16:49.389 It's a lot of mental gymnastics. In the episode, the 0:16:49.469 --> 0:16:52.829 one with Chandler and Monica's wedding, Part one, Chandler's mum 0:16:52.989 --> 0:16:56.109 asks Charles, don't you have a little too much penis 0:16:56.149 --> 0:16:58.869 to be wearing a dress like that? If you're wondering 0:16:58.909 --> 0:17:02.869 how sensitively friends handled this story? Okay, Okay, The thing 0:17:03.069 --> 0:17:06.029 is what's weird is that I repeat, the role was 0:17:06.029 --> 0:17:08.589 played by Kathleen and not that this should matter, but 0:17:08.669 --> 0:17:11.869 she literally didn't have a penis. That is very very good. 0:17:11.949 --> 0:17:14.509 It just makes the line very confusing, And there's a 0:17:14.549 --> 0:17:17.949 lot of criticism online being like, misgendered pronouns are wrong, 0:17:17.989 --> 0:17:21.949 and I'm like, it's like whind back, wind back, Like yes, 0:17:22.429 --> 0:17:27.349 but if you wind back, there's actually gene logic floor. Yeah, 0:17:27.869 --> 0:17:32.709 Chandler is just ashamed of his dad, who everyone frequently misgenders. Again, 0:17:32.989 --> 0:17:34.949 I don't know because it's Kathleen Turner, who's meant to 0:17:34.949 --> 0:17:36.589 be a met I don't know, And are you a 0:17:36.669 --> 0:17:40.109 drag queen? I think because adding different to identifying as Trian. 0:17:40.269 --> 0:17:43.029 The problem is the writers are confused. Yeah, the riders 0:17:43.109 --> 0:17:45.709 got a little bit muddied, and then the show got 0:17:45.789 --> 0:17:49.229 made and they were like, hmm, Charles is just the 0:17:49.309 --> 0:17:52.149 butt of a very elaborate joke. He performs a drag 0:17:52.229 --> 0:17:55.669 show in Vegas called Viva la Gagas. If you're wondering 0:17:55.709 --> 0:17:59.069 how three dimensional and fully formed this character is, I 0:17:59.149 --> 0:18:04.669 will repeat Viva la Gegas. It's like Viva la Vegas. Yes, 0:18:04.789 --> 0:18:09.309 but they've replaced with Turner. The actor has said her 0:18:09.349 --> 0:18:11.669 character didn't age well and she wouldn't do it today. 0:18:11.749 --> 0:18:14.549 Oh good good. On the other hand, Miller, who wrote 0:18:14.629 --> 0:18:16.429 the book about Friends and the op ed I talked 0:18:16.429 --> 0:18:19.829 about earlier, she said that Charles was pretty much the 0:18:19.949 --> 0:18:22.749 only trans character who was not a murder victim on 0:18:22.869 --> 0:18:25.429 Law and Order, and it's been argued to even try 0:18:25.469 --> 0:18:28.869 to include an LGBT character was pretty transgressive in the 0:18:28.949 --> 0:18:33.029 early two thousands. Even if they performed a show called Claire, 0:18:33.069 --> 0:18:38.829 what's it called Viva Vegas? No Beava la Gega, Viva 0:18:39.669 --> 0:18:43.989 la gega with sex stuff. You know how you look 0:18:44.069 --> 0:18:47.669 back on these shows and they're weirdly sexual despite being 0:18:47.749 --> 0:18:50.949 positioned as very like PG. Yeah, And the thing is, 0:18:51.389 --> 0:18:56.109 we were kids, slush teenagers when it was airing, and 0:18:56.589 --> 0:19:00.709 I remember, like everyone loved Friends, So I remember kind 0:19:00.749 --> 0:19:03.709 of locking myself in NaN's granny flat, oh wow for 0:19:04.229 --> 0:19:06.949 pretty much a whole school holidays and watching every episode 0:19:06.949 --> 0:19:09.309 of Friends and just feeling so cool. But the accident 0:19:09.389 --> 0:19:11.429 to which all of it went over my head. You 0:19:11.549 --> 0:19:14.429 look back at the Simpsons like you were naughtier than 0:19:14.469 --> 0:19:16.429 I thought, and this was it was a bit naughty. 0:19:16.909 --> 0:19:20.629 There's one episode where Ross comes on to his cousin. 0:19:21.069 --> 0:19:24.349 His cousin, Cassie, is played by Denise Richard. I was 0:19:24.429 --> 0:19:26.589 gonna say, his cousin's really hot, and she comes to 0:19:26.669 --> 0:19:28.869 stay with him and Monica during a visit to New York, 0:19:28.989 --> 0:19:31.229 and Chandler keeps staring at her and making her feel 0:19:31.309 --> 0:19:35.509 uncomfortable because channel's creepy. So Ross is like, it's okay, 0:19:35.669 --> 0:19:37.549 I'm safe, and they end up sitting on the couch 0:19:37.629 --> 0:19:39.949 watching a movie, at which point he leans over and 0:19:40.029 --> 0:19:43.149 tries to kiss her. Then he can't think of anything 0:19:43.229 --> 0:19:46.589 to say, so eventually exclaims, I haven't had sex in 0:19:46.629 --> 0:19:51.069 a very long time. Oh, I know that book true, 0:19:51.269 --> 0:19:56.109 get it? I want it, she wants it. I'm going in, 0:19:56.629 --> 0:20:00.869 What the hell are you doing? Say something clever? 0:20:01.829 --> 0:20:03.909 I haven't had sex in a very long time. 0:20:04.549 --> 0:20:08.469 Can you imagine your cousin making a move? The level 0:20:08.549 --> 0:20:11.389 of confusion, there was all this stuff in all the analysis. 0:20:11.429 --> 0:20:13.469 It was like, well, it was legal in some states, 0:20:13.629 --> 0:20:17.429 and I was like, it's definitely not fine. It's not fun. 0:20:17.509 --> 0:20:22.029 There's fine, and it's not. It is not fine. This 0:20:22.229 --> 0:20:23.829 is my theory that when you have to make two 0:20:23.909 --> 0:20:26.029 hundred and thirty six episodes of a show, things get weird. 0:20:26.069 --> 0:20:27.869 You start doing some weird things, and there's only six 0:20:27.949 --> 0:20:29.069 of them. So I was like, I don't know. He 0:20:29.269 --> 0:20:32.309 bucks his cousin. I don't know. There's also a storyline 0:20:32.349 --> 0:20:36.069 where Monica and Ross, who just remind you are siblings, 0:20:36.469 --> 0:20:40.109 realize they hooked up. Okay, okay. This was also a 0:20:40.149 --> 0:20:42.869 big theme in the nineties. Remember our seventh Heaven episode 0:20:43.269 --> 0:20:45.389 and we talked about I think it's one of the 0:20:45.469 --> 0:20:49.909 first scenes where it's Mary and Matt are practicing kissing 0:20:50.029 --> 0:20:53.029 on each other, and the Reverend comes out and he's like, guys, 0:20:53.109 --> 0:20:58.789 and they're like really embarrassed. Okay, close and oh this 0:20:58.909 --> 0:21:01.429 is what that looks like. But it seems like the 0:21:01.509 --> 0:21:03.309 Reverend has more of an issue with it being kissing 0:21:03.429 --> 0:21:07.269 rather than the fact that these are fucking siblings. Yeah, 0:21:07.949 --> 0:21:10.229 and so I do think you're right. I was the 0:21:10.269 --> 0:21:12.989 theme in the ninety yes that it's like, okay, was 0:21:13.029 --> 0:21:17.469 it trying to normalize No? No, No, I think it 0:21:17.629 --> 0:21:21.949 was this only hot people can be on television slash hot, 0:21:22.109 --> 0:21:25.629 charismatic people like Jessica Bill for example. But then it's 0:21:25.669 --> 0:21:27.669 like whoa, whoa wa whoa, But what if Jessica Bil 0:21:27.789 --> 0:21:30.189 was your sister, wouldn't you still want kiss her? And 0:21:30.349 --> 0:21:33.349 so that's where it got confused. So that's what happened, 0:21:33.749 --> 0:21:38.229 I think, because Monica's yeah, they hook up. Yeah. So 0:21:38.389 --> 0:21:41.909 it's like, guys, they're straight, they look similar, they live 0:21:41.949 --> 0:21:45.709 in the same city. They booked up. No, and apparently 0:21:45.789 --> 0:21:48.269 they were drunk and Ross thought it was Rachel and 0:21:48.349 --> 0:21:51.389 they both freak out, but they hooked up. Speaking of weird, 0:21:51.909 --> 0:21:54.789 remember when Brad Pitt was a guest stuff. Yes, okay, 0:21:54.909 --> 0:21:57.909 the question is this was he married to Jennifer. Yes, 0:21:58.069 --> 0:22:00.869 he was, I thought so. He was in the episode 0:22:00.989 --> 0:22:03.189 called the One with the Rumor, and he plays Will, 0:22:03.269 --> 0:22:05.429 who's an old high school friend who founded that I 0:22:05.589 --> 0:22:09.069 Hate Rachel club with Ross Right. The punchline to that 0:22:09.189 --> 0:22:13.469 whole episode is that Will started a rumor that Rachel 0:22:13.789 --> 0:22:16.229 was intersex and her parents had to flip a coin 0:22:16.309 --> 0:22:17.749 to decide if she was a boy or a girl. 0:22:17.909 --> 0:22:24.389 Oh my god, how specific. Yeah and odd. The Intersex 0:22:24.469 --> 0:22:27.469 Society of North America was very offended, and years later 0:22:27.549 --> 0:22:31.069 the co creator Marta Kaufman said she regrets the joke 0:22:31.069 --> 0:22:32.909 and wouldn't do it again today. Yeah, she said that 0:22:32.949 --> 0:22:36.349 a few times. I think maybe if you went through 0:22:36.589 --> 0:22:39.149 every line of dialogue with a fine toothcomb, she'd be 0:22:39.229 --> 0:22:41.629 saying that every day for the rest of her life. 0:22:42.109 --> 0:22:44.709 What's interesting, and this is just plays into my theory 0:22:44.789 --> 0:22:47.869 that Brad Pitt teflon if that was anyone else going back, 0:22:47.949 --> 0:22:50.949 going why did you say yes yeah to that character? 0:22:51.069 --> 0:22:53.309 But it was a different time. But also Brad Pitt 0:22:53.789 --> 0:22:55.869 apparently can do not right and he's like, but just 0:22:55.909 --> 0:22:58.389 look at my face, and everyone's like, true, I was distracted, 0:22:58.469 --> 0:23:00.349 Like I didn't really remember what he did. I just 0:23:00.389 --> 0:23:04.269 remember everyone clapping when he was on because she was 0:23:04.429 --> 0:23:11.589 so beautiful. Glow you glow. It's being really discriminatory broadly. 0:23:11.669 --> 0:23:13.869