- 2 weeks ago
From epic showdowns to iconic London twists, we're reliving the moments that made this season unforgettable! Whether it’s the legendary trivia quiz, Phoebe’s big family news, or a wedding gone spectacularly off the rails, this season pushed the whole gang to new limits. Which turning point sticks with you most? Let us know your favorite memory down below!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So much is happening.
00:01I know.
00:02Ross is getting married.
00:04Phoebe's making people.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're looking at the defining moments of Friends' fourth season.
00:11You think you knew I was here?
00:15From friendships, to growing families, to London, baby.
00:19The one with the season recap.
00:21We're back in Montauk where we left off, and in this season,
00:24the friendships we've watched build over three years really get tested.
00:28Shoot.
00:29We're out of soda.
00:30Oh, I'll go out and get you some.
00:32Really?
00:33Nope, because I'm not your boyfriend.
00:35Joey and Chandler rally around Monica in her time of need.
00:38Monica and Rachel prove that even breaking girl code,
00:41and a date with a high school husband, won't break them.
00:44Meanwhile, Ross and Phoebe end up feuding over a cat who may or may not be Phoebe's mom.
00:49I believe this is my mother.
00:51Even if I'm wrong, who cares?
00:54Just be a friend, okay?
00:56Be supportive.
00:56Feelings get hurt when Ross chooses his best man.
01:00And let's be honest, Ross' sound was a real test of everyone's endurance.
01:05On the flip side, Joey makes a huge sacrifice for Phoebe.
01:14Oh, and Chandler takes a trip to Yemen.
01:16I'm going to Yemen.
01:20When we get to Yemen, can I stay with you?
01:22Ross and Rachel have just managed to find their way back to friendship,
01:26and even get back together, until...
01:28This certainly makes things more challenging when they try to move on,
01:35especially after Rachel accidentally sets Ross up with her boss's niece.
01:39Work and personal lives collide, too.
01:41Joey learns about museum politics, and Chandler dates Rachel's boss,
01:45and ends up stuck in the fallout.
01:46I'm going to say this for the last time.
01:49Would you please just...
01:51Later, he tries to play matchmaker for Rachel,
01:56but he really shouldn't quit his day job.
01:58Monica and Phoebe go into business together,
02:01and things look promising.
02:02We provided a service, and we deserve to be paid,
02:05because you ate that service.
02:07And we are not leaving here until we are paid every penny,
02:10because you know what, Lanny?
02:11We're part-time caterers, and we have no place else to go.
02:14However, when Monica gets offered a new job,
02:16it puts pressure on both the partnership and the friendship.
02:20Meanwhile, Joey has to figure out if money matters more than loyalty.
02:23Joey, we had a deal.
02:24That's why you're here.
02:25I've got to fire you.
02:27And I've got to pay rent.
02:28One of the hardest tests comes with Chandler,
02:31Kathy, and Joey's love triangle.
02:33Although the time the guys get robbed is a close second,
02:35Chandler and Kathy may have been the better match.
02:38But it was brutal to watch what it did to his friendship with Joey.
02:41Honestly, Chandler was lucky the punishment was just sitting in a box.
02:45The meaning of the box is threefold.
02:48One.
02:49It gives me the time to think about what I did.
02:52Two.
02:54It proves how much I care about my friendship with Joey.
02:58And three.
03:00It hurts.
03:02But you know what truly puts a friendship to the test?
03:04Monica, Monica.
03:07Have a happy Hanukkah.
03:11Saw Santa Claus.
03:14He said hello to Ross.
03:17Writing a holiday song, sure.
03:20But also the ultimate showdown, the trivia quiz.
03:24The one with the embryos became an iconic moment in Friends fan culture for so many reasons.
03:29And we'll be digging into all of them shortly.
03:31Not only did we learn more about our favorite friends,
03:33but it also marked a big turning point in Phoebe's story.
03:36You guys, you guys, you're gonna have a baby.
03:39They're gonna have a baby.
03:40Season 4 also takes the gang, minus Phoebe, out of New York for the first time,
03:44with the London episodes delivering some huge surprises.
03:47But before we get there, let's talk about the one with the embryos.
03:51The one with the embryos.
03:53If any episode so far shows why this show works, it's this one.
03:57Each team will answer 10 questions.
04:00The first team to answer the most questions wins.
04:04The categories are fears and pet peeves,
04:07ancient history,
04:09literature,
04:11and it's all relative.
04:13The premise is simple.
04:15Monica and Rachel and Joey and Chandler argue over who knows who better in a winner-takes-all quiz.
04:20And the stakes just keep getting higher.
04:23Thanks to this episode, we now know what name appears on Chandler and Joey's TV guide.
04:27Actually, it's Miss Chandler Bond.
04:30How many towel categories Monica has?
04:33Everyday use.
04:33Fancy.
04:34Guest.
04:35Fancy guest.
04:35Two seconds.
04:3711!
04:3911.
04:39Unbelievable.
04:4011 is correct.
04:41And even the name and profession of Joey's childhood imaginary friend.
04:46Joey had an imaginary childhood friend.
04:48His name was...
04:49Maurice.
04:49Correct.
04:50His profession was...
04:51Space cowboy.
04:52Correct.
04:52Fun fact, some of these answers were still being written as the episode filmed in front of a live studio audience,
04:58with the writers switching lines to get bigger laughs.
05:01But it's not just about how funny it is.
05:03The quiz puts their friendships to the test,
05:05showing these characters under pressure while still demonstrating why this dynamic works.
05:10If you win, we give up the bird.
05:12Gah!
05:16But if we win, we get your apartment.
05:20Ooh!
05:23Deal!
05:26This is one of the best ensemble, again, minus Phoebe, performances,
05:30with everyone getting their moments to be clever, competitive, and endearingly ridiculous.
05:36It really is everything Friends does best, wrapped into a 20-ish minute episode.
05:40It also feels like a game night we could have with our own friends.
05:43According to Chandler, what phenomenon scares the bejesus out of him?
05:48Michael Flatley, lord of the dance!
05:53That is correct.
05:57The Irish jig guy?
05:59His legs flail about as if independent from his body.
06:03In fact, the writers pulled inspiration from a real-life friend group,
06:07not to mention the quirky eccentricities of people they know,
06:10which makes it feel all the more real.
06:12Unlike most sitcoms that like to resolve everything neatly at the end of the episode,
06:16the writers weren't going to let Monica and Rachel off the hook this time.
06:19Oh! Oh! Oh! He's a trans-
06:21trans-
06:21monster!
06:24That's not even a word!
06:27Oh!
06:28I can get this!
06:29I can get this!
06:31Oh my god!
06:33It's incredible that what started as a bottle episode to save production costs
06:37became one of the series' most beloved episodes.
06:40I majored in lightning rounds, all right?
06:42We're gonna destroy you.
06:44I wanna bet?
06:46I'm so confused as to what we've been doing so far.
06:49TV Guide called it, quote,
06:50friends at its peak, a lightning in a bottle gem, and we'd have to agree.
06:55The cast even went for a second round during their reunion,
06:58though the stakes weren't quite as high this time around.
07:00Rachel wrote Ross a letter and demanded he read it before they got back together.
07:06How many pages was that letter?
07:0718 pages!
07:08Damn.
07:1018 pages.
07:11Front and back!
07:12Front and back is correct!
07:13And yet, this quiz is technically the secondary plot.
07:16After all, the episode is called The One with the Embryos,
07:20which brings us to our next point.
07:22The one where Lisa Kudrow's pregnancy gets a storyline.
07:25Last season, Phoebe's family expanded when she discovered her birth mother
07:29and that she had a half-brother.
07:31Little did she know her family would keep growing,
07:33and she'd play a key role in making that happen.
07:35That our only chance to have a baby is that if they take my sperm, her egg,
07:40and put it together in a dish, and then put it into another girl.
07:45So we were wondering if you could be the girl that we could put it into.
07:48Early in season four's production,
07:50Lisa Kudrow shared some exciting personal news she was expecting.
07:54The creators didn't want to rely on cliches like oversized props for the coming months,
07:58so the only solution was to write the pregnancy in.
08:01The big question, how do you make this work for Phoebe?
08:04They want me to be the surrogate!
08:05It's her egg and his sperm, and I'm just the oven!
08:09It's totally their bun!
08:10Thankfully, Phoebe's unconventional life provided the perfect answer.
08:13My sister's gonna help my baby!
08:16By now, we knew her well enough to not even bat an eyelid at the plan.
08:20And her chemistry with Giovanni Ribisi and Deborah Jo Rupp
08:23made the setup even more endearing.
08:25Adding the triplet angle was just the perfect cherry on top.
08:28Since there are three babies, and we both got to put our names in,
08:33we would be truly honored if you would name the other boy baby.
08:37Oh, wow! That's so nice!
08:40Oh! Oh! Cougar!
08:44You think about it.
08:45This storyline balanced the antics of the trivia game
08:48while giving us exactly what made us fall in love with the series.
08:51Heart, humor, and character.
08:54Phoebe's speech to the embryos remains a genuinely special moment,
08:57one that dug its way into fans' hearts and has stayed there to this day.
09:01We're doing this for Frank and Alice.
09:03Who, you know, you've been there.
09:06Um, you know, they want you so much.
09:10So when you guys get in there, really grab on.
09:14Okay, and I promise that I'll keep you safe and warm
09:18until, you know, you're ready to have them take you home.
09:21Another thing that was interesting about this storyline
09:23was how it explored the subjects of fertility and surrogacy
09:26in a way that certainly wasn't common back then.
09:28I mean, it costs $16,000 each time you do this.
09:33So, um, we're kind of using all the money we have to do it just this one time.
09:38Whoa!
09:40That's, okay, that's a lot of pressure on me and my uterus.
09:43Phoebe is really made to consider the full weight of what she's about to do,
09:47but it's done totally without judgment, just the plain hard facts and a puppy.
09:51So however hard it is for you to give up this puppy,
09:54well, it would be like a million times harder to give up a child.
09:58I really shouldn't have given you the puppy first.
10:04As the pregnancy progresses, the reality of her choice begins to sink in.
10:08If friends taught us one thing, it's that families come in so many forms.
10:12And the reality is blood isn't what matters,
10:15it's who's there when the rain starts to fall.
10:17You just get to be cool Aunt Phoebe.
10:21Cool Aunt Phoebe?
10:24I am pretty cool.
10:25Oh.
10:27Yeah, and you know what else?
10:28Oh my God, are they gonna love you?
10:31Interestingly, Phoebe wasn't the only actor whose pregnancy shaped the show.
10:35Helen Baxendale, who plays Emily,
10:37became pregnant between seasons and chose not to travel between the U.S. and the U.K.
10:41Are you pregnant too?
10:43Her pregnancy was hidden on screen, but that's a story for our next episode.
10:48Similarly, Kudrow couldn't make the trip across the pond because of her pregnancy,
10:51which meant no London baby for Phoebe.
10:54But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
10:55Well, if you're one of Ross' best friends, why aren't you here?
10:58Yeah, because I can't fly, I'm having my brother's babies.
11:01The one with Ross' wedding, and everything that leads up to it.
11:04As we've seen before, the production team always looked for ways to cut costs,
11:08a hard lesson they learned back in season one.
11:10But this was the first time they were properly taking the gang out of New York,
11:14and shooting in London came with a hefty price tag.
11:20Apparently, it was Channel 4, the British network that aired the show,
11:23that suggested bringing it overseas.
11:25And then, it was up to the team to think up a good reason for everyone to head to London.
11:29Ross unexpectedly finds himself taking Rachel's place at the opera with Emily,
11:48when she thinks she has a chance with her crush, Joshua.
11:50He's with Emily at a bed and breakfast in Vermont.
11:53What? Oh my God!
11:54Who the hell is Emily?
11:56No!
11:57They hit it off, and before we know it, they're engaged.
12:01This led to the first proper clips episode,
12:03as Rachel wrestles with how to RSVP to the wedding.
12:06No doubt, a clever way to pinch the purse before splashing out in London.
12:10For starters, the guest star budget must have been huge to bring in icons like
12:13Jennifer Saunders, Olivia Williams, June Whitfield, Hugh Laurie, and even Fergie.
12:19Richard Branson also makes an appearance,
12:21reportedly ad-libbing his lines since he hadn't memorized them.
12:25He's just jealous. You'll fit right in. All Londoners wear them.
12:28Oh, really?
12:28Then how come no one here anywhere is wearing one?
12:32They're all tourists.
12:33Tom Conte, who plays Emily's father, is another big name in British comedy.
12:38You want a piece of me, sir? Is that what you're saying? Want a piece of me?
12:40But believe it or not, the crew had originally hoped for an even bigger international star,
12:46Paul McCartney.
12:47He wasn't available, though apparently he told the team he was flattered by the offer.
12:51We guess not everything can always come together.
12:54I'm gonna drive a little help from my friend.
12:57Of course, these episodes are also best remembered for two of the biggest plot twists in the sitcom's history.
13:03Apparently, when Monica was revealed from under the covers,
13:06the actors had to pause almost 30 seconds for the audience's reaction to settle.
13:11The audience went insane.
13:14We were just standing there.
13:15This is insane. We just let them go.
13:23And it was the overwhelmingly positive fan response that made the creators realize
13:27maybe this could be more than a one-night thing.
13:30It even scored in the top three in TV Guide's greatest twists of all time.
13:34The original plan was they would sleep together in London.
13:38It was a brief thing, and we'd have some fun with it afterward as they both like,
13:42oh my god, what did we do?
13:43But the way the audience reacted, we realized, there's more to this, and we need to pay attention.
13:50The other twist comes at the end, when Ross says the wrong name at the altar.
13:54Now, Ross, repeat after me.
13:59Aye, Ross.
14:00Aye, Ross.
14:02Take thee, Emily.
14:03Take thee, Rachel.
14:09Emily.
14:12The writers were still figuring out the conflict when they landed on this idea,
14:16reportedly inspired by a slip of the tongue from David Schwimmer earlier in filming.
14:20It became arguably the biggest cliffhanger the show ever teased,
14:24and fans would have to wait until the season 5 premiere to see what happened next.
14:28Shall I go on?
14:29Season 4 certainly upped the stakes for everyone.
14:32It pushed the gang to their limits, testing loyalty, love, and what it means to be family.
14:38Friendships faced unexpected challenges, yet their bonds remained unbreakable.
14:42So, yeah, we're gonna be fine, get out.
14:47Yeah?
14:48Yeah, you did some real good thinking in there.
14:52I said you will.
14:55By now, the series had hit its stride,
14:57surprising us at every turn and taking us to places we never could have imagined.
15:02You could really feel that the audience mattered to the creators.
15:05This was who they were writing the show for.
15:07It was a fun night, but it was a really hard-working night for us.
15:11And we would listen to the audience, and if a joke didn't land,
15:15even if we loved that joke, they were telling us it's not good enough.
15:19So we would put our heads together and try to beat it.
15:22Season 4 felt like a turning point,
15:24and we couldn't wait to see where they'd take us next.
15:27What's your definitive Friends Season 4 moment?
15:30Let us know in the comments.
15:32You know what? No.
15:32It's not over until someone says,
15:34I do.
15:35I do!
15:37I do! I do! I do!
15:38I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do. I do.
Recommended
11:34
9:55
12:19
12:42
11:51
11:43
14:21
11:02
13:47
19:04
11:35
11:41
15:09
50:52
12:26
23:10
13:02
12:56
Be the first to comment