F.R.I.E.N.D.S - Secondary Characters

[Getafuckinggripman]

Inspired by another thread, I'll go first.

Like:
David the science guy, so funny
Richard, a real man
Rachel's dad, mean but enigmatic
Pete, the ultimate fighting champion
Frank Jr, dippy but hilarious

Dislike:
Susan, nasty fucking bitch!!!
Emily, whiny and needy
Charlie, stuck up and boring
Judy Geller, horrible to Monica
Ursula, obviously

@EdnaMole

Joey’s mum in the first series. With all the big rings - and the way she casually shoved the sofa bed away after Joey was unsuccessfully wrestling with it. “Could I take her?”

That sofabed scene is literally my absolute favourite scene in the whole show!

Hate to be "that" poster but people seem to to confusing secondary characters with one off cameos (Alec Baldwin / Brad Pitt / Danny De Vito were all cameos)

I loved Richard... I mean who doesn’t like Tom selleck?
I loved jack geller, although didn’t like Judy to much...
I liked mike....
I liked Janice, I’m not even sure why I know someone very similar and she annoys the hell out of me but for some reason Janice cracks me up, or more to the point the reaction of the gang to her cracks me up 😂
Also liked chandlers father
Didn’t like Emily
Didn’t like Susan
Didn’t like janine
Didn’t like chandlers mum
And didn’t like Rachel’s dad

Loved:
Gunther
Frank
Kathy
David
Carol

Did not settle with:
Joshua
Bonnie
Janine

Liked

Pete
David the science guy
Erica
Joshua
Emily’s parents
Paul Stevens

Disliked

Emily
Charlie
Eddie
Julie
Paulo
Elizabeth stevens

@OohImBlindedByTheLights

HATED Marcel the irritating monkey!!

Omg, YES!!!

I hate the hate for Monica & Richard. Is no one ever supposed to date anyone they knew when they were younger? I mean, my friends brother has known me since I was 5 and he was 7/8(we’re both now in our 40s), would it have really been inappropriate for us to date as adults? For the record, we’re both happily married (not to each other).

Monica wasn’t his patient, they met again when she catered a party for him. I presume she said he was her ‘eye doctor’ as he’d started looking after her eyes when they were dating.

Liked:

Janice
Jack and Judy Geller
Both Chandler's parents
Dr Greene
Susan Bunch
Heckles
Richard
Paulo
Ursula

Amazing guests:
Joanna, Rachel's boss at Bloomingdales was a hilarious bitch
Jill Greene
Eddie the nutty roommate
Brooke shields the nutty stalker
Amanda the fake British woman

Disliked
Kate Miller - totally unlikeable
Charlie Wheeler - dull as mud
Joshua - wet weekend
Tag - wetter still
Amy Greene - good in first ep, awfully OTT the second time around
Emily - for obvious reasons
Frank Jr - useless Baldrick-esque character

Couldn't STAND the cringeworthy British contingent in the series 4 London wedding!

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

Sad but not surprising that all the people you like are men and all the ones you hate are women

It's entirely possible that a predominantly male writing team were better at writing male characters.

I mean, my friends brother has known me since I was 5 and he was 7/8(we’re both now in our 40s), would it have really been inappropriate for us to date as adults?

Surely it's completely obvious why this is different?!

Your the same age!

Think of a toddler boy you know. Can you imagine sleeping with him in 20 years.

If you have a DD, imagine a male friend your age sleeping with her when she's in her mid-20's

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal Marta Kauffman, one half of the writing team, is female

It's probably more down to 90's comedies commonly writing women as nagging, shrill, mean and bitchy

I mean, my friends brother has known me since I was 5 and he was 7/8

That’s nothing like the same thing! I love Richard/Tom Selleck in general, but he was an adult when she was a child, not a couple of years older. Imagine one of your friends kids now, coming round for play dates with your kids and then in 20 years you date him. Just weird!

@EdnaMole

Joey’s mum in the first series. With all the big rings - and the way she casually shoved the sofa bed away after Joey was unsuccessfully wrestling with it. “Could I take her?”

Yes! I loved Joey's mom! And also Joey's agent.

@ChrissyPlummer

Richard was 21 years older than Monica. He knew her as a baby when he was 21. She went to high school with his daughter. It’s very not ok.

[quote FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop]@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal Marta Kauffman, one half of the writing team, is female

It's probably more down to 90's comedies commonly writing women as nagging, shrill, mean and bitchy [/quote]

Did she remain on the writing team all the way through? Genuine question, I don't know - but was under the impression that as the show's success grew, so did the writing team.

Isn't that why mistakes occurred , like Ross losing his virginity twice?!

Love Gunther, Mike, David and I actually quite like Susan too. Julie and Emily were both pretty awful but maybe just because I wanted Ross to be with Rachel instead. I kind of love Janice too lol.

I guess I hate the hate as my DH is 23 years older than me. Point taken though, now I think about him knowing her earlier. We (DH & I)met when I was late 30s and him late 50s though. I don’t remember him (Richard) having a daughter, was that the woman on the answerphone?

I do love TS and still think Richard was a better match than Chandler. Monica needed someone to challenge her and Chandler just turned into a complete wet blanket. The proposal scene still makes me cringe.

Also I love Frank and Alice despite their dodgy way if meeting, they are cute together. And I'd forgotten about Joey's mum, she was great.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal There were loads of mistakes; Digital Spy has a massive thread with them all. I have the special edition box set and there was a book that explained a bit of the back stories. Monica was originally written as Ross’ older sister for example.

I think, like with a lot of successful series, the writers change things as the story evolves. Frasier had an example of this when he & Niles fall out and Marty (their DF) says “I never had a brother”, then we later meet his brother.

I agree Richard was much more suitable for Monica and Phoebe should have married David. The Joey and Rachel thing was awful she would never have dated someone that immature. I also think Chandler and Kathy were a great couple. Apparently Matthew Perry and Paget Brewster (K) asked the writers to change the plot to say they split because Kathy had to move away for work, they didn't think it was believable she would cheat on him.

Like

• Mike (funny, keeps up with and just goes along with Phoebe's weirdness lol)

• Charlie (intelligent, witty, thought her and Ross were well suited together - well that is until she ditched him for her ex right in front of his nose )

• Eddie (hilarious, but would be freaked out by him in RL life a little bit lol)

Emily's mum and dad Just love their whole dynamic.
"You spend half your life in the bathroom, why do you never go out the bloody window?!"
"I am here, you know!"
Mum - Oh yes. There. You. Are.

Janice - they were so mean about her just because she had a voice like a foghorn lol

Dislike

• Susan (awful - how she had an affair with a married woman, Carol and Ross split up, Susan's like "We refer you to as Bobo the Sperm Guy" when he'd done nothing wrong and wanted to be involved with his child - and just ugh, yep, she's a nasty pasty

The Screamer Rachel went out with.
Open your eyes people, Ross is usually a knob but he's right on this one

OMG - the woman who played Estelle was the nurse when Carol gave birth ..I never noticed! I have just IMDB'd it - previous poster is right.

Good thread idea!

I loved:

• Estelle "They think they can do better...but they all come crawling back to Estelle"
• Joanna "I brought you back a macaroon!" "Oh great, I'll keep it up my butt with your nose"
• Isaac, brother of the Girl from the Copy Place "We're the same, you and me!" "Actually no, we're not." "Yeah, we are".
• David "That's one seventieth of a carat. And the clarity is.. quite poor"
• Janice "You need me. You can't live without me. And you know it. You just don't know you know it".

Didn't like: ie. they have no lovable quirks!

• Mark - no personality
• Dr Green - Rachel always seemed afraid of him
• Emily - panicky, thinks mainly of herself
• Elizabeth - lovestruck and daddy's girl
• Bonnie - designed as 'manic pixie dream girl' : midnight swimming, stripping off for poker, telling stories of kissing her best friend

I actually didn't mind Julie even though she didn't have quirks really. Maybe as she was a bit sarky/deadpan.

I loved Jon Lovitz’s character - the owner of the restaurant who Phoebe knew. He came to Monica’s apartment to try her food out but was stoned.
“Tartlet. Tartlet. Tartlet. The word has lost all meaning”

@cupsofcoffee

I also disliked Susan (though she had some funny lines) and Carol over how they treated Ross during the pregnancy.

Also Emily as like someone else said, she just didn't seem to gel well with the main cast. Very wooden and odd acting imo.

I always felt like that was the point - she didn't gel with the rest of them because she wasn't one of them, Rachel didn't like her obviously and it was a classic situation of someone bringing a new person to a friendship group and the friends don't like them. It was supposed to be odd and awkward. I liked Emily. I think I am the only person ever though 😂