AIBU to think Phoebe is least central to Friends’ main storylines?

[Hummingbird01]

Here is the analysis of how the character is in the show :

Phoebe The Wildcard

Portrayed by: Lisa Kudrow

Phoebe occupies a unique position within the characters as the outsider-insider so to speak.

Her characters views allows the writers to introduce unconventional storylines and various odd stories, including:

• Surrogate motherhood for her brother
• Musical performances like “Smelly Cat”
• Unusual personal philosophies

However, Phoebe seems to be the least connected to the main core characters and the relationships that drive the show’s main stories .

She is good and funny but her character is the more an addation rather than essential character to the show / stories in the show ?

She should have ended up with David

You beat me to it!!

Phoebe was the only actor that appeared in every episode of friends.
Think Liza was a good business manager.

So I wonder if this thread is either AI slop to direct people to the article or a kid doing a paper on the holidays, because what AI would spell it “addation” for “addition”?

i wrote this tread as a debate article because i saw the headline in facebook and i know many people including my ex loved friends

stop the press everyone, suddenly every thread on mumsnet is now ai

you know what sod it, i create the thread to encourage debate on the show,

So is the op A.I. or not?

No fucking clue. OP said she wrote the thread as “a debate article.” Strange one. I think it’s either a kid’s school assignment or someone whose first language isn’t English (is this the case, OP? If it is, @Hummingbird01 then your English is much better than me speaking a second language! And I think Phoebe is a “bridge” character - they often use her storylines as a comic device to bring down the serious nature of the show when one of the other characters is having a dramatic romantic storyline and bridge it to the comedic elements of the episode).

I think Phoebe was hilarious and Friends would’ve been crap without her.
There is a brilliant dynamic between Phoebe and Ross. The episode when he keeps interfering in her relationship with Mike and they end up coming up with Vikram the freelance kite designer is so funny. Also, the one where she thinks he’s really talented on the keyboard, the one when she and Ross got mugged…
The one where she sorts out the fight between Rachael and Monica about Jean Claude Van Damme is a good example of how she fits with the other women. Rachel was too much of a pushover. Monica would’ve been unbearable without Phoebe to balance her out.
I thought Joey and Phoebe were funny together in the later episodes: “But not on your homemade wine. I just don’t want to go back to the emergency room”
She was the only one edgy enough to really put it back to Chandler when he was being a smart arse.
Lisa Kudrow is a very funny woman, she’s intelligent and a decent actress who could have possibly had a very different career if she hadn’t been typecast in the Phoebe role.
I think she brought something to Friends that really made it what it was, because she was an outsider. She tied it all together and was often at the centre of the storylines that were poignant and brought it all a bit more into the real world.
She was my favourite character and some of her lines have become a natural part of my vernacular over the years. One of my favourites is “if you hadn’t just had a baby with one of my best friends, I swear to Lucifer, a rabid dog would be feasting on your danglers right now.”

She's definitely my favourite of the female characters, and 2nd over all to Chandler

She was probably my least favourite character in the show, if I’m honest.

Bloody hell it's not been screened for 20 years, perhaps you need to move on from being a kid. It's like saying Walker was instrumental to Dad's Army or Loupe Lou to Andy Pandy.

Yes Emily was just awful. If that's what Americans think Brits are like then God help us all. Rubbish storyline, rubbish acting.

100% everything @Sosaidkaye said. I love Lisa Kudrow for Friends, Romy and Michelle and her appearances in more relatively recent stuff. SPOILER ALERT: Of course she plays Kimmy Schmidt's mum, who else could? See also Hypatia in The Good Place. She absolutely makes anything she turns up in and I agree Friends just would not have worked without her. She brings out the unseen side in so many of the characters.

Possibly (she’s my favourite though 🥰) and apparently she’s the only one to appear in each and every episode of Friends…so is she a glue?

I thought they all appeared in every episode!

There would be no show without Phoebe, it would be like trying to drive a car with no 5th gear

She was the first of the cast to win an Emmy ( and only JA won another)

I love Phoebe, she was slightly more distant in terms of not being in the main flats or related to/college friends with the ones in the flats, but an important part of the mix

I never got into Friends. My best friend loved it so generally had it on in the background 24/7 and this is how I watched it. Just didn’t find it funny, I don’t think I ever laughed out loud once. His favourite was Phoebe and I’d say she had the most life for me too, her and probably Chandler if I was pushed. Following Kudrow’s interview I have read many comments saying she was their favourite.

Wait, which episodes did they not all appear in?

Ask AI? 😂