@avclub-0c14127572ff76cd6725f4db6ecc40e7:disqus, I don't know what things are like for 20-somethings these days, but I definitely remember in the 90s there was something like a 2-3 year gap amongst some of my friends between when certain of them could swing "nice" dinners, but for the ones who could, it seemed just de…

Nice write-up, but see also Elaine May for inventing the modern romantic comedy. There's still a way to go from The Heartbreak Kid to Annie Hall, but she lays a lot of the groundwork there, while still managing the bittersweetness that makes good romcoms good (as opposed to most happy-ending pablum one gets from the…

He is the same character. He says something about having lost his restaurant because of drugs, or something like that.

I love Lovitz throwing in the Cheerios to save the gummy bears . . . most TV shows just don't quite get being stoned, but Lovitz pulls it off brilliantly in this ep.

I made the post about Schwimmer insisting on hiring more people of color for the show, and I swear I've read it several times over the years, but I can't find a source anywhere either. Maybe I made it up? Shit . . . but Ross does date Julie and Charlie, and he and Joey have their epic take-down fight over another…

There are actually mild references throughout the show's run that Chandler once wanted to be a writer, specifically either a comedy writer or a comic book writer, but it's hardly a dominating part of his character.

Yes, those three always want to go "someplace nice" for dinner . . . and when they go to celebrate Monica's job, the other three have to order salads and water and small pizzas, or something like that . . . I think Monica ends up with a hickie from a Blowfish.

@disqus_pLtzLD5UrA:disqus, didn't Churchill say something about holding the gin up in the general direction of France or Italy (that's as much vermouth as he needed).

1. I
2. IV
3. II
4. Houses of the Holy
5. III
6. Physical Graffiti
7. In Through the Out Door
8. Presence

I think the annoying thing was that Joey became a collection of tics and tropes, so he was stupid when the show needed him to be, the bestest! friend when it needed him to be, all of a sudden sensitive to women when it needed, etc.

Yes, after the whole ski-trip fiasco . . .

Carol and Susan actually remain prominent a fair bit longer, figuring in several episodes in S3 (including one of my favorite subtle sight gags ever), and a few in S4, after that it's about once a season or so, or even less once they decide we don't need to see Ben getting picked up/dropped off anymore.

Lots of great stuff in these eps, but two teeny bits I love in "Boobies" are when Joey and Chandler are sleeping together and they have their juvenile/heartfelt talk about Joey's dad. Also, Mr Trib's reaction at the end when Monica walks in on him - after all the younguns have been freaking out about being seen naked,…

Months later . . .

There's actually been a community of Chinese living in Belfast for decades and there are not only tons of good (and lots of bad) Chinese restaurants in the city, but quite a few really good Chinese food markets. And it's not uncommon to hear second and third generation Chinese youngsters now with thoroughly Belfast…

The world may be a different place today from when the first TBTN rallies were being organized or coming to more mainstream awareness (early 90s?) - the idea being not that "rapists own the night" but that the nighttime, even on college campuses, was markedly unsafe for women. Is it different today? Don't know . . .

Actually, the earlier bit makes some sense in terms of Rachel's season one arc - she had really only just moved in, so while aware of Chandler and Joey's always coming over, she might not have been used to it. Also, she was still "adjusting" to life in the city, life in a shared, confined space, with a city vs. long…

I think nearly all of Ross's doctors/lawyers are black. I remember reading somewhere that Schwimmer was fairly insistent about getting more people of color on the show because he knew how ridiculous it was . . .

I think part of why their continued feelings for each other make some sense to me is that their other relationships are generally pretty bad. Ross has a crazy, rushed, impossible fling with Emily that crashes spectacularly, dates a student, tries to date Mona while living with Rachel (who's preggers with his baby),…

It's when the divorce finally goes through and the silliness of the marriage is behind them that they ALMOST admit to each other that they probably still love each other. Those kids . . .