My wife and I were mulling this over, idly, until it completely consumed me. I’ve never been much good at algebra so I need help.
How old are the characters on Friends supposed to be?
References (that I can remember):
From this season’s premiere - Joey is 31.
Ross and Chandler are the same age, as they were college roommates.
Monica and Rachel are the same age, as they were High School classmates.
Ross is Monica’s older brother so Ross and Chandler are one year(assumption) older than Monica and Rachel.
From two season’s ago, Ross said “I’m going to be divorced three times before I’m 30.”
From three seasons ago, Rachel said something about “… sitting here with a 27(?) year old cheerleader with a fat lip.”
I can’t remember anymore references, but from those here are my guesses.
Ross - 31
Chandler - 31
Joey - 31
Monica - 30
Rachel - 30
Phoebe - 350 for all I know (counting past lives).
Are there any authorities out there on this. My sanity is riding on it.
I think Ross and Chandler are at least 2-3 years older than Monica. In one episode, they were talking about previous Thanksgivings. Anyway, in the first flashback, Ross comes back home from College with his new roommate, Chandler. In the second flashback, Ross comes back the next year for Thanksgiving, with Chandler again. In both of these flashbacks, Monica is still in high school.
First we need to remind you that a TV season is not necessarily a chronological year. I’d go so far as to say it definately isn’t, considering that most of the season finale-season premire lapses are only a matter of minutes or hours. Your best bet is to count holidays, or use context for relative ages to Joey or someone we know precisely.
I believe in the first season, Monica revealed her age as 29.
For what it’s worth:
Matthew Perry - born August 19, 1969
Jennifer Aniston - born February 11, 1969
Matt LeBlanc - born July 25, 1967
David Schwimmer - born November 12, 1966
Courteney Cox - born June 15, 1964
Lisa Kudrow - born July 30, 1963
In the episode “The One With The Ick Factor,” Monica is dating Ethan, played by the redoubtable Stan Kirsch. Ethan is 22, and everyone ribs Monica about dating a younger man:
Joey: How young is young Ethan? Young?
Monica: He’s… our age.
Chandler: When we were?
Monica: Okay, he’s a senior in college.
Ross: College?
Chandler: Whoa! And this manchild has no problem with how old you are?
Monica: No, of course not. It’s not even an issue. Cause I told him I was 22.
All: What?
Monica: Oh, I can’t pass for 22?
Phoebe: Well, maybe 25-26.
Monica: I am 26.
Phoebe: There you go.
“TOW The Ick Factor” aired May 4, 1995, near the end of season one. By the way, the “ick factor” was Monica’s discovery, after they slept together, that Ethan was a high school senior.
I am hesitant to admit this… but I know a LOT about Friends. I await your derision.
Pay no attention to the last couple posts mocking you. I know that you just have a very good memory (sometimes, for absolutely useless things). I know because I have one too. I forgive ya and you can come over and watch FRIENDS with me anytime.
C-Frog has assured me I can now sleep and that’s good enough for me.
But since I’ve brought up the subject, I’d like to get one more thing straightened out. Where did Phoebe come from? I mean why is she in their circle of friends? It’s never been explained.
This isn’t such a trivial question - I’ve thought this out.
The show is essentially centered around the Geller siblings.
So, first you got Ross and Monica. Then you get Chandler who was Ross’s roommate in college. Then there’s Rachel who was Monica’s best friend in high school. Along comes Joey to move in with Chandler when Kip moved out (there’s an obscure one, huh?). But the only thing we know about Phoebe is a)she used to live on the street and b)in the show’s origins, she was Monica’s roommate. But they never explained how she met Monica in the first place.
Personally I’m sick of this type of shoddy exposition. I want answers, damnit!
But can you name the photographer that would have been Chandler’s roommate, post-Kip, had Mr. Heckles not intervened?
You’re right that Phoebe’s intro has never been deeply explored. As you may recall, Monica originally got the apartment by illegally subletting it from her grandmother (in violation of the Rent Stabilization Act of 1968, according to the super, Mr. Treeger) when the grandmother moved to Florida. We assume this is the same grandmother that died twice (TOW Nana Dies Twice). The earliest we ever see Phoebe is TOW The Flashback, when Phoebe has moved out to stay with her grandmother and told everyone except Monica that she’s gone.
I always felt they wanted to do a backstory on how Monica and Phoebe met, but given Phoebe’s odd life on the streets, they never could come up with a story that would be better than what the viewers might imagine.
The photographer’s name was Eric, played by John Lehr, who then want on to play Jesse’s “silent” brother John in Christine Applegate’s (drool-pant) short lived sit-com Jesse.
Boo-ya! Can you feel that? Huh, can you feel it? {visualize Ace Ventura type hip pumping}