I’m developing a new appreciation for Ross - I’m getting the feeling that the actor, David Schwimmer, was having a really good time making Ross ridiculous. 
Fisher Stevens was Phoebe’s boyfriend. Monica’s boyfriend was some other guy.
Monica’s boyfriend was Alan, played by Geoffrey Lower. It was the third episode of the first season: everyone winds up liking Alan more than she does. 
Yeah, Ross was my favorite character too. I think because he reminded me of myself, with all my flaws magnified tenfold.
She did, and Courtney Cox became alarmingly thin, IMO.
As did Jennifer Aniston. She started the series being adorable and sexy (to my hetero woman’s eyes, anyway) - I’ve heard rumours that she lost 30 pounds during the series’ run, which was 30 more than I thought she should have lost.
Favorite quote…“Yesterday I was at rock bottom. Today, there’s rock bottom…then thirty feet of crap…then me.”
Another favorite line was when Tom Sellick was telling Monica about the conversation with her father when Sellick confessed he was dating her.
“It’s been a long time since your father and I went running.”
Ross’s inherent stupidity when it comes to relationships worked best when they introduced new things for him to be embarassed by. There’s also the terrific episode where he gets his teeth over-whitened (Chandler: “What was wrong with your human teeth?”) and terrifies his date when they glow under blacklight.
Where he became tiresome was in his dealings with Rachel, where he simply didn’t develop, at all, for eight or nine years. Right to the end he remained a selfish oaf.
Hah - that was a great line. Tom Selleck was very good in the show - I didn’t know he was that funny. Julia Roberts, on the other hand, was not excellent in her guest role.
Most characters on sitcoms are not very well-balanced, nice people.
I meant to bring this up back when *Moneyball *first came out, but did anyone notice that Brad Pitt says almost this exact line in that movie? I didn’t see the film, but I saw a preview with him saying this - I don’t really know the context- and I immediately remembered Jennifer Aniston saying it on Friends.
I think Friends was best when it remained light hearted. The worst episodes / story arcs were when it tried to take itself too seriously. I suppose a show that goes on that long has to show the characters aging and tackling life issues such as marriage and pregnancy but for me that’s when it’s not particularly enjoyable anymore.
There was another good one where he went to a tanning booth and accidentally got a really dark tan on the front of his body and no tan on the back.
I agree that Ross and Rachel’s relationship was tiresome, and I don’t even think it was necessary for the series. I always found it pretty unbelievable that either of those characters would actually choose to date the other.
And, like the OP, I always notice the giant pants in the old episodes. And Monica and Rachel often wear tiny little t-shirts that don’t even reach the top of their huge pants. Did we all have our pants up so high back then?
I think the show really shined in the B plots. Luckily they all took turns being in these lighter, less significant, but more funny portions.
My absolute favorite moment in the whole series is at the end of the episode where the B plot was about Chandler and Rachael stealing cheesecakes from the door of an old woman upstairs (the fist was delivered to them by mistake, but they just couldn’t stop taking them after the first taste). They had been arguing about returning the last cake and dropped it all over the floor in the hallway. After a cut away, they are on hands an knees eating any piece that they think is not touching the floor. In walks Joey, to their embarrassment. But Joey pulls a spoon out of his pocket, sits down and asks “So, what are we eating?” Credits.
That completely cracked me up. Know idea what the rest of that episode was about, but that moment was priceless.
Beloved dialogue (Joey has given Chandler a big, ugly gold bracelet):
Joey: (something like) “You know that’s really going to change your sex life.”
Chandler: “Maybe at first, but once I get used to the extra weight, I’ll be right back on top of my game.”
Yes, the show was originally supposed to be about twentysomethings struggling to succeed: working a lot, dating a lot, trying to figure it all out. Eventually you get your feet under you personally and professionally and really start to get somewhere, your attitudes about things change and mature, and you start making choices that will affect your future.
That’s a totally different show.
That was one of my favourite moments, too. It was especially lovely because of the pairing - Chandler and Rachel were not a usual pairing.
I stand corrected. I haven’t seen some of the older episodes in ages. I wish it was on Netflix streaming!
I also am a fan of Ross (I always felt I was a cross between Ross’ interests and Chandler’s personality) but I literally cannot watch the episode where Ross “flirts” with the pizza girl. It’s too painful.
Another trivia note: in one of the later season episodes there is a message “Hi Evil Jo” on the boys’ apartment message board. That was a shout out to a frequent poster in the Friends Usenet newsgroup. A writer from the show posted often in the group for a while and promised hiding an easter egg and that was it.
Remember the scene where Chandler’s locked in a box as punishment for kissing Joey’s girlfriend, Kathy? He explains that the meaning of the box is “threefold”: time to think about what he’s done; proof of his friendship with Joey, and forcing him to endure physical pain.
Later in the episode, Kathy and Chandler have their sad parting-of-the-ways conversation (with him still in the box) and Kathy asks the others something like “Why is he in the box again?”
“Joey had his reasons,” someone replies.
“They were threefold,” adds Phoebe.
Lisa Kudrow’s delivery of that line slays me every time. She manages to convey in just those three words that Phoebe genuinely thinks she’s being helpful by adding this - to Kathy - utterly baffling piece of extra information.
That’s one of my very favorites. Especially the part where he’s explaining how the gas oven works. “A lot of other gas smells…”
Another great example of how funny David Shwimmer is when his character is allowed to do more than obsess over Rachel.