# Totally insignificant Friends rerun cut question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115 "2005-03-25T00:12:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/1 "2005-03-25T00:12:33Z")
I’m watching Friends on broadcast TV. The one with the wedding vows. The beginning scene has the friends at Central Perk looking at childhood pictures of Monica and Ross. “Oh look! Monica naked!” says Joey. “No, no. That’s still me.” says Ross. Now, pathetic little ole me _knows_ Ross follows that up with a Ross-whiney, “I was trying something”. Only he doesn’t say that-- the line is cut. Why? For time? Too racy? What’s wrong with “I was trying something”? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/2 "2005-03-25T00:22:45Z")
Holy Happy Meal! The way the people on this board hate Friends, perhaps this thread really belongs in The Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/3 "2005-03-25T00:25:31Z")
Implied infantile mangina? In a post-Janet Jackson’s Boob America? I can see how it might make the networks uncomfortable, although I don’t watch _Friends_ and have no idea what the standard is. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/4 "2005-03-25T00:26:03Z")
I’m a fan of friends. I don’t think the imported versions ever had that line because I never heard it. I expect they considered the extra line was overkill, and that ‘still me’ was as funny as it would get. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/5 "2005-03-25T00:31:22Z")
Well considering that Friends was a broadcast TV program in its original run, I can’t see why that line would somehow make a difference _now_, just because it’s on broadcast TV. And based on the timing of this post, it doesn’t appear that you were watching it during the “after school” hours. My best guess is that they edited it for time considerations so they could squeeze in more commercials. The more superfluous one-liners they can eliminate, the more ads they can sell, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/6 "2005-03-25T00:50:59Z")
Yeah, cutting lines to add more commercial time is normal for syndicated re-runs. Stuff like that is most noticable in Simpsons episodes, where “throwaway” lines are the best part (after twelve years, we finally get to see the Hitler short again in the “Itchy & Scratchy the Movie” episode thanks to DVD). ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/7 "2005-03-25T00:58:20Z")
[This script](http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/9151/108.htm) has the “trying something” line in it. I’ve noticed sometimes The Simpsons has lines cut from it, but the intention seems to be to leave more time for ads rather than censorship. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/8 "2005-03-25T01:17:11Z")
I’ve seen that episode maybe three, four times and it alway had the line in it. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/9 "2005-03-25T12:49:48Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > I’ve seen that episode maybe three, four times and it alway had the line in it. I’ve seen it maybe three, four hundred times, and it always had that line iin it. No idea what was going on in your broadcast, **Biggirl**. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/10 "2005-03-25T16:42:50Z")
The sad, sad part is-- the reason I know it wasn’t there was because me and my daughter speak many of the lines right along with the characters. When Ross didn’t say his line we spoke it, looked at each other and then pointed accusingly at the TV. I understand your pity. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/11 "2005-03-25T17:00:30Z")
_points accusingly at **Biggirl** _ ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/12 "2005-03-25T22:48:04Z")
All television programs have cuts in syndication for more ad time. _The Simpsons_ is the most well-known, but there are others. I vividly remember a difference in the final episode of _Seinfeld_. The Bubble Boy’s testimony is cut, even though Geraldo Rivera still refers to it later in the episode. The most interesting one I’ve noticed (I had to read the explanation online, since I never saw the original airing) is not cut-related at all…it’s due to backlash. An episode of _The Drew Carey Show_ had two subplots: one about a new employee who wants to copy Drew, and another about the King of Poland visiting Cleveland. Apparently, a Polish-American organization was offended by an aspect of the King of Poland plot, so the episode now only contains the plot involving the copycat. Since there’s a gap of course, the whole opening sequence is taken from another episode. So two _Drew Carey Shows_ open the exact same way. (The first lines of dialogue are to the effect of: “Are you sure this is the porno channel? Why don’t you just pay the money?” “No, I already get the Cartoon Network, and if you get both they put you on a special list.”) ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/13 "2005-03-26T03:42:09Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The sad, sad part is-- the reason I know it wasn’t there was because me and my daughter speak many of the lines right along with the characters. When Ross didn’t say his line we spoke it, looked at each other and then pointed accusingly at the TV. > > I understand your pity. Ya know, you’re right (surprise :D) – here on WPIX-11 (or was it TBS, I honestly can’t remember!), that line was NOT said, yet I have heard it on reruns previously. Didn’t think much of it at the time, but yeah, it was missing. Maybe it was for more commercials. I can’t believe the FCC is getting **that** paranoid. Well, OK, I can, but I choose not to 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/14 "2005-03-26T15:24:38Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > … the King of Poland visiting Cleveland. Apparently, a Polish-American organization was offended by an aspect of the King of Poland plot … They may well have been offended by the implication that Poland is a monarchy since they haven’t had a king since the 18th century. Or do most people know this already? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/15 "2005-03-27T00:35:22Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > They may well have been offended by the implication that Poland is a monarchy since they haven’t had a king since the 18th century. Or do most people know this already? Actually, I got the plot wrong. Although it does involve Polish royalty, the offense wasn’t regading the idea of Poland still being a monarchy. The episode, according to [this site](http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=drew+carey+king+of+poland&ei=UTF-8&u=www.cercles.com/n8/palmer.pdf&w=drew+carey+king+poland&d=8EAE785AE7&icp=1&.intl=us) (HTML copy of a PDF file), involved Mimi pretending to be the Dutchess of Krakow in an attempt to marry the King of Poland and become the Queen. Apparently, the Polish community was offended by the idea that the loud-mouthed, colofully-clothed Mimi was a Polish-American (although I imagine that some people of Polish ancestry _do_ look like that). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/16 "2005-03-27T02:13:48Z")
Back to the OP: There was a later episode that followed up on this. Ross apparently tucked his penis between his legs and said something to his mother about “Take me along, I’m a girl too!” Someone had a camera and immortalized the moment, and his mom brings it up from time to time to embarrass him. They also had a videocam and took footage of him dressed as a girl at the same event. I could be misremembering this whole thing and it’s actually a horrible dream… ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-insignificant-friends-rerun-cut-question/296115/17 "2005-03-27T16:29:57Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Back to the OP: > > There was a later episode that followed up on this. Ross apparently tucked his penis between his legs and said something to his mother about “Take me along, I’m a girl too!” Someone had a camera and immortalized the moment, and his mom brings it up from time to time to embarrass him. They also had a videocam and took footage of him dressed as a girl at the same event. > > I could be misremembering this whole thing and it’s actually a horrible dream… The “I was trying something” is from the first season, although I was watching a clip show. Maybe they just cut it on the clip show, even though the scene continued. Anyway, yes Ross wanted to go to the Beauty Salon with his mother. Isn’t it just like the passive/aggressive Mrs. Geller to do something so sneakily bitchy. The video is of Ross singing his tea time song, I’m Aunt Bea. I drink tea. Won’t you, um. . dance along with me. You have no idea how deep my “Friends” problem is.