Friends

:For other uses, see Friends (disambiguation).

Running gags

Friends had many running gags throughout the span of the show. Some of the most famous include:

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• The One With : Almost every episode name starts with these three words. In reference to the fact that most sitcoms don't display the title of their episodes, so fans must discuss the main plot points with each other when referring to specific episodes.
• Fat Monica: Monica, now slim and attractive, was obese as a child. She and the other characters would often refer to her "fat past" and several flashbacks throughout the series allowed us to see just how she looked then.
• Gay Chandler: Chandler was often painted with the possibility of being gay, despite his determination to prove himself as the heterosexual he actually was. Various characters on the show had assumed that he was gay when they first met him, and describe him as having a certain gay "quality." In addition, Chandler's father was a transvestite, which may have been the cause of some of Chandler's feminine behavioral traits.
• Ross' paleontology: Ross had a habit of speaking in (un)scientific technobabble, and often showing off unsolicited and often poor knowledge of various subjects, most notably paleontology. One particularly good example of this was the statement, "Australopithecus was never fully erect." (The joke here is that any grade-school student knows that Australopithecus did have fully-erect posture.) This was on one level a great 'double entendre', but was also an somewhat high-brow gag, which many viewers weren't necessarily able to recognize as humorous outside of it painting Ross as a "nerd." Regardless, his nerd talks would often send the rest of the gang into mock narcolepsy.
• Ugly Naked Guy: An obese, nude hermit who engaged in odd habits in the "privacy" of his apartment across the street from Monica's. One of the gang would often notice something going on in his apartment and cry out "eww, eww, Ugly Naked Guy is..." and would describe the usually strange act to the others, who would then crowd around the window to a chorus of "ewwwww". During a flashback in one episode that was set a year before the pilot, Phoebe comments to Ross, "Aww, cute naked guy is really starting to put on weight." Ugly Naked Guy decides to sublet his apartment in Season 5, and Ross rents it to live across the street from his sister.
• Joey & Chandler as a couple: One of the more frequent recurring jokes of the early episodes paralleled the interactions of Joey and Chandler to the interactions of a married couple. The gag was usually used to enhance the aforementioned "Gay Chandler" joke, as Chandler would often assume the "wife" role, but was often funny on its own. This gag even appears in the first episode of the spinoff, Joey.
• Gunther likes Rachel: When Gunther appeared in an episode it usually involved his anything-but-secret crush on Rachel, who however remains oblivious to his feelings throughout most of the show's run.
• Phoebe's previous way of life: It is often mentioned that Phoebe once lived on the street, and her strange former friends often come up. Various random facts from her childhood are revealed throughout the show, such as that she "stabbed a cop", had a pimp spit in her mouth, has lived in Prague, and even mugged Ross when they were fourteen.
• Ross' tendency to marry: Ross marries a total of three times throughout the course of the show, all of which end in divorce. Many gags from the sixth season on run along the line that Ross is wont to marry any girl he hooks up with and is equally as likely to break up after marriage.
• Phoebe's music: Phoebe was often a musician at Central Perk and was known for her rather unusual, original songs. Some include: "Jingle Bitch Screwed Me Over", "Sometimes Men Love Women, Sometimes Men Love Men...", "The Barnyard Song" in which she graphically describes farm animals being turned into meat products to a group of elementary schoolers, and her most famous, "Smelly Cat."
• Oh. My. God!: Janice's catchphrase; used as her introductory line in her later guest appearances.
• We were on a break!: A highlight of the third season was Rachel and Ross, a couple at the time, having a major fight and subsequently deciding to go on a break in their relationship. Around this point, the depressed Ross sleeps with another woman; his resulting guilt and Rachel's resulting resentment resonated for many seasons to come.
• Dr. Regina Phalange: Phoebe's alter ego, which she regularly makes references to (similar to Art Vandelay on Seinfeld). In the last episode she stops Rachel's plane by getting her to ask whether the plane had something wrong with its left phalange.
• Mr. Heckles: A slighty off-kilter man who lived below Monica and Rachel's apartment and continually complained about the noise. Died during the second season.
• Chandler's speech: Chandler has a strange way of speaking, in which he emphasizes the wrong word in his sentences. One exaggerated example, where Ross was mocking Chandler's speech pattern: "The hills are alive with the sound (pause) OF music". His particular brand of sarcasm is also often based on the phrase "Could this (pause) BE any more ."
• How You Doin'?: This is Joey's pick-up line. It was first seen in "The One with Rachel's Crush," and Joey continues using it for the rest of the series, sometimes on Phoebe, Rachel, Monica, and even humorously on Chandler.
• Phoebe's dead mother: Phoebe often references her mother's suicide to various situations on the show, usually as an excuse. For example, when Ross questions her on why she's never tried taffy, "I think my mother was too busy planning her suicide to provide saltwater treats."
• Monica's obsessive-compulsive behavior: Monica has continuously exhibited various traits of an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, including obsession with cleanliness, refusal to relinquish control over anything, excessive categorization and organization, intense competitiveness, and the need to get people to like her. Her competitiveness could be observed when playing tennis with Chandler's boss, where Chandler suggests that they should let him win, to which she replies "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you just said." In another instance, Rachel, who is moving out of the apartment, offers Monica a chance to pack her belongings for her, presenting the offer as a good-bye present, which Monica gladly accepts. In addition, the show has innumerable references to Monica cleaning her apartment, or any other location she's in.
• Chandler's pornography addiction: Chandler has often exhibited signs of a pornography addiction, watching porn without Monica's knowledge.
• Joey's obsession with lesbians: At several points throughout the series Joey (and Ross and Chandler to some extent) has expressed an obsession with lesbians, even "keeping seeing the good side" of Carol's homosexuality.