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Friends Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
24 Episodes 1994 - 1995
Episode 1
The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate
Thu, Sep 22, 199422 mins
In a New York City coffee house called Central Perk, we're introduced to six friends: chef Monica Geller, data controller Chandler Bing who lives across the hall from Monica, Chandler's roommate/actor Joey Tribbiani, Monica's brother Ross Geller, new ageist Phoebe Buffay, and "born to be a wife" Rachel Green. One of the friends is just getting into a relationship and two are just getting out of one each. Monica is in the former category, going on a real/not-so-real date, dates with guys she's interested in being a rare occurrence. But she is excited by her upcoming one with Paul the Wine Guy from her place of work. Out on their date, their intimate conversation includes the fact that trauma from his last relationship has left him sexually incapable, something that only the right woman like Monica can fix, and she apparently does. Later however she finds that it was just a line to get her into bed, and thus her streak with the "wrong guy" continues. Ross is one of the two in the getting out of a relationship category. He and his ex-wife Carol broke up when she found out she was a lesbian. However waltzing into town is his old crush and Monica's best friend from high school Rachel, who is the second friend on a break-up: she has just left her fiancé Barry at the altar, she still in her wedding dress when she first shows up at the coffee house. This move was based on the fact that she realized she was more interested in being married than in being with Mr. Potato Head lookalike Barry. She and Monica had not seen each other since high school, she turning to Monica now since Monica is the only person she knows in the city. Rachel barges into Monica's life since she has no skills, no job and no money - up to this point in her life, she has lived off the wealth of her father - but needs to flee the direction of her life with Barry and her parents. Although she now has a place to stay with Monica, she needs a job and she needs a new support network. As old flames die slow and reignite easily, Ross hopes to be one of her more intimate supports.
Episode 2
The One with the Sonogram at the End
Thu, Sep 29, 199422 mins
After learning the shocking news that his lesbian ex-wife, Carol, is pregnant with his child, Ross is even more shocked to find out that her and her lesbian lover will not use his last name in their child's title. Rachel apprehensively returns her engagement ring to her ex-fiancé Barry after leaving him at the altar. Monica prepares dinner for her parents and Ross, whom their parents favor over her.
Episode 3
The One with the Thumb
Thu, Oct 6, 199422 mins
Monica is reluctant to introduce her new boyfriend, Alan, to her friends because they've mocked all of the boyfriend they've met before. To her surprise, they love Alan. However, she realizes she doesn't feel a spark with Alan and breaks up with him. Her friends take the news very hard, but Alan is relieved (since he couldn't stand her friends). Chandler resumes his smoking habit. Phoebe encounters a problem with her bank account, when a bank error in her favor nets her $1,000. She gives the money (and a complementary football phone) away to a homeless friend, who in turn buys her a soda. When Phoebe opens it, she sees a thumb, so the soda company gives her $7,000.
Episode 4
The One with George Stephanopoulos
Thu, Oct 13, 199422 mins
When Monica fails to make the anniversary of Ross's first time ever, not just with his lesbian ex Carol, pass unnoticed, he gets terribly depressed. Joey and Chandler take Ross to a hockey game to distract him, but it doesn't help when he catches a puck- which breaks his nose, and Nurse Sizemore in hospital admissions proves a bureaucratic hurdle even Chandler can't take... Rachel is happy to get her first-ever pay-check, till she notices how little is left after taxes, and has to pretend job-pride to her spoiled brat friends bunch turning up in Central Perk. Monica, Phoebe and Rachel get hunky TV celebrity George Stephanopoulos's pizza delivered by mistake, and shamelessly spy on him from Monica's balcony...
Episode 5
The One with the East German Laundry Detergent
Thu, Oct 20, 199422 mins
Eager to spend time with Rachel, Ross pretends his building's washroom is rat-infested so he can join her at the laundromat. Chandler points out this could be a 'date' and the first time she'll see his underwear so it shouldn't be dirty! Rachel, the spoiled 'laundry virgin' feels managing this domestic chore is a real step to independence, but despite Ross's good advice she leaves a red sock in the machine. The real accomplishment comes where she has to stand up as no-nonsense-New Yorker against a rude, aggressive woman who invents rules to pretend it's not Rachel turn to do her laundry. Joey realizes he regrets dumping foxy Angela when he learns she is dating Bob. He proposes a double-date, then needs a girl stat. Monica agrees to be Joey's date but when she sees hunky Bob and realizes he's not Angela's brother she starts to enjoy the evening. Chandler drinks too much espresso while desperately trying to break up with neurotic Janice.
Episode 6
The One with the Butt
Thu, Oct 27, 199422 mins
Joey had high hopes for his lead role in 'Freud!', but the musical drama slash other nonsense is too horrible for words. For Chandler, however, it's a Godsent opportunity as he sees the breathtaking beauty Aurora in the audience. Chandler is encouraged to ask her out as 'the best-looking women often have measly men.' After a great night out, Chandler sadly reports she actually has an adventurous life, including a husband Rick and a lover Ethan. The girls commiserate as he can't just be her sex-toy-boy. However, think it is a dream come true as he would get the fun without the responsibility. Joey's role still pays off as an agent saw him and casts him as his idol Al Pacino's butt double. Alas the director can't appreciate a Joey's artistic ambitions in butt-acting. Chandler discovers good sex is no doesn't make up for lack of monogamy when Aurora announces another lover, Andrew, complicating her busy bed-schedule even further.
Episode 7
The One with the Blackout
Thu, Nov 3, 199422 mins
When a power-cut blacks out most of New York City, Chandler, to his delight finds himself trapped inside an ATM vestibule with Victoria's Secret model Jill Goodacre. She lets him use her cell-phone, and offers him gum which he instantly regrets refusing. He accidentally spits out her gum which he finally accepted, then picks up some to put back in his mouth and begins to choke when he realizes it wasn't the original gum. The others kill time in Monica's apartment, lit by the light from a Menorah, telling stories of the weirdest places they ever had sex. Joey tells Ross he waited too long moving onto Rachel and is now too far into the 'friend's zone.' Ross still tries to make a move on Rachel while stargazing on the balcony. Joey keeps the other girls inside by pretending Ross prepares a birthday surprise party for Monica. A wandering cat scratches Ross. Rachel and Phoebe go knocking on their neighbor's doors to find the cat's owner, seeing through odd neighbor Mr. Heckles's who lies about being the owner. On their mission, they bump into the hunky, and actual cat-owner, Paolo, who only speaks Italian. Rachel brings him back to the apartment where he outstrips Ross's flirting, even not being able to speak English.
Episode 8
The One Where Nana Dies Twice
Thu, Nov 10, 199422 mins
Chandler is shocked to learn that people he works with think that he is gay. He asks his friends why, and they tell him that they also thought that he was gay when they first met him. Monica's Grandmother dies, and Ross falls down the open grave, and gets high on pain killers.
Episode 9
The One Where Underdog Gets Away
Thu, Nov 17, 199422 mins
With their parents away Monica and Ross decide to have Thanksgiving dinner alone together at Monica's. However, one by one the other friends join them. Rachel says that she can't afford to buy a ticket for Vail to be with her family. Joey confesses that his family thinks that he has V.D. because he appeared in an ad campaign. Chandler recalls his story of how he doesn't eat Thanksgiving food because of bad family memories. Phoebe brings her Grandmother, confesses that she observes Thanksgiving in December because her Grandma's boyfriend is Lunar. As the Macy's parade passes by, the Underdog balloon gets loose. The friends rush onto the terrace for a better view and get locked out, so the dinner burns. Chandler is happy because everyone eats grilled cheese sandwiches.
Episode 10
The One with the Monkey
Thu, Dec 15, 199422 mins
Ross is tired of living alone but doesn't want a roommate at his age so he adopts the capucin monkey Marcel. Marcel is cute in everybody's eyes, except cleaning freak Monica who returns little of the monkey's love. With Paolo about to return to Rome, it looks like New Year's Eve will see the friends desperate for someone to kiss at midnight, so Chandler launches a pact for them all not to kiss anyone. However, Rachel learns Paolo can be back early, Monica asks her ex Fun Bobby and Chandler invites his hellish ex Janice. Joey met a single mother shopping, so Ross fears to be the only single left after Phoebe hooks up with scientist David.
Episode 11
The One with Mrs. Bing
Thu, Jan 5, 199522 mins
Chandler's popular, best-selling author mom, Nora Tyler Bing, announces on Jay Leno's show that her book tour's next stop is New York, and she gets the chance to see her son. Turning up in the Big Apple, she takes all the friends to a restaurant and encourages fan Rachel to try writing similarly cheap-steamy 'romantic formula' novels. She observes Ross' frustration about Rachel, assures him Paolo is not a hero that stays in the story to the end, unlike him, and somehow they kiss. Joey observes this and feels obliged to defend his mom Gloria's sex-appeal as equal, if you imagine her before producing seven children. Joey shames Ross into confessing the kiss to Chandler, who is irate and reads the riot act. Meanwhile Phoebe encouraged Monica to whistle to a hunk they saw walking on the street, which causes him to be hit by an ambulance and fall into a coma. They fantasize about him being the perfect boyfriend and compete to be the one to take care of him, hoping he'll wake up like a fairy tale prince.
Episode 12
The One with the Dozen Lasagnas
Thu, Jan 12, 199522 mins
Monica tries to sell her lasagnas after her aunt refuses to buy them because it has meat. Rachel and Paolo's relationship takes a turn for the worst when Paolo makes a move on Phoebe during his massage. Joey and Chandler buy a foosball table when their old table breaks. Ross refuses to learn the sex of his baby even though everyone else knows.
Episode 13
The One with the Boobies
Thu, Jan 19, 199522 mins
Rachel tries to get even with Chandler after he walks into her apartment and gets a peek at her breasts. After Joey's father comes to visit, Joey discovers that his father is cheating on his mother. The gang hates Phoebe's new boyfriend because of his annoying analysis of their lives.
Episode 14
The One with the Candy Hearts
Thu, Feb 9, 199522 mins
It is Valentine's day and only the boys have got dates. After an opening line about an egg that Joey and Chandler recommended, Ross gets his first date since his divorce with the ladylike Kristen. However Carol and her lesbian partner Susan end up in the same restaurant. Susan gets called away to work so Ross makes everyone shift seats to let Carol sit with him and his date. Alas their conversation gets a bit too exclusive. Joey insists that Chandler comes to a restaurant as his foxy date Lorraine demanded a double-date. Her unknown friend turns out to be Chandler's ex Janice. When Joey and Lorraine leave early, Chandler and Janice use his credit card to order the best champagne. The two bottles contain so much alcohol they wake up together. Meanwhile the date-less girls take Phoebe's advice to perform a cleansing ritual: burning in a keepsakes from boys they want to forget. Paolo's grappa contains so much alcohol the ebullient effect requires calling three hunky firemen to the apartment.
Episode 15
The One with the Stoned Guy
Thu, Feb 16, 199522 mins
Chandler has news: his boss offered him a promotion to data processing coordinator. So Chandler resigned! He has spent five years in what was meant to be a 'temporary' job and feels he is destined for something more meaningful than 'worrying about the 'weenus.' But he doesn't know what! After a full day of aptitude tests, Chandler is declared perfectly fit for data processing. He refuses to believe it, but his boss keeps making better and better offers. A massage client of Phoebe's is opening a restaurant, just the kind Monica would like to run, so she sets up a demonstration to impress the boss, Steve. Alas he arrives under the influence of weed, which makes him a voracious, infantile omnivore. Meanwhile Ross has a promising date with the museum's Insects curator and introduces her to his monkey Marcel.
Episode 16
The One with Two Parts: Part 1
Thu, Feb 23, 199522 mins
Chandler's boss orders him to tell his foxy junior co-worker Nina that she's fired but he can't and ends up dating her instead. He tells the boss she's in therapy as she is unable to handle or even remember her sacking. Chandler even promises her a raise! Ross's monkey Marcel has become systematically troublesome, yet he's the only one who masters the TV control's foreign language channels in Monica's apartment. Ross joins Carol and Susan in Lamaze class which turns into a disaster when Carol can't come and he has to play her part. A birth video makes Carol decide 'not to go through' with the birth anyway. Chandler and Joey find Phoebe's twin sister Ursula working in a bar. Joey asks for Phoebe's blessing to date her sister which is reluctantly given.
Episode 17
The One with Two Parts: Part 2
Thu, Feb 23, 199522 mins
Rachel switches identities with Monica so she can use her health insurance. Meanwhile, Ursula continues to come between Phoebe and Joey.
Episode 18
The One with All the Poker
Thu, Mar 2, 199522 mins
Although Rachel failed to properly proofread her xeroxed resumes she does get an interview for her professional dream coming true as an assistant buyer. Meanwhile Phoebe's baseless feminist suspicion that the boys' poker night is somehow a macho conspiracy leads to the girls insisting to participate. Teaching them poker rules is like explaining rocket science to Joey, so the girls loose crushingly. Competitive Monica demands a rematch, after advanced lessons from her experienced aunt Iris. Finally, it comes down to a duel between Ross and Rachel, but she gets a call first: the buyer job fell through.
Episode 19
The One Where the Monkey Gets Away
Thu, Mar 9, 199522 mins
Ross asks Rachel to keep Marcel for a day, and she loses him. Everyone starts looking for him, and Rachel calls Animal Control over to help, but she doesn't know that Ross is not allowed to have an exotic monkey. The Animal Control employee is in fact a former schoolmate of Monica and Rachel, and she hates them, so they all race to find the monkey first.
Episode 20
The One with the Evil Orthodontist
Thu, Apr 6, 199522 mins
The gang become annoyed after they discover someone is spying on them from the building across the street. Rachel and Barry start dating again, even though he is engaged to Mindy. Chandler goes crazy when a girl he likes doesn't return his phone calls.
Episode 21
The One with the Fake Monica
Thu, Apr 27, 199522 mins
Monica's credit card has been stolen, and she feels that the thief is living the life she ought to have. She tracks her down to a tap-dance class, and ends up liking her and spending lots of time with her. Ross's monkey is humping everything, so he has to give him away, but finding an appropriate zoo is a difficult task.
Episode 22
The One with the Ick Factor
Thu, May 4, 199522 mins
Chandler discovers that he and Rachel had an intimate moment in her dream. After revealing to her young boyfriend that she is older than she said, he reveals he is a high school senior. When Phoebe temps as Chandler's secretary, he discovers that his colleagues don't like him.
Episode 23
The One with the Birth
Thu, May 11, 199522 mins
When Ross' ex-wife Carol is rushed to the hospital to have their baby, all the friends come along, but prove less then helpful. Rachel only has eyes for the unmarried obstetrician; Chandler and Monica worry if time is passing by for them to find partners and become parents. When Joey has an argument with a single pregnant woman, he finds himself the only available birth coach. After Carol throws Ross and her lesbian life-partner Susan out for bickering, Phoebe manages, while lecturing the pair, to lock all three of them in a janitorial closet.
Episode 24
The One Where Rachel Finds Out
Thu, May 18, 199522 mins
Joey is taking part in a fertility study and he really likes his girlfriend Melanie but can't have sex during the study which lasts another week. The friends are having a barbecue for Rachel's birthday but without Ross because he has to go to China for the museum. Rachel unwraps the gift from Ross and its an antique pin exactly like the one her grandma used to have. Chandler lets it slip that Ross is in love with Rachel. Rachel goes to the airport to speak to Ross but he's already gone. Rachel decides to give her and Ross a chance and goes to pick him up at the airport.
