Despite remaining one of the most popular sitcoms ever made since it first aired in September 1994, Friends is certainly not immune from mistakes and inconsistencies. In fact, the show is noticeably rife with them, which is likely a result of the show’s multi-cam format, combined with the impending popularity of the widescreen format – allowing audiences to see more of the screen than the creators had initially planned.
Still, Friends’ production gaffes and continuity errors are far from subtle, being present in almost every single episode of the show. Here are 10 of the most obvious continuity errors from the show’s ninth season.
10 Night Becomes Day
When Ross and Phoebe are mugged in the episode “The One with the Mugging,” the scene in question takes place at night – something made very clear by the scene’s low lighting.
However, when Ross informs his sister of the events that just transpired, it’s quite obviously the middle of the day. With lighting being such an important part of the production process, it’s strange that this error slipped through the cracks without anybody addressing the issue.
9 Joey Has Never Been in a Long-Term Relationship?
While it’s obviously tough to keep years of character continuity in check – especially when those characters have as much history as the ones in Friends – sometimes the show drops the ball in a pretty big way.
Take the episode titled “The One with the Sharks,” for instance, in which Phoebe has a discussion with Joey about how he’s never been in a long-term relationship. While Joey doesn’t seem to oppose this fact, everyone seems to have forgotten that he dated a woman named Angela Delvecchio for three whole years before the start of the show.
8 Rachel’s Obvious Stand-In
It’s a fairly common occurrence for stand-ins to be used when filming, especially when setting up equipment and lighting or to take the place of a momentarily absent actor. Ordinarily though, either the shots aren’t used, or the actor is incredibly well hidden.
“The One with the Mugging” falls victim to the popularity of the widescreen format, however, and a stand-in for Rachel can just be seen off to the left of the screen. Whereas most stand-ins are dressed and styled identically to their actors however, Rachel’s stand-in couldn’t be more obvious.
7 Monica’s Knee Pads
It goes without saying that keeping your actors safe on set is a top priority for any production. For this reason, when a scene requires a particular character to fall over, it’s not uncommon for the actor to fall into a safety mat, or even wear knee pads.
An example of this can be found in the episode “The One with Ross’s Inappropriate Song”, in which actress Courteney Cox can be seen wearing knee pads in a scene where Joey and Chandler pull her down to the ground.
6 Joey Becomes Psychic
In the episode titled “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister”, Rachel’s abrasive sister Amy – played by Christina Applegate – stops by the apartment for dinner. Naturally, the two soon begin to butt heads, and the conflict escalates into a physical fight.
As Phoebe says, “Oh my God… shouldn’t we stop this?” Joey can be clearly seen mouthing her lines, meaning either the character has gained psychic powers all of a sudden or nobody on set caught this mistake.
5 Cameraman On Set
Another victim of the widescreen format, a cameraman can be seen just at the edge of the set during the episode “The One with the Donor,” in a scene where Chandler talks to his work colleague Zack at the apartment.
While those not paying close attention may just assume this is a different cast member on set and focus on Chandler and Zack’s conversation, eagle-eyed viewers will immediately zero on the camera-wielding crew member.
4 Quotation Frustration
While it’s naturally important for any TV show to keep the continuity of its characters’ histories intact, the second episode of season nine, “The One Where Emma Cries”, fails to do this – although it’s admittedly a tough one to spot.
During the episode, Ross uses air quotes in a conversation with Joey, who doesn’t understand the concept of air quotes at all. In an earlier episode – “The One with the Secret Closet” to be specific – however, Joey himself uses air quotes, perfectly understanding the gesture’s meaning.
3 Joey Has Never Been Stood Up?
Another example of isolated jokes taking precedence over character continuity – which can admittedly be a good thing in some instances – the episode “The One with the Blind Dates” features a scene in which Joey says that ‘he hears’ being stood up can be bad.
Though this suggests that Joey himself has never been stood up, he was actually stood up by Phoebe’s twin sister Ursula in the episode “The One with Two Parts: Part 2.”
2 Bottles Turn To Cans
The kind of mistake most people visualize when they think of a typical ‘continuity error’, the cans and bottles Joey is clutching to keep his bladder full in “The One with the Mugging” constantly change between shots, as the camera cuts between different characters.
While the amount and position of the cans in Joey’s right-hand changes between shots, the scene’s most obvious mistake is that the bottles of juice in his left hand suddenly transform into cans of Diet Coke in the next shot.
1 When Is Phoebe’s Birthday?
A perfect example of why TV shows need a character ‘bible’ to consult during the writing and shooting process, Phoebe is given two different birthdays in two different episodes of the show. In the season three episode “The One with Frank Jr.”, Phoebe solidly states that her birthday is February 16th.
In “The One with Phoebe’s Birthday Dinner,” however, it’s clear that her birthday takes place during the Halloween season, resulting in one Friends’ most glaring character inconsistencies.
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