The One with All the Poker - S1-E18
Question: After playing poker for the second time and winning over the girls, the guys say something like "Thanks for teaching us cross-eyed Mary." I assume it is a poker technique, however as a poker player, I've never heard about it. Is anyone familiar with it?
Chosen answer: I've been unable to locate any information about an actual poker game or technique called "cross-eyed Mary." The only reference I can find to "Cross-Eyed Mary" is a track on the 1971 Jethro Tull album "Aqualung." It's unlikely Joey is referring to the song, so I am guessing it's just something the show creators made up, possibly implying that Monica's aunt taught them a new variation/technique/trick so they could win and they still ended up losing, teaching it to the guys in the process.
Answer: It is largely believed that a player's eyes can give away a good or bad hand and that good poker players need to have a "poker face" - not moving eyes or making facial gestures. If a poker player has cross-eyes, the implication is that other players will not be able to "read" that person's face or be able to discern if the player has a good hand or is bluffing.
The One With the Sharks - S9-E4
Question: What's the name of the "scary painting" that Joey saw in the apartment of the girl he thought he'd slept with before? The strange and creepy painting (black and white, with an amorphous body and a chair). I really, really want to know who is the artist. Not Gladys - that's Phoebe's painting that comes out of the frame.
Answer: The painting doesn't have a name, and if it does it is never mentioned in this episode.
The One Where The Stripper Cries - S10-E11
Question: Is that Pyramid game show that Joey went on real, or just made up for the show?
Answer: Not only is it a real game show, Danny Osmond was the host of the show at the time. And that was the real actor Leslie Charleson from "General Hospital."
Question: What does it mean when Joey says "Hey, Julie, I didn't know you wore lenses"?
Answer: Earlier Ross was telling the gang Julie left her saline solution on his nightstand. Saline solution is what's used to clean contact lenses. Now Joey knows Julie wears contact lenses. (Ross then shushes Joey because he doesn't want Julie to know he told his friends about her leaving the saline solution on the nightstand or anything else about their relationship).
The One With Frank Jr. - S3-E5
Question: When Monica's bathroom floor just got redone by Joey, Chandler wants to use it. Monica asks, "What are you doing?" Chandler says, "Want a number?" What does that mean?
Answer: He's asking if she wants to know if he's going 'number 1' (urinating) or 'number 2' (having a bowel movement).
Question: In this episode, Chandler and Monica go on a small trip together. They have a fight because Chandler is too obsessed with watching a car-chase on TV and Monica keeps switching rooms. When they come home, they have a conversation in Monica's apartment where Chandler says "I guess it's over now", to which Monica replies "Why, exactly?" Chandler says " Cause we had a fight" and Monica's respond is "That's silly. If you were going to give up every time you had a fight with someone, you'd never be with anyone longer than...OH!" They both seem to realize something here. What is it??
Chosen answer: They both realise that one of the reasons Chandler hasn't had a long term relationship is because he assumes a fight means the end of things (together with his generally rocky attitude towards relationships!). Monica never realised that's how he thought, and Chandler never realised that was wrong.
Answer: Is that the entire answer? The way Monica responds makes it sound like she's finally understanding an incident that occurred many episodes or seasons before. Like they expect the audience to realise it's the punchline to a joke long-ago uttered.
Question: Does any episode of Friends make a reference to the destruction of the World Trade Center towers?
Answer: No, although shortly after the event, there was a "I *heart* NY" seen written on the small message board that hangs on Joey and Chandler's front door. A small tribute, no doubt. Also, during the end-credits of the 2001 Season Eight episode, 'The One After "I Do"' there is a dedication to the people of New York. Joey wears an FDNY shirt as well.
Answer: They actually had to re-shoot the episode following 9/11. Chandler had made a joke about a bomb on a plane while in the airport during the honeymoon episode, so they changed that subplot.
The One With The Dirty Girl - S4-E6
Question: Monica: "I can cook and you can take care of the money." Phoebe: "Oh! It will be like I have a wife in the 50's!" What did Phoebe mean? (00:18:50)
Answer: Exactly as she said - in the 50s it was near-universal for husbands to work and be the sole breadwinner/handle finances, while their wives stayed home and managed the house, including cooking.
The One with Mrs. Bing - S1-E11
Question: When we first see Mrs Bing on TV, Jay Leno mentions that she recently got arrested and asks how it came about. Her response is "occasionally, after being intimate with a man, I just get a craving for Kung Pao chicken" This gets a lot of cheers and laughter from the audience and Chandler shouts "that's too much information!" at the TV. What was happening here? Why does what Mrs Bing said get so much of a reaction from everyone and not answer the question she was asked? Am I missing something?
Answer: This is a story about how Chandler's mom got arrested. So she is saying "after being intimate with a man I get a craving for Kung Pao Chicken." So what she is implying is that she is intimate with whomever, and immediately afterwards when orders Kung Pao Chicken. By this she is saying she got arrested at the place where they sell Kung Poa Chicken, because she was being intimate with the individual there. Conclusion she was openly having sex at a Chinese Restaurant.
Answer: I've seen a few answers that are similar to this. It's really unclear to me what the relation to being arrested is and/or why it's too much information. I feel like I'm missing a connection here.
Chosen answer: Nora Bing's remarks got a huge response by her being funny and making the incident about sex. Audiences tend react to titillating anecdotes. Chandler, of course, is always mortified by his mother for not acting her age and being sexually uninhibited.
This answers nothing really.
Answer: I honestly think part of it has been deleted since the original broadcast. I remember her saying something extra that carried on the joke, but watching it on streaming services, it isn't there.
Question: When Phoebe's mom died she went and lived on the street. But why? I am sure they had a house. Why would someone take it away from them? And what about her Grandmother?
Answer: Any answer would be a guess, it's never explained. But she mostly likely ran away from home and lived on the streets and later reconnected with her grandmother.
Answer: It's unlikely Phoebe's surrogate mother, Lily, owned a house. They lived in NYC, had little money, and probably rented a cheap apartment. Young Phoebe would be unable to support herself after Lily's suicide. It's unknown why Phoebe did not immediately go to live with her adoptive grandmother, Frances, but there appeared to be a rift between Lily and her mother. Frances may not have known right away that Phoebe was left homeless and assumed she and her twin sister, Ursula, were with their blood relatives. Phoebe, still a minor, may have run away to avoid being placed in foster care, and later lived with Frances.
Answer: According to Phoebe her mother had severe mental problems. It could be that had a house but lost it because of it, they lived on the streets and sometime later after her mother died she went to live with her grandmother. They could have lived with her grandmother, but the mother's mental problems drove her out. Either way Phoebe would want be with her to take care of her.
I don't believe it likely Phoebe and her mother would have been on the streets / homeless at the time of her mother's suicide. Multiple times in the series Phoebe explicitly states that her mom committed suicide by putting her head in an oven / was "in the kitchen." The context and phrasing as Phoebe describes it strongly implies they were in their house at the time.
The One With Joey's Porsche - S6-E5
Answer: Since Denise is never seen or heard by any of the other characters; since Phoebe abruptly stops mentioning her immediately after this episode; and since Phoebe is, to put it gently, a little weird, I think we can safely assume that yes, Denise was made up.
The One With Ross's Wedding, part 2 - S4-E24
Question: What band plays the music at the wedding?
Answer: The Hormones are playing at Ross and Emily's wedding.
The One With The Mugging - S9-E15
Question: When Chandler comes in and asks "Guess what?", Joey replies "Monica's pregnant?" Monica says "Really, okay lets get past the moment". What is this referencing?
Answer: The joke also makes more sense if you write her response as "Really?...Okay, let's get past the moment."
The One With a Chick. And a Duck. - S3-E21
Question: When Joey is holding one of the chicks, Chandler says "Easy, Lenny." What does he mean?
Answer: Lennie is a character in the novel "Of Mice and Men." He is large and strong, but also mentally challenged. He loves holding small animals, but has a tendency to kill them accidentally.
Answer: Depending on how old the scan picture is, it's possible for a "hidden twin" to exist. If the scan is from early in the pregnancy then its more likely. (I will add it's been about 10 years since I watched the last season of Friends so I could be wrong).
Ssiscool ★