The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends (30 Jan. 1997)

Monica bumps into Richard at the video shop. They go out for a burger just as friends. Rachel gets in late from work every night. Phoebe is dating a sporty guy. Joey and Rachel exchange ... See full summary »

Director:

Robby Benson

Writers:

David Crane (creator), Marta Kauffman (creator),

Stars:

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Jennifer Aniston	...	Rachel Green
Courteney Cox	...	Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow	...	Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc	...	Joey Tribbiani (as Matt Le Blanc)
Matthew Perry	...	Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer	...	Dr. Ross Geller
Tom Selleck	...	Dr. Richard Burke
James Michael Tyler	...	Gunther
Markus Flanagan	...	Robert
Gina Hecht	...	Richard's Date
Steven Harad	...	Clerk

Storyline

Monica bumps into Richard at the video shop. They go out for a burger just as friends. Rachel gets in late from work every night. Phoebe is dating a sporty guy. Joey and Rachel exchange their favourite books to see which one is better. Monica shows Richard how to cook lasagna and they make love. They wanna try being friends who sleep together. They have a great time together and Monica wants to be with him for real again. Richard would love to be with Monica but they're right back where they were and they both know how it's gonna end.

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Plot Keywords:

book | indecent exposure

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Dijon Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min 22 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While the books Rachel and Joey are reading are a part of the storyline, Ross is seen reading a book in Central Perk. Rachel and Joey agree to read each other's favorite books. Rachel reads "The Shining" by Stephen King and Joey reads "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. The book Ross is reading is "Race: How Blacks & Whites Think & Feel about the American Obsession" by Studs Terkel.

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Goofs

When Joey is reading 'Little Women' in Central Perk, in some shots he is halfway through the book, but when it cuts to another shot he is holding the book open very near the beginning.

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Quotes

Rachel: [upset because Joey's just ruined the end of 'The Shining' for her] All right... Okay. Laurie proposes to Jo and she says no even though she's still in love with him. And then he ends up marrying Amy.
Joey Tribbiani: Hey! Mine was by accident! All right. The boiler explodes and destroys the hotel and kills the dad.
Rachel: Beth dies.
Joey Tribbiani: [completely horrified] Beth... Beth dies?
[to Chandler]
Joey Tribbiani: If I keep reading is Beth gonna die?
Chandler Bing: No, Beth doesn't die. She doesn't die, does she, Rachel?
Rachel: What?
Dr. Ross Geller: Joey is asking if you've just ...

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Connections

References A Time to Kill (1996)

User Reviews

The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends

The best part of this episode is about the guy Phoebe is dating who doesn't wear underwear and has everyone see his stuff through his shorts. It isn't so much the story as the great reactions of all the characters towards it and the awesome word play at the end when Phoebe tries to break up with him. And Gunther gets a great line that makes everyone laugh J

oey and Rachel exchanging books is also a good one. Joey is very cute. I loved the scene where he accidentally tells Rachel the end of Shining and they start spoiling the books to each other.

The story of Monica and Richard I could live without. I didn't find it funny nor did I care for them getting together to find it interesting