Friends is arguably the most iconic sitcom in history. Over the years, it reached outstanding levels of popularity, and it has managed to positively impact several generations. The show lasted an entire decade and hosted dozens of celebrity guests. People still rewatch the comedy series constantly.
However, as people watch the show time and time again, they may start noticing some inconsistencies. Of course, while the show was aired weekly, it was unlikely fans would notice these weird details. But now, with streaming and binging, small mistakes have become increasingly obvious.
10 Some of Monica’s Actions Don’t Go with Her Clean Personality
The fact she’s extremely clean is one of Monica’s most recognizable traits. She’s often fighting with Rachel because Rachel doesn’t pick up after herself. Monica also enjoys cleaning, organizing, and putting things exactly how she wants them. For example, when her boyfriend Richard tries to make the bed, she has many complaints.
However, many fans have noticed that in certain episodes, simply for comedic reasons or for lack of attention to detail, the writers ignored this aspect of Monica. For example, it doesn’t make much sense that she allows her friends to put their feet on the coffee table, as that’s not very hygienic. What’s more, in Season 3, Episode 5, “The One with Frank Jr.,” Joey points out that the tiles below her hamper are another color. It’s absurd that Monica hasn’t moved the hamper for years to clean. It might not be the most noticeable problematic detail in Friends, but it does break the illusion for hardcore fans.
9 The Gang Has Pretty Unrealistic Work Standards & Living Situations
Sitcoms are supposed to be easy to digest and funny. Because of this, characters have a pretty good life, or at least, everything ends up well for them most of the time. However, Friends takes this premise to the limit. At least at the beginning of the series, none of the characters had well-paid jobs, except for Ross. All the others had average jobs or even terrible jobs, in Rachel’s case. However, all of them lived in the city in pretty decent apartments.
Chandler pays for Joey’s entire cost of living (which is already a weird detail), so he pays all the rent, services, and food on his own, with a common office job. Monica’s apartment is explained by rent control, but Chandler and Joey live in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with just one regular salary.
8 The Characters Rarely See Their Families
This is not so unrealistic, but people find it strange that none of the characters seem to spend much time with their families. In fact, they even spend most major holidays together instead of going to their respective homes. Sometimes, this is justified, but as the series progresses, it seems to matter less and less.
Joey has plenty of sisters and a very large family and Monica and Ross are close to their parents (or at least Ross is). Rachel has two sisters, but they only appear in a few episodes and her sisters never appear at the same time. Chandler and Phoebe have problematic relationships with their families, so it makes more sense for them to not see them. But in others’ cases, it’s a bit odd. This could be attributed, though, to the TV show economy, as the series can’t show every facet of the characters in just 20 minutes.
7 They Were the Sole Owners of the Orange Couch at Central Perk
Chandler, Monica, Rachel and Joey get coffee at Central Perk in Friends.
If people pay attention to the background of Central Perk, they will realize most of the art pieces change every three episodes.
People who have a favorite coffee place can probably agree that it’s hard to always get your favorite seat. This is bound to be the case in such a big and populated city as New York. It would be magical for these characters to almost always find the most comfortable seat in the house each time they visit — which is all the time.
There is, however, one little joke making fun of this fact in Season 3, Episode 1, “The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy.” In the cold open, the characters leave Central Perk annoyed because their orange couch is already occupied. Perhaps this happens a lot to the gang, but the audience doesn’t get to see it.
6 They Visited Each Other at Random Times
Rachel eventually lives in all the apartments in the series: Monica’s, Joey and Chandler’s, Phoebe’s, and Ross’s.
Monica smiling, Ross hugging a blanket and Joey and Rachel hugging in Friends
Friends is a series that many fans have a soft spot for. But that hasn’t saved it from having some of the strangest storylines on television.
While people understand that the characters on Friends are close, it makes no sense for them to spend such amounts of time in Monica and Rachel’s apartments. The characters, for example, visit each other at random times of the day, such as breakfast. Fans can’t understand how Ross gets up rid
