I think everyone has heard the old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder. I normally don’t buy into such notions — unless you’re talking about classic ’90s sitcoms like Friends .
It’s been more than a decade since we said our goodbyes to the Central Perk six, yet the series remains as popular as ever. So much so that fans are still finding new Easter Eggs, hidden gems, and continuity errors every single day.
The very first episode of *Friends* aired on September 22nd, 1994.
That’s 27 years for those like me who struggle with quick math.
RELATED STORIES
What made Friends so impactful is that it was one of the first successful departures from the classic family dynamic that had been so rampant in sitcoms in decades past.
Friends instead chose to highlight the imperfect lives of a group of single men and women living in New York, fumbling their way through life, happiness and love.
Over the past 10 years, *Friends* has become one of the most syndicated shows on the planet.
Up until very recently, Friends was the most-watched show on Netflix. In 2018 alone, every single Netflix account had watched on average a minimum of 20 episodes.
I’d be willing to bet right now (for those of you with cable) that if you went and turned on your TV, you’d be able to find an old episode playing somewhere on some station. It’s almost unavoidable.
So with all those people watching, continuity errors become a hard thing to hide.
Finding a needle in a haystack can be tricky — unless you have millions of people all looking for the same needle in the same haystack. Then it becomes a much easier task.
Thanks to the hard work of some truly eagle-eyed viewers, we’ve been made to see some memorable breaks in the continuity chain: things like birthdays, Ross’s hatred for ice cream, and the fact that Chandler and Rachel have technically met for the first time on four different occasions.
Recently, a new glaring error was discovered and it’s borderline laughable.
This break happens in Season 8’s “The One in Massapequa;” when Jack and Judy Geller decide to throw a party for their 35th wedding anniversary.
After fielding some confusing questions, Ross finally comes to realize that his mother and father lied to their guests about his relationship with Rachel. Ross, angry with his father, begins arguing and initially refuses to go along with the ruse.
Then, all of a sudden, this happens…
The camera cuts to a close-up of Ross and his father disappears, replaced by a stand-in!
What on earth is happening — where did Elliot Gould go?!
There so much wrong with what’s going on here that I don’t even know how best to begin. First of all, this man is considerably shorter than David Schwimmer, he’s wearing glasses, and oh yeah — he looks absolutely nothing like Elliot Gould!
So what happened, did production get lazy on us and how is it that nobody noticed the first time around?
As it turns out, the answer is a lot simpler than you might think.
When Friends was still on the air, HD TVs cost thousands of dollars. Because of this, Friends was never shot in a 16:9 widescreen ratio . The show adheres to the traditional 4:3 aspect that older readers (myself included) will remember from childhood.
What all this technical jargon means is that when you watch old episodes of Friends on a widescreen TV — you’re going to be able to see things you were never intended to see.
Which means that there are potentially still countless continuity breaks left to discover!
This completely changes my entire perspective on the series. I’m always looking for another reason to rewatch Friends in its entirety and it looks like I may have just found my latest excuse.
Have you encountered any breaks in continuity like Jack Geller’s disappearing act? Are you going to dedicate yourself to seeking out new and exciting departures from the Friends continuity?
Make sure to leave a comment below with all that you find!