'Friends' Dr. Drake Ramoray Always Made Us Swoon

As a longtime Days of Our Lives fan, I remember being filled with elation when Joey Tribbiani did a stint on the soap opera during the second season of Friends as hunky Dr. Drake Ramoray. If you're an avid Friends fan like me, you probably remember Dr. Ramoray's stoic intensity, smooth charisma, and keen use of "smell the fart" acting for dramatic pauses. Sadly, Joey made a blunder during an interview with Soap Opera Digest where he fibbed about writing his own lines. Vexed, one of the writers read the interview and wrote Dr. Ramoray straight off the edge of an elevator shaft. It's strange to mourn the death of a fictional character who happens to be played by another fictional character, but I definitely did. Fortunately, Dr. Ramoray was eventually revived, and Friends fans got more sudsy fodder from Joey during Season 7.

One of my favorite soap opera tropes is the constant presence of heartthrobs. Judge me if you wish, but I simply can't resist those brooding stares and impassioned monologues — this is also one reason I frequently re-watch The Notebook (hi, Ryan Gosling). In celebration of soap operas, Friends, and Dr. Ramoray, let's take a look at seven reasons Joey was the ultimate daytime heartthrob.

1. He Didn't Need To Memorize Lines To Be A Total Dreamboat

Although he spent the entire series pursuing an acting career, Joey was never a big fan of memorizing lines. Despite this hindrance, he never failed to make the ladies swoon as Dr. Ramoray.

2. He Could Stay In Character On & Off-Set

Although Joey initially tried to convince delusional fan, Erica (Brooke Shields), that Dr. Ramoray is a fictional character, he later took on the role of Dr. Ramoray's evil twin, Hans.

3. He Always Brought The Charisma

What else would you expect from the originator of the phrase, "How you doin'?"

4. His Dramatic Pauses Were Always On Point

Back in my college theater days, I made sure to utilize Joey's august "smell the fart" acting technique. Bravo, sir — bravo!

5. He Had Tenacity

Although it's not exactly copacetic to claim a Daytime Emmy Award as your own, it does show a ton of gumption — something every soap opera heartthrob needs.

6. His Dramatic Elevator Death Scene

Sadly, even the most swoon-worthy of soap opera heartthrobs get killed off. In fact, the death scenes are usually reserved for the most popular characters — trust me, I know. As gut-wrenching as it was to bid Dr. Ramoray adieu, we were treated to his return later in the series.

7. No Storyline Was Off-Limits

As a longtime soap opera fan, I am privy to the level of irreverence some storylines can take on. The revival of Dr. Ramoray via a brain transplant wasn't a far cry from other sudsy arcs on soap operas — and having Joey take the storyline to task was everything ever.

Images: NBC; Giphy (2)