Entertainment
Some people watched it for the Sistine Chapel of hair that was "the Rachel," others for the rollercoaster of Ross's love life, but most of us were addicted to the show for the jokes. Just take it from these Friends quotes that are still funny even years after the show stopped airing new episodes. Believe it or not, there are still vast corners of the internet in denial about the comic stylings of Friends.
BuzzFeed argued that Friends wasn't "actually that funny," while, in Reddit's Confession section, users confess to that most scandalous of things: not totally getting the humor of one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. On the other hand, the experts begged to differ. As Entertainment Weekly reports, Friends won six Emmys, including the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002. However, it's worth noting that they were nominated for a staggering 62 Emmys, suggesting that the judging board thought they were funny, not the funniest, most years.
But don't let that stop you from fighting the good fight to defend the show's comedy. The most impressive aspect of Friends was that all of the lead characters had their own flavor of hilarity, not just Chandler (as you'd remembered). Read on for a stroll down memory lane.
1
"If He Doesn't Like You, This Is All A Moo Point" — Joey
When Joey seems to mess up "a moot point," Rachel responds with the verbal equivalent of an eye roll. But when Joey explains, "Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's moo," both the redhead and the audience have to admit his logic makes a crazy sort of sense here.
2
"I Want To Start Drinking In The Morning. Don't Say I Don't Have Goals!" — Chandler
After Janice and Chandler break up, Joey gets worried about how sad his buddy seems. But he shouldn't be concerned. As Chandler points out, his day has a very concrete structure.
3
"PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT!" — Ross
Ross's growingly desperate yelps of "pivot!" are inexplicably funny and now a go-to quote for those sharp turns when you're helping out with your friend's move.
4
"Look At Her Standing There With Those Yams. My Two Greatest Enemies, Ross: Rachel Green And Complex Carbohydrates." — Will
The show set Brad Pitt against his then-wife, Jennifer Aniston in "The One With The Rumor," where it turns out that the formerly-fat Will dealt with being bullied by Rachel by starting an I-Hate-Rachel-Green club. This quote has to be the epitome of the comic joy of the episode.
5
"Look At Me! I'm Chandler! Could I BE Wearing Any More Clothes?" — Joey
When Chandler takes Joey's underwear, the actor retaliates in a way that Chandler points out is so not the opposite of what he did. It's still really freaking funny, though.
6
"Seven! Seven! SEVEN!" — Monica
When Chandler asks his future wife how he can take it sex from being "nice" for a woman to "My god, somebody's killing her in there," Monica draws up a chart showing the seven erogenous zones and sketches out what an incredible orgasm would feel like. She's swept away by her own imagination and, as such, who could forget the chef near-screaming "SEVEN! SEVEN! SEVEN!" in ecstasy on the sofa?
7
"Cheese: It's Milk That You Chew" — Chandler
When Chandler decides to go into advertising, this is one of his best shots at a campaign slogan. You can't deny it: this is both catchy and true.
8
"Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat, What Are They Feeding You? Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat, It's Not Your Fault" — Phoebe
Phoebe's most iconic song is hilarious because it's so damn random. Extra points for her considering the jam way too artistically significant to sell it as a jingle.
9
“No, I’m A Positive Person. You’re Like Santa Claus On Prozac In Disney Land Getting Laid.” — Phoebe
When Phoebe's boyfriend Parker (played by Alec Baldwin) apologizes for putting a good spin on everything, because he's a "positive person," this is his girlfriend's memorable response.
10
"You’ve been BAMBOOZLED!" — Joey
When Joey has to rehearse for an audition to be the host of a new game show, Ross and Chandler stick around to help him out. The game turns out to be ridiculously complicated to the point where no casual viewer could understand its labyrinthine rules, but whatever. The game show spirit of competition works its magic, and soon even the most cynical male friend is worshipping at the altar of Bamboozled.
11
"Oh, Are You Setting Ross Up With Someone? Does She Have A Wedding Dress?" — Rachel
By Season 6, Rachel has dated and split up and almost-dated and almost-split up with Ross enough times to know what he's like. So when Rachel gets acidic about Ross's marriage-prone ways, comic sparks fly.
12
"This Is My Husband... Um... Crap Bag" — Phoebe
When Phoebe realizes she can change her name, she chooses a real doozy: Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock. Her husband retaliates, "No, Mike, just crap bag. First name crap, last name bag." This leads to one particularly uncomfortable introduction.
13
"It's Like A Baby Caterpillar Chasing Its Mama" — Chandler
Joey is forced to get his eyebrows done for a headshot, but after just one eyebrow, he can't take it any more. The end result leaves him with a lopsided brow look. Cue Chandler, summarizing the eyebrow situation with his usual empathy.
Friends hasn't endured as a timeless favorite just because everyone on it was incredibly cute and you had to know whether Monica and Chandler would tie the knot. It really was damn funny — and the quotes above just go to prove it.
