Friends Central
Register
Advertisement

Jack Geller is the father of Ross Geller and Monica Geller and husband to Judy Geller, portrayed by Elliott Gould.

Character[]

Jack Geller is well known for his inappropriate comments, such as addressing Emily's father while in London as a "thieving, would-be-speaking-German-if-it-weren't-for-us, cheap little man". He often tries to get himself out of these embarrassing situations using the line "I'm just saying..." He led his in-laws to believe that he's an attorney, though his line of work was revealed to be in the Military. He secretly smoked cigarettes, claiming that the cigarettes Ross found around the house were Judy's. His inappropriate comments sometimes were based on sexual themes, such as when he started discussing Monica and Chandler's sexual strategies for getting pregnant.

Though both Jack and Judy were criticized for favoring Ross over Monica, Jack was the more sympathetic of the two. He constantly referred to Monica as Harmonica. When Monica broke up with serious boyfriend Richard Burke, he consoled her though he'd previously disapproved of her dating his long-time best friend, a man twenty-one years her senior yet most people date people near their age. He also gave her his Porsche, after all objects of her childhood memories were ruined by a flood. In The Last One, Monica names her new baby son after her father this being against the Jewish custom. He had admitted he felt like a father when newly born Ross held Jack's finger.

Relationships[]

Judy Geller[]

Jack and his wife Judy love each other very much and therefore are a happily married couple.

Ross Geller and Monica Geller[]

Like his wife, Jack favors Ross over Monica due to his lovable nature over Monica's silly behavior. However unlike Judy, Jack is more sympathetic towards her than she is, referring to her as "My little harmonica". He told her to ignore her mother's cynical comments, consoled her after her break-up with Richard and gave her his Porsche after her childhood things were destroyed by a flood.

Rachel Greene[]

Jack has a good relationship with Rachel as she's his daughter's best friend. They have a relationship of mutual respect and friendliness and they both grow closer to being related when Rachel has Emma and Jack becomes her paternal grandfather due to Jack's son being Emma's father.

Chandler Bing[]

Jack and Chandler first met in 1987 where he joined Ross at the Gellers' house for Thanksgiving dinner. They didn't fully interact again until "The One Where Ross Got High" where he and Judy come to dinner at Monica's apartment and he is not quite fully supportive of him as they thought he smoked marijuana in college. When Chandler and Monica discover that Ross was the one who got high and blamed it on Chandler, Ross tries to avoid telling them but seeing that Ross won't say anything, Monica coerces him into telling the truth after she tells their parents. With the truth out, Jack changes his mind and he and Judy take a huge liking to Chandler and thank him for standing by Ross during his "drug problems" and for "taking on Monica as well". He is very happy when Chandler becomes his son-in-law when he marries Monica and looks forward to growing his family.

Trivia[]

  • Jack never appeared inside any of his son's legal apartments.
  • Jack and Judy were the only parents of any of the main characters to appear in all 10 seasons of the show.
  • It appears that Jack is the reason Ross was not comfortable about having a male nanny in "The One With The Male Nanny".
  • Jack mentions "a Hawaii incident" when he says he's sorry about Rachel's parents splitting up but is shushed by Judy.
  • The reference to Jack Geller being in the military is a connection to the role Elliot Gould played in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far where he played Robert Sink, who eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the US Army.
  • His wife Judy became pregnant with Ross before they were married.
  • Though not specifically stated, it's alluded to that Jack is Jewish as in "The One With The Cake" he states that he "drove through a nativity and it was treated as a hate crime".
  • At one point, he forgot he had two grandchildren. This was seen when he called Emma his first grandchild before Ross corrected him and reminded him about his grandson Ben and Jack immediately excuses the incident by saying she was his first granddaughter.

Appearances[]

Recurring Characters
Whole show Jack Geller | Judy Geller | Gunther | Janice
Season 1 Barry Farber | Carol Willick | Susan Bunch | Mr. Heckles | Paolo | Fun Bobby | David | Nora Tyler Bing | Ursula Buffay | Mindy | Ben Geller
Season 2 Julie | Mr. Treeger | Frank Buffay Jr. | Estelle Leonard | Richard Burke | Sandra Greene | Eddie Menuek | Leonard Greene
Season 3 Mark Robinson | Sophie | Isaac | Chloe | Alice Knight | Pete Becker | Kate Miller | Joanna | Doug | Bonnie | Phoebe Abbott
Season 4 Kathy | Mr. Waltham | Joshua Burgin | Emily Waltham | Stephen Waltham | Andrea Waltham
Season 5 Frank Buffay Jr. Jr. | Leslie Buffay | Chandler Buffay | Danny | Charles Bing | Gary | Mr. Zelner | Kim
Season 6 Janine Lecroix | Jill Greene | Paul Stevens | Elizabeth Stevens
Season 7 Tag Jones
Season 8 Mona | Dr. Long | Eric | Parker | Emma Geller-Greene
Season 9 Mike Hannigan | Theodore Hannigan | Bitsy Hannigan | Amy Greene | Gavin Mitchell | Charlie Wheeler
Season 10 Erica | Jack Bing | Erica Bing
Advertisement