"The One After The Superbowl" is a double-length episode of the second season of Friends, which aired on January 28, 1996, immediately after NBC's telecast of Super Bowl XXX.
Plot
Ross reminisces about his former pet monkey Marcel after watching the Monkeyshine Beer ad, which happens to feature a monkey with uncanny similarities to Marcel. During a short stay in Los Angeles for a paleontology conference, he visits the zoo he gave Marcel up to, and asks for his monkey, who he can't seem to find. The zoo owner, however, regretfully informs him that his monkey had gotten sick and died. Saddened and shocked by the news, Ross is taken by surprise by one of the zoo cleaners when the latter reveals to him that Marcel was stolen during a break-in.
Following his debut on Days Of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray, Joey is excited about receiving fan-mail from a certain Erika Ford. What he doesn't realize is that Erika is a lunatic who is obsessed with him and thinks he's actually Drake, and not an actor. This he learns at his expense when a guy chokes at Becco restaurant he and Erika are dining in and she introduces him as Drake and prompts him to save the choking guy's life, which he's unable to do. Eventually, Joey breaks up with Erika - when she sees him on the show kissing Sabrina in Salem, she thinks he's cheating on her. Ross helps Joey out by trying to pass him off as Hans Ramoray, Drake's evil twin.
Phoebe is hired by a cute guy, Rob, at a library to sing to children. He thinks that Phoebe's fantastic - as the two end up kissing - and the kids find Phoebe's songs terrific. The parents, however, are shocked by her repertoire, which contains inappropriate lyrics about life's painful truths. When he tries to dissuade Phoebe from such songs by suggesting she sing about farm animals, she misinterprets him to sing about the cruel way they're raised and killed for food. Phoebe is ultimately fired from the library, but the children enjoy her songs so much that they come to listen to her at Central Perk.
After some research and calls, Ross discovers that the monkey starring in the Monkeyshine Beer ad is actually the one he used to keep as a pet. What's more, Marcel is in town, filming Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan. The guys visit the set, but are not allowed anywhere near Marcel. When the guys sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Marcel's favorite song, a cappella, Marcel recognizes it and re-unites with Ross.
Cast and Crew
Main Cast
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
Supporting Cast
Dan Castellaneta - The Zoo Employee
David Crane - Director
Roark Critchlow - Dr. Mike Horton
Chris Isaak - Rob Donnen
Brooke Shields - Erika Ford
Thomas James Kepner - Concerned Parent
Karman Kruschke - Coma Woman
Lawrence Mandley - Security Guard
Sean Masterson - 'Monkeyshine' Guy
Tahj Mowry - Kid
Fred Willard - Mr. Lipson, the Zoo administrator
D. Elliot Woods - Waiter
Kevin Bright - Director
Marta Kauffman - Director
Crew
Directed By:
Michael Lembeck
Written By:
Jeff Astrof, Mike Sikowitz & Michael Borkow
Reception
Entertainment Weekly rates the episode "C", calling it "fragmented, poorly paced, and only sporadically funny. Cramming the already crowded ensemble with celebs may have been a ratings grabber but the results are forced sitcomedy and stilted acting". The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends write of the first part "There are some lovely moments of slapstick", mentioning "what Matthew Perry does with the washing-up liquid bottle when he first sees Erika", though call Isaak "positively wooden".
Brooke Shields' performance in this episode impressed NBC so much that she was offered her own sitcom, Suddenly Susan, for the network's 1996 fall lineup.
Trivia
- This is the most-watched episode of Friends, drawing 52.9 million viewers.
- Ross tries to repel Erika from Joey by stating that he's not Drake, but Hans Ramoray, Drake's evil twin. In Season 7, the Days Of Our Lives show on Friends actually introduces a twin brother of Drake, Stryker Ramoray.
- Contrary to most doppelganger characters in TV and film production, Stryker is acted by a lookalike of Joey. This is due to Joey not wanting to audition for the part as he assumes he's offered the part directly.
- Instead of reveling in others' joys, Joey scoffs about the monkey which gets to make movies after all his efforts to appear on TV. This he does again in season 5 with Ross' son Ben in The One Where Rachel Smokes.
- Director Michael Lembeck won the 1996 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Comedy Series for this episode. This was the only Emmy won by the series in that year.
- Barney the dinosaur was mentioned in this episode.
- Brooke Shields' character, Erika, has two hair strands framing her face during her dinner with Joey. However, briefly there is one that has been pinned back, then reappears.
- Brooke Shields later guest starred in a dream sequence as the mother of Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) in the Disney Channel show, Hannah Montana. Also, the actor who played Dean Lipson, Fred Willard, also appeared on Disney Channel as well as Brooke Shields, but on Wizards of Waverly Place, as a half-human, half-gargoyle creature, Mr. Stuffleby.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Preceded by "The One With The Lesbian Wedding" |
Series Two Episodes | Followed by "The One After the Superbowl, Part 2" |
| << Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 >> | |||||||
| #01 | "The One With Ross' New Girlfriend" | #09 | "The One With Phoebe's Dad" | #17 | "The One Where Eddie Moves In" | ||||
| #02 | "The One With The Breast Milk" | #10 | "The One With Russ" | #18 | "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" | ||||
| #03 | "The One Where Heckles Dies" | #11 | "The One With The Lesbian Wedding" | #19 | "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" | ||||
| #04 | "The One With Phoebe's Husband" | #12 | "The One After The Superbowl, Part 1" | #20 | "The One Where Old Yeller Dies" | ||||
| #05 | "The One With Five Steaks And An Eggplant" | #13 | "The One After The Superbowl, Part 2" | #21 | "The One With The Bullies" | ||||
| #06 | "The One With The Baby On The Bus" | #14 | "The One With The Prom Video" | #22 | "The One With The Two Parties" | ||||
| #07 | "The One Where Ross Finds Out" | #15 | "The One Where Ross And Rachel... You Know" | #23 | "The One With The Chicken Pox" | ||||
| #08 | "The One With The List" | #16 | "The One Where Joey Moves Out" | #24 | "The One With Barry And Mindy's Wedding" | ||||