The One With Chandler's Work Laugh

The One With Chandler's Work Laugh
Season	5x12
Episode no.	109
Written by	Alicia Sky Varinaitis
Directed by	Kevin S. Bright
Guest stars	Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman James Michael Tyler as Gunther Sam McMurray as Doug Lise Simms as Kara
Original airdate	January 21, 1999
Episode List
← Previous	"The One With All The Resolutions"
Next →	"The One With Joey's Bag"

"The One With Chandler's Work Laugh" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of Friends, which aired on January 21, 1999. Monica uncovers the fake laugh Chandler reserves for his boss's bad jokes. Rachel is upset that Monica hasn't 'fessed up about her affair.' Word comes of Emily's remarriage plans.

Plot

Rachel wants to know all details about Chandler and Monica, and since Joey paid attention to none, she's all over Monica at Central Perk and at home, but nothing makes her spill any beans. Ross' ex Emily is going to marry; so he smashes a scone in a moment of anger while ranting about this, to the bewilderment of everyone who sees him do it at the coffee shop. Chandler and Monica enjoy being a couple at his office party; as his boss Doug and Doug's wife Kara love her, they are invited to play tennis at Doug's place, where Chandler goes to great lengths to let Doug win, despite Monica's overly-competitive attitude, which both irritates and bemuses Doug and Kara. Monica is furious that Chandler's such a suck-up at work; they get a dinner invitation, and Monica angrily tells Chandler not to suck up to Doug anymore. But as a consequence of all the sucking up he'd already done, he inadvertently comes across as being rude and offensive to Doug when he stops, and he is forced to quickly start sucking up again. Ross is so frustrated he goes out with Janice, who still thinks Chandler is in Yemen. Ross claims to be amazed at how well she listens to him, but all his whining is too much even for her. When Ross apologizes to Chandler for having gone out with his ex, Chandler assures Ross that he doesn't have a problem with that and laughs, until Ross brings up "the rules" where you shouldn't date ex-girlfriends or relatives of your friends, at which point Chandler realises he is doing the same thing but with Monica, and panics as he realizes that Ross will be angry when he discovers this. He does some quick thinking however and pretends that he actually is angry with Ross for going out with Janice before stating he forgives him. He then assures Ross that friends always forgive each other for doing that, reminds him he's letting him live at his apartment rent-free and gives Ross $27 before suggesting he write all that down. 

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

James Michael Tyler - Gunther
Sam McMurray - Doug
Lise Simms - Kara

Crew

Directed By:
Kevin S. Bright

Written By:
Alicia Sky Varinaitis

Trivia

• When Joey tries to convince Ross to come to the movie with him and Phoebe he says "Sure you don't want to come? It's Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, they get mail and stuff!". He's referring to the movie "You've Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
• In this episode, Janice doesn't say her catchphrase: "Oh my God!"

Goofs

• When Monica and Rachel are in the coffee house, Monica's muffin falls over even though Monica hasn't touched it.

• When Chandler says "Are you sure you never played pro?" in this shot, he holds the racket with his left hand, but in the next shot, he holds it with his right hand.
• When Janice is dumping Ross in the coffeehouse and Ross says "I annoy you, Janice?," he is holding a coffee cup with his left hand and gesturing towards Janice with his right hand. When the camera angle changes, he is gesturing with his left hand, and holding the cup with his right hand.
• In this episode, Joey apologizes to Rachel for his crassness when describing Monica and Chandler's relationship and corrects himself, correctly using air quotes as he says the two are "making love". However, a few years later, in "The One Where Emma Cries", he tells Ross that he's never known what people mean when they use air quotes, and proceeds with a running joke in which he uses them incorrectly.
• In the scene where everyone (minus Chandler) is waiting for Ross to come home, there is a visible silver strip running across the crack in Chandler's bedroom door (possibly masking tape). Once Ross has entered, the strip is not visible and the door appears undamaged.

Episode Navigation

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Preceded by "The One With All The Resolutions"

"The One With Chandler's Work Laugh"

Followed by "The One With Joey's Bag"

<< Season 4		Season 5					Season 6 >>
#01	"The One After Ross Says Rachel"		#09	"The One With Ross' Sandwich"		#17	"The One With Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss"
#02	"The One With All The Kissing"		#10	"The One With The Inappropriate Sister"		#18	"The One Where Rachel Smokes"
#03	"The One Hundredth"		#11	"The One With All The Resolutions"		#19	"The One Where Ross Can't Flirt"
#04	"The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS"		#12	"The One With Chandler's Work Laugh"		#20	"The One With The Ride-Along"
#05	"The One With The Kips"		#13	"The One With Joey's Bag"		#21	"The One With The Ball"
#06	"The One With The Yeti"		#14	"The One Where Everybody Finds Out"		#22	"The One With Joey's Big Break"
#07	"The One Where Ross Moves In"		#15	"The One With The Girl Who Hits Joey"		#23	"The One In Vegas, Part 1"
#08	"The One With All The Thanksgivings"		#16	"The One With The Cop"		#24	"The One In Vegas, Part 2"