The One With Phoebe's Uterus

"The One With Phoebe's Uterus" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of Friends, which aired on NBC January 8, 1998.

Plot

Phoebe's brother Frank and Alice get married, and they give Phoebe the good news. Reveling with joy, Phoebe asks them if there's anything she can give them as a present, which they answer promptly - as the two are unable to conceive, they ask Phoebe if she could be their baby's surrogate mother. Confused what to do, Phoebe seeks her birth mother for advice, who gives her a pug puppy to keep for three days. She explains to her how she would feel when she has to give the puppy up, which would be nothing compared to giving up a baby. When Frank and Alice see the puppy, Phoebe gives it to them (albeit it being her mother's), and seeing the looks of glee on their faces, she decides to carry their baby.

Joey gets a job as a tour guide at Ross' museum. Things are going well until lunchtime, when Joey asks Ross to sit next to him in the cafeteria. Ross, however, blows him off to sit with his professor colleagues. Joey talks about this to Rhonda, a fellow tour guide, who remarks how people from different departments don't sit next to each other. Joey is hurt by this, and nothing Ross says to him can make him feel better about it, until Ross refuses to sit with his colleagues to sit with Joey the next day at lunch.

Things are going really well for Kathy and Chandler. Just one thing's missing - the two haven't had sex yet. Chandler is put off by the fact that Kathy's ex was Joey and since Kathy's sexual performance standards are pretty high because of this, he's afraid he won't be able to reach them. He talks to Monica and Rachel about this, and Monica decides to help him out by drawing a picture of a woman and telling Chandler all about the various erogenous zones on a woman's body and techniques which women find extraordinary. He takes her advice the next time he sees Kathy, who rushes in the apartment at the end of the episode to thank Monica for the great tips she's given Chandler.

Cast and Crew

Main Cast

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green
Courtney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast

Teri Garr - Phoebe Abbott
Giovanni Ribisi - Frank Buffay Jr.
Debra Jo Rupp - Alice Knight Buffay
Paget Brewster - Kathy
James Michael Tyler - Gunther
Sherri Shepherd - Rhonda
Miles Marsico - The Smart Kid
Jack Ong- The Older Scientist
Jim Bentley - Another Tour Guide
Chip Chinery - Another Scientist

Crew

Directed By:
David Steinberg

Written By:
Seth Kurland

Quotes

Phoebe Abbot: It combines my two passions: pottery and erotica.

Phoebe: Erottery!

Trivia

In this episode, Matthew Perry messes up a line by saying "blue blazer black" instead of "blue blazer back". The rest of the cast's responses were so funny that they left it in the episode.
The whole "Phoebe is having her brother's babies" story line was created to keep Lisa Kudrow in the show while she actually was pregnant. It was also the reason she stayed in the US during Ross's wedding because she actually was in her 3rd trimester and was not allowed to fly.

In The One With The Hypnosis Tape, Joey and Ross explain to Phoebe how they end up best man and ring-bearer respectively. However, as the two don't have a formal wedding ceremony because they choose to elope, Ross and Joey are not present at Frank and Alice's wedding, much less in their designated roles.
Frank and Alice talk to Phoebe how they're unable to conceive. As Alice is Frank's senior by 26 years, it's highly likely that the problem was from her part. As they never point out individual faults about this topic, however, it might imply that Frank Jr is sterile too.
The DVD episode has an extended clip of the part where Monica gets excited while explaining to Chandler about women. The three find Monica's demonstration so awkward that they pretend it didn't happen and avoid each other by going into different rooms - Monica and Rachel to their respective bedrooms while Chandler makes for the bathroom.
During Monica's demonstration of the erogenous zones, she tells Chandler to "keep women on their toes." Rachel then moans, "Oh, toes..." There is a brief awkward pause, before Rachel, suddenly flustered, adds, "You know... for some people." This could be a hint that she has a foot fetish.
This is the first time Phoebe is shown taking care of someone else's dog. She does this again with her friends' dog Clunkers in The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs in Season 7.
Chandler compares the puppy to the late Karl Malden.
In the last scene of this episode, Monica asks Rachel if she would agree to be a surrogate for her if she ever asks, Rachel says yes, but in season 10 when Monica and Chandler turn out to be unlikely to conceive, the idea is never brought up.

Goofs

When Phoebe visits her mother, she says "I didn't know that you did pot." in this shot, Phoebe Abbott's arms are loose, but in the next shot, her arms are crossed.
When Phoebe is on the couch in the coffee house talking to Monica and Rachel, the way Phoebe is holding the puppy changes between shots.
When Monica is drawing the erogenous zones and Rachel says "Let me see that!", Rachel has one leg on the couch. When the camera angle changes, she has both legs on the table.
Chandler states in a later episode that he is afraid of dogs, but he was calm when being in the same room as Phoebe's puppy in this episode.

Episode Navigation

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Preceded by "The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie"	Series Four Episodes	Followed by "The One With The Embryos"


<< Season 3		Season 4				Season 5 >>
#01	"The One With The Jellyfish"		#09	"The One Where They're Going To Party"	#17	"The One With The Free Porn"
#02	"The One With The Cat"		#10	"The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie"	#18	"The One With Rachel's New Dress"
#03	"The One With The Cuffs"		#11	"The One With Phoebe's Uterus"	#19	"The One With All The Haste"
#04	"The One With The Ballroom Dancing"		#12	"The One With The Embryos"	#20	"The One With All The Wedding Dresses"
#05	"The One With Joey's New Girlfriend"		#13	"The One With Rachel's Crush"	#21	"The One With The Invitation"
#06	"The One With The Dirty Girl"		#14	"The One With Joey's Dirty Day"	#22	"The One With The Worst Best Man Ever"
#07	"The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line"		#15	"The One With All The Rugby"	#23	"The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 1"
#08	"The One With Chandler In A Box"		#16	"The One With The Fake Party"	#24	"The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 2"