The One With The Prom Video
From Friends Central
| "The One With The Prom Video" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends episode | ||||
| Season | 2x14 | |||
| Episode no. | 38 | |||
| Written by | Alexa Junge | |||
| Directed by | James Burrows | |||
| Guest stars | Elliott Gould as Jack Geller Patrick Kerr as The Restaurant Manager Christina Pickles as Judy Geller Michael Bower as Roy Gublik (as Michael Ray Bower) Lou Thornton as Gail Tim Bohn]] as Jonathan | |||
| Original airdate | February 1, 1996 | |||
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| ← Previous | Next → | |||
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"The One With The Prom Video" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of Friends, which aired on NBC on February 1, 1996. The episode focuses on the main characters watching Monica and Rachel getting ready for their high school prom in the titular video. A subplot sees a now-wealthy Joey buying roommate Chandler an unusual gift.
The episode was directed by James Burrows, written by Alexa Junge and guest-stars Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles as Jack and Judy Geller, and Patrick Kerr as the restaurant manager. It frequently ranks amongst the series best episodes in polls.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
After he starts making more money playing Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives, Joey gives Chandler an extremely tacky gold, engraved bracelet as thanks for paying for head shots and food. Chandler mocks it when it costs him a date, greatly upsetting Joey when he overhears. Chandler apologizes to Joey and promises to never take it off again, though later loses it. He reluctantly buys a replacement, but the original is found shortly afterwards. When Joey sees Chandler holding two bracelets, he gives one to Joey, repairing their friendship.
Ross continues to seek forgiveness from Rachel after inadvertantly insulting her in a previous episode, but she tells him that they as a couple will never happen. Phoebe thinks otherwise, however, calling Ross and Rachel lobsters. When she receives blank looks, she explains: "It's a known fact that lobsters fall in love and mate for life. You can actually see old lobster couples walking around their tank, holding claws." Jack and Judy Geller bring boxes of Monica's possessions to her apartment because they are turning her room into a gym. While looking through it, Monica finds a video of her and Rachel getting ready for their senior prom.
The friends decide to watch the video, although Ross objects to everyone seeing the tape. The video reveals that Monica was previously obese, and that Rachel had a large nose. Rachel seems to be stood up by her prom date,Chip Matthews, so after some persuading from Judy, Ross plans to take her to prom instead. He dresses up in a suit and finds a make-shift flower bouquet, but Rachel's date shows up before she learns of Ross' plans. The video ends with Ross looking disappointed and rejected. Rachel, touched by Ross's gesture, gets up and passionately kisses Ross, forgiving him for what happened between them.
[edit] Cast and Crew
[edit] 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
[edit] Supporting Cast
Elliott Gould - Jack Geller
Patrick Kerr - The Restaurant Manager
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
Michael Bower - Roy Gublik (as Michael Ray Bower)
Lou Thornton - Gail
Tim Bohn - Jonathan
[edit] Crew
Directed By:
James Burrows
Written By:
Alexa Junge
[edit] Production
The producers had kept Ross and Rachel from being together throughout the first season, eventually bringing them together in the second season episode "The One Where Ross Finds Out", only to split them up in the following episode. Writer Alexa Junge incorporated many of her own experiences into the script, in particular Phoebe's line about Ross and Rachel being "lobsters", something Junge's husband once said. Aniston wore a false nose for the scenes in the video while Cox wore a "fat suit". While a previous episode had already established Monica as being overweight as a child, this was the first on-screen appearance of "Fat Monica" (the fat suit made frequent return appearances). Rachel's large nose was added because Junge believed that the characters "were so good-looking, you wanted to feel they had some realness in their past".
At first, Schwimmer did not want to wear the afro wig and mustache because he thought he would look like Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back, Kotter (a similarity referenced in the episode). He relented because it enabled him to "tap into a part of himself that was very vulnerable and shy" and incorporate it into his performance. An early script draft featured a scene in the prom video in which an episode of All My Children is on in the background. The scene was intended to feature the character "Bryce", played by Gunther (as revealed in "The One Where Eddie Won't Go").
[edit] Reception
Entertainment Weekly rates the episode "A", welcoming the return of Burrows as director and calling the prom video "witty character development disguised as a standard flashback." The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends write that it is "a watershed in the history of the show" and "It's the sign of a good show that they can switch so effortlessly from comedy to pathos to romance in one short scene." Robert Bianco wrote in USA Today in 2004, "If any one outing can take credit for moving Friends from good to great, it's Prom Video" and describes the resolution as an "ingenious, unexpected twist."
The episode is popular among fans of the series. It appeared on one of the first region 1 "Best Of" DVD releases and is one of the two episodes to feature an audio commentary on the region 1 DVD release of the complete second season. In a poll conducted shortly before the series finale, "The One with the Prom Video" was voted the best episode of Friends, with 1.6 million people polling on the Internet. The episode is the favorite of Schwimmer, who liked the comedic and emotional origins of the Ross/Rachel relationship, as well as the exchange between Monica and Chandler as she defends her weight on the video.
[edit] =Trivia
- Acording to Matthew Perry, Courtney Cox was so well caracterized in the fat suit that he passed right through her without recognizing her.
[edit] Episode Navigation
| 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 After the Superbowl, Part 2" | Followed by "The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know" |
