First time watching FRIENDS (1994) | S1 Ep: 15 & 16 | reaction/commentary/review

[@icedquokka]

Patreon is 10 episodes AHEAD of youtube, the Season 1 finale is already up! inclueding a season 1 review :) check it out if you're interested 👉 www.patreon.com/IcedQuokka

[@pinkylittleme]

'was it less socially acceptable to be gay in the nineties?' Girl what do you mean😭😭😭 Anyone else felt a million years old when she said that lol?

[@shmick6079]

Well.. it kind of was when you think about it.

[@Heida77]

@@shmick6079 I think the OP just means that she's so young she doesn't know/remember a time where it wasn't as socially acceptable.

[@ninodino444]

@@shmick6079 wooooooooossshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[@chrisl7962]

@@shmick6079I think that’s the point being made….

[@havok6280]

Lisa Kudrow was on a show called Mad About You before Friends. Ursula is her Mad About You character. The two women who recognized her in the coffee shop were also from that show. Helen Hunt was pretty famous in the 90s.

[@33-vertebrae]

I thought it was her real life twin that played on there.

[@havok6280]

​@33-vertebrae she doesn't have a real life twin...

[@rahulnegi3263]

Did lisa kudrow left that show after she got role in friends?

[@Christina_Paz]

I'm also pretty sure this was during a string of crossovers they did between other shows on NBC at the time. I believe Mad About You had a crossover with Seinfeld as well.

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

It’s kind of silly they expect Ursula to be working in Central Perk too just because she works as a waitress in other place

[@sagnuz]

27:10 so, those 2 characters are from the sitcom Mad About You. Lisa Kudrow, aka phoebe, had a reoccurring role on that show where she played a waitress named Ursula. Since both shows were on the same network, they decide to make a little crossover as a joke

[@beardedgeek973]

If I remember correctly Mad About You, Caroline In the City, Friends and Seinfield all share universe and has various crossovers.

[@dupersuper1938]

@@beardedgeek973 Also Single Guy and later Joey.

[@MyBlackandRedCZ]

Really? 😮 It would’ve been so fun to see Elaine interacting with Rachael, Phoebe and Monica! 😃

[@baron7755]

@@dupersuper1938really, Single Guy too?

[@dupersuper1938]

@@baron7755 Yup.

[@noone_9999]

For context, Friends was one of the first shows to showcase same sex couples in a positive light. Some of it didnt age well but that’s because we have progressed as a society 😎

[@shmick6079]

It’s aged just fine - it’s honest and is a pretty good reflection of society at the time.

[@christina9841]

Love your reactions and Merry Christmas!! ❤ I'm at point 22:06... I think the reason Ross was having a hard time saying those words is because he is still in love with Carol and she's carrying his baby and basically his dreams have shattered.. he is just having a hard time accepting it and if he says it, it becomes more real and he's struggling with that, it hurts that he isn't the one raising the baby or going home with his ex-wife... you will see how much he comes to love Rachel too, but almost tries to bury it in his heart.

[@xayzer]

Your FRIENDS reactions are always a treat!

[@icedquokka]

Thank you so much!! Your support means the world to me 😊🤍

[@Henchman_Holding_Wrench]

I went through the whole career counselling sessions, the tests, "don't want to be stuck in a cubicle" thing. I still don't really have a dream. I still think seeing episode 15 as a kid put the fear of cubicle data life in me. Last girl I saw was a very Phoebe-like girl. The whimsy, colorful outfits, keeps a ukulele in her car. It was fun. Like a comedy duo dynamic, but only trying to make each other laugh.

[@mojoshivers]

I think Lisa Kudrow’s big break was playing Ursula as a recurring character on Mad About You. They would give her maybe two or three lines per episode, but she made such a good impression being the super ditzy waitress despite not even being a regular on the show. I’m convinced it get her name mention when it came time to cast for Phoebe. And since she didn’t just want to abandon Mad About You she would still pop in once or twice a season on that show while working on Friends.

[@nitrokid]

Yes, the ditzy waitress character Ursula first appeared in Mad About You. The 2 guest stars cameo in Central Perk was Jamie and Fran, the characters from Mad About You.

[@TheBloobster]

Fun fact: She becomes the Governor of New York in the finale of Mad About You its kinda a shame they never had a throwaway joke about that at some point

[@argantyr5154]

Yes you should know, Helen hunt. She have won two Oscars 1 for "As Good as it gets" for best leading actress (also starring Jack Nicholson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich), and 1 as Actress in a Supporting Role for "nominee". And 2 Golden Globes & 2 Emmys. She is of course quite young here since its around 30 years ago, so its understandable you can't recognize her.

[@vanhouten7377]

Don't forget to mention Twister

[@dudieb]

Helen Hunt, one of the woman that came into the coffee shop, was in the original Twister movie. You were more likely to have seen her in that than the series Mad About You in which Lisa Kudrow played Ursula.

[@GamesBandicoot4]

Merry Christmas Quokka!

[@icedquokka]

Merry Christmas bandicoot!! 😊☃️🤶🏻🎄🤍

[@js0988]

God I love John Lovitz, he is so freaking funny!

[@pauljmorton]

As a 90s kid, I have the deepest nostalgia for 90s computer tech, and because of Friends, I have an insatiable infatuation with 90s New York City. So if had the chance to move to that decade to Manhattan and have Chandler's job - but with the same set of employee's rights as I have here in Finland - I'd take it and never rue it. I love Chandler and relate to him in many aspects, but I incapable of relating to his dislike of his job.

[@tonismith3707]

They girl that plays Nina is Cary Grant's and Dyan Cannon's daughter. In case your not familiar it Cary, he was a big star during Hollywood's golden age.😊

[@andreasolis85]

Did not know thank you!

[@MyBlackandRedCZ]

27:11 At first I thought they were Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart!

[@drcl7429]

I wonder if you will remember Steve in another 193 episodes ' time.

[@Kerenscardi]

merry christmas:)

[@icedquokka]

Merry Christmas!! ☃️🤶🏻🎄🤍

[@samuelterry6354]

Having a same sex couple in a mainstream sitcom was pushing the boundary for the time.

[@havok6280]

Not really. Seinfeld had a lesbian storyline a year earlier. Shows like Three's Company and Taxi had gay storylines in the 80s. There was even an episode of Archie Bunker's Place in 1980 where Archie (Carroll O'Connor) sets gay waiter Fred (Dean Scofield) up with a woman to try to straighten him out.

[@Barrikade6971]

A wedding with a coparenting relationship with the father was largely progressive; especially to a one-off character.

[@erikawilliams9558]

It was still pretty unusual at the time

[@adnap]

IQ, have you considered the possibility of doing a three-episode reaction on occasions where the season finale falls consecutively after the usual two episode format? Just an idea.🤔

[@icedquokka]

Yep think I’ll end up doing that if it comes to it! Would rather a long video than a short one haha

[@adnap]

@ I think it will be a nice treat. A small reward for the fans, and your followers. Awesome!

[@argantyr5154]

Lesbians were acceptables in the 90s, but two gay men were a bit different (at least in Denmark). also if two women shared an apartment (while studying or similar), no one would think twice about, but if two men shared an appartment some of the older generations (their grandparents generations) looked an extra time.

[@Heida77]

Agree on the roommate thing but, while maybe they were more acceptable than gay men, there was still a huge stigma surrounding it. That or it just wasn't taken as seriously because, generally, women are more emotional than men (because society has taught us to behave that way) and if there was anything sexual/romantic going on it was labelled as "experimenting".

[@Heida77]

Chandler did the right thing by taking the job because at least he's doing something and getting paid, but if I were him I would keep trying to figure out what I wanna do in the meantime. As for Monica's situation, I also think she did the right thing. You should put up with someone coming to your house stoned and is disrespectful & rude, especially if they might become your boss. I wouldn't wanna work for someone like that and I think she was VERY patient with him. Jon Lovitz, the actor, is hilarious though! And that dirty talk scene with Ross, Joey and Chandler is one of the funniest scenes in the whole show 🤣 In the mid 90s people's attitude towards gay/lesbian people were VERY different yes. It was right after the AIDS crisis in the 80s, where people thought they contracted it just by being in the same room as a gay person. That's why, despite its faults, this storyline was pretty progressive at the time. Gay marriage wasn't even legalised in New York until 2011, 16 years after this aired. Fun facts: Melora Hardin, who plays Celia, was in 17 Again with Zac Efron and Matthew Perry (which I recommend if you haven't seen). Nina is played by Jennifer Grant, daughter of legendary actor Cary Grant. Btw no kidding, I've left the Christmas lights up until March/April a few times lol

[@jonetndgha2747]

Welcome back

[@Logan_Baron]

Lesbians were pretty much accepted back then. It's more about the whole situation of father, mother, and mother's lesbian life partner that was more awkward for Ross.

[@Heida77]

Maybe they were more acceptable than gay men, but there was still a huge stigma surrounding it. That or it just wasn't taken as seriously because, generally, women are more emotional than men (because society has taught us to behave that way) and if there was anything sexual/romantic going on it was labelled as "experimenting".

[@baron7755]

Oh no…you weren’t alive in the 90?!?!?

[@ninadganore]

The lesbian stigma was huge at that time.

[@havok6280]

Was it? Basic Instinct came out 2 years earlier. Seinfeld has lesbian storylines. Ellen came out of the closet a few years later...

[@Dragoncurse4]

@@havok6280 Don't forget there was Will and Grace which was huge. Though that was more about gay guys then lesbian women. Though I think the point still stands for that.

[@MarkG-nl4oq]

There’s never been a stigma

[@ninadganore]

@@havok6280 all of that was coming from the entertainment industry, which definitely helped reduce the stigma. On the ground people take time to adjust.

[@Heida77]

@@havok6280 Just because there were a few exceptions to the rule doesn't mean it wasn't still stigmatised. I can't speak for the other two examples but Ellen coming out was a huge controversy at the time.

[@zhulimoon46]

Heyooo