Friends (season 2)
| Friends (season 2) | |
|---|---|
|
Friends season 2 DVD cover | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 21, 1995 – May 16, 1996 |
The second season of Friends, an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 21, 1995. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The season contains 24 episodes and concluded airing on May 16, 1996. TV Guide placed the season 31st on their list of 100 all-time greatest television seasons.
Season synopsis
The season begins with Rachel waiting at the airport to greet Ross to tell him about her feelings for him, only to discover that he has found a new girlfriend while he was away. In the first couple episodes of the season, Rachel attempts to tell Ross she likes him, mirroring his own failed attempts in the first season. She accidentally lets it slip out in a drunken voicemail message. When Ross finds out, he has a hard time choosing between Rachel and Julie, but ultimately decides to breakup with Julie. When Rachel finds a list of bad things that he wrote about her to help him decide between her and Julie, she is angry and refuses to talk to him. Eventually, an old prom video reveals that Ross had intended to take Rachel to the prom when her date was late. This makes Rachel forgive him and they begin a relationship.
In this season, Chandler and Joey's friendship deepens. This becomes especially apparent in the episodes in which Joey temporarily moves out after he gets a part in a fictionalized version of the soap opera Days of Our Lives. He loses the part soon after when he angers the writers by saying in an interview that he writes many of his own lines.
Tom Selleck begins a recurring guest role as Dr. Richard Burke, a friend of Monica and Ross's parents who is recently divorced. Although 21 years older than Monica, they date for the second half of the season. In the season finale, they end their relationship when they realize that he does not want any more children and she does. This is the only season (excluding the final season) of the entire series in which the season finale does not lead to the immediate beginning of the first episode of the following season.
Cast and characters
See also: List of Friends characters
- (In particular, Introduced in season 2 or Only in season 2)
Main cast
Recurring cast |
Guest stars
|
Episodes
See also: List of Friends episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "The One with Ross's New Girlfriend" | Michael Lembeck | Jeffrey Astrof & Mike Sikowitz | September 21, 1995 | 457301 | 32.1[1] |
| Rachel decides to tell Ross that she loves him and waits for him at the airport, not knowing he is returning with a new girlfriend named Julie (Lauren Tom) thanks to Chandler's advice. Chandler feels guilty because he told Rachel that Ross loves her after he had advised Ross to get over his feelings for her. Joey and Chandler get their hair cut by Phoebe, and Monica wants her hair cut too, but Phoebe gives her an awful haircut. Chandler needs a suit, so Joey takes him to his tailor, who touches Chandler inappropriately. Chandler tells Joey of this, but Joey insists that is how pants are measured. Ross annoys everyone by talking about Julie, and Rachel becomes so desperate and upset that she spends the night with her old lover, Paolo. | |||||||
| 26 | 2 | "The One with the Breast Milk" | Michael Lembeck | Adam Chase & Ira Ungerleider | September 28, 1995 | 457302 | 29.8[1] |
| The guys are uncomfortable with Carol breastfeeding Ben, and the situation is made worse by Joey and Phoebe tasting it. Rachel is uncomfortable with Monica's growing friendship with Julie. At his day job, Joey competes with a fellow cologne spritzer for the affection of a beautiful colleague (Emily Procter). | |||||||
| 27 | 3 | "The One Where Heckles Dies" | Kevin S. Bright | Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins | October 5, 1995 | 457303 | 30.2[1] |
| Chandler refuses a date with a woman from work, claiming that it is because her nostrils are too big, but truthfully he is trying to escape a potentially serious relationship. When Rachel and Monica's downstairs neighbour Mr. Heckles dies and leaves all his belongings to Monica and Rachel, Chandler discovers eerie similarities between his life and the life of Heckles. Not wanting to end up alone like Heckles did, he calls Janice in hopes to rekindle their relationship, only to learn that she is married with a baby on the way. Ross and Phoebe have a dispute over the progression of evolution when Phoebe says it's "Too Easy". | |||||||
| 28 | 4 | "The One with Phoebe's Husband" | Gail Mancuso | Alexa Junge | October 12, 1995 | 457305 | 28.1[1] |
| The gang is amazed to learn that Phoebe married a gay Canadian ice dancer Duncan (Steve Zahn) to help him get his green card. Phoebe thinks that she still cares for him, but then he shows up asking for a divorce as he lied to himself about being gay and wants to marry someone else. Interesting facts are revealed about the others, too: Joey starred in a porn film and Chandler has a third nipple. Ross seeks relationship advice from Rachel after revealing that he and Julie have yet to consummate their relationship. Rachel, because she still loves Ross, gives him bad advice, hoping that he and Julie will break up as a result. Unfortunately for Rachel, Joey also gives Ross advice. | |||||||
| 29 | 5 | "The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant" | Ellen Gittelsohn | Chris Brown | October 19, 1995 | 457304 | 28.3[1] |
| When a sexy woman calls the wrong number, Chandler seeks to make the most of the situation. Income issues divide the friends: the well-off Ross, Chandler and Monica versus the not-so-well-off Phoebe, Rachel and Joey. Monica loses her job after accepting "gifts" from her restaurant's meat supplier. | |||||||
| 30 | 6 | "The One with the Baby on the Bus" | Gail Mancuso | Betsy Borns | November 2, 1995 | 457306 | 30.2[1] |
|
When Ross has an allergic reaction to Monica's kiwi-lime pie, Chandler and Joey are asked to baby-sit Ross's son, Ben. While using Ben to help them try to pick up girls, they accidentally leave him on a bus. Although they later locate him, they are not sure the baby is really Ben. Phoebe loses her Central Perk singing gig to a professional singer (Chrissie Hynde), and she becomes a street singer in front of the café. Lea Thompson from Caroline in the City makes an appearance, not as her character Caroline but as a woman with a gay brother interested in where Joey and Chandler adopted Ben. Also, Giovanni Ribisi, who in later episodes portrays Frank Buffay Jr., appears in this episode as a stranger who dropped a condom in Phoebe's guitar case and comes back to get it for "an emergency." The personality of this character is rather similar to Frank Jr's; though not confirmed, they are possibly the same person. Catherine Bell also appears as Robin, one of the girls in the bus. | |||||||
| 31 | 7 | "The One Where Ross Finds Out" | Peter Bonerz | Michael Borkow | November 9, 1995 | 457307 | 30.5[1] |
| A drunken Rachel is persuaded to call Ross and reveals her feelings for him on his answering machine. When he finds out, he must make the choice between her and Julie. Meanwhile, Monica finds work as Chandler's personal trainer and Phoebe has a hard time trying to get her boyfriend to have sex with her. She seeks Joey's advice. Ross and Rachel argue, and Ross says that he is not leaving Julie. At the end of the episode Ross and Rachel kiss. | |||||||
| 32 | 8 | "The One with the List" | Mary Kay Place | David Crane & Marta Kauffman | November 16, 1995 | 457308 | 32.9[1] |
| Ross is still compelled to make a choice between his childhood crush Rachel and his current lover Julie, and enlists Joey and Chandler's help in making a list of the pros and cons of each. He chooses Rachel, but she finds the list and gets angry with Ross. Meanwhile, Monica gets a job making food with a disgusting synthetic chocolate substitute called Mockolate. | |||||||
| 33 | 9 | "The One with Phoebe's Dad" | Kevin S. Bright | Jeffrey Astrof & Mike Sikowitz | December 14, 1995 | 457309 | 27.8[1] |
| It's Christmas time and Monica tries tipping with cookies, rather than cash, with mixed results. Phoebe learns that the guy in the pictures her grandmother keeps around is not her father but the Macy's photo frame model. She tries to track down her real father, but in the end she feels that she is not ready to meet him. Chandler and Joey wait too late to shop for presents, and are forced to buy gifts from a gas station. Ross asks Rachel to make a list about him, but he is offended when she calls him obsessive. | |||||||
| 34 | 10 | "The One with Russ" | Thomas Schlamme | Ira Ungerleider | January 4, 1996 | 457311 | 32.2[1] |
| Monica gets back together with Fun Bobby, who has a drinking problem. She successfully helps him give up drinking, but then he is unhappy and not fun anymore. Joey gets chosen to play the role of Dr. Drake Ramoray, a neurosurgeon on Days of Our Lives after he sleeps with the casting lady. Rachel begins dating a guy named Russ, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ross (both roles were played by David Schwimmer, yet Russ is credited as being played by "Snaro", a pseudonym of Schwimmer's and a tribute to a friend). Eventually, Rachel dumps Russ, telling him he reminds her of someone, though she doesn't tell him about his resemblance to Ross. In the end, Russ and Julie (Lauren Tom) hook up. | |||||||
| 35 | 11 | "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" | Thomas Schlamme | Doty Abrams | January 18, 1996 | 457312 | 31.6[1] |
| Carol and Susan get married, providing Monica with a job: catering the wedding. Phoebe is possessed by the spirit of an eighty-two-year-old massage client who dies in the middle of a session. Rachel's mother (Marlo Thomas) comes to visit and announces that she has decided to divorce her husband, Rachel's father. | |||||||
| 36 37 | 12 13 | "The One After the Superbowl" | Michael Lembeck | Jeffrey Astrof & Mike Sikowitz Michael Borkow | January 28, 1996[lower-alpha 1] | 457313 457314 | 52.9[1] |
|
Ross goes to visit Marcel while on a trip to California, and finds that the monkey is working in commercials. Joey gets his first fan letter and ends up dating the woman (Brooke Shields) who sent it. She turns out to be a mentally ill stalker who thinks that the happenings on Days of Our Lives are real. Phoebe is asked by a man (Chris Isaak) to sing for the children at a library, but their parents are horrified by her morbid lyrics. However, the kids like the songs and come to the café to listen to her. Rachel and Monica compete for the affections of Jean-Claude Van Damme after meeting him on a movie set. Chandler meets a former schoolmate (Julia Roberts), a makeup artist, who seems to be attracted to him but it turns out that Chandler once embarrassed her and she just wants to get revenge. An excited Joey gets a role as an extra in the movie, and Ross and Marcel go on a whirlwind tour of the city. | |||||||
| 38 | 14 | "The One with the Prom Video" | James Burrows | Alexa Junge | February 1, 1996 | 457310 | 33.6[1] |
|
After getting his big break with Days of Our Lives, Joey pays Chandler back with $812 and an extremely tacky engraved gold bracelet. Also, an unemployed Monica is hard up for money. A home video from Monica and Rachel's prom night reveals that Monica was previously overweight, and that Rachel had a large nose. Rachel seemed to have been stood up by her prom date, so Ross puts on his father's tuxedo to take her to prom himself, but Rachel's date shows up and they leave before she learns of Ross's plans. The video then shows a speechless and devastated Ross standing at the top of the stairs. The candor of Ross's heartbreak compels Rachel to kiss Ross. In 1997, TV Guide ranked this episode at the bottom of its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.[2] | |||||||
| 39 | 15 | "The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know" | Michael Lembeck | Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins | February 8, 1996 | 457315 | 32.9[1] |
|
Joey buys a big screen TV and two leather recliners with his newfound money, resulting in him and Chandler spending two days watching TV and never getting out of the chairs. Monica has a catering job for an ophthalmologist and a friend of her parents, the attractive Dr. Richard Burke (Tom Selleck), and later they go on a date. Ross and Rachel attempt to have their first real date, but it's difficult for Rachel to overcome their long friendship. As they tried to schedule another date, Ross has an emergency at the museum and ends up having sex with Rachel for the first time. The episode introduces Tom Selleck in a recurring guest role that led to an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2000. | |||||||
| 40 | 16 | "The One Where Joey Moves Out" | Michael Lembeck | Betsy Borns | February 15, 1996 | 457316 | 31.1[1] |
| Joey thinks he needs to move out of Chandler's apartment and wants to get a new one to 'give him time to think'. Monica struggles to tell her parents about her relationship with Richard. Rachel and Phoebe want to get a tattoo. Phoebe chickens out and Rachel gets a heart. | |||||||
| 41 | 17 | "The One Where Eddie Moves In" | Michael Lembeck | Adam Chase | February 22, 1996 | 457317 | 30.2[1] |
| Phoebe is discovered by a record producer who wants to make her song "Smelly Cat" a video, but who secretly dubs in the voice of a more talented (but less attractive) woman. Ross's new relationship with Rachel makes Monica feel like she's living with her brother again... and she hates it. Joey is finding living alone is not really for him, and wants to move back in with Chandler. However Chandler, having been led to believe Joey wouldn't want to come back, already has a new roommate Eddie. However Chandler finds that he doesn't really click with Eddie (who won't play foosball and doesn't like Baywatch) as well as he did with Joey, and quickly begins to miss Joey too. | |||||||
| 42 | 18 | "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" | Michael Lembeck | Story: Alexa Junge Teleplay: Michael Borkow | March 21, 1996 | 457318 | 30.1[1] |
| Joey's good fortune comes crashing down when he foolishly claims in an interview that he writes his own lines, leading to his character falling down an elevator shaft. Phoebe helps Chandler bond with his new roommate...to Chandler's horror. And sexual history dominates the discussion between two couples—Monica and Richard, and Ross and Rachel. | |||||||
| 43 | 19 | "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" | Michael Lembeck | Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins | March 28, 1996 | 457319 | 31.2[1] |
| Creeped out by his bizarre new roommate, Eddie, Chandler demands that he move out. Eddie agrees, but doesn't move out — nor does he even remember the conversation, as he is obviously mentally ill, imagining he and Chandler took a trip to Las Vegas and believing it to have really happened. Joey has trouble coming to grips with the death of Dr. Ramoray and the accompanying change in his lifestyle. And a new book on empowerment for women inspires the female friends to have a "goddess meeting." Joey moves back in with Chandler, they kick out Eddie (by convincing him he never lived there in the first place) and they make up with each other. | |||||||
| 44 | 20 | "The One Where Old Yeller Dies" | Michael Lembeck | Story: Michael Curtis & Gregory S. Malins Teleplay: Adam Chase | April 4, 1996 | 457320 | 27.4[1] |
| Phoebe's world view is shattered when she learns how Old Yeller really ends. She watches all the films her mother didn't let her watch and becomes depressed. Monica becomes jealous when Richard begins hanging out with other people: namely, Joey and Chandler. However, this is short lived as Joey and Chandler confess to thinking of Richard as a fatherly figure, when Richard was under the impression that they were just buddies. Rachel becomes stressed out when she learns that Ross has planned their whole life together. | |||||||
| 45 | 21 | "The One with the Bullies" | Michael Lembeck | Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones | April 25, 1996 | 457321 | 24.7[1] |
| Chandler and Ross run into two bullies at the coffee shop, one of whom steals Chandler's hat. Monica, down to her last few dollars of savings, plays the stock market based solely on the ticker symbols to avoid taking a job at a tacky 1950s themed diner. Phoebe makes multiple attempts to visit her birth father, but instead she meets her half-brother, Frank Buffay Jr., and learns that her father hasn't been home for four years. Monica eventually loses her savings due to her unwise investments, and is forced to work at the Moondance Diner, dressed in a ridiculous costume and dancing on the counter to songs by The Village People. | |||||||
| 46 | 22 | "The One with the Two Parties" | Michael Lembeck | Alexa Junge | May 2, 1996 | 457322 | 25.5[1] |
| Rachel's birthday is coming up, and Monica is planning a classy party for her and it is decided not to invite her father as her mother Sandra is already coming and the two are at a point in their divorce when they can't stand to be in the same room as each other. However, when Rachel's dad turns up unexpectedly, another impromptu party is set up at Chandler and Joey's for Dr. Green to attend to keep him away from his estranged wife. Things quickly start to go wrong when Sandra worries after seeing Ross fetching things for Dr. Green and believes her daughter is dating a man who reminds her of her father, while the guests at Monica's party quickly tire of the host sucking the fun out of the event with her dull games and strict rules and begin fleeing to Joey and Chandler's more laidback party instead. In the end, despite a few close calls, the six successfully manage to get the couple out of both parties without bumping into each other. | |||||||
| 47 | 23 | "The One with the Chicken Pox" | Michael Lembeck | Brown Mandell | May 9, 1996 | 457324 | 26.1[1] |
| Phoebe catches chicken pox just as her old flame Ryan (Charlie Sheen) arrives in town on leave from the Navy. Even though he hasn't yet had chicken pox, he can't stand to be apart and they both spend the rest of the time sick and trying to not scratch at the sores. Joey gets a job at Chandler's office but decides to play it as a role. The character he creates, Joseph, has a wife and kids and ultimately blames Chandler for his own screw ups. Monica is upset that Richard doesn't have a "thing": an unexplainable quirk. He eventually comes up with one to ease her mind. | |||||||
| 48 | 24 | "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" | Michael Lembeck | Story: Ira Ungerleider Teleplay: Brown Mandell | May 16, 1996 | 457323 | 29.0[1] |
| Rachel agrees to be maid of honor at her ex-fiancé's wedding, but a fashion faux pas focuses attention away from the bride. To get a role in Warren Beatty's new movie, Joey needs to practice kissing guys. Monica ponders her future with Richard and Chandler falls for a mystery woman on the Internet who turns out to be his ex-girlfriend, Janice. Richard doesn't want to have children, but Monica does, so she breaks up with him. | |||||||
Ratings
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Episode | Air date | Time slot (EST) | Rating/Share (18–49) | Viewers (m) | Weekly Rank |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "The One with Ross's Girlfriend" | September 21, 1995 | Thursdays 8:00 p.m. |
20.5/33 | 32.1 | 3 | [3] |
| 26 | 2 | "The One with the Breast Milk" | September 28, 1995 | 19.3/31 | 29.8 | 4 | ||
| 27 | 3 | "The One Where Heckles Dies" | October 5, 1995 | 19.8/31 | 30.2 | 3 | ||
| 28 | 4 | "The One with Pheobe's Husband" | October 12, 1995 | 19.3/31 | 28.1 | 3 | ||
| 29 | 5 | "The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant" | October 19, 1995 | 18.6/30 | 28.3 | 4 | ||
| 30 | 6 | "The One with the Baby on the Bus" | November 2, 1995 | 19.7/30 | 30.2 | 3 | ||
| 31 | 7 | "The One Where Ross Finds Out" | November 9, 1995 | 19.6/31 | 30.5 | 4 | ||
| 32 | 8 | "The One with the List" | November 16, 1995 | 21.1/33 | 32.9 | 3 | ||
| 33 | 9 | "The One with Pheobe's Dad" | December 14, 1995 | 18.8/30 | 27.8 | 3 | ||
| 34 | 10 | "The One with Russ" | January 4, 1996 | 21.0/31 | 32.2 | 3 | ||
| 35 | 11 | "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" | January 11, 1996 | 20.8/31 | 31.6 | 1 | ||
| 36 | 12 | "The One After the Superbowl" | January 28, 1996 | Sunday 10:13 p.m. | 29.6/46 | 52.9 | 4 | |
| 37 | 13 | |||||||
| 38 | 14 | "The One with the Prom Video" | February 1, 1996 | Thursdays 8:00 p.m. |
21.7/32 | 33.6 | 3 | |
| 39 | 15 | "The One Where Ross and Rachel... You Know" | February 8, 1996 | 21.7/33 | 32.9 | 3 | ||
| 40 | 16 | "The One Where Joey Moves Out" | February 15, 1996 | 21.1/33 | 31.1 | 3 | ||
| 41 | 17 | "The One Where Eddie Moves In" | February 22, 1996 | 20.0/31 | 30.2 | 3 | ||
| 42 | 18 | "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" | March 21, 1996 | 19.9/21 | 30.1 | 1 | ||
| 43 | 19 | "The One Where Eddie Won't Go" | March 28, 1996 | 20.0/32 | 31.2 | 4 | ||
| 44 | 20 | "The One Where Old Yeller Dies" | April 4, 1996 | 18.4/31 | 27.4 | 4 | ||
| 46 | 21 | "The One with the Bullies" | April 26, 1996 | 16.6/30 | 24.7 | 5 | ||
| 46 | 22 | "The One with Two Parties" | May 2, 1996 | 18.0/33 | 25.5 | 4 | ||
| 47 | 23 | "The One with the Chicken Pox" | May 9, 1996 | 18.1/33 | 26.1 | 3 | ||
| 48 | 24 | "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" | May 16, 1996 | 19.1/34 | 29.0 | 4 | ||
Awards and Nominations
- Nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series
- Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Marlo Thomas) (Episode: "The One with the Lesbian Wedding")
- Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Michael Lembeck) (Episode: "The One After the Superbowl")
- Nomination for Best Comedy Series
- Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie (Lisa Kudrow)
2nd Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (Lisa Kudrow)
- Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Regular Cast)
Notes
- ↑ These episodes originally aired as a single double-length episode but are sometimes split into two episodes for syndication, reruns and DVD presentation.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "Friends Nielsen Ratings Archive - Season Two". Newmusicandmore.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
- ↑ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997.
- ↑ "Nielsen Ratings". http://newmusicandmore.tripod.com/. Retrieved November 1, 2016. External link in
|website=(help)
External links
- List of Friends episodes at the Internet Movie Database
- Friends: Season 2 at Rotten Tomatoes
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.