Thursday, July 21, 2011

Retro Review #21: Friends Season Two


After the stellar success of their first season, the guys were back for more in the second season of the mega hit sitcom. Ross and Rachel, Chandler and Monica and Joey and Phoebe bounced right back into our lounge rooms for another 24 half hours. Gone was Ross's monkey and along came his son, Ben, born in the second to last episode in season 1. A few other things would happen this season that would reverberate throughout the rest of the series.

Things were mirrored for Rachel and Ross this year as Rachel tried to find a way to tell Ross how she now felt about him. But Ross came back from China with his new girlfriend, Julie. Oooh, fuck.

Joey landed a role on DOOL. Days of Our Lives.

Chandler got a new room mate, Eddie.

Phoebe divorces her not gay, Canadian, ice dancer husband.

Monica dates Richard with the wonderful mo.

Ross and Rachel resolve their shit and start the romance that would become the backbone of the show and referenced in just about goddamn everything.

They also had some extraordinary guest stars.

Witty barbs about JCVD's acting aside, there was a lot of talent on display in season 2, and a lot in just that episode pictured above. "The One After the Superbowl" itself had an arseload of people appear. It would become the highest rated episode of the series and stay that way with Brooke Shields, Chris Isaak, Fred Willard, Dan Cast-- Homer's voice, Julia Roberts and Jean Claude Van Damme as himself all on screen at some point during the two-parter. Marcel, Ross's stupid dumb monkey also plays a significant part in the episode.

And Chandler gets stuck in panties.

Friends never looked back after this year and this is the year it shoved itself into pop culture, never to fall out. They went on Oprah and shit, did Got Milk? ads, chicks started doing their hair like Rachel, and they were lampooned by Mad Magazine. Now that is a sure sign that you've made it. Charlie Sheen even dropped by, not mental. He played a Navy Seaman, sometime boyfriend of Phoebe.

Anyway, saying this is one of my favourite seasons is stupid, I love them all. But this season introduced Ross and his Welcome Back Kotter look, so it gets points for that.


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