10 Friends Episodes That Haven't Aged Well

Friends has timeless appeal as a perfectly cast ensemble sitcom, but there are a handful of episodes that haven’t aged well. The enduring popularity of Friends is pretty spectacular. More than 30 years after it first premiered, Friends is still one of the most-streamed shows in the world. It was a juggernaut when it was on the air, and it’s a juggernaut now.

But, while the cast’s electric on-screen chemistry is aging gracefully, every now and then, Friends plants itself firmly in the cultural milieu of the ‘90s and reminds you you’re watching a 30-year-old show. Whether it’s Ross forbidding his son from playing with a Barbie doll or Chandler’s dad being made the butt of constant transphobic and homophobic jokes, Friends shows its age in a few unfortunate episodes.

The One With The Rumor

Season 8, Episode 9

The season 8 episode “The One with the Rumor” is most notable for Brad Pitt’s guest appearance. Pitt proved to be one of Friends’ all-time greatest guest stars, playing against type as a petty, arrogant former high school loser seeking revenge on the popular kids. He’s hilarious in the role, but the episode itself has some insensitive humor.

As with any episode dealing with Ross and Monica’s childhood, “The One with the Rumor” takes a lot of cheap shots at Monica’s weight. A lot of the gags in this episode rely on fat-shaming Monica, and it’s just uncomfortable to watch now.

The One Where Ross Dates A Student

Season 6, Episode 18

The problem with this one is right there in the title. In season 6’s “The One Where Ross Dates a Student,” Ross learns that one of his students has a crush on him, and instead of just feeling flattered and moving on, he decides to start dating her. He justifies the age gap and the power imbalance with the weak excuse that they hit it off.

This relationship lasted a full five episodes, and it only got worse and worse. Ross even threatened to blackmail Elizabeth’s dad when he threatened to expose the relationship — and somehow, Ross is presented as the hero in that situation.

The One Where Eddie Won't Go

Season 2, Episode 19

In season 2, when Joey briefly moves out, Chandler gets a new roommate: Eddie, played by Dazed and Confused’s Adam Goldberg. Eddie clearly suffers from serious mental health issues, which are, of course, played for laughs. When Chandler wants Eddie to move out, he takes advantage of his mental illness to convince him that they were never roommates in the first place.

At the time, this was framed as a creative solution to a comic situation. But now, it just comes off as a prime example of gaslighting. The word “gaslighting” gets thrown around a lot these days, often incorrectly, but this is textbook gaslighting. It’s a really cruel thing to do to someone who already struggles to distinguish reality from their own delusions.

Season 3, Episode 4

There are a few different story threads in “The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel,” but the most notable (and problematic) one involves Ross’ son Ben. Ross was never shown to be a particularly good father; he dipped in and out of Ben’s life, and when he was around, he just projected his very rigid view of masculinity and gender roles onto his son.

In this season 3 episode, Ross won’t let Ben play with a Barbie doll. It’s his favorite toy, but Ross is determined to steer him toward something else. He keeps trying to force Ben to play with more traditionally masculine toys like G.I. Joe.

The One With Rachel's Assistant

Season 7, Episode 4

In season 7, Rachel gets the chance to hire an assistant and, out of all the potential candidates, she chooses Tag, just because he’s handsome. She even makes him pose for Polaroids during his interview, and spreads a rumor that he’s gay so the other women in the office will back off. Imagine all this the other way around.

Rachel promises Phoebe that her relationship with Tag will be strictly professional, but she instantly starts pursuing him romantically. The show treats this as a setup for a sweeping romance, but in a post-#MeToo era, it’s clear that it’s completely inappropriate, so the only people laughing are the studio audience.

The One With The Dozen Lasagnas

Season 1, Episode 12

In addition to being a freelance coffee shop singer, Phoebe is also a professional masseuse. That field is rife with sexual harassment, and Friends did address that in the season 1 episode “The One with the Dozen Lasagnas.” When Phoebe gives Rachel’s boyfriend Paolo a massage, he gropes her and exposes himself to her.

But the conflict is how Phoebe will break the news to Rachel, not that she was sexually harassed at work. The episode frames this incident more as a mere uncomfortable situation than a serious violation. Rachel’s boyfriend assaulting Phoebe is shown to be Rachel’s trauma, not Phoebe’s.

The One With Ross And Monica's Cousin

Season 7, Episode 19

The season 7 episode “The One with Ross and Monica’s Cousin” is just icky. When Ross and Monica’s beautiful cousin Cassie, played by guest star Denise Richards, comes to visit them in New York, Ross spends the whole episode fawning over her and trying to sleep with her. There’s a pattern on this list: a lot of these episodes are uncomfortable to watch because of Ross being a creep.

Cassie is appropriately horrified when she finds out Ross is attracted to her, but just the fact that this was a storyline that made it through the writers’ room, the network approvals, the table read, and the taping is pretty disturbing. A lot of people had to sign off on this, and apparently, they all did.

The One With The Ick Factor

Season 1, Episode 22

The fact that this episode is called “The One with the Ick Factor” seems to suggest that the writers knew they were dealing with icky subject matter. The episode sees Monica entering a romantic relationship built on lies, and unwittingly becoming a sex offender.

Monica meets a young man that she thinks is a college senior, tells him she’s 22 even though she’s 26, and sleeps with him. Then, it turns out he’s a senior in high school, not college, so he’s only 17. If Friends was more realistic, not only would Monica’s apartment be a lot smaller; she’d be a registered sex offender.

The One With The Male Nanny

Season 9, Episode 6

Season 9’s “The One with the Male Nanny” has an absurdly antiquated view of gender roles. Rachel hires a male nanny named Sandy, played brilliantly by guest star Freddie Prinze, Jr., and Ross spends the whole episode questioning his qualifications and making fun of him for being kind and caring and sensitive.

To be fair, the episode makes it clear that Ross’ view is ridiculous, and he’s the only one who has an issue with the nanny being a man. About a decade later, Modern Family had its own male nanny storyline, and it was much more progressive. Jay and Manny protested Gloria hiring Andy because he was forcing them to eat well and exercise, not because he was a man.

The One With Chandler's Dad

Season 7, Episode 22

In the season 7 episode “The One with Chandler’s Dad,” we were introduced to Chandler’s biological father, a drag queen who goes by the iconic stage name Helena Handbasket. Chandler’s dad is portrayed as a transgender woman, but she’s played by cisgender Kathleen Turner, and the way the character is treated on-screen is even worse.

She’s constantly being misgendered with he/him pronouns, her gender identity isn’t taken seriously by anyone, and she’s constantly made the butt of homophobic and transphobic comments — particularly by her own ex-wife. It was pretty revolutionary for Friends to include a trans character at all, but the actual representation is at rock bottom.