I'm watching them all from the beginning again (it's been 10 years since I last saw it) and the most realistic scene/situation I've seen so far is Season 2, Episode 5 (Four steaks and an Eggplant) where Rachel, Joey, and Phoebe have to confess to the other three that "Hey, we don't have as much money as you do. Going out 'someplace nice' is difficult for us." It's so awkward and painful and not-funny... but it's realistic.
sharePoor Pheebs...cold mush soup, Rachel with her side salad and Joey and his teeny tiny PIZZA!
It's definitely a storyline that rings true, and keeps doing so through your life. Whether you're the one who can't afford it, or the friend with the cash, it's an awkward part of friendship.
shareIt was an uncomfortable scene from the start because it was clear that even though Chandler, Monica, and Ross knew that the other three were not doing very well financially, they didn't think about it with the choice of restaurant nor when they were trying to split the bill evenly.
Ross even seemed a bit confused over the objection to splitting the bill evenly at first, and looked at Rachel, Joey, and Phoebe like they were being unreasonable.
Was it a normal thing for them to all go out and split the bill?
It's strange that this situation came up out of nowhere after years and never came up again even though I'm sure they went out again as a group at some point.
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I thought so too, and even though it was a celebration for Monica (so maybe they did things differently for celebratory events) it was still obvious that someone who ordered a side salad and water shouldn't pay what someone who ordered a full entree would pay unless everyone had discussed and agreed before hand.
shareMaybe it never came up, because after this argument, it put things out in the open.
Also the three 'poor' friends all seemed to have more career success in later years, so to some extent the Friends may have been on a more even footing financially.
It never really came up before that episode either. Normally they just either sit at the coffee house or sit in their homes with pizza and beer. Not expensive.
shareWe did normally see them at the coffee house or home, so there were not a lot of opportunities to observe spending habits.
We do know in the beginning of the series, Rachel is having to support herself for the first time as a server, Joey is a struggling actor who gets most of his money from Chandler, and Phoebe's job massaging people doesn't pay much.
What's so funny to me is that Ross seems to be paid well, though his age and level of experience would have him being fairly new in his field. He's got a PhD. and a museum job at this point. So, he may have had the museum position while working on his PhD., but still. Ross changes career paths during the show, though remains in academia which isn't known to be a money pit.
Monica is included in this well paid position, but aren't chef's normally not paid the big bucks unless the become well known/famous? We also know her luck changes and she ends up getting fired later.
Chandler's position makes total sense from a financial standpoint in this episode, and he seems to stay at about the same level of success throughout.
Even though we generally just see them at the coffee house or home eating pizza and drinking beer, one of the things mentioned by the three less well off friends is how the the other three are always picking "somewhere nice" to go when they go out, or in other words, they always pick very nice, presumably more expensive places. That lead me to believe it was never a place where you could easily get something for only 10 or 15 dollars (or possibly even less), it was always someplace where it was gonna cost at least 20 or 30 dollars.
Once upon a time there was a magical place where it never rained. The end.
The story with Chandler and his father, season 7x22.
shareThe Five Steaks and an Eggplant one is the most realistic, imo. I've gone through that with my own circle of friends.
Another one that always feels "real" to me is when Monica and Chandler find out that they can't have a baby. That is a very real problem that so many people face.