Friends: 10 Things You Didn't Know About 'The One With the Embryos'

385848 01: Cast members of NBC’s comedy series ‘Friends.’ Pictured: David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani. (Photo by Warner Bros. Television) /

One of the best episodes in the history of television is turning 20. Twenty! Here are 10 fun facts about the classic Friends episode ‘The One with the Embryos’.

On January 15th, 1998, Friends aired what was soon to become one of the touchstone episodes of the series. ‘The One with the Embryos’ was twenty-odd minutes packed with the best that sitcoms had to offer. Playing off the strengths of the core cast, it was a bottle episode that had heart, suspense, and belly laughs that just wouldn’t quit.

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After two decades, the episode more than holds up. The themes are timeless. A bet gets ridiculously out of hand between Monica (Courtney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc), leading the ultra-competitive Monica to put her unrealistically gorgeous apartment on the table. The result leads to a hilarious afternoon of competition and camaraderie that pops and crackles with chemistry and hilarity. Anchoring the action is Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) as she chills quietly in the apartment through all the quiz chaos, waiting to see if the teeny embryos she’s promised to carry for her brother and sister-in-law take hold in her body.

‘The One with the Embryos’ really has it all.

A few years back, the A.V. Club had a roundtable discussion about the episode and argued that it “epitomized ensemble comedy.” You really can’t get any better than that. In the article, one of the writers suggests that even if you’re not a fan of Friends as a whole, this particular half-hour is still worth watching. I wholeheartedly agree.

Even though this comedic gem has been around for two decades (!) there are a ton of fun facts about it floating around the interweb. (That’s a thing we used to say in the 90’s. You can Google it.) So, to celebrate the big 2-0, here are 10 fun facts about ‘The One with the Embryos’.

One -The cookies Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) has at the beginning of the episode are Safeway brand, but there is no Safeway in New York.

Two – The quiz reveals that Rachel’s favorite movie is Weekend at Bernies. Coincidentally, the doctor who delivered Ross’ baby back in Season 1 is actor Jonathan Silverman – the star of Weekend at Bernies.

Three – Even though Ross (David Schwimmer) says that the lightning round will be 30 seconds long, each team actually gets a total of 43 seconds. Also, the guys skip a question during their turn, so the girls should have technically been able to skip the question about Chandler’s job. Tough break, ladies.

Four – Chandler’s job is never revealed during the game. In fact, according to an oral history of the episode from TV Guide, the creators of the show never even knew what Chandler’s job was until Season 9… when he ultimately quit to change careers.

Five – Also revealed in the TV Guide oral history is the fact that the ‘who knows each other better’ game was inspired by a real life quiz whose participants included famous screenwriter Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

Six – At one point in time, all six of the Friends lived in Monica’s apartment. (Ross lived there with his grandmother to attend ballet classes as a teenager.) This episode completed the list.

Seven – During the quiz, we find out that Monica has eleven categories of towels, and you can actually see some of the clearly marked boxes in the next episode (‘The One with Rachel’s Crush’) when the girls are moving.

Eight – Friends production designer John Shaffner told TV Guide that the entire time the Joey and Chandler lived in Monica and Rachel’s apartment they never painted the iconic purple walls to give the sense that the guys were “trespassing”.

Nine – Lisa Kudrow was actually pregnant when Season 4 was filming, so the storyline of Phoebe carrying her brother’s baby was written specifically to incorporate her pregnancy into the show.

Next: 9 Funniest Food Moments on Friends

Ten – Ever wonder why this episode isn’t called ‘The One with the Quiz’? David Crane, one of the co-creators of Friends, said to TV Guide that the episode really should have been called ‘The One with the Two Tests’, seeing as how Ross actually calls the quiz “the test”, and Phoebe ends up taking the pregnancy test at the end of the episode.

‘Friends’ is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

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Friends: 10 things you didn’t know about ‘The One with the Embryos’

By Erin Qualey | Jan 15, 2018

One of the best episodes in the history of television is turning 20. Twenty! Here are 10 fun facts about the classic Friends episode ‘The One with the Embryos’.