"The One with George Stephanopoulos" is the fourth episode of the
first season of the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
''. The fourth episode of the show overall, it was first broadcast on October 13, 1994. The episode was directed by
James Burrows
James Edward Burrows (born December 30, 1940), sometimes known as Jim "Jimmy" Burrows, is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.Stated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' Burrows has direct ...
and written by
Alexa Junge
Alexa Junge is an American television writer, producer and screenwriter. Her work on ''Friends'', from 1994 to 1999, earned her nominations for three Emmy Awards.
Personal life
Junge grew up in Los Angeles and attended Barnard College, where she ...
. This episode is the first of many that splits the gang into two separate stories based on gender. The guys go to a hockey game, where
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
(
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom '' Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Prime ...
) gets hit in the face with a hockey puck. The rest of the evening is spent in the
ER, where a surly receptionist gets her nose broken when the puck goes flying. Meanwhile, the girls, sparked by celebrations over
Rachel's
Rachel's were an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist Jason Noble played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with core members violist Chr ...
first paycheck, spy on
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Robe ...
, then President Clinton's top aide, which culminates in them seeing Stephanopoulos nude.
Plot
When
Phoebe cannot get any sleep because her grandmother is having loud sex with her boyfriend,
Monica
Monica may refer to:
People
*Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress
*Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...
invites her to sleep over at her apartment with her and
Rachel
Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...
.
Chandler
Chandler or The Chandler may refer to:
* Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles
* Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships
Arts ...
and
Joey
Joey may refer to:
People
*Joey (name)
Animals
* Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial
* Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets
Film and television
* ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...
go to the coffee house to invite
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
to a hockey game as a "late birthday present". Ross is reluctant after becoming depressed about the day being the anniversary of him and ex-wife Carol sleeping together for the first time. He eventually accepts after Joey is able to convince him after promising him a
foam finger.
At the hockey game, Ross continues to reminisce on Carol, which makes him depressed once again, and annoys Chandler and Joey. He becomes happy again when the game starts but is soon hit in the face with the hockey puck and are forced to head to the hospital where they deal with a snippy receptionist, Nurse Sizemore (
Mary Pat Gleason
Mary Pat Gleason (February 23, 1950 – June 2, 2020) was an American film and television actress and an Emmy Award-winning writer. From 1983 to 1985, she appeared as "Jane Hogan" on the daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'', for which she was als ...
). While waiting around, Ross admits to Chandler and Joey that the memory is important to him as it was the day he lost his virginity. After Ross is fit in a nose cast, he encounters a bratty boy (Benjamin Caya) who "found" the hockey puck that hit Ross and claims it as his own. Ross asks for it back and the kid refuses. After a short brawl over the puck, it flies out of the boy's grasp and it hits the receptionist in the face, which Ross admits was fun.
Meanwhile, Rachel receives her first
paycheck
A paycheck, also spelled paycheque, pay check or pay cheque, is traditionally a paper document (a cheque) issued by an employer to pay an employee for services rendered. In recent times, the physical paycheck has been increasingly replaced by e ...
. She is very excited at first only to discover she will not have much after
taxes
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or ...
. She also gets reunited with her old friends, Leslie (Leesa Bryte), Kiki (Michele Maika), and Joanne (
Marianne Hagan). While they boast about their career and family achievements, she feels increasingly depressed because of her low income. Back at the apartment, while the girls are getting ready for their slumber party, Rachel gets a call from her credit card company and complains about her low income. Monica and Phoebe try to cheer her up with no effect as it actually makes them depressed too.
A pizza delivery guy (
Sean Whalen
Sean Whalen (born May 19, 1964) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his work in numerous TV shows, including ''Shannon's Deal'' and ''Grace Under Fire'', as well as movies, including ''The People Under the Stairs'' and ''Twister''. H ...
) arrives, although he brings them the wrong pizza; the one he brought was meant for "
G. Stephanopoulos". The girls pay for the pizza and head to the balcony with
binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...
to spy on George. As they spy on him, they get drunk and start telling each other secrets. This ends up in a brawl between Monica and Rachel, with Phoebe stopping them once she spots George. They beg him to take his towel off, which he does.
During the credits, Joey and the girls are playing
Twister
Twister may refer to:
Weather
* Tornado
Aviation
* Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
* Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
* Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design
Entertainment
* ''Twister'' (198 ...
. Rachel gets another call from her credit card company; Chandler takes her place in the game. When asked why she has not been using her card, she says she is doing fine, confident in her independence.
Reception
Joe Reid and Sonia Saraiya of
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
both commented on the episode, Saraiya said; ""The One With George Stephanopoulos" uses a tried-and-true sitcom convention—it splits the cast on gender lines and sends them off to different adventures, allowing them to "bro out" or have "girl talk" as need be. Chandler, Joey, and Ross have a hockey adventure, which is punctuated by Ross' reminisces of his "first time" with Carol and ends up, obviously, in the emergency room; meanwhile, the girls, led by Rachel, worry about their life plans and also get drunk and also spy on George Stephanopoulos, who is soooo dreamy. Of the two stories, the latter has real staying power—the conversation feels like it could have been written today, or to be more exact, it feels like it was transcribed verbatim from the conversation that occurred on my couch last night." Reid said; "In "The One With George Stephanopoulos," Rachel is very much questioning her decision, and after spending an afternoon with her squealing Fifth Avenue friends, she's really having second thoughts. Of course, there isn't an existential crisis on Earth that couldn't have been solved by the chance to gawk at George Stephanopoulos from across an alleyway. At least in 1994. I was genuinely shocked to remember that there was a time that Stephanopoulos was a sex symbol. What desperate, pre-Clooney times those were!".
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:One With George Stephanopoulos, The
1994 American television episodes
Friends (season 1) episodes
Television episodes directed by James Burrows