The fifth season of ''
Friends'', an American
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
created by
David Crane and
Marta Kauffman
Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom '' Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive p ...
, premiered on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
on September 24, 1998. ''Friends'' was produced by
Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
. The season contains 24 episodes and concluded airing on May 20, 1999.
Reception
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators.
Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...
ranked it #2 on their ranking of the ten ''Friends'' seasons, and chose "
The One Where Everybody Finds Out" as its best episode.
Digital Spy ranked it #4 on their ranking of the ten Friends seasons, and chose "The One Where Everybody Finds Out", "The One with the Cop" and "The One with the Ball" its best episodes.
Marie Claire ranked it #1 on her ranking of the ten seasons, and chose "The One Where Everybody Finds Out", "The One with All the Kissing" and "The One in Vegas: Part 2" its highlights.
ScreenRant also ranked it #1 on their ranking of all seasons.
BuzzFeed ranked it as #6 on their ranking, and chose "The One with All the Thanksgivings" as its best episode.
WordPress ranked it #3 on their ranking.
Listverse also ranked it #3 on their ranking.
Cast and characters
::''(In particular,
Introduced in season 5 or
Only in season 5)''
Main cast
*
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
as
Rachel Green
*
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...
as
Monica Geller
Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all of ...
*
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...
as
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe Buffay is one of the six main characters from the American sitcom, '' Friends''. She is created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman and portrayed by actress Lisa Kudrow.
In the series' universe, Phoebe was born on February 16 and is the ...
*
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven LeBlanc (; born July 25, 1967) is an American actor. He garnered global recognition with his portrayal of Joey Tribbiani in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and in its spin-off series, ''Joey''. For his work on ''Friends'', LeBlanc r ...
as
Joey Tribbiani
Joseph Francis "Joey" Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' and the protagonist of its spin-off ''Joey (TV series), Joey''. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series.
...
*
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004).
As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
as
Chandler Bing
Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by actor Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Veg ...
*
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 Primeti ...
as
Ross Geller
Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relatio ...
Recurring cast
*
James Michael Tyler as
Gunther
*
Helen Baxendale
Helen Victoria Baxendale (born 7 June 1970) is an English actress of stage and television, known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy drama '' Cold Feet'' (1997–2003), and Emily Waltham in the American sitcom '' Friends'' ( ...
as
Emily Waltham
*
George Newbern
George Young Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Charlie in the ABC show ''Scandal'' and Bryan MacKenzie in '' Father of the Bride'' (1991) and its sequels ''Father of the Bride Part II'' and '' Fat ...
as Danny
*
Michael Ensign
Michael Ensign (born February 13, 1944) is an American actor who mostly played very small roles. One of his most-known roles was Benjamin Guggenheim in the 1997 film ''Titanic''.
Early life
Ensign was raised in both the United States and Englan ...
as Dr. Donald Ledbetter
*
Michael Rapaport
Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''True Romance'' (1993), '' Higher Learning ...
as Gary
Guest stars
*
Maggie Wheeler
Margaret Emily Wheeler (née Jakobson) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), and Anita on ''Ellen'' (1994–1996).
Early life
Wheeler was born Margaret Emily Jakobso ...
as
Janice Litman
*
Elliott Gould as
Jack Geller
*
Christina Pickles
Christina Pickles (born 17 February 1935) is a British-American actress. She is known for her role as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in the NBC medical drama '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988), for which she received five nominations for the Primetime Em ...
as
Judy Geller
*
Jane Sibbett
Jane Moore Sibbett is an American actress. Her most notable roles include Heddy Newman on the Fox television series ''Herman's Head'' and Carol Willick on the television series ''Friends''.
Early life
Sibbett was born in Berkeley, California, th ...
as
Carol Willick
*
Jessica Hecht
Jessica Hecht is an American actress and singer who played Gretchen Schwartz on ''Breaking Bad'', Susan Bunch on ''Friends'', and Carol on '' The Boys''. She has also made numerous Broadway appearances.
Early life and education
Hecht was born ...
as
Susan Bunch
*
Giovanni Ribisi
Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (; born December 17, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the TV series ''Sneaky Pete'' and the films ''Avatar'' (2009), '' Lost in Translation'' (2003), '' Ted'' (2012) and its sequel '' Ted 2'' (2 ...
as
Frank Buffay, Jr.
Various characters appeared in the sitcom ''Friends'' and its spin-off series ''Joey'', which respectively aired for ten seasons and two seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2006. ''Friends'' featured six main cast members: Rachel Green-Geller (Jennifer ...
*
Debra Jo Rupp
Debra Jo Rupp (born February 24, 1951) is an American actress best known for her roles as Kitty Forman on the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' and its sequel series ''That '90s Show'', and Alice Knight-Buffay on the third through fifth seasons o ...
as
Alice Knight
*
Morgan Fairchild
Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since.
Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera ''Search for T ...
as
Nora Bing
*
June Gable
June Gable (born June Golub) is an American character actress, perhaps best known for her role as Joey's agent Estelle Leonard in the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. She also played a Nurse in the delivery room in season 1 episode 23 “The One With The B ...
as
Estelle Leonard
*
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared.
Balab ...
as Frank Buffay, Sr.
*
Tom Conti
Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor, theatre director, and novelist. He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1979 for his performance in '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' and was nominated for the Academy Aw ...
as Steven Waltham
*
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School of ...
as Andrea Waltham
*
Zen Gesner
Zen Brant Gesner (born June 23, 1970) is an American television and movie actor. He is perhaps most recognized for his roles as Sinbad in the syndicated television series ''The Adventures of Sinbad'', and was a regular cast member on the ABC d ...
as Dave
*
Sam Anderson
Sam Anderson (born April 2, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his character roles such as Sam Gorpley on '' Perfect Strangers'', Holland Manners on ''Angel'', dentist Bernard Nadler on ''Lost'' and in film, as the principal in ''F ...
as Dr. Harad
*
Patrick Fabian
Patrick Fabian (born December 7, 1964) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is known for his role as attorney Howard Hamlin in ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). His film roles include '' End Game'' (2006), ''The Last Exorcism' ...
as Dan
*
T.J. Thyne as Dr. Oberman
*
Gregory Sporleder
Gregory Sporleder (born April 14, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker, notable for playing military men in films such as '' The Rock'', '' Black Hawk Down'' and ''Renaissance Man'', as well as Calvin Norris in the HBO series ''True Blood'' ...
as Larry
*
Iqbal Theba
Iqbal Theba (pronounced ; born December 20, 1963) is a Pakistani actor. Theba is best known for his recurring role as Principal Figgins in the show '' Glee''.
Early life
Theba was born in Karachi, Pakistan. He belongs to the Theba clan, a Guja ...
as Joey's doctor
*
Gary Collins as himself
*
Sam McMurray
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictional ...
as Doug
*
Soleil Moon Frye
Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitco ...
as Katie
*
Willie Garson
William Garson Paszamant (February 20, 1964September 21, 2021) was an American actor. He appeared in over 75 films and more than 300 TV episodes. He was known for playing Stanford Blatch on the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', in the related ...
as Steve
*
Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason (née Hall; born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award–winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles. She's known for originating the role of the Baker's Wife ...
as Kim Clozzi
*
Kristin Dattilo
Kristin Dattilo (born November 30, 1970) is an American television actress, known for playing manager Yola Gaylen on '' The Chris Isaak Show'' from 2001 to 2004 and detective Barbara Gianna in season 3 of ''Dexter''.
Early life
Dattilo was b ...
as Caitlin
*
Lilyan Chauvin
Lilyan Chauvin (; ; 6 August 192526 June 2008) was a French-American actress, television host, director, writer, and acting teacher. A native of Paris, Chauvin began her career performing on French radio and onstage in England. She relocated to t ...
as Grandma Tribbiani
*
Megan Ward
Megan Marie Ward (born September 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her numerous credits in science fiction and horror movies and television series. In 2007, she joined the cast of the American daytime drama '' General Hos ...
as Nancy
*
Thomas Lennon
Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!''
Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major st ...
as Randall
*
Jeanette Miller as the elderly woman
*
Samantha Smith
Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American peace activist and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous for her anti-war outreaches during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. I ...
as Jen
Episodes
DVD release
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends (Season 5)
05
1998 American television seasons
1999 American television seasons