Friends (season 7)

The seventh season of Friends, an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on October 12, 2000. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The season contains 24 episodes and concluded airing on May 17, 2001.

Friends
Season 7
Friends season 7 DVD cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	24
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 12, 2000 – May 17, 2001
Season chronology

Reception

Collider ranked it #4 on their ranking of the ten Friends seasons, and cited "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" as its best episode. They also wrote that "The One with the Engagement Picture" and "The One with the Vows" were other highlights.[1]

Cast and characters

(In particular, Introduced in season 7 or Only in season 7)

Main cast Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green Courteney Cox as Monica Geller Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing David Schwimmer as Ross Geller

Recurring cast Elliott Gould as Jack Geller Christina Pickles as Judy Geller Eddie Cahill as Tag Jones Kathleen Turner as Charles Bing Morgan Fairchild as Nora Bing James Michael Tyler as Gunther Maggie Wheeler as Janice Litman Cole Sprouse as Ben Geller

Guest stars Kristin Davis as Erin Hank Azaria as David Susan Sarandon as Cecilia Monroe Eva Amurri as Dina Gabrielle Union as Kristen Lang Jason Alexander as Earl Denise Richards as Cassie Geller Winona Ryder as Melissa Warburton June Gable as Estelle Leonard Gary Oldman as Richard Crosby David Sutcliffe as Kyle Stacy Galina as Julie Alison Sweeney as Jessica Ashley Vince Vieluf as Ned Morse

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
147	1	"The One with Monica's Thunder"	Kevin S. Bright	Story by : Wil Calhoun Teleplay by : David Crane & Marta Kauffman	October 12, 2000	226401	25.54[2]
The gang prepare to celebrate Monica and Chandler's engagement. When Monica opens the door to Ross kissing Rachel in the hall, she accuses them of stealing her thunder. Ross and Rachel had been planning a "bonus night", where two exes have a one-night stand. Meanwhile, Chandler has bedroom-related problems, Joey auditions to play as a 19-year-old, and Phoebe wants to play her guitar at Monica and Chandler's wedding.
148	2	"The One with Rachel's Book"	Michael Lembeck	Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	October 12, 2000	226402	27.93[2]
Monica is devastated that her parents have spent her entire wedding fund to build their beach cottage. She perks up after learning Chandler has enough money to pay for her dream wedding. However, Chandler's refusal to use all the money on a wedding and instead saving it for their future, causes an argument. Joey teases Rachel after finding an erotic novel she is reading. Phoebe temporarily moves into Ross' apartment, bringing her massage clients with her. When a hot woman shows up for a drop-in appointment when Phoebe is gone, Ross pretends to be a masseuse, only to discover the client is her father.
149	3	"The One with Phoebe's Cookies"	Gary Halvorson	Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer	October 19, 2000	226405	22.70[2]
Phoebe offers to give Monica her grandmother's secret cookie recipe – but the recipe was destroyed in the fire. Monica obsessively attempts to recreate it, only to learn that the recipe is for Nestle's Toll House. Rachel tries to teach Joey how to sail, but is soon berating him for his lax attitude. Her domineering manner makes her realize she is acting like her nasty father. Meanwhile, Chandler's new eyeglasses fog up in the gym steam room, resulting in him accidentally sitting on his future father-in-law's nude lap.
150	4	"The One with Rachel's Assistant"	David Schwimmer	Brian Boyle	October 26, 2000	226403	22.66[2]
Rachel must choose between a hunky young guy, Tag, or an experienced and well-qualified woman, to hire as her executive assistant. Joey is offered the part of Dr. Stryker Ramoray, the twin of his old character Dr. Drake Ramoray, on Days of Our Lives but is offended when he is asked to audition. However, when Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. is cancelled, Joey finds himself crawling back to the producers. Monica, Chandler, and Ross (who wore leg warmers) all reveal secrets about each other. Monica tells Phoebe's secret of an employee getting fired. Chandler reveals about his trip to Disneyland where Ross ended up ill on a ride after eating road-side tacos. Ross tells Monica about an Atlantic City trip where Chandler accidentally kissed a guy. Fat Monica ate her macaroni diorama. Ross kissed a cleaning lady.
151	5	"The One with the Engagement Picture"	Gary Halvorson	Story by : Earl Davis Teleplay by : Patty Lin	November 2, 2000	226404	24.43[2]
Chandler is unable to photograph well for his and Monica's engagement photo. Joey teaches Tag how to pick up women, much to Rachel's annoyance. Ross and Phoebe date a couple who are divorcing.
152	6	"The One with the Nap Partners"	Gary Halvorson	Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones	November 9, 2000	226406	22.01[2]
Joey and Ross accidentally take a nap together and, much to their dismay, find that they like it. Phoebe and Rachel compete to be Monica's maid of honor. Meanwhile, Chandler's breakup with a past girlfriend because she was overweight places Monica in doubt about him being committed to their relationship.
153	7	"The One with Ross's Library Book"	David Schwimmer	Scott Silveri	November 16, 2000	226410	23.73[2]
Ross is excited that his dissertation is in the school library until he learns it is in an isolated aisle where students go to hook up. Rachel and Phoebe believe they have found the perfect girl (Kristin Davis) for Joey. When Janice invites herself to Chandler and Monica's wedding, they try dissuading her by convincing her Chandler still has feelings for her. Ross tries guarding his dissertation from potential lovers. He meets a woman there who knows his work, and they end up fooling around and getting caught by library staff.
154	8	"The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs"	Kevin S. Bright	Patty Lin	November 23, 2000	226407	16.57[2]
Phoebe sneaks a dog into the apartment; Chandler reveals that he hates dogs. Ross becomes obsessed with naming all fifty U.S. states in order to earn his Thanksgiving dinner. After learning Tag broke up with his girlfriend and has nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, Rachel invites him to Monica and Chandler's apartment. She is hesitant about telling Tag her true feelings for him.
155	9	"The One with All the Candy"	David Schwimmer	Wil Calhoun	December 7, 2000	226408	21.08[2]
Monica's plan to get to know her neighbors backfires when she is overworked. Phoebe finally gets her first bicycle, thanks to Ross, but has never learned to ride a bike. Rachel and Tag's relationship is nearly discovered at Ralph Lauren.
156	10	"The One with the Holiday Armadillo"	Gary Halvorson	Gregory S. Malins	December 14, 2000	226409	23.26[2]
Ross wants to introduce Ben, who is half-Jewish, to Hanukkah, though Ben loves Christmas. Phoebe and Rachel's apartment has been repaired, but Phoebe fears Rachel prefers living at Joey's. To prevent this, she presents Joey with various gifts – a spider that scares Joey more than Rachel and a drum kit that annoys Monica. Ross dresses up as the "Holiday Armadillo" to excite Ben for Hanukkah. In 2019, The Herald-Dispatch called it the third best Christmas TV episode of all time.[3]
157	11	"The One with All the Cheesecakes"	Gary Halvorson	Shana Goldberg-Meehan	January 4, 2001	226412	24.37[2]
Rachel and Chandler get hooked on the home-delivered cheesecakes meant for another tenant. David (Hank Azaria), Phoebe's Scientist Guy, who is in town for just one night, wants to have dinner. Phoebe already has plans with Joey, then has to decide whether to blow him off, after criticizing him for having done it to her. Monica is upset that her cousin, Frannie, with whom she was close, did not invite her to her wedding. Monica goes anyway, only to discover that Frannie married Stuart, who once slept with Monica.
158	12	"The One Where They're Up All Night"	Kevin S. Bright	Zachary Rosenblatt	January 11, 2001	226413	22.86[2]
Everyone is awake for the entire night after the friends try to see a comet from the rooftop. After, Monica and Chandler are later unable to sleep. Rachel and Tag go to the office to search for a business file that Rachel claims Tag misplaced. Joey and Ross try to escape the roof after getting stuck there. Phoebe's smoke detector goes off and will not stop beeping, leading to a run-in with a firefighter.
159	13	"The One Where Rosita Dies"^†	Stephen Prime	Story by : Ellen Plummer & Sherry Bilsing Teleplay by : Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones	February 1, 2001	226415	22.24[2]
Rachel and Chandler both think they broke Rosita, Joey's recliner. Rachel goes with Joey to buy a new one, while Chandler secretly swaps his recliner with Joey's. Joey believes Rosita has been "healed", so Rachel keeps the luxurious new La-Z-Boy for herself, only for Joey to take it once he accidentally breaks Chandler's chair and after they tell him the truth. Meanwhile, Monica and Ross visit their childhood home to collect old belongings before the house is sold. However, Monica learns that all her childhood boxes were used to protect her father's Porsche during a flood in the garage. Hers were ruined, while Ross' boxes were protected. To mollify Monica, Jack, gives her the Porsche, infuriating Ross. Phoebe takes a telemarketing job selling printer toner and tries to save a customer named Earl (Jason Alexander) from committing suicide.
160	14	"The One Where They All Turn Thirty"^†	Ben Weiss	Story by : Vanessa McCarthy Teleplay by : Ellen Plummer & Sherry Bilsing	February 8, 2001	226411	22.40[2]
Rachel frets over turning 30, prompting everyone else to remember what they did when they reached the same milestone. After realizing that Tag is too young and immature, she breaks up with him.
161	15	"The One with Joey's New Brain"^†	Kevin S. Bright	Story by : Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer Teleplay by : Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	February 15, 2001	226416	21.75[2]
Joey's Days of our Lives character has a female character's brain transplanted into his body, and tells the actress playing her, Cecilia Monroe (Susan Sarandon), by accident. Joey uses his charm, he and Cecilia work to maintain the character's legacy, and then sleep together. Ross cooks up a special surprise for the wedding: dreadful bagpipe playing. Meanwhile, after finding a cute guy's phone, Phoebe and Rachel compete over who gets to keep it to start 'a fairytale for the digital age'. Later, an elderly gentleman claims the phone, and Phoebe happily goes to dinner with him, finding him more attractive than the young man whose phone they believed it was.
162	16	"The One with the Truth About London"^†	David Schwimmer	Story by : Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones Teleplay by : Zachary Rosenblatt	February 22, 2001	226417	21.22[2]
Rachel teaches Ben practical jokes, which angers Ross. However, Ross gets back at Rachel when he and Ben pull their own prank on her. Chandler learns that Monica was actually planning on sleeping with Joey the night they first got together, making Chandler paranoid that she would leave him for Joey. Joey becomes ordained over the Internet in preparation to officiate Monica and Chandler's wedding.
163	17	"The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress"	Kevin S. Bright	Story by : Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones Teleplay by : Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	March 15, 2001	226414	20.84[2]
Monica beats another bride-to-be in a fight over a discounted wedding dress; however she is forced to relinquish her prize after the other bride-to-be books Chandler's favorite band on the same day as her wedding as ransom for the dress. Joey and Ross meet a girl (Gabrielle Union) then go to drastic measures to win her.
164	18	"The One with Joey's Award"	Gary Halvorson	Story by : Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer Teleplay by : Brian Boyle	March 29, 2001	226418	17.81[2]
Joey proves to be a sore loser after being nominated for a "Soapie" award. When he accepts a different award on behalf of a co-star, he is unwilling to hand it over, later keeping it when the actress considers it insignificant. A male student angles for a higher test grade by claiming he loves Ross. Another student reveals that the guy actually is straight, and has used the same ploy on other professors. Ross then gives the student a failing grade, but ends up giving him a "C" after some of Ross' colleagues overhear a conversation sounding like Ross and the student dated.
165	19	"The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin"	Gary Halvorson	Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	April 19, 2001	226421	16.55[2]
Ross and Monica's gorgeous cousin, Cassie (Denise Richards) visits, and Chandler, Ross, and Phoebe become attracted to her. Rachel and Phoebe quickly throw together a bridal shower for Monica. Joey auditions for a part which is perfect for him, apart from it calling for an uncircumcised actor (which Joey is not). Upon finding out he lied about his 'downstairs' area, Monica tries to fix it so he can still get the part, using a variety of methods including Silly Putty and cold cuts. Note: The sub-plot where Joey auditions for the role of an uncircumcised man was originally written for The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding but the story was changed on the advice of network censors, who thought it was tasteless.[4]
166	20	"The One with Rachel's Big Kiss"	Gary Halvorson	Scott Silveri & Shana Goldberg-Meehan	April 26, 2001	226419	16.30[2]
Rachel runs into Melissa (Winona Ryder), a former sorority sister with whom she once had a passionate kiss. However, Melissa denies it ever happened. Phoebe disbelieves Rachel capable of that, so Rachel recreates the kiss with surprising results: Melissa does remember and has feelings for Rachel. Meanwhile Chandler is excited when he rents the same tuxedo that Pierce Brosnan wore as James Bond, but feels outdone when Ross claims to have tried on the same tux Val Kilmer wore in Batman Forever.
167	21	"The One with the Vows"	Gary Halvorson	Doty Abrams	May 3, 2001	226424	15.65[2]
Chandler and Monica struggle to write their wedding vows. The group remembers Monica and Chandler's journey over the past few years via flashbacks. Note: This is a clip show and was the lowest-rated episode in the series with 15.65 million viewers.
168	22	"The One with Chandler's Dad"	Kevin S. Bright & Gary Halvorson	Story by : Gregory S. Malins Teleplay by : Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones	May 10, 2001	226420	17.23[2]
Chandler tries to reconcile with his estranged gay father (Kathleen Turner), per Monica's request. Monica and Chandler attend one of Mr. Bing's drag shows, where father and son reconcile, and Mr. Bing agrees to attend. Rachel, an irresponsible driver, takes Monica's Porsche for a spin with Ross (much to his fear). Joey takes Phoebe's advice about his masculinity, resulting in him trying on women's underwear. Rachel gets caught driving the Porsche without a license and flirts with the officer to avoid a ticket. Later, Ross is pulled over for driving too slow on the freeway, resulting in similar (but unsuccessful) flirtatious attempts.
169 170	23 24	"The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding"	Kevin S. Bright	Gregory S. Malins Marta Kauffman & David Crane	May 17, 2001[lower-alpha 1]	226422 226423	30.05[2]
Joey gets a part in a movie and learns the art of enunciation (and therein spitting) from his famous co-star (Gary Oldman). He discovers he has work on the day he is officiating Monica and Chandler's wedding. Chandler's fear of commitment overtakes him and he runs away before the wedding. Phoebe finds a positive pregnancy test in Monica's bathroom trash, and assumes it is hers. Joey is relieved he only has to shoot one scene before he can leave for the wedding, but when his co-star turns up drunk, Joey may not make it to the ceremony. Chandler is found but, upon overhearing Phoebe and Rachel discussing Monica's assumed pregnancy, disappears again. Luckily he turns up again, accepting becoming a father. Joey arrives in time to perform the ceremony, still wearing his WWI movie costume. Monica and Chandler become husband and wife, marrying to the tune of the song "Everlong" by Foo Fighters. In the end, it is revealed (to the audience) that the pregnancy test was Rachel's.

Special

Special No.	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers millions
S01	"Friends: The Stuff You've Never Seen"	February 15, 2001	22.50[2]
A 20-minute special hosted by Conan O'Brien.

^† denotes a "super-sized" 40-minute episode (with advertisements; actual runtime around 28 minutes).

Notes

1. These episodes originally aired as a single double-length episode but are sometimes split into two episodes for syndication, reruns and DVD presentation.

References

1. Chitwood, Adam (December 26, 2019). "'Friends' Seasons Ranked from Worst to Best".
2. "Friends Nielsen Ratings Archive – Season Seven". Newmusicandmore.tripod.com. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
3. Henderson-Bentley, Angela (December 19, 2019). "These TV episodes enhance Christmas season". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
4. Sangster, Jim; Bailey, David (2000). Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to "Friends" (Revised ed.). London: Virgin. ISBN 0753504391.

External links

• Friends – list of episodes at IMDb
• Friends: Season 7 at Rotten Tomatoes