Friends Broke Its Biggest Central Perk Tradition In Just 3 Episodes
Friends had various running gags and traditions, and one specific Central Perk tradition was broken on three occasions and had two special moments. Friends had various running gags and traditions, of which many became part of pop culture, and one was broken just three times.
The 1990s and early 2000s saw the emergence of many TV shows from different genres that are now considered classics, and among them is Friends. The sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kaufman broke records during its original run between 1994 and 2004, earning a place in TV history and among the greatest TV shows ever.
Throughout the 10 seasons, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross went through various situations that went from funny to tragic, but they always counted on each other. Friends followed the group to different locations, but there were three that were constant from the very beginning: Monica’s apartment, Chandler and Joey’s apartment, and Central Perk, their favorite coffee shop. The gang always sat on the same couch, becoming a Friends tradition that went beyond the TV screen, but this was actually broken three times in the whole series.
The group seems to have forgotten to make their reservation on three occasions, and they were too confused to see other people sitting in their place. The main characters of Friends always sitting on the same couch at Central Perk raised many questions about their influence at the cafe and with Gunther (James Michael Tyler), but eagle-eyed fans discovered that the couch was actually reserved for the group.
However, the group seems to have forgotten to make their reservation on three occasions, and they were too confused to see other people sitting in their place. The first time it happened was in season 3’s episode “The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy”, and it happened right at the beginning.
The group walked into Central Perk and found the couch occupied by another group of people, and they had no other choice than to leave, visibly confused. Although the people sitting on the couch were unnamed in the episode, they were actually the writers of season 3 of Friends. Three seasons later, in the episode “The One With Unagi”, Rachel and Phoebe had to sit by the window because the two guys took the couch and Rachel was upset about it because she didn’t like sitting anywhere else.
Unfortunately for Rachel, the same happened in the final season of Friends, in “The One Where Chandler Gets Caught”, the show’s final clip show. The episode begins with Phoebe and Rachel once more sitting by the window because the couch was taken by other people, but this had to happen for them to catch Chandler talking with his realtor, but Phoebe and Rachel thought he was having an affair.
The group had to give up the couch on three different occasions, and there were two other rare times when they ended up sharing the popular couch. First, in season 2’s episode “The One With The Bullies”, Chandler and Ross arrive at Central Perk and sit down on the couch when two other guys, Arthur and Carl, return with their drinks and claim they are in their seats. What follows is the two guys threatening Ross and Chandler to beat them up if they return, so they “take it outside” one day, only to team up against other guys who steal their stuff when they’re distracted.
The group is interrupted by Tomas (Robin Williams) and Tim (Billy Crystal) who ask them to make some rooms on the couch.
Back at Central Perk, Ross, Chandler, Arthur, and Carl share the couch, but the latter two aren’t seen again in the rest of the series. The following season, in the episode “The One With The Ultimate Fighting Champion”, the group is interrupted by Tomas (Robin Williams) and Tim (Billy Crystal) who ask them to make some room on the couch because all other seats are taken, and the group ends up a bit too invested in their intense conversation. Central Perk was a key setting in Friends and the couch is one of the most iconic props, but it wasn’t always for the group.
