The Post of the Ce

Originally Posted 11-24-08

Season Seven ... is was a good year for Cabernet Sauvignon. Eh?

See what I did there? I took the color from the menu, and ... oh, forget it.

So, when we last left the gang, everyone except for Ross was group hugging to celebrate Chandler & Monica's engagement.



Season Seven opens later that night. I don't know how much later. It can't be that late, because everyone's still up, but it's a bit later because all of the candles have been blown out. I imagine everyone needed a few minutes to regain their breath after blowing out all of those candles. A lot of the candles seem to have been put away, too. Not the ones on the coffee table. That apartment has only so much storage space, and there were so many freakin' candles. The rest will probably have to be put in storage.

Something else to note: everyone here seems to be paying attention to Chandler & Monica, except for Joey and Phoebe. What is going on in their lives that they need to have their own side conversation? I'm not saying every moment for the rest of the night needs to be devoted to the happy couple, I'm just pointing out that really, nothing happens with these two that warrants a side conversation of their own on this night. It's an assumption, but I stand by it.

Of course, this season will be all about preparing for the wedding. Something will go wrong, one person will be very disappointed, but by the end of the episode, he/she will get over it and say "It's not that important. What's important is that I love you, and I'm marrying you." The other person will agree, they'll kiss, and then Joey or Phoebe will say something for comedic effect, and the credits will roll.

The first thing to take care of is the announcement



Well, as you can imagine, that was a mildly amusing ordeal, or it was intended to be that way. But it all worked out...unless you pause the DVD and actually read the announcement:

GELLER - BING

Jack & Judy Geller are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Monica Geller to Chandler Bing. Plans are currently underway for the big event. Leaving no stone unturned the Geller's are personally overseeing every single detail so nothing is missed. We wouldn't want anything to ruin the big day now would we. Announcements will soon be arriving to the specially chosen guest list. This will be the wedding of the century, quoted a close friend. missed. We wouldn't want anything to ruin the big day now would we. Announcements will soon be arriving to the specially chosen guest list. This will be the wedding of the ce

Putting aside that whoever wrote this up clearly ran out of stuff to say and just decided to copy the last few lines—but couldn't be bothered to finish "century" on the last line—this is a terribly written wedding announcement. That lone "missed." kind of upsets me as well.

"Plans are currently underway for the big event." Really? Doesn't that sort of thing go without saying? Also, in AP style, it's "under way." Maybe this isn't an AP style newspaper.

Also, with the exception of periods, there is no punctuation whatsoever. Missed commas, no question mark after the question. A close friend had supposedly said, "This is going to be the wedding of the century," but it's not actually in quotations. Also, no one said that. Who would have said that? Rachel, maybe, but that's pretty doubtful. Phoebe most likely didn't say that, and there's no way Joey said that. Ross probably wouldn't have said it, but he wouldn't be identified as "a close friend." He would be identified as the bride's brother.

I've never written an engagement announcement for the paper, but I'm able to tell you that there's some vital information that's missing here. Normally, they tell a little bit about about the two people. "Geller is a chef. Bing is a mid-level what-have-you at some nameless company." It should go into how they met. It should definitely tell you when they were planning to get married. Maybe, since this is the Land of Television, it's generally assumed that if someone's getting married, it's going to be in May.


Chandler & Monica greet each other with a high-five. I found this oddly charming.



I should have gotten another shot of this. There are four people sitting at this table. The other three people are all drinking the same thing. I don't remember if it's wine or beer, but it's three of the same thing...except for what's in front of Chandler. I have no idea what he's drinking. It was never established before that Chandler was a Girl Drink Drunk.


Shoes. On the couch. At Central Perk. AGAIN! Gunther should really say something.


This always bothers me. Friends isn't the only show to do this, and I see it all of the time in movies as well, but it bothers me. Joey is supposedly looking at himself in the mirror. He's clearly not, though. He's looking at some random spot on the fourth wall through the mirror. If we can see him in the mirror, that means that he can't see himself.

What the hell are you looking at?!



One episode turned out to be a 30-minute commercial for Nestle's Toll House cookies. Yet, when we finally see the package of the chocolate chips, part of the brand name is blocked out, so that it reads "I Iestle's." Seriously? They just said "Toll House cookies," why do they have to doctor the package? Phoebe's hand is blocking about half the bag through the whole shot anyway. It just seems beyond silly.



This is such a bad place for a cordless phone base. Right in front of the microwave. They have to move it every time they nuke something. Rachel and Joey don't strike me as cooks, so I imagine the microwave gets quite the work out, too. I'd imagine that wouldn't stay there for too much longer. You never know, though.



Joey and Rachel appear to sailing on the Mr. Bowmont. They're clearly around the area where the Hudson River opens up into the New York Bay, and clearly not in front of a green screen.



I have no idea why I took this picture. I labeled it "top," which I'm guessing is referring to the top of the fridge. Why? Was it the six pack of Stella, that has been there for years? Was it the fake maple syrup? The bottle of Jaegermeister? The canister of strawberry milk mix? No clue.