FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: A Closer Look at ‘The One Where No One’s Ready’

[On Thursday, September 22, 1994, NBC debuted the pilot of FRIENDS. The sitcom, about a group of six 20-something friends, went on to become a pop culture touchstone. In honor of the milestone, we’re doing 25 Days of FRIENDS, looking back at the show in big and small ways.]

While FRIENDS’ “The One the Morning After” broke format by going serious and really diving deep into two characters for more than half the episode, “The One Where No One’s Ready” was essentially the opposite.

The episode, the second of season 3, was virtually a bottle installment (outside of the closing tag), as Ross tried to get everyone ready for his big work event. As things unraveled in real-time (FRIENDS meets 24!…though before 24 existed), Monica was despondent over a voicemail her recent ex, Richard, left her; Joey and Chandler’s feud over a seat lead to clothes hiding/wearing; Phoebe, the only friend who was ready on time, got her dress ruined by Joey and Chandler’s fight and had to improvise; and Rachel couldn’t decide on an outfit.

There was understandable manic energy, as the natural chemistry bubbled over while the characters got more and more unhinged trying to get ready. And though having the six of them all together was not a rarity, having them confined to a single set—in this case, just Monica/Rachel’s living room/dining room and kitchen—and the camera not tracking them forced you to sit with Ross’ stress as his night kept getting worse and worse.

Of course, there were pretty instantly iconic moments in the episode: Joey wearing everything Chandler owned (which was recently made into a Pop! Funko figure); Ross offering to drink the fat in order to reconcile with Rachel; Chandler’s “not touching, can’t get mad!; Monica’s “old or new?!” freak out over Richard’s voice mail.

One of the brilliant things about the episode is that you aren’t necessarily paying attention to the unusual elements. You can absolutely watch “TOW No One’s Ready” and not realize they don’t leave Monica and Rachel’s apartment or that it’s taking place in real time; it feels natural. Plus, he episode is legitimately funny outside of the potential gimmick of the format.

*As a note, all pieces focusing on episodes and the content in the episodes is based on what originally aired on NBC, which is what is currently streaming on Netflix/how the Blu-Ray set is formatted. As fun as the extended episodes are on DVD, this makes it a bit more streamlined for people who only know the show via its original/more recent releases.

RELATED:

• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: A Closer Look at ‘The One the Morning After’
• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: Remember When Robin Williams and Billy Crystal Cameoed?
• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: A Closer Look at ‘The One Where Ross Finds Out’
• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: Please Stop Asking for a Reunion
• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: TOW They Appeared on Each Other’s Shows
• FRIENDS’ 25th Anniversary: How Did Monica Afford Her Apartment?
• A FRIENDS Mini-Marathon is Hitting Theaters This Fall
• Which Current TV Stars Appeared on FRIENDS?

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