Friends (season 7)

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

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.

Season synopsis

This season mainly focuses on Monica and Chandler preparing for the wedding which in the season finale gets to be a bit too much for Chandler. Joey's TV series Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. gets cancelled, but he is offered his job back on Days of Our Lives as a comatose patient with no lines. Phoebe's apartment is rebuilt, but with only one large bedroom instead of two, so Rachel insists that Phoebe keep the apartment and decides to stay with Joey. Rachel starts dating her younger assistant, Tag, but breaks up with him on her thirtieth birthday due to the age difference. During the same episode, Phoebe discovers that she is also a year older, when Ursula shows her their birth certificate. In the season finale, Monica and Chandler get married and Rachel and Phoebe stumble across a positive pregnancy test in Monica's bathroom, leading to some confusion over who’s actually pregnant. The episode ends with a close up of Rachel hinting that she is the one who is pregnant.

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 Le Blanc 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

Guest stars Maggie Wheeler as Janice Hosenstein Hank Azaria as David Susan Sarandon as Jessica Lockhart Denise Richards as Cassie Geller Winona Ryder as Melissa Warburton June Gable as Estelle Leonard Gabrielle Union as Kristen Lang Gary Oldman as Richard Crosby David Sutcliffe as Kyle Stacy Galina as Julie Kristin Davis as Erin Alison Sweeney as Jessica Ashley

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: Wil Calhoun Teleplay: David Crane & Marta Kauffman	October 12, 2000	226401	25.54[1]
The gang prepare to celebrate Monica and Chandler's engagement. However, when Monica opens the door to Ross kissing Rachel in the hall, Monica accuses them of stealing her thunder. Ross and Rachel had been planning "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 is desperate to be asked to play her guitar at the wedding.
148	2	"The One with Rachel's Book"	Michael Lembeck	Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	October 12, 2000	226402	27.93[1]
Monica learns her parents have spent her wedding fund but soon perks up when she learns Chandler has saved enough money to pay for her dream wedding. However, Chandler isn't keen on spending all of the money on the wedding when he'd rather save it for their future. Joey finds an erotic novel Rachel's been reading and mocks her. Phoebe moves temporarily into Ross's apartment bringing her massage clients with her, leading Ross to end up massaging an old man in a failed pass at a woman.
149	3	"The One with Phoebe's Cookies"	Gary Halvorson	Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer	October 19, 2000	226405	22.70[1]
Phoebe wants to give Monica her grandmother's secret cookie recipe – but the recipe was destroyed in the fire. Later, the two make many test cookies, only to realize the true recipe comes from Nestle Toll House. Rachel tries to teach Joey how to sail, but to no avail. Rachel's demanding manner on the boat makes her realize she can be like her father. Meanwhile, Chandler gets new glasses and a mishap in a steam room results in Chandler 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[1]
Rachel must choose between a hunky young guy, Tag, or an experienced and well-qualified woman, for the job of 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 to each other. Monica tells Chandler about Phoebe's secret of an employee getting fired, and Chandler tells about his trip to Disney with Ross who ended up ill on a ride after eating tacos. Ross tells Monica about the Atlantic City trip in which Chandler's secret by accidentally kissed a guy. Monica ate her macaroni diorama. Ross ended up kissing a cleaning lady.
151	5	"The One with the Engagement Picture"	Gary Halvorson	Story: Earl Davis Teleplay: Patty Lin	November 2, 2000	226404	24.43[1]
Chandler can't seem to photograph well. Joey teaches Tag 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[1]
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 of weight issues 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[1]
Ross is happy that his dissertation is in the school library until he finds out where it's located: the dead part of the library where people go to hook up. Rachel and Phoebe believe they've found the perfect girl (Kristin Davis) for Joey. Janice invites herself to Chandler and Monica's wedding, and they try to stop her by convincing her Chandler still has feelings for her. Ross, while trying to guard his dissertation from potential lovers, meets a woman who enjoyed his work, and they end up fooling around (and getting caught) in the library.
154	8	"The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs"	Kevin S. Bright	Patty Lin	November 23, 2000	226407	16.57[1]
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 revealing Tag broke up with his girlfriend and has nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, Rachel invites him to Monica and Chandler's apartment, and is hesitant on whether to tell Tag her true feelings.
155	9	"The One with All the Candy"	David Schwimmer	Will Calhoun	December 7, 2000	226408	21.08[1]
Monica's plan to get to know her neighbors backfires when she is overworked. Phoebe finally gets her first bicycle, thanks to Ross, but is unable to ride it. 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[1]
Ross wants to introduce Ben to Hanukkah. Phoebe learns that her and Rachel's apartment has been repaired; however she then fears that Rachel would rather continue to live with Joey instead of her. To prevent this problem 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 a "Holiday Armadillo" to make Ben excited about Hanukkah.
157	11	"The One with All the Cheesecakes"	Gary Halvorson	Shana Goldberg-Meehan	January 4, 2001	226412	24.37[1]
Rachel and Chandler get hooked on cheesecakes meant for someone else. David (Hank Azaria), Phoebe's Scientist Guy, comes into town for just one night and wants to have dinner with Phoebe when she already has plans with Joey. Monica's cousin Frannie, with whom she was once best friends, is getting married, and she is not invited. As it turns out, her husband is Stuart, an old flame who slept with Monica once.
158	12	"The One Where They're Up All Night"	Kevin S. Bright	Zachary Rosenblatt	January 11, 2001	226413	22.86[1]
Everyone is awake for the whole night after they try to see a comet on the roof. Monica and Chandler can't seem to sleep, Rachel and Tag search for a business file, Joey and Ross try to get off the roof staying after the others and getting locked out, and Phoebe's smoke detector won't stop beeping, leading to a run-in with a firefighter.
159	13	"The One Where Rosita Dies"	Stephen Prime	Story: Ellen Plummer & Sherry Bilsing Teleplay: Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones	February 1, 2001	226415	22.24[1]
Rachel and Chandler both think they've broken Rosita, Joey's recliner, so Rachel goes out with Joey to buy the La-Z-Boy E-Cliner 3000, while Chandler secretly swaps his recliner with Joey's. Eventually, Joey takes Chandler's at Monica's request, and Rachel keeps the luxurious La-Z-Boy for herself (making Joey jealous). Meanwhile, Monica and Ross visit their childhood house, finding out their parents are selling it. However, an incident with the Porsche and a flood leads to Monica's childhood boxes being ruined while Ross's stay dry. Phoebe takes a telemarketing job selling toner and tries to save a man named Earl (Jason Alexander) from committing suicide.
160	14	"The One Where They All Turn Thirty"	Ben Weiss	Story: Vanessa McCarthy Teleplay: Ellen Plummer & Sherry Bilsing	February 8, 2001	226411	22.40[1]
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. Note: In episode 3.10 “The One Where Rachel Quits”, set in December 1996, Chandler says Rachel is 28 and so she should turn 33 in this episode, set in early 2001. Moreover, it is previously said (elsewhere in seasons 4 and 5) that Rachel was born on May 5th and not in the wintertime.
161	15	"The One with Joey's New Brain"	Kevin S. Bright	Story: Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer Teleplay: Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	February 15, 2001	226416	21.75[1]
Joey's Days of our Lives character has another famous one's brain transplanted into his body, and tells the actress by accident. Using his charm, Joey and the actress work to maintain the character's legacy, and they 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 the phone 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 thought it was. Note: Matt LeBlanc was nervous about performing with Susan Sarandon. Similarly, Kevin Bright was cautious about directing, as Tim Robbins attended the studio recording.
162	16	"The One with the Truth About London"	David Schwimmer	Story: Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones Teleplay: Zachary Rosenblatt	February 22, 2001	226417	21.22[1]
Rachel teaches Ben practical jokes, which angers Ross. However, Ross and Ben get back at Rachel with a prank of their own. 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: Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones Teleplay: Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen	March 15, 2001	226414	20.84[1]
Monica beats another bride-to-be in a fight over a wedding dress; however she is forced to reconsider her victory when the other bride-to-be books Chandler's favorite band on the same day as her wedding and holds them as ransom for the dress. Joey and Ross fight over the same girl (Gabrielle Union) they met and go to drastic measures to win.
164	18	"The One with Joey's Award"	Gary Halvorson	Story: Sherry Bilsing & Ellen Plummer Teleplay: Brian Boyle	March 29, 2001	226418	17.81[1]
Joey is nominated for a "Soapie" but loses, much to his chagrin. But when he accepts a different award on behalf of a co-star, he finds himself unwilling to hand it over. One of Ross's male students claims he is in love with him to get a higher mark on a test. It is revealed by another student that he is straight and has fooled other professors in a similar manner. The student ends up with a C after some of Ross's colleagues overhear a conversation that made it seem that 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[1]
Ross and Monica's gorgeous cousin, Cassie (Denise Richards) comes to visit, and Phoebe, Ross, and Chandler 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 the fact it calls 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.[2]
166	20	"The One with Rachel's Big Kiss"	Gary Halvorson	Scott Silveri & Shana Goldberg-Meehan	April 26, 2001	226419	16.30[1]
Rachel runs into Melissa (Winona Ryder), a former sorority sister with whom she once had a passionate kiss. However, with Melissa denying it and Phoebe unable to believe Rachel is capable of something like that, Rachel decides to recreate the kiss with surprising results: Melissa was faking 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 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[1]
Chandler and Monica struggle to write their wedding vows. The group remember the journey Monica and Chandler have made the past few years via flashbacks. Note: This is the lowest rated episode in the series with only 15.65 million viewers.
168	22	"The One with Chandler's Dad"	Kevin S. Bright & Gary Halvorson	Story: Gregory S. Malins Teleplay: Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones	May 10, 2001	226420	17.23[1]
Chandler tries to reconcile with his estranged 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 advice from Phoebe 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 get out of being fined. 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	Part 1: Gregory S. Malins Part 2: Marta Kauffman & David Crane	May 17, 2001[lower-alpha 1]	226422/ 226423	30.05[1]
Joey gets a part in a movie and learns the art of enunciation (and therein spitting) from his famous co-star (Gary Oldman). He later finds out he is supposed to work on the day of Monica and Chandler's wedding. Chandler's fear of commitment catches up to him and he runs away from his wedding. Phoebe finds someone's positive pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, and assumes it is Monica's. Joey learns he is only supposed to shoot one scene before he can leave for the wedding, but when his co-star turns up drunk it seems Joey won't make it to the ceremony. Chandler is found but, upon overhearing Phoebe discuss Monica's assumed pregnancy, disappears again. Luckily he turns up again, used to the idea of becoming a father. Joey arrives just in time, still in costume from his war movie. Monica and Chandler become husband and wife, getting married to the tune of the song "Everlong" by Foo Fighters. In the end, it's revealed that the pregnancy test belonged to Rachel.

Special

Special No.	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers millions
S01	"Friends: The Stuff You've Never Seen"	February 15, 2001	22.50[1]
A 20-minute special hosted by Conan O'Brien.

Awards and Nominations

53rd Primetime Emmy Awards

• Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Jennifer Aniston) (Episodes: "The One with Rachel's Assistant" + "The One Where They All Turn Thirty")
• Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Lisa Kudrow) (Episodes: "The One With Phoebe's Cookies" + "The One with Joey's New Brain")
• Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Gary Oldman) (Episode: "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding")
• Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Susan Sarandon) (Episode: "The One with Joey's New Brain")

7th Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Regular Cast)

6th Golden Satellite Awards

• Nomination for Best Musical or Comedy Series
• Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series (Lisa Kudrow)

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. "Friends Nielsen Ratings Archive – Season Seven". Newmusicandmore.tripod.com. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
2. Sangster, J. and D. Bailey. Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to "Friends". London: Virgin Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7535-0439-1.

External links

• List of Friends episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• Friends: Season 7 at Rotten Tomatoes