Season 5 of the Friends Sitcom

By Hank Evans

The One With The Triplets: The gang arrives at the hospital for Phoebe's labor. Joey makes a video documentary of the occasion, until he is beset with pain; what is thought to be sympathy pains turns out to be kidney stones. Phoebe's doctor is obsessed with Fonzie, but Ross's attempts to find a more satisfactory doctor only yield a very young looking resident whom Phoebe won't accept. Rachel tries to set Monica and herself up with two male nurses, which causes problems between Monica and Chandler. Joey can make everything (even grandma's chicken salad) sound dirty. Phoebe wants to keep one of the babies and manipulates Rachel into asking for her. Instead of two boys and a girl, Phoebe has two girls and a boy. Joey passes three kidney stones.

The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS: Rachel catches Monica waiting seductively in her bedroom for Chandler; to cover, Monica tells Rachel she's seeing a guy from work. Monica tells Rachel that her new boyfriend is the best sex she's ever had, and when Chandler hears this he gets a little too proud of himself. Ross finally gets Emily on the phone and they begin planning to work things out; Emily agrees to come to New York but only if Ross doesn't see Rachel anymore. After much agonizing, Ross agrees. Joey gets involved with a PBS pledge drive, believing he's the host; but he's only a phone jockey and not even on camera. Phoebe reveals her hatred for PBS, which started because she never got an answer to a letter she wrote to Sesame Street after her mom died. Joey and Phoebe argue about whether any truly selfless good deeds exist, so Phoebe tries repeatedly to find one.

The One With All The Thanksgivings: After Thanksgiving dinner at Monica's, the gang tells stories about their worst Thanksgivings ever. In a series of flashbacks, we see Chandler learning of his parent's divorce (1978); Phoebe losing an arm (twice) in past lives (1862 and'15); Joey with his head in a turkey (1992); Chandler hurting Monica's feelings (1987); and Monica getting a little more revenge than she planned, when Chandler loses a toe (1988).

The One With The Inappropriate Sister: Because of his boredom while away from work, Ross offers to help Joey focus on writing a movie. Things get a little tense, however, when Ross wants Joey to work and Chandler wants to play 'Fireball.' Phoebe volunteers to collect Christmas donations for the poor, but ends up getting a bucket full of unwanted 'contributions,' so she gets tough with the donors. Monica arranges for Rachel and Danny to go out. It seems to be going very well until Rachel discovers that Danny has an unusually close relationship with his sister, Krista.

The One Where Everybody Finds Out: Ugly Naked Guy puts stuff in boxes (prepares to move), and sublets his apartment. Ross applies, but competition for the place is fierce, so when a bribe doesn't seal the deal, Ross decides to cultivate and exploit a common interest--nakedness. Phoebe, while looking at Ross' potential new apartment with Rachel, looks out the window and sees Chandler and Monica "doing it." Phoebe and Rachel decide to use their knowledge of this romance to play some practical jokes on Monica and Chandler--jokes which include Phoebe making passes at Chandler. Monica realizes they must know, so she and Chandler play along, and each side tries to see who will crack first. Now everybody knows, except Ross. ...Until he gets the apartment, looks out the window, and suddenly has a return of his rage problem.

The One With The Cop: Joey has a dream that Monica is his girlfriend; Monica tells him it just means he wants a relationship with the closeness that he sees between herself and Chandler. She suggests he try being friends with a woman before being intimate. After hitting on Rachel (unsuccessfully), Joey tries to make friends with new women; but they find his "friends first" approach so enticing that they want the intimacy immediately. Phoebe finds a police badge under a cushion at the coffee house. She plans to return it but has too much fun pretending to be a cop... until she pulls it on the actual owner of the badge. She drops the badge and runs away; he tracks her down and asks her on a date. Ross buys a new sofa (couch), but can't get it up the stairs to his apartment.

The One With The Ball: Gary decides to ask Phoebe to live with him. She doesn't think it's a good idea, which makes him sad, so she ends up agreeing. After some changes of heart (back and forth) they finally move in together... until one morning Gary shoots a bird that's chirping outside the window. Phoebe breaks up with him. Ross and Joey throw a ball back and forth without dropping it for a couple hours; soon it becomes a contest, joined by Monica and Chandler. Around the tenth hour, they invite Phoebe to join; unfortunately, she doesn't feel like playing. Rachel spends a thousand dollars on a pure-bred, hairless Sphinx cat, like the one her grandmother had when Rachel was a kid. Unfortunately, this cat is not very nice, and a scratched-up Rachel ends up selling the cat to Gunther.

The One With Joey's Big Break: Rachel has an eye infection but doesn't want anyone touching her eye. Monica finally gets her to a doctor but then Rachel won't use the eyedrops. Everyone has to hold her down and force her to use them. Phoebe is mad at Ross but can't remember why. Joey gets the lead role in a independent film called Shutter Speed, being filmed in Las Vegas. He and Chandler start a road trip but Chandler lets slip that he doesn't think this is Joey's big break, and gets kicked out of the car. Joey makes it to Vegas but the movie is shutting down from lack of funds, leaving Joey trying to make ends meet as a gladiator at Caesar's Palace. - 29848

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