Friends is one of the most popular television shows of the 20th century. With ten episodes about Thanksgiving in ten seasons, we’re reviewing the best one: The One With The Football (Season 3, Episode 9).
Friends background
Here is some background for those unfamiliar with Friends. The comedy centers around a group of six friends living in New York City. The three girls are Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel and they live in an apartment across the hall from Chandler, Ross, and Joey. The show essentially follows their everyday lives in the city. It’s important to know for this episode that Monica and Ross are siblings.
Plot
This episode tells about Monica and Ross’ sibling rivalry. Their family, the Gellers, always played a football game every year on Thanksgiving. They call it “The Geller Bowl.” The winner would get “The Geller Cup.” This is just a troll doll nailed to a piece of wood. However, after a bad argument, their dad threw the cup into a lake after “Geller Bowl 6” so they could not play football ever again. Monica reveals that she fished the trophy out of the lake and has had it for years. This causes turmoil between her and Ross and they yet again have a “Geller Bowl” except this time with their friends. The six play a three-on-three game with the “Geller Cup” as the prize.
Thoughts
Friends has some serious moments but mostly the show is a comedy at heart. So, obviously, it’s no doubt that this episode is hilarious. Monica tends to be a competitive overachiever, so the audience really sees this aspect of her personality here. Courtney Cox is the actress who plays Monica. She does a great job of getting deep into character and really showing us this side of Monica. While most say I’m a Phoebe-like girl, I definitely relate to Monica’s competitiveness with her sibling in a sport in this episode.
Ross, though, is normally a frantic person where everything just seems to go wrong. However, we see a competitive side to him in this episode as well. David Schwimmer plays Ross and really got competitive to go against his television sister. We see the rest of the cast go head-to-head in the game as well. Even Rachel and Phoebe, who aren’t the most athletic.
The setting of this episode makes it the perfect Thanksgiving special as well. The group goes to the park to play, which is covered in fallen leaves. Everyone is wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts which encapsulate a comfy Thanksgiving in the city. It’s also relatable to the audience, as football on Thanksgiving, intertwined with sibling rivalry, is a tradition for many on the holiday.
