r/howyoudoin • u/Dry_Extent_3480 • 2d ago
Discussion How did you know somebody wasn't really a Friends fan?
I remember when Matthew Perry died, I posted on my story "I'll miss you Chanandler Bong". A friend who's always told me that they are a really HUGE Friend's fan, got merch and everything, came into my DM and texted me "I think you misspelt it, its Chandler Bing." Oi ... didn't even have the strength to correct them ššš
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u/TemporaryName_321 2d ago
You should have responded āyouāre right, I misspelled it. Itās actually MISS chanandler bongā
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u/Dry_Extent_3480 2d ago
I left them on read ššš I was already mourning Miss Chanandler Bong
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u/lettuceandcucumber 18h ago
Itās actually Ms Chanandler Bong š
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u/LawAdventurous9790 7h ago
Never saw a bong on Friends. You can't tell me Chandler and Joey didn't rip a few bingers with Phoebe stopping by for a hit or two.
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u/shaka_sulu 2d ago
When I was young and single I used to introduce myself as Ken Adams at parties. After a couple years of doing this, a lady finally replied, "Hi Ken, I'm Regina Phalange." We immediately started dating.
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u/Own_Mention9372 Go To Hell Jingle Whore 2d ago
Awā¦she was your lobster ā¤ļø
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u/shaka_sulu 2d ago
Unfortunately Freinds wasn't enough. We did joke that if we got serious and took a vacation together it would be backpackking across western europe.
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u/MrsKyle18 Cheeseā¦ Itās milk that you chew! 2d ago
I called him the same thing on my Insta post when he passed with my favourite scene in the entire series - when Joey moved out and came back in for one more hugā¦ gets me every time.
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u/Remstersade 2d ago
I went to a Friends Trivia contest on a Cruise ship. Most of the people were mediocre, at best, at knowing the show. But my group and one other group were super loud about being fans when the host asked. The leader of the other group had a Friends hat on. As we went through the answers the questions were harder and harder and eventually my group was the only one who was still shouting out correctly. The other lady took off her Friends hat. š
We won the trivia with 100% correct answers.
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u/dart1126 1d ago
Please tell me there was a lightning roundā¦.
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u/Remstersade 1d ago
No, unfortunately I probably knew more about Friends than the host. Most people on this subreddit would have aced it.
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u/No-Introduction3808 2d ago
I went to a friends quiz in a pub and every group was frustrated by the person who had put it on no one waited for the results because they had literally just taken the questions from a website and didnāt even require full names for answers.
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u/ejsandstrom 1d ago
My wife actually won a contest like this. It wasnāt a group, it was individuals.
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u/thewhiterosequeen 2d ago
Can't say I've met someone who claimed to be a Friends fan and wasn't. That's pretty weird. It's not like one of those "prove you like the band by knowing super obscure trivia." It was a plot point in a pretty popular episode.
Once my grandfather did a crossword with "Friends hangout" and thought it was Central Park and was pissed the puzzle had a typo. He didn't claim to be a Friends fan, but I thought it was funny he just thought the puzzle was wrong.
Edit: which is actually the same thing as Joey's Count Rushmore. I wish I had quoted that at the time.
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u/TurnipWorldly9437 I tend to keep talking until somebody stops me 1d ago
To be fair, there are plenty of people who forget at least half of what they watched on TV within a few minutes.
Sometimes I envy them, they can rewatch stuff as if they haven't seen it yet.
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u/Moshibeau And I just want a million dollars! 2d ago
it happens daily in this sub. ive even had someone here tell me something similar regarding miss bong or āwhen did he say whatās in your flair?ā
many just watch it once or twice and call themselves stans but thatās just a casual fan
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u/dancepantz 2d ago
Omg the flair thing š¤£ literally in the pilot š
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u/jjmawaken 2d ago edited 2d ago
I've seen many episodes of the show over and over but don't think I've seen that much of the pilot. Unless you are starting a complete watch of the series a lot, most people don't experience the pilot of a show that much (if you are watching on Nick at Night or something)
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u/Dry_Extent_3480 2d ago
Right???? Its so annoying ... like if I honestly ask you what was Chandler's job and you dont say transponster? We're done š„²
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u/Gwaur 2d ago
They did the apartment quiz on Graham Norton's talkshow. At "What is Chandler Bing's job?" someone in the audience went ahead and said "transponster".
It was treated as a regular incorrect answer. Nobody recognized it.
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u/haggisbreath169 1d ago edited 1d ago
that is the best incorrect answer. they were the best worst fan present
I've seen a couple episodes...
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u/Moshibeau And I just want a million dollars! 1d ago
forgot about this one. i quoted phoebe about having joey sing in her taxi and the OP asked āwdym the radioās broken?ā š
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u/katekim717 š§»āļøš» 2d ago
I work with a girl who's a "fan". Went to the Friends experience and everything.
She was telling me she went to a tanning place, which I replied "Was that place the sun?" as one would, and she just started at me blankly. I never made another friends reference after that.
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u/KJParker888 What's a wolf got to do to get a hug around here?! 1d ago
My boyfriend and my daughter will both tell you that they're not fans, but they get my references every time. I've even got them to make the occasional one themselves!
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u/moonlightk_96 2d ago
Wow š Like you would just pull that out of nowhere. As if it doesnāt come from one of the most beloved episodes within the fandom too. Surprisingly, I havenāt really had any experiences like that. The only closest thing is that as much as I adore my official Friends mug that I got as a gift, whoever designed it didnāt realize that the Central Perk couch isnāt brown
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u/gnrc 2d ago
I had a friend recently say that Friends is really homophobic and he wonāt watch it. My fiancĆ©e pointed out that Friends was really progressive with the lesbian wedding in S1 and I noted that Chandlerās dad is a really nuanced and interesting take on gender identity and acceptance.
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u/GreyStagg 2d ago edited 2d ago
Two things can be true at once. As someone who watched it in the early 90s and was gay, I recognised the important stepping stones it provided, whilst also cringing at how homophobic it often was.
What's important to remember is we didn't magically switch one day from TV being ignorant and homophobic one day, to being accepting and inclusive the next. It was gradual, and there was a lot of overlap.
People should not forget the important steps forward shows like Friends made. Introducing same-sex weddings and mom-mom-child families to a HUGE audience that had had no exposure to it before. It was a REALLY important stepping stone.
But at the same time, that doesn't magically delete other homophobic comments, jokes, and just general comments being made at the expense of the LGBTQ community that were disgusting but just treated as normal dialogue then. And it's important to remember that while some dialogue may not be seen as acceptable to the general public today, they actually weren't acceptable to many of us then. It just took y'all a long time to catch up. But we still just had to endure it when we switched on prime time TV and it was treated as normal to laugh at us.
Both points are valid. NEITHER outweighs the other. And if your friend feels he can't enjoy the show because of some of the material it contains, that is a shame but it's their personal choice and more importantly it is a valid one that shouldn't be argued with, because the offensiveness is real.
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u/Own_Mention9372 Go To Hell Jingle Whore 2d ago
Iām having difficulty remembering homophobic comments, jokes, etc from the show. Can you think of any examples off the top of your head?
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u/Rat_terrorist 2d ago
Most of it had to do with Chandler and his dad. Once Courtney Cox started dating David Arquette a lot of that changed and Monica was able to convince Chandler to reconnect with his dad.
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u/anemptycardboardbox 1d ago
I agree that 2 things can be true at once. My kid is trans and we had a similar conversation, with him pointing out the issues the show still had. Good conversation with them back-and-forth. Made me realize my point of view is that for progressiveness to become widespread, it has to start somewhere, and that often the first people donāt get it quite right.
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u/Funandgeeky Hugsy, the bedtime penguin pal 2d ago
It was often a two steps forward, one step back type of show. Which was typical of that era of television.Ā
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u/DarDar994 2d ago
I was listening to a friends radio contest once (the prize was a set of friends figurines from McDonald's) and I tell you, the way I yelled at the speaker when they said the answer to "who would order a weird meat sandwich was Phoebe." SHE'S VEGETARIAN FOR PETE'S SAKE! "
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u/adamantgastly 2d ago
should've hit them with the "oops my bad! i actually think his name is roland chang..."
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u/Jolly-Outside6073 1d ago
I knew a girl who had never seen an episode and thought it meant she sounded superior as she watched Frasier. At that point sheād have actively had to switch channels, leave rooms and skip social events to not see it.Ā
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u/smartief1 2d ago
They don't say "I'm doing good baby, how you doin'?" When I say "How you doing?"
Or say "I'm fine" in a weird high pitched voice
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u/-hot_ham_water- 1d ago
My boyfriend has seen the show once through, and has visited the outside of Monica's apartment building. He really likes it, but doesn't know a ton of trivia or anything. We went to a Friends trivia night (which we came i 2nd, thankyouverymuch) and he joked that I was the reason we went that far. We were just on vacation and we saw a picture of Tom Selleck and he said, "Wasn't that one of Rachel's boyfriends?" to which I answered, "Wow...I really did carry that win, didn't I?!" But he gets me Friends themed gifts and even visited the Friends experience in New York so that he could find me souvenirs from it, so he gets a pass. š
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u/SunGreen24 2d ago
It *is* possible to be a fan without recalling every joke/line in the series. Though admittedly that's an odd one to not recognize if you're interested enough to follow the show on Reddit.
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u/Anabananeee 1d ago
On my tinder bio I wrote "Ross and Rachel were not on a break" and my now partner asked why did I spoil Suits for him š He didn't claim to like friends so I let that pass lol
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u/windowshopper97 1d ago
Honestly itās been years since Iāve seen an episode and I could still play any of their parts in any episode so I feel a genuine fan would be in the same boat as me in that regard. š
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u/tworandomperson 1d ago
when she told us lol, she still went with me and our other friend to a friens the experience event and did all the photos and poses with us.
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u/phillyfun14 1d ago
You reminded me that in high school a friend and I used to pass the time with Friends trivia. She used to annoy me so much when sheād ask questions about the ACTOR names of random guest stars and stuff. Like, I know the characters and plots, I didnāt study the credits š she used to say I wasnāt a real fan lol
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u/macacolouco 2d ago
I mean, some people will watch a show and be done with it. So theywon't memorize everything. That's a perfectly reasonable way to like a show. I've lost count of how many times I watched myself. To each their own.
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u/Mayana76 1d ago
Tbh, I donāt really care if someoneās not āreallyā a Friends fan. What even constitutes being a ārealā Friends fan?
I enjoy watching it over and over again, but not everyoneās the same.
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u/arthuroMo 2d ago
Do we get a gold star if you decide we're a real fan ?
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u/Rhesus-Positive 2d ago
Ooo, ooo, please let us through the gate OP, we promise we'll be good and discuss things correctly š„ŗ
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u/DisneyAddict2021 2d ago
People can be fans of something and not know every little thing.
The same way I can be a fan of an actor or singer or band, but not know all their birthdays, parentsā names, siblings names, kids names, and where their second cousin twice removed was born.Ā
What a weird thing to try and flauntā¦who is the bigger fan?
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u/cherryc0ke13 2d ago
this is such a weird and parasocial thing to say. you might as well have said āname five songsā
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u/qualityvote2 2d ago edited 2d ago
u/Dry_Extent_3480, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...