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Friends Season 6 Episode 15

The One That Could Have Been (1)

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 2/17/00

Barry and Mindy's impending divorce prompts the gang to fantasize about what their lives might be like if they'd all taken different courses. Ross is still married to Carol, and Rachel is married to Barry, but fawning over famous soap star Joey Tribbiani. Monica is still fat and dating a doctor. Chandler is an aspiring writer and Phoebe is a Wall Street shark for Merrill Lynch.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

One of Season 6's best!

10

By seriesguy3998, Aug 31, 2009

Friends Season 6 Episode 15 The One That Could Have Been, Part 1

The friends imagine how their lives would have been if Ross and Carol were still married, Rachel had married Barry, Monica was still fat, Joey still worked at Dya's of Our Lives, Chandler being a writer for comic books and Phoebe was a stockbucket.

One of season six's best. This episode was amazing, I just couldnt believe the writers could come up with such a great idea. The first time I saw it and saw the plot on Wiki I thought it would suck, but after seeing it I have to say: wow! This ep is great!moreless
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Very creative.

8.5

By Canogaparkcindy, Jul 10, 2009

It's very creative how the writers decided to do this, it as better than making a whole plot on Barry & Mindy divorcing. They decided to make it sort of a ponder episode. When everything thinks on how their life would be like. I think they made up the whole Phoebe being a stock broker out of nowhere. It was hilarious, but it should of been more realistic. Like what if her "mom" never killed herself. That would be a drastic change. Anyways favorite plot would have to be Joey & Rachel's plot. It was refreshing seeing, Rachel fall in love with Joey. And her making the call in the end. Great cliffhanger. Looks like some things don't change. Carol is still a lesbian. And Monica being a 30 year old virgin was hilarious!moreless
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Funny!

9.8

By grace87, Sep 19, 2007

Oh my God! How much did I love this episode??

It is for sure one of my fave episodes ever.. I just can't stop laughing.. I like Phoebe the best in this ep.. She's so different that she used to be in the "normal" episodes in fact in here she got a job at Merrill Lynch .. but still she is so funny.. "I miss Joan" loool.

Meanwhile, Ross and Carol are dealing with their problems with their sex life, Rachel is thinking about cheating on Barry with Joey, who is now a big star of "Days of our life" and hired Chandler as his assistant beacause Chandler is broke. Monica is still fat and she is trying to give away her "flower".. How can you not be laughing in this ep?moreless
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When Barry and Mindy get a divorce, Rachel wonders what her life would be like if she'd married Barry, causing all of the Friends to imagine their lives differently.

10

By optimisticeyes, Sep 09, 2007

The One That Could Have Been (both parts) is my fave episode. I can't imagine it being any more perfect. True Friends style makes it one of the best episodes, and any Friends fan should watch it. If you've already seen it, watch it again, and again, and again etc ! ! ! Even if you're not a big friends fan it'll have you in stiches.

My favourite part of it is that everyone ends up basically how they started off, which means it couldn't be any other way. Phoebe's at her best randomness; Chandler's really funny; Rahel's still spoilt; Ross is is helpless; Joey still flirts; and Monica's still a neat-freak! It really wouldn't be right to have it any other way!moreless
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One of the funniest episodes.

9.2

By chocoholic411, Jul 15, 2007

The one that could have been part 1, is very funny its one of the funniest episodes in the season. However, at times it is totally and utterly unbelievable!! The episode shows what could have happened if certain things had or hadn't happened to each of the 6 main characters. Rachel wonders what her life would have been like if she'd actually married him. Ross wonders what would happen if Carol hadn't realized she was a lesbian. Monica wonders what would happen if she was still fat. Joey wonders what would happen if he never got fired from days of out lives. Chandler wonders what would happen if he had the guts to quit his job, while Phoebe wants to know what would happen if she had taken a job in stocks.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Jennifer Aniston	Rachel Green
Courteney Cox	Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow	Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc	Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry	Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer	Ross Geller

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Pat Finn	Dr. Roger	Guest Star
Cacey Riggan	The Nurse	Guest Star
Kevin Spirtas	Dr. Wesley	Cameo
Mitchell Whitfield	Barry Farber	Recurring Role
Jane Sibbett	Carol Geller [Willick]	Recurring Role
Cole Sprouse	Ben Geller	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (7)
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- Trivia: When Ross bumps into Rachel in front of the newsstand, a large number of the magazines on display are actual issues of the time with some of the cast members on the cover.
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- Continuity: In "The One In Vegas (2)" Ross pronounces karate correctly. However in this episode, he pronounces it incorrectly and is made fun of for it.
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- Continuity: Ross and Carol decided to name their son Ben in "The One with the Birth" because Susan and Ross were locked in a closet with Phoebe wearing janitor Ben's uniform. However, in this episode their son is still named Ben.
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- Goof: When Joey brings Chandler orange juice to apologize, the logo on the cup changes positions between shots.
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- Goof: In the beginning of the alternate reality when Joey, Chandler, and Monica are talking about money in the coffeehouse, Chandler feet constantly change positions between shots.
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- Goof: In the opening credits when fat Monica sits on the couch, you can see Chandler and Joey helping lift the couch with their feet.
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- Trivia: At the end of the opening credits when Monica turns off the light, the New York skyline is in the background. On the original opener, it's a row of houses.
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QUOTES (11)
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- Rachel: You are friends with Dr. Drake Ramoray?
  Chandler: It's kind of hard to be friends with Drake because of his busy schedule and the fact that he's not real.
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- Joey: Do you need me to give you some money?
  Chandler: I may have no money but I still have my pride.
  Joey: Really?
  Chandler: Eh...
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- Rachel: God, can you imagine if I'd actually married him? I mean, how different would my life be?
  Ross: I know what you mean. I've always wondered how different my life would be if I'd never gotten divorced.
  Phoebe: Which time?
  Ross: The first time.
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- Monica: (To Phoebe) Honey, having a heart attack is nature's way of telling you to slow it down.
  Chandler: Really, I always thought a heart attack was nature's way of telling you to die. But you're not going to die. I mean, you are going to die, but you're not going to die today. I wish I was dead.
  Monica: (To Chandler) Let's take a walk. You know, you should consider writing for Talking Out Of Your Ass magazine.
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- Joey: Okay, I gotta go to work. I'm delivering twins today, but only one of them is mine.
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- Rachel: Guess what? Barry and Mindy are getting a divorce.
  Joey: (To Ross) What is the matter with you?
  Monica: No. Barry and Mindy.
  Joey: Oh, sorry, I hear divorce and I automatically go to Ross.
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- Monica: You know, it's none of my business, but aren't you married?
  Rachel: Yeah...ugh, I wish we could just not be married for a little bit...you know, I just wish we could be like on a break.
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- Phoebe: No! No! No!
  Monica: Oh my God, you didn't sit on my Kit-Kats, did you?
  Phoebe: No. There was a little dip in the market, and I lost thirteen million.
  Chandler: But the Kit-Kats are all right?
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- Monica: So how's it going with Joey?
  Chandler: Oh, just great. He beeps me now with codes. One is, "Bring me food." Two is, "I'm with a girl, bring us food." Three is, "I'm lost and I can't find food."
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- Rachel: Oh my God you're a 30 year old virgin.
  Monica: You want to say it a bit louder I don't think the guy in the back heard you.
  Guy at the back: Yeah I did.
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- Rachel: Why didn't you take the job?
  Phoebe: Because at that time, you see, I thought that everything that rhymed was true. So I thought, you know if I worked with stocks, I had to live in a box and only eat lox and have a pet fox.
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NOTES (11)
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- International Episode Titles:
  Czech Republic: Jak to mohlo být (As It Could Have Been)
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- On Days of our Lives, Dr. Ramoray is conversing with Hope and Dr. Wesley. These two characters are from the real Days of our Lives.
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- This is one of the few two-part episodes. These episodes were originally aired in their entirety, but written to be aired separately in syndication. These episodes are:
  "The One with Two Parts (1)"
  "The One with Two Parts (2)"
  "The One After the Super Bowl (1)"
  "The One After the Super Bowl (2)"
  "The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break (1)"
  "The One with the Morning After (2)"
  "The One with Ross's Wedding (1)"
  "The One with Ross's Wedding (2)"
  "The One In Vegas (1)"
  "The One In Vegas (2)"
  "The One with Rachel's Sister (1)"
  "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry (2)"
  "The One That Could Have Been (1)"
  "The One That Could Have Been (2)"
  "The One with the Proposal (1)"
  "The One with the Proposal (2)"
  "The One with Chandler and Monica's Wedding (1)"
  "The One with Chandler and Monica's Wedding (2)"
  "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (1)"
  "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (2)"
  "The One in Barbados (1)"
  "The One in Barbados (2)"
  "The Last One (1)"
  "The Last One (2)"
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- This episode is one of the few titles that doesn't begin with "The One Where..." or "The One With..." These episodes are:
  "The One After the Super Bowl (1)"
  "The One After the Super Bowl (2)"
  "The One At the Beach"
  "The One Hundredth"
  "The One in Vegas (1)"
  "The One in Vegas (2)"
  "The One After Vegas"
  "The One On the Last Night"
  "The One That Could Have Been (1)"
  "The One That Could Have Been (2)"
  "The One After "I Do""
  "The One in Barbados (1)"
  "The One in Barbados (2)"
  "The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss"
  "The Last One (1)"
  "The Last One (2)"
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- This is the first appearance of Cole Sprouse as Ben Geller. Although Ben appeared in 12 episodes of Friends, Cole only played him in 7 episodes.
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- Phoebe's hair in this episode is actually Lisa Kudrow's real hair. For most of season six she had to wear a wig because they thought her hair was too short for Phoebe's character.
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- The Days of Our Lives segment, where Dr. Drake Ramoray talks Hope Brady out of her coma, is also seen in "The One Where Rachel Has A Baby (2)".
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- This episode runs 23:25 on DVD (a typical sitcom runs about 22:00).
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- When this episode, originally aired as a one-hour episode, was divided into two parts for syndication, a tag scene was added for part one. It shows Fat Monica dancing while eating some food. This outtake is not available on the DVD.
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- In this episode, the opening credits have been changed: you see the cast members in their "alternate reality." For example, Monica is still fat, Joey as famous actor, etc. This is the only episode in the entire series to feature changed fountain shots in the credits.
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- This episode received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Michael Lembeck).
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Chandler: I'd probably be writing for The New Yorker, being paid to be funny.
  
  The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes news, criticisms, essays, cartoons, poetry, and fiction.
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- Chandler: Who sold a story to Archie Comics?
  
  Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones characters, created by Bob Montana.
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