The One With The Stoned Guy (2024)

"The One With The Stoned Guy" is the 15th episode of season 1 of Friends. In it, Phoebe gets Monica an interview with a chef, but things go wrong. Meanwhile, Chandler gets a promotion, but realizing he's trapped in a job he hates, he quits and tries to find his calling.

Plot[]

After working as a data processing "temp" for the last five years, Chandler is being promoted to data processing supervisor. Realizing that by accepting the promotion he acknowledges this as his career, he quits happily.

Phoebe mentions a chef vacancy to Chandler, who is now unemployed. Chandler declines, but Monica is thrilled and intrigued. She invites Steve, the owner, to dinner at her apartment, where she cooks a gourmet meal for him. She has Phoebe come along to "make yummy noises" and hires a professional waitress from work named Wendy to help her, offending Rachel as Monica never thought she was professional enough to help. On the day of the dinner, Wendy backs out of helping Monica, so she begs Rachel to help just as Rachel has made plans for the night; Rachel relents when Monica offers her double of Wendy's rate. Unfortunately, when Steve arrives, Phoebe points out to Rachel, who points out to Monica, that the guy's stoned. Monica thinks Rachel's kidding until she sees that Steve is far more interested in eating instant mac and cheese, taco shells, and gummy bears than the fancy gourmet menu he's seeking out for his restaurant. Monica calls off the dinner, frustrated with Steve's recklessness.

Chandler takes aptitude tests to find out what new career he should pursue, but finds out his ideal career is the one he just quit. When he receives a call from his boss offering a big raise to accompany the promotion, he accepts his new job role. It turns out to be a job that he has to care about, which makes him hate himself.

Ross has a date with a beautiful museum colleague, Celia. Things are going well, but she wants him to talk dirty to her, and Ross, caught unawares, stumbles on the word "vulva", which makes him and Celia cuddle instead of having sex. He asks Joey for help, although he's highly uncomfortable about this (especially when Chandler eavesdrops on him and Joey having a rehearsed dirty conversation), but decides to work on it. Unfortunately for him, his new refined seductive art takes too long for him to do anything with Celia, whom he ends up cuddling with again.

In revenge for ruining Monica's new job opportunity, Phoebe massages Steve, jabbing him with her elbows up and down his back, causing him to yell in pain.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

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

Supporting Cast[]

Melora Hardin - Celia
Jon Lovitz - Steve
Fritzi Burr - Mrs. Tedlock
Katie - Marcel the Monkey (uncredited)
James Michael Tyler - Gunther (uncredited)

Crew[]

Directed By:
Alan Myerson

Written By:
Jeff Greenstein & Jeff Strauss

Trivia[]

• This episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience on December 13, 1994.
• One of the new toys seen in Chandler's cubicle is a giant plastic hamburger.
• The T-shirt Chandler wears when Ross is attempting dirty talk with Joey was similar to the one worn by Ross in "The One With The Thumb" (S1E3).
• The bottles of water the friends drink has "via" on the label but the label design identifies the bottle as "Evian".
• Although he briefly quits his job, he gets offered a pay rise and his own office and returns to his old job. Chandler doesn't quit for good until "The One With Christmas In Tulsa" (S9E10).
• When Monica and Rachel argue about being the waitress, in the fridge you can see a picture of Monica and Ross together.
• Steve makes another appearance in "The One With The Blind Dates" (S9E14), where he's set up on a blind date with Rachel by Phoebe. By this time, Steve has lost his restaurant to drugs, lives in a studio apartment with two guys, and produces custom T-shirt text prints. His ego is pretty much at rock bottom, as he hates practically everything about himself (except for his hair), and often ends up crying, even in front of women. However, he's still keen on his drug addiction - on Rachel's date, in fact, he goes to "blaze a doobie" at least four times.
• This is the first time Joey coaches Ross on what to say on a date. Later in the series, as seen in "The One With The Videotape", he teaches Ross the Europe story which ultimately leads to Ross and Rachel sleeping together which is when their daughter is conceived.
• Jon Lovitz would later appear in Rat Race (2001), the final scene of which features the group Smash Mouth whose song "Every Word Means No" is played in the background at Danny's party in "The One Where Ross Moves In".
• Jon Lovitz would also later appear in the romantic comedy Mother's Day (2016) with Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts who plays Susie Moss in "The One After The Superbowl, Part 2".
• A clip of this episode appears in a Discover Card commercial.
• This episode was used as "W is for Weenus" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).

Goofs[]

• When Phoebe goes to tell Rachel about Steve, her purse is on her right arm. When she says that Steve "blazed up a doobie" her purse is now on her left arm, and again switches back to her right.
• When Steve is rapidly eating the first course Monica serves, he eats everything on the plate, even the red piece of fruit in the middle. When she puts the plate down and the angle changes, the fruit is back on the plate.
• When Rachel is trying to tell Monicathat Steve is stoned, she raises the armtwice when the shot changes.
• When Ross and Joey are sitting at the table, Chandler's door is fully closed but when they move into the living area, it's partly open. This may be because Chandler had just caught Joey's comment asking Ross to say he "wants to caress my butt".
• Just after Joey says "It's whipped fish, I'm just happy I'm keeping it down", the shot changes to one of Rachel who mouths "keeping it down" but no sound can be heard.
• When the gang is in the coffeehouse discussing Steve, Ross goes behind the counter to pour his own coffee but in a later episode when Joey works there, Rachel tells him that Gunther doesn't allow customers behind the counter.
• When Chandler tells his friends he quit his job, he says he doesn't want to worry about the WENUS, "Weekly estimated net usage system". The correct term is "Weekly estimated net usage statistics" which is heard numerous times in the show as a running gag.

Memorable Quotes[]

• Chandler: This was supposed to be a temp job.
  Monica: Chandler, you've been there for five years.
  Chandler: I know, but if I took this promotion, it'd be like admitting that this is what I actually do.
• Chandler: I just don't want to be one of those guys that's in his office until twelve o'clock at night worrying about the W.E.N.U.S.!
  Rachel: [After an awkward pause] The weenus?
  Chandler: Weekly Estimated Net Usage System. It's a processing term.
  Rachel: Oh, that W.E.N.U.S.
• Chandler: Can you see my nipples through this shirt?
  Rachel: No. But don't worry, I'm sure they're still there.
• Chandler: You guys (in the living room) all know what you want to do. You have goals; you have dreams. I don't have a dream.
  Ross: Ah, the lesser-known "I don't have a dream" speech.
• Monica: It's this cute little place on tenth street. It's not too big; it's not too small; it's just right.
  Chandler: Was it formerly owned by a blonde woman and some bears?
• Monica: [To Phoebe] You can ooh and ahh and make yummy noises.
  Rachel: [To Monica] What are you going to make?
  Phoebe: Yummy noises.
  Rachel: And Monica, what are you going to make?
• Ross: Well I thought we'd go to dinner and maybe bring her back to my place and I'd introduce her to my monkey
  Chandler: And he's not speaking metaphorically!
• Steve: Lovely apartment.
  Monica: Thank you. Would you like a tour?
  Steve: I was just being polite, but...sure.
• Steve: Well, smack my ass and call me Judy.

External links[]

• "The One With The Stoned Guy" at The Uncut Friends Scripts
• "The One with the Stoned Guy" at the Internet Movie Database

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