For the TV nostalgic among us, the podcast “The Shows We Watched” is a must-listen trip down memory lane. From “Friends” and “Fraser” to “The Joy of Painting” and “Gossip Girl,” each episode dissects a different series to examine the legacy of the show and its characters – because whether we liked them or not, these ever-popular TV series of the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s continue to define American television to this day.
On episode eight of the podcast, best friend hosts Emily Johnston and James King, both self-proclaimed TV aficionados, bravely begin to tackle the cultural phenomenon that was Friends by dedicating their first episode to Ross.
As many of us remember, Ross, portrayed by David Schwimmer, was the Friend’s character who held the group together or the “glue” so to say. Highly intellectual with a Ph.D. in paleontology from Colombia, on paper, Ross seemingly had all the answers; however, as we learn over the 10 seasons, while he may be book smart, his street smarts leave something to be desired.
Read on for some of Ross’s funniest moments (in no particular order) according to the hosts of “The Shows We Watched.”
1. Marcel the monkey
Ross’s memorable moments begin early on in the series when he gets a pet monkey, Marcel, in Season 1. However, as rumor has it, filming with the primate, (well, really, primates, as it was two monkeys who interpreted Marcel) was not all fun and games and Schwimmer has revealed that he in fact did not enjoy sharing the spotlight with his monkey friend. This revelation, however, did not sit well with Marcel’s trainer, who has accused Schwimmer of feeling jealous toward the monkey for getting more laughs than Ross himself.
2. Tanning booth
For anyone out there hoping to get a spray tan, let Episode 3 of Season 10 serve as an official warning of what not to do. In undoubtedly one of his most iconic moments from the whole series, Ross fails to follow the simple instructions of the tanning booth and walks away from the experience having been sprayed eight times in the front and none in the back. As Johsnton admits, it’s nearly impossible to “not think about Ross when you get a spray tan.”
3. Leather pants incident
A fashion fiasco that ends up becoming a running joke throughout the series, no list of Ross’s best moments would be complete without a mention of his traumatic leather pants incident. In an effort to appear edgy and fashion-forward for his date, Ross buys a pair of leather pants, which he soon realizes is too tight to pull back up over his hips after a trip to the bathroom. While he tries his best to remedy the situation by applying lotion and baby powder, he eventually succumbs to his defeat and ends up getting stuck pantless in his date’s bathroom, a moment his friends never let him live down. While credit must be given to his bold and adventurous fashion choices, viewers be warned that leather pants are best saved for cooler weather and perhaps for less romantic occasions.
4. Fake British accent
In classic Ross fashion of trying too hard to be something that he is not, he puts his British accent skills to the test in an effort to impress his wife-to-be’s posh family while on his wedding trip to England. Despite Chandler and Joey’s attempts to get him to drop the comically bad and exaggerated accent, he insists on staying in character leading to many awkward and hilarious situations throughout the episode.
