Mark: Rachel Green’s line, how may I help you? He is criminally uncool, and we enjoy seeing him reminded.Įven his tendency towards jealousy takes on a comedic spin: We crack up every time he goes to absurd lengths to conceal his mistakes, blaming Chandler for “tricking” him into smoking pot in college and lying to Rachel about annulling their Vegas wedding. Like the other Friends, we laugh at him for being a momma’s boy, an insufferable know-it-all, and a neurotic mess. So, really, when we’re talking about Ross’s greatest attributes and his most conspicuous flaws, we’re talking about the same thing-the thing that makes him hilarious. His efforts to win over Elizabeth’s father (played by Bruce Willis) would be textbook examples of cringe comedy if we weren’t already so accustomed to Ross’s aggressively awkward social interactions. After a divorce, eviction, and nervous breakdown at the office, Ross complains so much that he irritates Janice. He digs his own grave with every flirting attempt. Murphy’s Law might as well change its name in his honour.Īs the show’s Butt Monkey-the character at the whipping post of Fate-Ross’s many failures and humiliations are played for laughs. When’s the last time you heard of someone who said their ex’s name during their wedding ceremony? Someone who owned a pet monkey? Or who managed to screw up a tanning booth and teeth-whitening situation quite so dramatically? And forget three divorces-Ross also has his part in two unintended pregnancies in just a few scant years. But, to borrow Phoebe’s argument against naming her baby “Ross,” the things that happen to Ross don’t happen to anyone in reality. Yes, a patronising, self-victimising whiner would be annoying in real life. But for the rest of us, all of the “worst” things about Ross are also the best things about him.Īdvertisement Ross’s extremely white teeth – Image Source: Ross is easily the most polarising character on Friends, and I suppose the Ross haters are entitled to their wrong opinion. But it’s Ross’s farcical, physical embodiment of his own gags that provides the richest and most memorable moments of the series. Without Chandler’s quick wit and sarcasm, the jokes of the show might only come half a mile a minute. The off-beat laughs, of course, go to Phoebe. Joey is a classic ditz-so dumb he’s (unintentionally) funny. We get a broad spectrum of comedy’s many forms across an entire decade, a talented cast, and a handful of personalities that all seem, somehow, opposite to one another. Ross’s lead in the race doesn’t diminish the entertainment value of the other central characters, and it doesn’t weaken the laughs they elicit. It’s been a little over ten years-more than enough time to gather and analyse all the evidence.
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