Friends From A to Z
by Adele and Zoe
Join Adele and Zoe discussing possibly the best TV programme ever made in Friends From A to Z. Episode by episode they dig into the detail, laugh at the best bits and call out what’s unusual or just plain weird twenty something years on in Friends Thru A Lens - plus they have condensed each episode into a limerick! Could a Friends podcast BE any better?
Episodes
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep10 The Inappropriate Sister
Rachel and Danny’s relationship sparks a debate about the best and worst couples of all ten seasons, which has some surprises of its own. There’s discussion of the reverse Dickensian theme in this episode and a lot of puzzling about why the Ross and Joey dynamic here is perhaps less successful…
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep9 Ross' Sandwich
**Note that this episode was recorded before the untimely death of Matthew Perry** We had one of our favourite things with this episode: seeing it in a new light and with more layers than before. We learn that the edit choices around Ross’ sandwich have resulted in a creative magnifier that...
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep8 All The Thanksgivings
**Note that this episode was recorded before the untimely death of Matthew Perry** This is an easy favourite, with lots to love. There is also, though, a lot to forgive with several plot holes revealed through the discussion, but that doesn’t prevent this from being a classic. There’s surprise at...
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep7 Ross Moves In
There’s a surprise in store for Zoe with a very special Epidimerick. There’s a lot of debate about possible explanations for very curious behaviour from Rachel, Zoe learns a new social hack and an iconic hand gesture takes the conversation from sitcom to psychology.
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep6 The Yeti
Does Phoebe have any way of justifying wearing the fur coat? There's a discussion about a possible flaw in the Danny storyline - is Rachel really ready for this yet(i)? And Zoe blows Adele’s mind by spotting that Emily and Ross are Ross and Rachel in reverse.
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep5 The Kips
We're off to a racing start in this one with a cracking cold open and, despite it having a title that Zoe really (really!) doesn't like, it's jam packed full of fantastic laughs and stuff to discuss; Does Monica have the wrong idea of what a perfect weekend away should be like? Even though the...
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep4 Phoebe Hates PBS
Apologies to any US listeners who will cringe at our lack of knowledge about PBS, but hopefully that doesn't distract from the discussion too much! Adele wonders what the plan was for Emily if the actress hadn't got pregnant when she did (meaning Emily is not only written out but also filmed only...
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep3 The One Hundredth
It's The One Hundredth and that's not the only landmark thing about this episode. Elsewhere, Zoe reveals an improvised moment by Lisa Kudrow that never made it to air (understandably, when you know what it is!), we discuss why a tiny bump in the road for Chandler and Monica is so significant and…
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep2 All The Kissing
Important turning points here when another Rachel and Ross chapter closes, Monica and Chandler's story develops and Phoebe's life is about to change. We discuss why it's the right decision for Rachel to tell Ross she loves him, we find out what prompted Zoe's three smiles in the margin of her…
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FFAtoZ S5 Ep 1 After Ross Said Rachel
We’re back for Season Five and what an opening episode - the resolution to one of the greatest end-of-season cliffhangers in television history. So much here to discuss including of course the big question of just what it *did* mean that Ross said Rachel at his wedding, what to make of Emily’s...
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FFAtoZ The Reunion
A feature length episode to cover everything that happened in The Reunion... and there was a lot! The memories! The tears! The surprises! The special guests! The table reads! The unseen footage! The list goes on... We discuss how much of the plan had been revealed and what was genuinely new to…
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FFAtoZ S4 Eps 23 & 24 Ross' Wedding
Christmas is a time for giving and, to round off the year, we’ve got an extended episode to cover off both parts of Ross’ wedding and two episodes means two epidimericks! We break down why these episodes are so beloved, which celebrity cameo is the best, how our knowledge of what comes next for...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep22 TOW The Worst Best Man Ever
Two episodes (well, one and a half) for the price of one here because we’ve wrapped up TOW The Invitation with TOW The Worst Best Man Ever, because The Invitation has very little original content. However, this does mean we’re double-epidimericking! There is a brief but interesting discussion…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep20 All The Wedding Dresses
It’s (another) one with the lockdown, which means we’re back on Zoom for our recording of this discussion (and the sound quality is a teeny bit affected by that). There’s a debate about whether the wedding dress storyline stands up to 2020 scrutiny and whether it retains its humour with multiple...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep9 All The Haste
This episode’s easy to love for so many reasons: echoes of TOW The Embryos, Joey and Chandler solid bromance moments and significant storyline progress. Despite that, it does raise many question: Is Rachel counter-intuitively the reason why Ross proposes to Emily so quickly? How long does it take...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep18 Rachel's New Dress
There is one standout storyline in this episode which is undeniably great for a number of different reasons. Beyond that, there’s plenty of debate about ‘that’ dress - not just the dress itself but several questions about the set up and the outcome of that storyline. Elsewhere, how do we feel…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep17 The Free Porn
Interesting trivia right off the bat with this one and its main storyline, which also leads to a mass debate trying to make sense of a group of friends sitting around watching this particular type of TV channel. What does this tell us about how TV has changed in the intervening years? Elsewhere,...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep16 The Fake Party
This one might contain a fake party, but it’s the real deal when it comes to Friends episodes. There’s a lot of appreciation for the quick-fire funny lines and for Jennifer Aniston’s tour-de-force performance. There are also lots of questions to debate: why does the public at large not feel the...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep15 All The Rugby
There’s plenty to discuss about why this one gets the IMDB rating it has. Is it because 15 Yemen Road, Yemen is so iconic? Is it because Janice is back? Is it the shape-shifting accents that Emily’s rugby pals seem to have? In Friends Thru a Lens, we ask who would have thought that Toxic...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep 14 Joey's Dirty Day
It’s fair to say this isn’t a favourite episode of Season 4 for Adele or Zoe or indeed the audience at large. That said, this is a really important one because we meet for the first time one of the most disruptive and memorable characters of all ten seasons. It does raise a number of questions...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep13 Rachel's Crush
Not the most popular episode of Season 4, but given the real life trivia around this one, there’s a great deal to discuss. There’s an in-depth exploration of Joshua’s background and a hypothesis that Joey might have unwittingly helped us understand the chemistry (or lack of) between him and…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep12 The Embryos
Is there such a thing as 22 perfect minutes of television? Not only do we think so, but, arguably, THIS IS IT! This is not just a good episode of Friends, this is one of if not THE best episodes of Friends ever made. All of the many (many) features that earn it this mantle are explored, but how…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep11 Phoebe's Uterus
Another one where the rankings differ between the people at large and the hosts - this time totally inexplicably because this is a great episode! All three storylines are not just funny but play a role in raising issues into mainstream culture that were interesting and brave, so we get our…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep 10 The Girl From Poughkeepsie
There’s a lot packed in to this one with four storylines and three of them scoring big points for great jokes (one not so much). We wonder whether the title of this one might explain the difference between our rating and the one on IMdB and Zoe has an idea for how to improve the summaries for all...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep9 Where They're Going To Party
There are very mixed feelings about where this one ranks amongst the episodes of Season Four but no such disagreement with another favourite joke snap. Zoe’s initial insight into Rachel’s promotion storyline is surprising to Adele to say the least. There is an epiphany about the choices made by…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep8 Chandler In A Box
You may not expect a storyline with Chandler in a box to connect to mythology and ancient religious rituals but it does in Adele’s head. There might be only one hole in Chandler’s box but, one of the storylines has so many holes in its credibility that it’s blowing our tiny minds (even though we...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep7 Chandler Crosses The Line
A classic episode here, which means it’s fun to talk about and there’s loads to get your teeth into. Not only is this one choc full of great story and some iconic moments, but the discussion around Chandler, Joey and Kathy unearths a whole load of interesting debate about the deeper psychology of...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep6 The Dirty Girl
There’s no debate over whether this is a favourite or not, but there is significant debate over both Chandler’s endgame here and (not for the first time) some of the choices made around how Kathy’s character behaves. Zoe has some interesting trivia about the Dirty Girl herself (as well as her…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep5 Joey's New Girlfriend
This is one of those episodes that’s scoring quite high but not from how many laughs it contains, more for the depth of character and narrative importance. There’s a lot of debate over exactly what Kathy is thinking and a lot of love for the ridiculous dating circumstances Rachel and Ross find...
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep4 Ballroom Dancing
**APOLOGIES** There was a sound error with the first upload of this so it is being posted again!! I'm "sorry" (as Joey would say!) We need the extra large machine for Friends Thru a Lens this episode as there are things in every storyline that don't quite feel right 23 years later, but there is…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep3 The Cuffs
Cuffs, cleverness and quiches collide, Adele has a theory about strengths and flaws in all three. Zoe has her assumptions about who or what Milton Berle is thoroughly challenged and there are no fewer than three candidates for Friends Thru A Lens that show how much the world has changed since…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep2 The Cat
This is a tough one to rate because of brilliant highs and not so brilliant lows, but there’s plenty of interesting discussion about it all. Chandler and Joey being robbed provides a Favourite Joke snap and Monica dating Chip provokes a debate about how much this storyline reflects today’s views…
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FFAtoZ S4 Ep1 The One With The Jellyfish
We were on a break! No, we really were… that break was officially for Zoe to have her baby, but little did we know a global pandemic would arrive shortly after, meaning that the sound will be a *bit* affected as we’re recording remotely. We’re off with a bang though with a universally loved…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep25 The Beach
We made it! We’re at the Beach (house?) which means it’s the end of Season Three! This episode contains the single biggest cliffhanger of Adele’s TV watching history and her second all time favourite Ross and Rachel kiss - but there’s a lot of discussion about what leads up to that moment.…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep24 Ultimate Fighting Champion
It’s time for the (pen)ultimate fighting champion episode, introduced with some trivia about the cold open that Adele gets particularly excited about. Despite having to search more than usual for the good jokes there’s lots to discuss: there’s something about the Chandler butt-slapping storyline...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep23 Ross' Thing
Full agreement on the rankings of this one in Season Three and lots to discuss. There’s plenty of Friends Thru a Lensing with Pete’s tech-laden den and how it compares to the similar things we have today that are now commonplace. What can explain the uncomfortable reaction both Adele and Zoe have...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep22 The Screamer
We may have a record gulf here between Adele and Zoe’s opinions of the screamer (both the man and the episode), we’ve got a rank bank feature for one and literally almost the worst episode of the season for the other - but that’s OK because it sparks a lot of debate! One thing that is agreed on…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep21 The Chick and The Duck
There’s a lot of debate about Monica’s behaviour towards Pete and whether one kiss could really take him from zero to hero. Chandler and Joey’s new roommates are a welcome addition and Ross’ decision to forego a TV appearance to care for Rachel is closely dissected, leading to several u-turns and...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep20 The Dollhouse
Curiously there’s a misalignment between our rating of this episode and what the people (ie IMDB ratings) think. Three meaty storylines provoke lots of debate and questions: Why did Rachel voluntarily let her worlds collide? Why didn’t Ross knock on the bathroom door? How many nouns did the…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep19 Tiny T-Shirt
There are strong feelings towards all the plus ones in this episode (and there are a lot of them - Pete, Mark and Kate) but which one of them is one of Zoe’s worst Friends characters of all time?! There’s a heated debate about Rachel’s life choices and can what we know about Monica’s psyche…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep18 The Hypnosis Tape
One of this episode's storylines needs Friends Thru A Lens due to it’s central joke and there’s an incredulous response to several of Monica’s date’s antics. There’s the usual good trivia from Zoe here on not one but two of the non-core-six actors and a lot of love for what they bring to this...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep17 Without The Ski Trip
It’s the one without the ski trip... or is it? That’s not the only question this one raises: what do you think Phoebe and Ross would do on a weekend alone together? Did you get the ‘secret’ rude joke in this episode? What kind of anniversary are Carol and Susan celebrating? And have you spotted…
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep16 The Morning After
So here we are: no spoiler to say this is an all time crying Rank Bank episode but we explore all the reasons why, despite that, it’s such a high-ranking episode all round. Many questions are raised: Why are Monica and Phoebe waxing hair-free legs? Who knew Gunther was such a passive aggressive...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep15 Ross and Rachel Take A Break
It’s the biggest question in TV history - were they or weren’t they on a break? That question has its inception in this episode - perhaps Adele and Zoe will figure it out and come up with the definitive answer… or perhaps not, but there’s a concerted effort to explore through human psychology...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep14 Phoebe's Ex-Partner
Chandler’s moral quandary over one fewer than average legs and one more than average nipples creates some soul searching discussion. There’s a whole storyline that’s necessary for continuity, but creates some anger nonetheless - particularly so many years on. There’s a lot of chat about the celeb...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep13 Monica and Richard Are Just Friends
One storyline dominates the discussion here - not only does it evoke lots of emotion and have a rank bank moment for Zoe, it perhaps even challenges long held beliefs about one of the favourite couplings of all ten seasons. There are technical questions about exactly how the mouse is out of the...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep12 All The Jealousy
Very different rankings at the start of this one but by the end of the discussion there's been a shift, bringing opinions closer together. One storyline is effortlessly popular whilst the other two both have more questionable elements that cause lots of debate. This week we're also issuing a...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep11 Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister
We kick off with a double epidimerick (but only because Chandler’s not the only one who can’t remember which sister). There’s some Friends Thru A Lensing around how two of the storylines here use some pretty archaic techniques to resolve them and there’s the rarest of occurrences - Adele shares...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep10 Rachel Quits
This might be the one where Rachel quits, but the discussion also wanders into insights about Ross that are more telling and prophetic than at first glance. There’s a Friends Thru A Lens about Monica’s addiction parody and how contemporary society has shaped the response to Ross’ attempts to do...
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FFAtoZ S3 Ep9 The One With The Football
This is (no surprise) a zinger all round. It’s ticking so many boxes of the things we’ve learnt are criteria of the best loved episodes, including a distinct memory for Adele of this first airing in 1996. The topic of the Dutch girl raises a few questions and there’s a big Friends Thru A Lens...
About this show
Join Adele and Zoe discussing possibly the best TV programme ever made in Friends From A to Z. Episode by episode they dig into the detail, laugh at the best bits and call out what’s unusual or just plain weird twenty something years on in Friends Thru A Lens - plus they have condensed each episode into a limerick! Could a Friends podcast BE any better?
Hosted by
Adele and Zoe