It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about my love for the 90s television show Friends. Did I say television show? I meant real-life documentary, because the characters are obviously actual people, and I’m part of their clan.
You can put down your phone. There’s no need to call the psychiatrist.
In previous posts, I’ve analyzed the themes of Phoebe Buffay’s music, and also investigated which Friends character worked the most. But now it’s been more than two months since I’ve blogged about the show, and I think that’s more than what is socially acceptable.
I can feel all the unsaid words and unrepeated quotes building up inside and threatening to bubble out of me.
It’s time. And I think the topic should be about Ross.
For some reason, Ross (played David Schwimmer) is hated on so much. I understand if he’s not your favorite – he can be pretty childish. And pedantic. And close-minded.
And there’s also that pesky jealousy issue of his.
But there’s no call for loathing the guy. Sure, he’s got his flaws, but who among us doesn’t? He’s only human.
Well, sort of.
7 Reasons you should see Ross as the complex creature that he is:
7. As a child, he embraced gender ambiguity. So ahead of his time.
6. He’s never afraid to be himself.
5. He has pretty good comebacks.
4. He was willing to put on a bulky costume and look like a damn fool in order to teach his son about Hanukkah.

3. His flirting game is on point.
2. He expresses his excitement for life.
- He wants to be a good host, even when he’s upset – er, I mean fine. He’s FINE.
In truth, Ross is lovely. If he were a real person, I would definitely be friends with him. I mean, I probably couldn’t spend too much time with him, because he’d drive me up the wall, and I’d start to contemplate poisoning him with his own hair gel, BUT I could definitely see us hanging out once in awhile.
Especially if he’s making fajitas.
Fellow Friends fans, what do you think about Ross? Do you find the guy likeable and funny, or is he a character you just can’t stand to watch?
I liked Ross!! I think probably Ross was one of my favorites actually. Chandler….. now he was kind of annoying.
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Haha, I have to admit that I loved Chandler. But I definitely liked Ross too! The “fajita” episode might be favorite of the entire series – he was so funny in that.
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I honestly liked Ross! He was perhaps the most sane and despite his flaws, he was a truly good person. I can understand why he perhaps isn’t everyone’s favourite, but there is really no reason for hate.
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Agreed! Not my favorite, but definitely a still likeable guy. I loved when he and Monica “nerded out” together – their dance, their childish arguments, etc. So funny!
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It never really occurred to me to dislike Ross. He was just a little nerdy! If I had known him in real life he may have got on my nerves though.
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He was definitely a bit nerdy, though I admire that he didn’t care whether his friends made fun of him for it. He was perfectly happy talking about dinosaurs and rocks haha. I agree though – I wouldn’t have been able to spend too much time with him.
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I don’t have a big issue with him, but the more I see the show, the less I like him. He’s not at all introspective. (Actually, are any of them?) But, like, take a second and look at your life, dude. Having said all that, I appreciate your views. He is pretty unabashed in the things he enjoys, and I respect that.
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I actually had the opposite feeling about him! To me, he became funnier (though possibly less realistic) as the series went on. I just didn’t like that when he made up his mind about something, he refused to take in any other opinions or views.
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I love Ross.. The only few times I hated him was when he was on a break! Because that most certainly wasn’t a break! 😦
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Haha! I was waiting for someone to bring that up! I DO think they were on a break (don’t kill me!), BUT they didn’t establish any rules for what “break” means. Are they broken up, or just getting space from each other for a couple days?
Either way, what he did wasn’t cool 😦
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Haha.. I know… That’s classic Ross and Rachel 😀 I so miss friends. Wish they’d come up with a sequel or something..
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I have mixed feelings about a sequel. If they did one, I would be so excited and would watch it so hard – but I’m also afraid that it’d be absolutely terrible and ruin it for me….
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Oh yes.. That fear is true of all sequels 🙂
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Ross seemed to be one of the most credibly employed, and you did seem at work perhaps a bit more so that the others. And he was a fine pet parent to Marcel.
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That’s a good point – he really was a great pet parent! He even found a new home for Marcel when he couldn’t take care of him anymore.
I used to think Ross was probably one of the hardest working characters, but I did a whole post investigating this theory, and I was wrong!
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I’m a fan of all things Friends. I watch it every single night before bed. It’s like a security blanket for me at this point! 😉
Ross is wonderful…in leather pants or a Frankie Say Relax shirt. With glorious white teeth or a wicked fierce one-sided tan. Serving up lines like ‘When were you under me?’ and ”Yes, IN PRISON!”
I’m a fan. 🙂
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You made me so happy with all of your Friends references!! I love the episode where he asks Rachel, “When were you…when were you under me?” Classic!
My favorite one of Ross is the “fajitas” episode where he found out that Rachel and Joey were together. It cracks me up every time.
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I love that. When he says ‘I’m Fine! I don’t know why my voice is all squeaky like that…but (lowers voice) I’m Fine.” LOL
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YES haha. That deep “Fine” is so funny. That, and the weird little dance he does when he announces he’s going to make margaritas.!
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The snapping/jump thing. Oh my god you’re cracking me up!!
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I’m laughing too! We’re true Friends fans – we don’t even have to watch the episode in order to find it funny
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Exactly!
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Oooh!!
K, so for a long while I couldn’t watch Friends (sorry!) simply because I had watched it too much and gotten to that point where it wasn’t fun anymore.
Just last week, though, I tuned in to an episode and I’m totally addicted again!! Yaaay!! 👏🏽👏🏽
I don’t dislike any of the charac— your real-life friends from the documentary. My only problem with Ross is that he hardly parented Ben. Whaddup with that?
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That’s okay – I totally understand. For about three years, I had no cable and pretty much watched Friends around the clock. Even I got to the point where I didn’t want to watch the show for awhile!
It’s true that we don’t see Ross with Ben (or Emma) very often. For shame, Ross! Although, I did like when he used a pumpkin and clothing to PRETEND that he was taking care of Ben. Quick thinking there.
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I always liked Ross and was so happy when he and Rachel had the big kiss scene at the last episode. It was marvelous.
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Oh yes, Ross & Rachel had lots of big kiss scenes, didn’t they? I think my personal favorite was the one that came right after Rachel watched the prom video and realized that Ross had been willing to go with her. So sweet!
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Oohhh!! Yes!! I’m about to go look them up on YouTube. Haha!!
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I think my 3 favorite Ross moments are:
PIVOT
I like 8 year old boys. and Was I talking to her about gas? (same episode)
Julie: Well do you wanna take both?
Ross: Both? Both! I can’t have TWO cats! Joey’s the kind of guy who could have two cats.
Great blog.
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I love the Pivot scene too! It ends up on a lot of Friends lists and I was trying to make mine a bit more original, so I chose to leave it off, BUT I still love it.
Anytime Ross got slightly panicky (like over the 2 cats, or when Rachel got pregnant), he was so fun to watch!
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The wife (Nikki @ a Kinder way) and I watched an episode last night that should have made my list. The whole scene with Ross and Phoebe when he tells her that he didn’t really divorce Rachel.
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Haha yes! I love how Phoebe interacts with Ross, because she doesn’t give the guy a break at all. I’m not sure if it’s the same episode or the very next one, but I also like when Rachel confronts Ross in front of his class and he responds with that fake foreign accent 😀
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My favorite part with the whole Julie and cat thing was when he was leaving the apartment and looked at Rachel and just says : CAT!
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Hahaha! Yes!
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It’s Julie…..HI JULIE
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So, do you have any cats that are really old or incredibly sick?
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I think I’m going to be the only one who says I’m not a huge fan of Ross. I’ve always found him kind of whiny lol. Whiny men? Ick. He does have some other good qualities that are redeeming, but still. A bit too whiny for my liking.
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Totally understandable. He’s legitimately whiny. And despite writing an entire post about him, he’s not my favorite either haha. But some people just really really hate him, and I felt bad for the guy! Like you said, he’s got SOME good qualities.
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What a great post. Can’t say that Ross was my favorite character in the show but he could be pretty funny and he had his moments. 🙂
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Lol… I loved this post and I loved the comments section even more. Would you believe I was actually laughing out loud as I remembered all those scenes? “Pivot!”, 2 cats and ‘Fiinee!” are all classic Ross!
I also loved his reactions when he found Chandler and Monica were together.. “My best friend and my sister!” 😀
Thank you for this post and for bringing some sunshine into my day 🙂
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The comments kept me really entertained too! And I love that scene you’re talking about – first “My best friend and my sister” comes out all panicky and enraged, and then he says it again with happiness 🙂
Thanks for reading! Glad it brought you some sunshine.
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Hehe… let’s not forget his fake accent when he was teaching. And the part where he broke his hand trying to punch Joey. His fake tan and the leather pants 😂 O yes… Ross has definitely had his moments.
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“I’m an EIGHT!” Hahaha!
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Ross was never my absolute favorite character, but he always managed to crack me up.
The whole Holiday Armadillo concept is so awesomely ridiculous that I now associate Santa and Christmas with armadillos, of all things.
And who could forget that hysterical bathroom scene, where Ross struggled to get his uncomfortable, skin-tight leather pants back on. The poor guy would’ve been better off jumping out the window and making a run for it. 😛
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Haha I love that you connect those now! I think the armadillo episode is one of those episodes where, if you hadn’t seen the show before, you’d see that one and think it was stupid. And yet, if you know Ross and his personality, it’s funny because it’s so him!
Omg, yes on the leather pants! It’s so funny, but it also sort of sounds like something I’d do, so I laugh and cringe at the same time haha.
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Oh, I definitely can relate to Ross and his freakish mishaps. He could easily be my male counterpart. 😛
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Maybe that’s why I don’t like people hating on him so much – I clearly feel a slight kinship with him, so their hatred feels personal. Lol 😀
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Haha, I’m not a Ross fan… I was squarely on Team Rachael through all of their relationship hurdles and kind of ambivalent about them ending up together in the very end.
But I salute your efforts to defend him. It’s no easy job.
I like your Friends posts in general. Your article about which Friend worked the most inspired an idea about our perceptions and associations vs. reality that I keep meaning to write, but don’t know if I’ll ever do it.
I will say this: I agree with his irritation about evolution-is-only-a-theory folks. We saw eye to eye on that.
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I was definitely more on Rachel’s side, too. Honestly, if I were FORCED to remove one of the Friends from the show, I think it’d end up being Ross 😦 But he’s still got his endearing and funny moments! And even if he’s wrong about everything thing else on the show, he is totally spot-on about evolution (and the grammar corrections…lol).
I’m glad you like my Friends posts! I have an idea for another investigate-y one, but I’m not sure yet how to go about it. I still think your idea about the our perceptions of “hard-working” characters would make a great post if you decide to ever do it.
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For some reason this post makes me think of “WE WERE ON A BREAK!”…but effin’ fantastic post. I’m also a lover of all things Friends!
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Well, that IS probably Ross’ most famous line, so it makes sense that it popped in your head! Yay – I’m always glad to meet a fellow Friends fanatic 🙂
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Sorry, I’m leaving 10,000 comments in 4,000 spots. I just want to put this here in case you ever need it for future Friends posts.
I honestly don’t know which character I think I am, but this said Monica. I kinda hope I’m not. She’s too… Too.
http://www.magiquiz.com/quiz/which-friends-character-are-you-based-on-your-zodiac-sign/14/?result=3
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Ohhh, thanks for this! I’d like to do some kind of quiz at some point, but I’m not sure yet how to make that work. I understand your reaction about Monica because she’s a bit neurotic, BUT she’s also a really warm & caring person, so that part’s not too shabby. Plus, she pulled off those early-90s suspenders really well, and that’s not nothing!
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OOH! True about the suspenders! You’ve seen the weird clothes I wore in the 90s (You’ll never unsee that Mickey Mouse vest that I wore in 6th grade!), but I loved nothing more than suspenders during the early Friends days.
Good call. Maybe I am a little bit Monica.
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