A passionate first kiss between two would-be lovers, backlit by a rainy night in New York City, feels like the kind of scenario audiences would typically find on a TV drama.
But, in 1995, they found it on a very popular sitcom — Friends.
It's impossible to think about the hit NBC series without recalling the show's popular on-again, off-again romance between Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). Before one of TV’s most popular couples ended up together in Friends’ 2004 series finale, paleontologist Ross and waitress-turned-fashion buyer Rachel spent the better part of the sitcom’s 10-season run either dating each other, dating other people, married (briefly) in Vegas or — most famously — "on a break."
But the crush that Ross harbored for Rachel since high school was finally given a chance to blossom into one of TV’s most famous romances 30 years ago, in the pivotal second season episode "The One Where Ross Finds Out."
The seventh episode of Friends' much-anticipated sophomore season, which aired during Sweeps on November 9, 1995, centered on how Rachel's drunken voicemail for Ross about how she is "over him" leads to a very romantic first kiss in the rain between the couple. Written by Michael Borkow and Peter Bonerz, "The One Where Ross Finds Out" mixes some moments of classic sitcom-y bits of physical comedy with some truly moving (and kinda steamy) drama that made fans double down on their already-considerable investment in the relationship between Monica Geller (Courteney Cox)'s brother and best friend.
In an exclusive interview with the Television Academy for the episode’s 30th anniversary, Friends showrunners and cocreators Marta Kauffman and David Crane unpack the episode’s story origins, how the live, in-studio audience responded to that kiss and why the show had to break the couple up in the third season.
The cast of Friends / Photo credit: NBC/Everett Collection
Television Academy: The pilot episode plants the seeds for Ross and Rachel as a couple, but was pairing them up always the intention from the jump?
Marta Kauffman: We knew that the tension between them brought a lot of comedy and a lot of story. For us, it was a question of: "How can we get there without it being predictable?"
David Crane: The biggest challenge was keeping them apart. In the pilot, Ross says, "Hey, can I ask you out sometime?" And [Rachel] says, "Sure." Then, we managed to throw in some obstacles. In this episode, when Ross says "There were Italian guys…" he’s listing all the things that we did to try to keep them apart.
Aniston does a great job playing drunk when she calls Ross and leaves the message on the answering machine. How did you work with her on that memorable scene?
Kauffman: She brought it.
Crane: I think there's very little that the six of them didn't bring. Our job was just to not screw it up.
Even the way she tosses the phone in the champagne bucket is brilliant. Was that bit scripted?
Kauffman: I’m pretty sure that was in the script, but that doesn't mean it's going to be funny.
The next day, in Monica’s apartment, Rachel tries to stop Ross from listening to the message by jumping on his back — which leads to some very funny physical comedy. Was that scene heavily choreographed, or did the actors just wing it?
Kauffman: It was a little bit of both. It was choreographed mainly for safety, and also for camera. We wanted to know that if they're here, they're going to end up here. But it wasn't until they got on their feet that we saw how funny it could be.
Crane: You cannot say enough about what Jennifer and David brought to that scene. Seeing it again, I just thought — from the physical comedy to the verbal comedy — it’s a masterclass. Just with how they are playing with the lines and [performing[ the emotional comedy.
Photo credit: NBC
Did you and the writers have a plan mapped out for their relationship through at least the second season?
Crane: The thing we weren't expecting is that, with them together — when things settle and they're just a couple — it wasn't as funny and dramatic and exciting as when they were apart. That’s why, in season three, we decided to break them up.
Kauffman: It didn't have the oomph.
The scene in the coffee shop, where they argue and then have that stunning first kiss, it’s a very dramatic beat. Was there any hesitation when it came to leaning into that kind of drama for a sitcom?
Kauffman: We were never afraid of that. We knew people cared about these characters and they weren't going to go, "Hey, where are the jokes?" They weren’t going to do that because they're so invested in these characters.
Crane: We had some insanely funny writers in that room who probably could have pitched 20 more jokes, but we were probably insisting — as we occasionally did — "This is a 'no-joke zone.'" We were watching the monitor like, "Oh, my God, this is gripping."
The episode’s "B" and "C" stories are very separated from the main storyline. Monica is physically training Chandler (Matthew Perry) to help him lose weight, and then Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) talks about this guy she's dating, who won’t sleep with her, but we never see the guy.
Kauffman: We discovered that, in many cases, it was more fun to hear them talking to each other. That worked better than, "Oh, we're going to see Phoebe trying to have sex."
Crane: Just as a rule, we were trained to go, "Don't talk about it — show it, see it, dramatize it." Yet, on this show, if you don't need to see the other people — then let's just give it to the six of them.
How was the experience taping this episode, and that kiss, with a studio audience?
Kauffman: Primarily that last scene [when they kiss]. I remember that very well because you could feel the audience just waiting.
Crane: They were holding their breath, like we were. I remember also thinking, in that last scene, it's really hot. Our show does a lot of romance but, for want of a better word, it’s rarely sexy. And I have to say, that kiss in the door, I was like, "Wow! So, our show does this, too."
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Friends is streaming on HBO Max.
