Friends: 10 Pop Culture References New Fans Won't Understand
One of the most frightening things to think about for original fans of TV's Friends is that the first episode aired almost 30 years ago, but the references and classic one-liners live on in all of us and there are new fans arriving every day, as all of the show's 10 seasons can be watched on certain streaming platforms for fans' pleasure.
That being said, as new watchers navigate their way through some great character arcs, they may not be old enough to fully appreciate all the pop culture references that the show had to offer. With winks to musical icons, classic novels and movies, once fans are finished watching Friends, some of them may have a whole list of newly discovered movies, books and music to read.
10 Ground Control To Major Tom
In season 5 episode 19, "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt," Joey lands a role on the hit show Law & Order, but after his part is cut, he must come up with a plan to fool his grandmother who comes to visit expecting to see Joey on the hit show. Joey films a fake, self-made video from his apartment to play for his grandmother, who believes Joey's fake video, but suddenly it cuts to a shot of Chandler singing "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
There is a chance that newer fans may have heard the song before, but this was a much more popular reference when the episode originally aired in 1999.
9 Happy Days
In season 5 episode 3, "The One Hundredth," Phoebe gives birth to her brother Frank's twins and is accompanied by a doctor who is obsessed with the TV show Happy Days and references "The Fonz" every five minutes.
While the episode did give audiences some laughs, newer fans who may not be as aware of Happy Days might not be as invested in the jokes as viewers of the original TV series.
8 Frankie Say RELAX
In season 3 episode 19, "The One With The Tiny T-Shirt," Ross tries to help Rachel move on by taking back all of his belongings from her apartment, including a T-shirt of his that she sleeps in with the words "Frankie Say RELAX" on the front.
For any new fans that are unaware, this is a reference to the song "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, which was released in 1984, and a song that probably won't feature on the latest Spotify charts.
7 Princess Leia & The Gold Bikini
Surely most people will have seen the original Star Wars trilogy and are otherwise at least aware of Princess Leia, but for the few new fans who have not seen the original trilogy, the reference will be missed.
In season 3 episode 1, appropriately titled 'The One With The Princess Leia Fantasy," Rachel makes Ross' fantasy a reality when she dawns the costume worn by Carrie Fisher in Return of The Jedi.
6 The Easy-Bake Oven
In season 7 episode 13, "The One Where Rosita Dies," Ross and Monica find out that their parents are selling their childhood home and go to have a look at their old childhood toys, one of which is Monica's Easy-Bake Oven, in which she would attempt to bake many cookies, even if they were slightly undercooked.
The Easy-Bake Oven was a popular toy for many kids who would have been growing up around the same time as Monica. However, the product was discontinued by Hasbro in 2011 after a new law banned the heating element used to bake the good inside the oven.
5 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
In season 4 episode 19, "The One With All The Haste," Emily convinces Ross to get his ear pierced, which Chandler and Joey make fun of him for. Chandler makes sure that Ross knows that the 80s pop group, Wham!, broke up, as the earring now makes him resemble George Michael.
Adding insult to injury, Chandler makes one more Wham! joke by saying "Just remember wake us up before you go-go!" as a reference to the 1984 song.
4 Zima For The Party
In season 4 episode 22, "The One With The Worst Best Man Ever," Ross must decide between who he wants as his best man, Joey Or Chandler. He decides to ask Joey, who throws him a bachelor party where Ross's ring goes missing.
Joey suggests that they should get a "six-pack of Zima" for the party. Zima was essentially the "Smirnoff Ice" of the 90s, a lightly carbonated alcoholic beverage that would have been in the hands of any 90s party-goer, although it was often made fun of, even back then.
3 The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
Here is some evidence that Joey might actually be a cultural genius. In season 1 episode 18, "The One With All The Poker," after the gang struggle to guess Monica's very obvious drawing of "Bye Bye Birdie," Rachel draws a bean, to which Joey almost instantly gets "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," a novel by Milan Kundera.
Given that the novel was released in 1984, many new Friends fans may not be aware of it, although it was lauded and is also an acclaimed movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Juliette Binoche.
2 Buffay The Vampire Layer
Phoebe has always been the dark horse of the group with a hidden past and it seems her sister Ursula is the same. In season 6 episode 14, "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry," the gang sees Phoebe on the cover of an adult film, but it turns out that it is her sister, Ursula.
This reference is potentially more well known than the previous, but only if newer fans have seen Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the film and TV show from the 90s.
1 Lawrence Of A Labia
In the same episode, another one of Ursula's films that the gang mistake as one of Phoebe's hidden ventures is Lawrence of A Labia. This title is in reference to the classic and critically acclaimed movie from 1962, Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole.
There has been some talk of a remake in recent years starring Dwayne Johnson, with Michael Bay directing, so there is still a chance for newer fans to be exposed to the story if this news is true, rather than rumor.
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