Friends reunion: The references that stood the test of time

You could say they were on a break.

But 17 years on from the final episode, the Friends reunion is finally here.

We're likely to get a lot of references to some of the show's iconic moments and catchphrases - and a lot of them have permeated into normal life and pop culture.

So here's your guide to some of the Friends moments that have stood the test of time - 27 years after it began.

Obviously, there will be spoilers for the show in this article.

Ross and Rachel

It's become shorthand for will-they-won't-they storylines, on-off relationships and general drama at the centre of the friendship group.

The Ross and Rachel story was complicated from the start. It took until series two for them to get together after admiring each other from afar.

But it all went wrong in the third series after Ross's fling with the girl in the photocopying shop (because that was a thing back then).

He always maintained he and Rachel "were on a break". Rachel saw it differently.

For the rest of the show there was jealousy, long arguments and one significant one night stand - resulting in the birth of their daughter Emma.

• What would the Friends characters be doing now?

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They were the polar opposite of the other big relationship in the show, Monica and Chandler.

After both being unlucky in love, they got together, later married and eventually adopted twins.

We won't even talk about the brief fling between Rachel and Joey, which was always doomed to go nowhere.

How did they afford those apartments?

"Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gonna love it."

That was Monica's memorable line to Rachel in the first episode.

A chef and a waitress being able to afford to live in a huge Manhattan apartment though? Maybe not quite the "real world".

And when did they actually go to work? They just seemed to sit around the coffee house Central Perk all the time.

A recreation of Monica's apartment at a fan event in New York

A New Yorker article from 2019 says an apartment in the building where they lived costs $3,495 (£2,467) a month.

But it was the 90s, when New York City wasn't as expensive as it is now.

Plus, Monica sublet the place from her grandma, who may have been able to take advantage of rent control measures which kept prices down at the time.

When she returned to 90 Bedford Street, Greenwich Village - the apartment's address - Courtney Cox alluded to the price hike, captioning her video "The One Where My Rent Went Up $12,000".

The Rachel

A TV show that inspires a worldwide haircut trend? That's when you know you're big.

The Rachel was a phenomenon when it debuted in the mid-90s - although Jennifer Aniston hated it because it was so difficult to maintain.

And given how enduring the famous haircut had been, she didn't actually have it for that long in the show.

"Honestly, that was about a year," Jennifer Aniston said on The Graham Norton Show in 2014.

Although she admitted celebrity hairstylist Chris McMillan maybe wasn't fully switched on when coming up with the style.

"He was loaded when he gave me the haircut," she said. "Stoned out of his mind."

It's Fergie baby

The show made stars of its main cast.

But they were helped along the way by starring opposite some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Ben Stiller and Paul Rudd were just some of the guests who appeared.

Brad Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston when he appeared as a guest on the show

And the show even had a royal cameo - Sarah, Duchess of York, the ex-Wife of Prince Andrew - who appeared in one episode set in London.

Joey just happens to meet her outside the Houses of Parliament, where he records a video with her to show to Chandler.

Hence Joey's excited reaction: "It's Fergie baby!"

Chandler's catchphrase

For a quick-witted guy who always had a joke at the end of a conversation, Chandler's phrase was pretty basic.

His sarcasm extended to him saying: "Could I BE any more..." and then inserting an appropriate word.

It was turned against him when Joey put on Chandler's entire wardrobe and said: "Could I BE wearing any more clothes?"

Joey's catchphrase

It was the 90s, OK? More than one character had a catchphrase.

"How you doin'?" was the three-word chat-up line which seemed to work every time Joey used it.

Men in bars around the world probably had a much lower success rate.

Could there BE any more catchphrases?

Yes, actually.

Monica saying "I know" in a loud voice.

Ross saying "Hi" in a quiet voice.

And of course Chandler's ex Janice with the immortal line: "Oh. My. God."

The not-quite catchphrase

It's only said in one episode, so can't be counted as a catchphrase.

But Ross repeatedly saying "pivot" while trying to get a sofa upstairs is still funny more than two decades later.

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