The ages of the characters on Friends were extremely inconsistent. Here's how the ages kept changing and how the writers often got it wrong.
The ages of the characters on Friends stirred up a lot of confusion during the show's decade-long run, including numerous changes to the ages of the core characters. Viewers expected for each season of the series to encapsulate one year of the lives of the six main characters: Rachel Green, Ross Geller, Monica Geller, Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay, and Joey Tribbiani, but this often proved to be inconsistent.
Friends followed the group of six as they faced the struggles of twenty-somethings while living in New York City. The sitcom tackled romantic relationships, career challenges, family struggles, and a slew of other events faced by the young adult generation of the '90s. As the series went on, the characters grew older and dealt with more responsibilities regarding marriages, starting families, and making decisions with higher stakes, like the fate of Monica's Greenwich Village apartment. The writers, however, were unable to keep the ages straight during Friends' run on NBC.
Prior to the events of the series, Rachel and Monica were high school classmates and best friends, whereas Ross and Chandler entered college at the same time. In addition, Rachel was said to be the youngest of the group on multiple occasions. Based on the early details of the series, it's possible to piece together how old the characters of Friends were. Those ages, however, would frequently change based on birthdays and various details.
How Old Each Friends Character Is At The Beginning & The End
Rachel and Monica would have both been 24-year-old during the Friends pilot episode in 1994. That would have made Joey 25, while Ross, Chandler, and Phoebe would have been the oldest at 26-years-old. Friends lasted a decade airing on NBC, and that would mean fans witnessed a decade of events in the lives of Friends' characters. If that were the case, Rachel, Monica, Joey, Ross, Chandler, and Phoebe would have been in their mid-thirties, around 34-36, when the series ended. It's nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact ages, considering how flawed the series became in terms of how old the Friends characters were throughout the series.
Some Friends Characters Had Inconsistent Birthdays
Rachel's 30th birthday occurred in the 2001 Friends episode, "The One Where They All Turn Thirty." The episode aired on February 8th, followed by a few other references to Rachel being born in the same month. At one point, she even told a police officer that she was an Aquarius. Other moments in the series suggested that Rachel wasn't born in February and instead had a May birthday. Three other parties were held for Rachel's birthday, and two of them were held in early May, which would have made her a Taurus. In "The One With Joey's New Girlfriend," Rachel told Gunther her birthday was May 5th, but it was unclear if she was telling the truth.
A few other characters in Friends held plot holes when it came to birthdays. Early in the series, it was stated that Phoebe's birthday was February 16th. Then in the season 9 episode that focused on her birthday dinner, Joey mentioned that Halloween was days away. Ross' birthday was also highly inconsistent throughout the sitcom. His birthday was revealed to be October 18th in season 2 and season 9. In other episodes, Ross' birth month was implied to be March or December.
Friends Constantly Got The Character's Ages Wrong
The only character whose age wasn't constantly changed was Monica. Her age wasn't stated many times during Friends, so any inconsistencies were avoided. She was around 24 in the pilot and aged a year per season which was logical. The same couldn't be said for the rest of the characters. Rachel seemingly turned 30 in 2001, but they mentioned she was 29 years old two seasons earlier. Ross was 26 years old in the Friends pilot episode was stated as being 29 in seasons 3, 4, and 5. In Friends season 1, Joey was 25 years old, but the writers oddly aged him three years the following season. Details surrounding Phoebe and Chandler also didn't follow the logical aging process. To avoid confusion, it's easier just to consider them all twenty-somethings transitioning into their thirties.
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