Friends Fans Noticed A Major Season 8 Error

In the Friends episode “The One in Massapequa,” which originally aired in 2002, there’s a pretty glaring error — as pointed out by TikTok user @bronniiieee.

The Season 8 episode sees Monica and Ross’ parents, Jack and Judy Gellar, throw a party to mark their 35th wedding anniversary. Amid the celebrations, Jack and Judy (played by Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles, respectively) reveal they’ve told partygoers that Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) got married, and ask them to go along with the lie.

In one scene, the camera pans to Ross and Rachel, and the shot reveals a completely different actor standing in for the character of Jack, who bears little resemblance to Gould.

“In all my Friends fan years, how have I never noticed this guy before,” a caption of the viral clip reads. “I watched this episode this morning and didn’t spot this,” one user also commented, while another pointed out that the replacement actor resembled Schitt Creek’s Eugene Levy.

There’s A Simple Explanation

While many fans were perplexed by the mistake, others on TikTok pointed out that it’s common for stand-in actors to deliver or react to lines when one of the show’s lead stars isn’t available on set.

“When the show originally aired the frame would’ve cut this stand-in actor out of the shot,” one fan commented, referring to changing technological standards in television since the show’s original broadcast. “The old TV format was 4:3 aspect ratio,” another added. “When TV changed to 16:9 wide screen we saw stuff we weren’t originally supposed to.”

This problem pops up multiple times in the show. On Reddit, people spotted a similar “blatantly obvious error” in the Season 8 episode “The One with Rachel’s Date,” during which Monica is suddenly replaced with a stand-in actor while talking to Pheobe (Lisa Kudrow), and in Season 9’s “The One with the Mugging,” Rachel is swapped out for someone wearing a different outfit.