All 26 Episodes Of Friends Where The Characters Don’t Go To Central Perk (& Why)

It seems like the main characters on Friends went to Central Perk every episode, but there are 26 episodes of the sitcom in which the cozy coffee house is not featured at all. Alongside Monica’s apartment, Central Perk was the gang’s favorite hangout spot on Friends. They almost always sat on the same couch at Central Perk in Friends during their drawn-out, midday visits, which were such a regular, unrealistic occurrence that Friends even admitted to the plot hole. In season 6, Joey pointed out how they were constantly lounging around at Central Perk when they should be at work.

Despite its constant presence across all 10 seasons of Friends, Central Perk does not appear in 25 of Friends‘s 236 total episodes. Some of these were bottle episodes of Friends, which featured minimal sets and casts due to time constraints or as a cost-saving measure. Most of Friends’ Thanksgiving episodes (many of which are also bottle episodes) didn’t include scenes at Central Perk either. In other instances, episodes occurred entirely in one outside location, like a hospital or out-of-town setting, naturally preventing a visit to Central Perk.

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Season 1

Episode 23, “The One With the Birth”

The very first episode of Friends in which Central Perk is not present at all is the penultimate episode of season 1, “The One With the Birth.” The titular “birth” in question is Ross’ ex-wife Carol giving birth to their son, whom they name Ben. The whole gang shows up for the exciting occasion and stays at the hospital for the duration of the episode, albeit in different areas like the waiting room, delivery room, and trapped in the broom closet.

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Season 2

Episode 15, “The One Where Ross and Rachel… You Know”

The next episode of Friends sans Central Perk doesn’t come until more than halfway through season 2. This episode opens with Joey unveiling the Barcaloungers to Chandler in their apartment, which they don’t move from for the entire episode. Monica caters for a party at Richard’s house with Phoebe and later visits him at his optometry office, and Ross and Rachel have their first date at the museum, where they sleep together for the first time under the planetarium stars.

There are additional scenes at Monica and Rachel’s apartment, but none at Central Perk. Unless it’s set somewhere else, an episode that covers multiple days would typically include a visit to Central Perk at some point, making this episode a bit of an anomaly for Friends. There’s no explicit reason or explanation for Central Perk’s absence; it seems a scene at the coffee house just didn’t fit or wasn’t necessary for any of the plots.

Episode 16, “The One Where Joey Moves Out”

Strangely enough, the very next episode in season 2 of Friends continued the no-Central Perk trend despite a lack of extenuating circumstances (holiday, out-of-town location, hospital). As the episode title indicates, Joey decides to move out after attending a brunch at his Days of Our Lives co-star’s swanky apartment. Phoebe and Rachel go to a tattoo parlor to get inked (although Phoebe chickens out), and Ross and Monica attend their dad’s birthday party at their parents’ house with Richard.

The majority of this episode happens on the same day when Monica and Ross are on Long Island, which is probably why the writers opted not to write a scene in Central Perk at all. The other characters could have visited at some point that same day, but like the episode that preceded it, it may not have been necessary or even fit.

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Season 3

Episode 2, “The One Where No One’s Ready”

“The One Where No One’s Ready” was the very first bottle episode of Friends, and arguably remains the most iconic since it fits the true definition the best. It opens with everyone taking their sweet time getting ready for Ross’ event at the museum, despite his best efforts to get them out the door of Monica and Rachel’s place and avoid being late. Except for a brief credits scene at the event, this episode takes place not solely in the main living area of Monica and Rachel’s apartment.

The characters can be seen entering and exiting the doors to the bedrooms, bathroom, and entrance of the apartment, but none of these spaces are actually shown onscreen in the episode. Given the deliberately limited set use, it makes sense that the Central Perk set was left alone in this episode.

Episode 9, “The One With the Football”

“The One With the Football” is the first Thanksgiving episode of Friends not to feature Central Perk at all, as the whole episode happens on the holiday itself. Besides the opening and a short scene at the end in Monica’s apartment, the whole episode takes place on the outdoor court next to their apartment building, where they play a very competitive game of football.

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Season 4

Episode 12, “The One With the Embryos”

One of the most widely referenced and overall best episodes of Friends surprisingly does not feature Central Perk at all. Although the title refers to the embryos implanted in Phoebe after she agrees to be a surrogate mother for Frank and Alice, this episode is best remembered for the trivia game hosted by Ross and played by Rachel, Monica, Joey and Chandler, which ends with the two sets of roommates swapping apartments.

Other than Phoebe at the doctor’s office and a brief scene in Joey and Chandler’s doorway, the episode plays out entirely in Monica and Rachel’s apartment. It seems the friends were all way too invested in their high-stakes trivia game to break for coffee, resulting in a lack of Central Perk in this episode.

Episodes 23 & 24, “The One With Ross’s Wedding (Parts 1 & 2)”

This is the first of three two-part season finales of Friends in which neither part features Central Perk at all. The opening of Part 1 is split between the guys’ and girls’ apartments (which have been swapped back) as the gang sans Phoebe and Rachel prepare for their trip to London for Ross and Emily’s wedding. Besides the scenes with Rachel and a very pregnant Phoebe in the girls’ apartment in New York, this two-part episode of Friends was set and filmed entirely in London, both on location and in-studio, hence the absence of Central Perk.

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Season 5

Episode 1, “The One After Ross Says Rachel”

The season 5 premiere of Friends picks up exactly where the season 4 finale left off, with Rachel’s name hanging in the air during the vows at Ross’s wedding. After a tense reception at the hotel, Ross stays behind to patch things up with Emily, while Monica, Chandler, and Joey fly back to New York, where they convene at Monica’s apartment upon their return. Rachel gets stuck in London and ends up going on Ross’ honeymoon in Athens alone. With three characters just returning home and two still abroad, a Central Perk visit did not fit in this episode.

Episode 3, “The One Hundredth” (also known as “The One With the Triplets”)

Also referred to as “The One With the Triplets,” “The One Hundredth” is one of five episodes of Friends with alternate titles. This is also the second hospital-based episode of Friends, as it’s centered around Phoebe giving birth to Frank and Alice’s triplets via surrogacy. Once again, the whole gang shows up to the hospital to support Phoebe, and none of them leave the premises at any point to go anywhere, including Central Perk.

Episode 8, “The One With the Thanksgiving Flashbacks”

The second Thanksgiving episode of Friends spent entirely away from Central Perk opens in the present day at Monica and Rachel’s place, as the gang reflects on their worst Thanksgiving ever. This episode then cuts back and forth to flashbacks from before the show began, including Chandler’s childhood, Phoebe’s past life, Joey getting a turkey stuck on his head at Monica’s place in 1992, and the iconic back-to-back Thanksgivings at the Geller house in the ’80s with Monica, Ross, Rachel, and Chandler. Given the structure of the episode and the holiday occasion, Central Perk had no place in this episode.

Episode 19, “The One Where Ross Can’t Flirt”

After season 3, the next bottle episode of Friends doesn’t happen for another two seasons. Other than the opening in Joey and Chandler’s apartment, this episode plays out entirely in Monica and Rachel’s apartment, where Joey’s grandmother has come to watch him on Law & Order as Ross tries unsuccessfully to flirt with the pizza delivery girl. The only departure is Rachel following the pizza delivery girl out onto the street to convince her to give Ross a chance. Given this was a bottle episode set at night, it makes sense the Central Perk set was not used.

Episodes 23 & 24, “The One in Vegas (Parts 1 & 2)”

The two-part season 5 finale of Friends is also set away from Central Perk but still much closer to home. Other than the airplane sequences, scenes at Monica and Rachel’s, and a brief moment in Ross’ apartment, both parts predominantly take place in the casino and hotel rooms in Vegas, except for the wedding chapel where a very drunken Ross and Rachel get married. Not only would a Central Perk scene not have made sense given the Vegas setting, it actually wouldn’t have been possible, since the Central Perk set was transformed into Vegas’ famous Caesar’s Palace for this occasion.

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Season 6

Episode 6, “The One on the Last Night”

Yet another bottle episode of Friends that avoided the Central Perk set is “The One on the Last Night,” in which Chandler prepares to move in with Monica despite Rachel’s reluctance to move out of their place. The whole episode is split between the boys’ and girls’ apartments, featuring a rare appearance from Rachel’s bedroom. Because this episode was focused on the significance of the two longtime roommate duos separating at last, it was fitting that their apartments were the only settings for this occasion.

Episode 9, “The One Where Ross Got High”

“The One Where Ross Got High” is remembered best for Rachel’s famous dessert trifle complete with beef, peas, and onions, but it was also the first Thanksgiving episode of Friends that was also a proper bottle episode. There are scenes in Joey’s apartment and the hallway, but most of the episode takes place in Monica and Chandler’s apartment, where Jack and Judy Geller, unaware that Chandler lives there now (or that they’re even dating), join the gang for Thanksgiving. As is the case for almost all Thanksgiving and/or bottle episodes, Central Perk was deliberately excluded.

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Season 7

Episode 1, “The One With Monica’s Thunder”

This bottle episode of Friends is set just a few hours after Monica and Chandler got engaged in the season 6 finale. The episode jumps back and forth between Joey and Rachel’s apartment, including Rachel’s bedroom, and Monica and Chandler’s apartment, including their bedroom and balcony, as their plans to celebrate at the Plaza Hotel get derailed. Like most bottle episodes, it would’ve been a deliberate decision not to use the Central Perk set to save money, and the nighttime setting made this inevitable.

Episode 8, “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs”

Once again, the Friends writers took advantage of the Thanksgiving occasion to create a bottle episode by having this episode predominantly take place at Monica’s. However, they changed up the formula a bit by switching back and forth between Ross’ apartment across the street instead of Joey’s across the hall. As usual, due to the holiday setting and efforts to limit the sets, no scenes take place at Central Perk in this episode.

Episode 12, “The One Where They’re Up All Night”

This nighttime episode of Friends opens with a very rare appearance of the roof as the gang plus Tag tries to spot a comet. Ross and Joey end up getting stuck on the roof and make their way down the fire escape. Phoebe’s apartment also makes a rare appearance as she attempts to silence her relentless smoke alarm. Monica’s bedroom also gets a lot of airtime, and Rachel and Tag even make a late-night visit to the Ralph Lauren offices. Naturally, since this episode takes place in the middle of the night, Central Perk had no business appearing in it.

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Season 8

Episode 1, “The One After I Do”

The season 8 premiere of Friends is set directly after Monica and Chandler’s wedding ceremony in the season 7 finale, opening with the wedding party taking pictures before the reception. The rest of the night plays out in different parts of the fancy hotel during the reception, including a notable scene in the ladies’ room, where Rachel finds out for certain that she is pregnant. Similar to the hospital episodes, “The One After I Do” never departs from the wedding venue, hence the absence of Central Perk.

Episode 4, “The One With the Videotape”

As usual, the duration of this bottle episode of Friends is spent in Monica and Chandler’s apartment, with the exception of the flashbacks to the night Ross and Rachel’s baby was conceived. These scenes happen in Ross’ apartment and at Joey and Rachel’s place, where Ross’ unintentional footage of the conception was also filmed. Most of this episode occurs on the same day with the focus on getting to the bottom of how Ross and Rachel sleeping together went down, meaning there was no reason to break for a Central Perk scene.

Episode 9, “The One With the Rumor”

“The One With the Rumor” continues the trend of a bottle episode using Thanksgiving to keep the episode’s events in the building. Besides the opening scene in Joey and Rachel’s apartment, this bottle episode of Friends, as usual, is set entirely in Monica and Chandler’s apartment. The gang is joined by Ross’ former classmate Will for Thanksgiving, played by Jennifer Aniston’s then-husband Brad Pitt.

Episode 20, “The One With the Baby Shower”

While Monica and Phoebe are throwing a baby shower for Rachel at Monica’s place in this episode of Friends, Ross and Chandler are across the hall at Joey’s helping him practice for his audition to be the host of a new game show called “Bamboozled!” The audition room for “Bamboozled!” is also shown, as are Rachel’s mother’s house for a brief moment and Ross’ and now-Rachel’s apartment in the final scene. Given the occasion of the baby shower, it seems this episode didn’t necessitate a trip to Central Perk.

Episodes 23 & 24, “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Parts 1 & 2)”

The last two-part season finale of Friends without any Central Perk appearances is also a hospital-based episode. Like Carol and Phoebe’s birthing episodes, both parts of “The One Where Rachel Has a Baby” play out entirely in different parts of the hospital. This time, as the title suggests, Rachel is the one having a baby.

Part 1 jumps back and forth between the waiting room, hallways, and various hospital rooms, including Rachel’s room, which she shares with a number of other pregnant women, including Janice, who keep dilating faster than her. Rachel finally moves to the delivery room in part 2 and gets assigned a private room after giving birth to her and Ross’ daughter, Emma.

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Season 9

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Episode 1, “The One Where No One Proposes”

The season 9 premiere of Friends picks up right where the two-part season 8 finale left off, with Rachel mistakenly thinking Joey proposed to her after she gave birth to Emma. Other than some scenes in the hospital hallways, the events of this episode predominantly occur in Rachel’s hospital room.

Episode 8, “The One With Rachel’s Other Sister”

After meeting Rachel’s younger sister Jill (Reese Witherspoon) in season 6, fans finally got to meet Rachel’s other, much more abrasive sister, Amy (Christina Applegate), in the final Thanksgiving-bottle-hybrid episode of Friends. After Amy shows up at Ross and Rachel’s shared apartment the morning of Thanksgiving, she resorts to spending the holiday with the gang at Monica and Chandler’s because her married boyfriend cancelled on her. Once again, the combination of the Thanksgiving occasion and status as a bottle episode explains why Central Perk is absent in this episode.

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Season 10

Episode 1, “The One After Joey Kisses Rachel”

Yet another season premiere of Friends not to feature Central Perk was the very last season premiere of the series. The friends are still in Barbados for Ross and Joey’s paleontologist girlfriend Charlie’s conference in the season 10 premiere, which opens in the aftermath of Joey and Charie’s breakup. Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe eavesdrop on Charlie and Ross kissing on one side of their adjoining hotel rooms, while Joey and Rachel kiss on the other side.

The gang leaves Barbados mid-episode, with the rest of the scenes taking place on the airplane, in Mike’s apartment, and in the rest of their apartments (except Phoebe). Although the whole episode doesn’t happen away from home, it’s likely that a Central Perk visit just didn’t fit in this episode of Friends.

Episode 16, “The One With Rachel’s Going Away Party”

Surprisingly enough, the penultimate episode of the entire Friends series actually doesn’t feature Central Perk at all. In fact, the writers used this opportunity to create one last bottle episode of Friends before the show wrapped. In “The One With Rachel’s Going Away Party,” each of the friends says their goodbyes to Rachel at Monica and Chandler’s apartment before she jets off to Paris. Other than the opening takes place at Joey and Rachel’s and the finale scene at Ross’s, the entire episode plays out at Monica and Chandler’s.

Source: Reddit