Devoted Friends fans have spotted a glaring error involving Joey Tribbiani in the show’s later episodes.
Die-hard fans, who regularly rewatch the series that aired from 1995 to 2004, stumbled upon the amusing gaffe and took to Facebook to share their discovery. The group Friends Unseen pointed out that Joey (portrayed by Matt LeBlanc) seemed to be aware of something much earlier than the storyline suggested. Fortunately, the oversight wasn’t related to any major plot spoilers but rather an inconsistency that disrupted the show’s continuity for some viewers.
The revelation has sparked a flurry of comments on the page as fans debate how such a slip-up could occur, trying to make sense of Joey’s lapse in continuity.
The post from Friends Unseen highlighted: “In 05×12 Joey uses the ‘finger quotes’ to tell Rachel Monica and Chandler in the next room ‘making love’, however in 09×02 Joey tells Ross he doesn’t know what the ‘finger quotes’ mean.” One fan quipped: “Because continuity was a strong suit for Friends.”
Other commenters observed that continuity mistakes became more frequent after the sixth season, with one noting: “Since season 6, inconsistencies increase again and again on such matter as Friends’ knowledge and history. It’s almost an alternate universe.”
Yet, one astute fan offered a plausible explanation, suggesting: “It’s not continuity, he used them without knowing really what it means. Loads of people do that every day.” Some fans were puzzled by the apparent “dumbing down” of Joey’s character as the series progressed.
One fan noted: “One that always gets me is how Joey seems increasingly naive as the seasons progress for example in season one Joey understands the euphemism parents use that when your pet dies they go to a farm but then in season 10 when Rachel states she thought the duck and chick died and Phoebe interjects and says they went to a farm Joey seems totally oblivious to the meaning of it.”
Another fan suggested that such inconsistencies weren’t as problematic back then, writing: “Suspect back then, continuity or linking stories weren’t a very important consideration for the writers. Just like how shows like “Family Guy” is. Most stories are independent of another episodes but the general characters and their relationships are consistent.
And most importantly guys, they never expected their sitcom to be this popular where almost everyone one of us continuously rewatched it until the day we die and end up spotting so many discrepancies!!”
Some fans pointed to more obvious continuity errors, noting the character birthdays changed frequently. They revealed: “They also change when their birthdays are. They weren’t great with continuity.”
