The One In Massapequa

"The One In Massapequa" is the eighteenth episode of the eighth season of Friends, which aired on March 28, 2002.
==Plot==
It's Ross & Monica's parents' 35th wedding anniversary, and Monica is very excited to be giving the speech at this year's celebration. Usually, Ross gives a very moving speech and makes everyone cry. Monica's attempts at writing a moving speech get pretty far-fetched, bringing up dead relatives and pets to get a few tears. This doesn't work very well. Phoebe has decided that "fate" has brought her to her new boyfriend, Parker. He is a constantly cheerful, talkative, energetic and enthusiastic person with a wacky personality and a strange and annoying habit of making a big fuss of everything, even the most trivial things...and his habit of doing this irritates the friends greatly.
At the anniversary party, Parker is driving everyone crazy with his ridiculously over-the-top compliments on absolutely everything. Phoebe catches the others making fun of Parker and gets upset, but then realizes that he is driving her crazy as well. Monica & Ross' parents also tell Rachel & Ross that since they are having a child out of wedlock, they've actually told all of their friends that they got married. They don't want to pretend, but when several people give them checks as wedding gifts, they play along. When guests ask for details about the proposal and wedding, they actually end up having a lot of fun telling others about their fantasy day, with Rachel creating various extravagant details while Ross tells a touching story about proposing to her in the planetarium where they had their first date, making it seem like there is some spark left between them. Monica gives the anniversary toast and it's a total dud. She gets desperate and brings up Terms of Endearment and neglected Romanian children in an attempt to get her parents to become emotional and cry, but her speech eventually gets so ridiculous that no-one can feel anything except bewilderment after hearing it, not even the starry-eyed Parker. Ross then gets up and gives a brief two-sentence toast stating that he and Rachel would consider themselves lucky to be half as happy as Jack and Judy in thirty-five years, which makes his parents cry. Monica is frustrated.
Parker breaks up with Phoebe for angrily telling him, after getting fed up with his constant enthusiasm, that she wants him to be "much less happy." After arguing with her, Parker angrily storms out of the room...and then returns to compliment the argument.
Back at their apartment, Ross and Rachel continue to debate some details of their fictional marriage, with Rachel being touched when she learns that Ross' story about his proposal to her was the one he actually planned to use when they were going out, saying "it would be something she'd find hard to have said no to."
At the end of the episode, a sympathetic Ross comforts an upset Monica, assuring her that he thought her speech was great, and he doesn't understand why nobody cried, also claiming that their late grandmother would have loved it, and that she was there in spirit. This makes Monica cry, and then say "Oh good God, Ross! How the hell do you do it?"
== Cast and Crew==
===Main Cast===
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
===Supporting Cast===
Alec Baldwin - Parker
Elliott Gould - Jack Geller
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
Kat Sawyer-Young - Catherine
Ellen Gerstein - Aunt Lisa
John C. Moskoff - Uncle Dan
Aixa Clemente - The female guest
Bob Bencomo - Male Guest (uncredited) 
Tim Silva - male guest
===Crew===
Directed By: 
Gary Halvorson
Written By: 
Peter TibaisMark Kunerth
== Trivia ==
===General===
*Before heading out to the Gellers' 35th wedding anniversary, Parker inquires about the location. Monica tells him it's in Massapequa, and Parker replies that he's never been there. Alec Baldwin, who portrays Parker, was born in Massapequa.
*When Parker says "classic Ross" in reference to Ross saying about the time, this is a callback to "The One Where No One's Ready" when Ross was trying to hurry everyone up.
*In the large photograph displayed at the Gellers' anniversary party, Jack and Judy wear the exact same outfits as they are wearing in person at the party.
*Ross learned that Chi-Chi had died in "The One With The Thumb" (S1E3) and is seen looking at a picture of the dog later in the episode.
*In Ross' fictional proposal, the music playing is "The Way You Look Tonight". It's apparently also one of Monica's favorite romantic songs, as seen in "The One With Unagi".
* Rachel says she'll think about Ross' proposal he'd planned at the Planetarium. Although they don't get back together until the series finale, this would influence her decision to get off the plane to be with Ross.
**This is evident in the uncut version which has extra dialogue between Ross and Rachel set after she leaves the bathroom when Ross, on the theme of his proposal, asks "How about if there was a windshield so your hair wouldn't get all messed up?" to which Rachel replies: "I'll think about it, alright?"
*One of Joey's presents to the Gellers is naming a star after them. A private company publishes a private, proprietary catalog with unofficial star names, unrecognized by NASA, the scientific community, or the International Astronomical Union. People can pay to "unofficially name" stars. On March 28, 2002, the air date of the episode, all main cast actors had stars unofficially named after them in the Ursa Major constellation (Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, Schwimmer).  
* Phoebe tells Parker, "You are like Santa Claus on Prozac, at Disneyland, getting laid!" 10 years later, Alec Baldwin was the voice of Santa Claus in the 2012 kids cartoon Rise of The Guardians.
*According to the commentary, Alec Baldwin suggested the lines about the bouncy plate holder.
*This episode was used as "Z is for Zesty Guy" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).
=== Goofs/Continuity===
*When Monica stands up in her kitchen, we hear her voice say to Chandler "check this out," but her mouth doesn't move. 
*When referring to the dead dog Chi-Chi in the photograph, Monica refers to it as "she" and then minutes later refers to the same dog as "he." Then when Ross tells Rachel about how Monica was "the 200 pound 11 year old who rode her" and in the closing titles of this episode, Ross refers to Chi-Chi as "she."
**Additionally, in "The One With The Thumb" when Ross tells everyone that Chi-Chi was sent away to live on a farm before realizing the dog had actually died, he also refers to the dog as "he."
*Jack Geller is often replaced by a poor stand-in. At one point, the stand-in is wearing dark framed glasses, not even wearing the same suit and tie! Not to mention the HUGE height difference.
*Jack and Judy are handed the picture of Chi-Chi twice.
*Despite the fact that almost everyone at the party believes Rachel and Ross are married, no one notices the lack of wedding rings on their fingers. However at the end of the episode, Rachel is wearing a ring on her left hand.
*In the scene after the party, in Ross' apartment, when Rachel starts to walk towards him, you can see the camera man in the mirror.
*When Parker arrives at the party, in the shot after he says "event room C", his lips are moving but he has finished speaking.
* Ross says their first date was at the Planetarium but that was their SECOND date when they slept together for the first time. We see them return from their first date, a foreign movie, as this was when Rachel started giggling when Ross touched her butt.
*Ross and Rachel leave the apartment after the rest of the gang but arrive first, although it's possible their cab took a faster route.
*When Joey shows the gang his presents, there is a loose piece of sellotape hanging from the one containing the book.
*It was established in season one that the Geller and Greene families are friends yet neither Sandra nor Leonard Greene are seen at the anniversary dinner, indeed no mention is made of them. 
*When Rachel and Ross are talking to his parents, her bag is over her left shoulder but when they are just talking to Jack, it disappears when a different angle is used. When Jack walks away, it's on Rachel's shoulder again, but when they reach the bar, she's holding it in her right hand.
*The picture of Jack and Judy was taken in Monica's apartment. This can be seen as the fridge and cabinets are the same as the ones in Monica's apartment. Additionally, in The One With All The Thanksgivings, Jack and Judy's apartment has a green fridge with cabinets with glass above the fridge. 
==External links==
* Transcript of the episode including the deleted scenes
* "The One in Massapequa" at the Internet Movie Database
== Episode Navigation==
Category:Friends Episodes
Category:Season 8
Category:Episodes
Category:Season 8 Episodes