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Whats friendship without a shared meal (or two or hundreds)?
The error is uncovered as Rachel explains the layers of the dish to Ross and Joey.
Credit: NBCU Photo Bank
Its got all of these layers.
Raspberries, more ladyfingers.
Then beef sauteed with peas and onions.
NBC
Then more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top.
Its that line that sold theFriendswriters on the entire concept actually.
We knew that one line would be so funny, episode writer Greg Malins tells EW.
Teresa Finney/Courtesy of Ulysses Press
We just knew that would be a killer and thats when we knew we had to do this.
But where did the idea of combining these two dishes into a gourmet disaster come from?
We were like, Doesnt a trifle have meat in it?
NBC
Were like, No, its got pudding in it.
Theres no way I can write this so that its believable, Malins recollects thinking.
All credit to this, and everything else in life, goes to the cast.
Teresa Finney/Courtesy of Ulysses Press
Because we could write the craziest s and then they could make it believable every time.
One of the scenes best moments was actually a stroke of genius from actorDavid Schwimmer.
Schwimmer approached Malins and suggested the line during the run-through.
NBC
That was one-thousand percent David Schwimmers idea, and it was super, super funny, he says.
I laughed right then when he pitched it.
His other favorite line, Joeys praise of the dish (Whats not to like?
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), was a collaboration between actorMatt LeBlancand Malins.
Of course Joey is going to like it, he laughs.
Im sure we both added things to that line.
NBC
LeBlanc also later revealedhe accidentally ate some of Schwimmers regurgitated foodthanks to a mix-up while shooting.
The final piece of the puzzle was making sure the dish looked right onscreen.
We did say at the production meeting that it should not look gross, explains Malins.
Teresa Finney/Courtesy of Ulysses Press
Because Rachel needed to think she did it right and made a beautiful dessert.
Dont worry, your friends will love this dessert and no one will complain that it tastes like feet.
The idea for the story came from a slightly-less-sweet mix-up.
So he was really doing the world a favor, writer Shana Goldberg-Meehan tells EW.
We thought fruit was not tempting enough.
We needed something better than fruit.
For Goldberg-Meehan, it was a pretty simple storyline.
Writers are super into food.
There were definitely people who have eaten stuff off the floor in that room.
The pay-off of the entire scenario comes, as food-related storylines so often did, through Joey.
Goldberg-Meehan says co-creator David Crane was initially extremely resistant to that comedic button.
I remember David being like Hes not a cartoon.
He doesnt see giant hams in peoples eyes.
Hes a human being.
He doesnt walk around with a fork in his pocket, she recounts.
But on the second take, he let us try it, and it got a really good reaction.
He was like, You know what?
I guess Joeys a human who does walk around with a fork in his pocket.
One side effect of a cheesecake heavy storyline?
A LOT of cheesecake on set.
For people craving it?
Or just a way to get rid of excess prop food?
We may never know.
This cheesecake is so good, youll be willing to cheat, lie, or steal for it.
Writers Andrew Reich and Ted Cohen say the idea for the Thanksgiving sandwich came from their own childhoods.
Its a really gross word, says Cohen.
Its always been a gross word.
I dont remember at the time if it was reviled.
Part of what has made the sandwich so memorable is Rosss outsized reaction to it.
But thats probably Reich and Cohens least favorite part of the storyline.
Part of this is where it happens in his arc.
Its so easy to s on Ross, but man [Schwimmer] is so funny.
As Ross himself forlornly tells Chandler, Look Im 30 years old.
Im going to be divorced twice and I just got evicted.
That sandwich was the only good thing going on in my life.
Relive Thanksgiving the next day with this oh-so-good creation.
A sandwich this good is steal-worthy, though, so verify you label it with your name!
Its a classicFriendsreveal, but one that was a last-minute flash of inspiration from staff writer Cohen.
We were looking for an end to that story.
I cant remember where it came from.
Her slow realization we knew would be fun.
Sometimes the brain works in weird ways, and its very hard to go back and recreate it.
Id like to say it was well-thought-out, but it was probably just something I blurted out.
For the entire writers room, they knew they had gold after the first table read.
In no way was the gag an intentional bit of in-show advertising.
It was ridiculous, says Malins.
[It was] literally 200 boxes of Nestle Tollhouse cookie mix that were delivered to the office.
It was overly generous, Bilsing-Graham adds, laughing.
They were thrilled with it.
And she says, now she cant make the classic chocolate chip cookies without thinking about the sitcom moment.
It was just as funny as watching Phoebe say it on TV and realizing what shes saying.
You cant help but remember it.
This is a truly classic and delicious chocolate chip cookie.
You no longer need to experiment with tons of different recipes to find the perfect one!
