The One With Russ

Thursday, 4 January 1996

Rachel dates Russ, a man who is an unnoticed double for Ross; Monica gets Fun Bobby to stop drinking and finds him dull; Joey turns down a casting director's offer and lands a soap role.

What happens

• The newspaper reviews of Joey's play attack his performance, and he announces that he is quitting acting.
• After counting five empty wine bottles, the friends work out that Fun Bobby drinks constantly, and Monica tells him she is worried until he agrees to try quitting.
• Rachel tells the others that she no longer has any feelings for Ross and arrives with a date named Russ, who talks exactly like him.
• After his callback for Days of Our Lives, Joey tells his agent Estelle that the network's casting director made a pass at him, and Estelle confirms he will only get the part if he sleeps with her.
• Sober Fun Bobby turns out to be tedious, and Monica decides she cannot leave him because she is the one who made him quit.
• Ross learns that Rachel is dating again, Rachel confirms that she and Ross are not seeing each other, and Ross dismisses Russ without noticing how alike the two of them are.
• Phoebe tells Rachel that Russ is a substitute for Ross, and Rachel refuses to believe it until she sees the two men arguing side by side and is repulsed.
• Monica starts drinking heavily to make Fun Bobby's stories bearable, and he breaks up with her because he thinks she has a drinking problem.
• Joey refuses to sleep with the casting director, and she then offers him a bigger part as a recurring neurosurgeon on the soap.
• Russ reports that Rachel has dumped him, and Phoebe tells him he reminds her of Bob Saget.