| Ross Geller | |
|---|---|
 Ross (right) hanging on to Joey to prevent himself from falling in "The One Where They're Up All Night". |
|
| First appearance | The Pilot |
| Last appearance | The Last One |
| Created by | David Crane Marta Kauffman |
| Portrayed by | David Schwimmer |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Paleontologist College Professor# |
| Title | PhD |
| Family | Jack Geller (father) Judy Geller (mother) Monica Geller (sister) |
Ross Eustace Geller, Ph.D., (born circa October 18, 1967) is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by David Schwimmer.
Contents |
Background
Family
Ross is the older brother of Monica Geller, and was often favored by their parents (particularly their mother) over her. When he was born, he was described as a "medical marvel", since his mother was originally believed to be barren. The two siblings are extremely competitive as was demonstrated in 'The One with the Football', where it emerged that every Thanksgiving during their childhood they had taken part in a football match called 'The Geller Bowl'. This continued until one year (Geller Bowl 6) Monica broke Ross' nose, and their parents forbade them from ever playing football again. In their childhood, Monica and Ross were very violent with each other. For example, Monica apparently hit Ross with a giant pumpkin. For his part, Ross once jammed a stick through the spokes of Monica's bike causing her to flip over and hit her head on the curb and jamming a pencil in her hand. In season four he says his birthday is in December when Gunther asks. Ross is also allergic to lobster, peanuts and kiwi as revealed by Monica in "The One with the Baby on the Bus".
Career
Ross later went to college where he met Chandler Bing, with whom he formed the band 'Way No Way', and Carol Willick, who became his first wife. At college, Ross trained for a career in paleontology (on a dare), completing his Ph.D., and later became employed at the New York Museum of Prehistoric History. In the episode where Rachel moves out of Monica's apartment, Ross claims to have "given up a career in basketball" to become a paleontologist. He also claims that he would have been good at advertising. In "The One with the Mugging", Ross claims that he invented the phrase 'Got Milk?'. After Monica questions this claim, Ross turns to Joey and mentions that he "should have written it down". He also claims to have had the idea for Jurassic Park and Die Hard (coincidentally his, Chandler's and Joey's favorite movie) stolen from him, and when Rachel is doubtful, he replies "don't make me show you the napkin!" Ross's love of dinosaurs became a running joke throughout the series. Monica ponders when Ross's dinosaur stories would become extinct. Ross was forced to take a "sabbatical" as he called it, from the museum due to a problem with rage, amplified by the recent stress of his second divorce, losing his apartment and having to move in with Chandler and Joey, after his sandwich was half eaten and thrown in the bin by the director of the museum. He later found a job as a professor at New York University and caused a stir among his peers when he dated one of his students for a while. Eventually, he was given tenure, despite it being clear that he is quite a mediocre teacher, often forgotten classes or boring his students to sleep. In the series' finale, he reveals that his students usually give him bad evaluations at the end of year, but passes this off as them being distraught over the fact he won't be teaching them again. Ross comes into conflict with Phoebe Buffay most of all. Ross' scientific beliefs and Phoebe's self-devised beliefs led to conflict over the theories of evolution, gravity where Phoebe feels like she is being pushed down, and whether or not Phoebe's dead mother had been reincarnated into a cat. Also, it is revealed in "The One with the Mugging" that Phoebe once mugged Ross during her homeless years. She kept Ross's own childhood cartoon strip named "Science Boy" (who had a super-human thirst for knowledge) in a box labeled "crap from the street" (claiming it was stuff she thought was too important to sell or smoke). Phoebe claims she learned a lot from Science Boy. The evening Ross found out that Carol is a lesbian Phoebe and Ross almost had sex in the club that was to become Central Perk, but they were interrupted by their friends.
Marcel
In response to his loneliness after his divorce from Carol, Ross adopted a capuchin monkey named Marcel. The relationship was troublesome at first, but the two grew quite close, until Marcel's sexual drive (causing him to hump inanimate objects and people's legs) forced Ross to donate him to the San Diego Zoo. An underlying joke was how comparable their relationship was to that of a live-in couple. Ross later felt the urge to see Marcel again, but was told by the zoo that he had since died. However, a zoo keeper informed Ross that Marcel had actually been stolen. It turned out that Marcel was now a famous mascot for a brand of beer (Monkey Shine) and was starring in Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan. (The monkey, Katie, who played Marcel, played the monkey in the real movie Outbreak). Marcel's favorite song was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Ross, later in the series, admits to how unusual his purchase was, saying in The One With Unagi, "Remember when I had a monkey... What was I thinking?"
Apartment
In seasons 1-4, Ross lives in the same apartment. In season 5, Ross moves to the apartment owned by relative of his second wife Emily, who kicks him out when Ross and Emily divorce. He spent a short time living in Chandler and Joey's apartment before settling in the apartment directly opposite Monica's, which had once been inhabited by Ugly Naked Guy (which he managed to procure by pretending to share Ugly Naked Guy's common interest of 'being naked', much to the dismay of the other friends who could see him across the street from Monica's apartment). This meant that all the Friends but Phoebe now lived in very close proximity.
Relationships
Carol
He divorced his first wife of eight years (although in the beginning claimed to be four years), Carol Willick, when it emerged that she was a lesbian and was having an affair with another woman. However, in a flashback episode to when he and Carol were newly dating, he gushed about how "she's on the lacrosse team and the golf team" and he enthuses that "she plays for both teams!". They still got along fairly well, however, and shared custody of their son Ben, who was born in 'The One with the Birth', one of the final episodes of the first season. Ross' age when he married Carol is, considering he states he's "26 and divorced" during the first episodes of the series, either 22 or 18. Since the latter has been referenced more (they claim to be married in 1989, when Ross was 21) it is safe to assume they both got married at around 18, during Ross' stay at college. In an alternate reality storyline during the show ("The One That Could Have Been, Part 1"), Ross remained married to Carol, but their sex life was stagnant. He doesn't seem to realize Carol is a lesbian. When Ross suggests to Carol that they have a threesome, she not only is all for it, but has the perfect woman: Susan. While sitting on the couch, Ross expresses to Carol that he's nervous about the threesome and asks her if she is still willing to go through with the plan, to which she excitedly and rapidly replies "Yes!". Susan knocks on the door and Carol greets her all the while not taking their eyes off each other. Carol and Susan hold hands as Susan takes off her coat and hands it to Ross while Carol introduces them, all the while not losing eye contact. Later at the hospital, Ross tells Joey about the threesome in a bragging manner to which the conversation later dies down to him explaining how he got "bored" in the process and ended up making himself a sandwich. Ross is forced to accept that his wife is gay, and he ends up consoling Rachel after she discovers that her fiance (Barry Farber, whom she leaves at the altar in "The Pilot") is having an affair as well.
Emily
Ross's second marriage, to his English girlfriend Emily Waltham, appeared more hopeful than his first. The wedding took place in London (in a half-demolished building, where her parents were married), where Joey and Chandler were both the best man and Monica was a bridesmaid. (Phoebe could not attend as she was too far into pregnancy, and Rachel only came at the last minute.) However, at the ceremony Ross said Rachel's name instead of Emily's which led to the complete breakdown of his relationship. Ross attempted to reconcile with Emily, but she insisted that Ross never see nor speak to Rachel ever again. Ross was unable to comply; when Emily found out that Ross had been spending time with the friends (including Rachel) she realized she could never trust Ross again, and the marriage quickly dissolved. She later got engaged but on the night before her wedding she left Ross a message on his answering machine saying she was having doubts about getting married. Rachel accidentally deleted the message, and convinced Ross not to call her back.
Rachel
Ross is perhaps most famous for his turbulent relationship with Rachel Green. Ross had harbored a crush for Rachel since their high school days, when Rachel was Monica's best friend. When Rachel moved to the city, Ross' affection returned. However, Chandler convinced Ross to stop pursuing her and ended up dating Julie, drawing jealousy from Rachel, who had recently learned of Ross' crush and hoped to start a relationship with him. The two finally got together in "The One with the Prom Video". The relationship ended with Ross' jealousy over Rachel's co-worker Mark. Believing them to be "on a break", he slept with Chloe (Angela Featherstone), the "cute girl from the copy place with a belly-button ring". When Rachel found out, she broke up with Ross in a famous scene in Monica's apartment, which involved Ross and Rachel arguing in Monica's living room while the other four Friends were trapped in Monica's bedroom, afraid of interrupting the argument. (The scene was so emotional that both David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston actually cried after it was shot.) The two shared an 'almost on-again, almost off-again' relationship over the years, at one point getting married as a result of a drinking binge in Las Vegas. This wasn't resolved until weeks later when - unable to get an annulment - they had to get a divorce, leading Ross to panic over being a triple divorcee. Later in the series, they slept together again, resulting in the birth of Ross' second child Emma. In "The Last One", Ross is encouraged by Phoebe to declare his love to Rachel before she leaves to pursue a career in Paris. His plea is successful and the two once again enter into a relationship. It is rumored that Ross and Rachel eventually got married in the Friends spinoff Joey, with Joey claiming that all his friends are married.
Personality
Nerdiness
Generally considered the most intelligent and mature of the friends, he is also seen as a nerd, and has exaggerated events to make his life seem more exciting than it actually is.
- The Friends usually consider him to be correct on subjects such as math and science and look to him as a mature voice of reason.
- During his school years, he sampled some marijuana in his room - when his parents came in and smelled it, he claimed Chandler had been smoking it, then jumped out the window to escape. This caused his parents to dislike Chandler (subsequently, Monica did not reveal her relationship with Chandler to them for about a year) until Thanksgiving in 1999 ("The One Where Ross Got High"), when in the midst of one-upping each other whilst ratting the other out, Ross told their parents.
- When discussing the time he was mugged by Phoebe as a teenager, Ross claimed to have been mugged by a "huge dude" rather than a 14-year-old girl. This also revealed that Ross had created a comic book, the superhero being 'Science Boy' (who according to him has the superhuman thirst for knowledge, as a power).
- Ross got a 1250 (out of 1600) on the SATs, however, he advertises himself as getting a 1450.
- He had a pretend memorial service for himself when Chandler jokingly posted that he had died in a blimp accident on their college website and no one responded; a beautiful woman showed up and confessed she'd always had a crush on him and that she was sad that she missed her chance, at which point he came bounding out of the other room declaring "No you didn't! I'm still alive!", to which she replies, "You freak! Who does that?"
- When Phoebe announced that she doesn't believe in evolution, Ross got so frustrated he spent days trying to convince her, even bringing in bone samples to demonstrate his point.
- Ross's friends are bored by his profession and do all they can do avoid hearing about it. In one episode, Chandler says that he can "safely say that [they] all have work issues, family problems and/or are sick" when asked to attend a conference at which Ross is keynote speaker, only to discover it's to be held in Barbados, at which point they are eager to go. Once, when Chandler tried to tell Monica how easy it was to lie, he gave the example "I can't wait to read your book, Ross!"
- When the book Ross had published is put in the college library, he is furious to learn that students use that section of the library to make out (even Joey admits he's been there). Ross then takes up guarding the section to angrily chase away any amorous students. Eventually, though, he is so delighted when he meets up with the "one person" who ever checked out his book, that he even ends up attempting sex with her in that same section of the library before being caught by the Library Security.
- As Chandler was preparing to marry Monica, Ross vowed that should Chandler ever upset Monica he would "kick his ass". As another example of how Ross is mocked for being a nerd, all of the friends found this threat to be hysterically funny and even Chandler couldn't take it seriously.
- When looking through some of his old belongings in his parents' garage, Ross finds an old report card. He boastfully reads out what grade he got for each subject: "History, A; Science, A; Math, A; but when he reads out 'gym' he stops, with an embarrassed glance and puts the report away (and pulls out a rock polisher), obviously revealing he was not good at sports, despite his claims to the contrary.
- Arguably knows more about each of his friends than they know about each other as demonstrated in TOW The Embryos when he creates the famous trivia challenge for Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Joey based soley on his own memories.
Embarrassing situations
Ross's nerdy personality combined with being somewhat stylish in an unorthodox manner has gotten him into awkward and embarrassing situations.
- Flashback episodes show a teenage Ross with a drastically unstylish tuxedo, a mustache and a curly hairdo.
- While suffering from food poisoning after eating a bad taco, Ross soiled himself on a theme park ride during college. When Chandler, the only person who knew about it, tells Monica many years later in "The One with Rachel's Assistant", she jokes about "laying down papers" for Ross and nicknames him 'Pampers', referring to the disposable diaper brand.
- He also once tried to look "cool" by buying a new pair of super-tight leather pants, only to find himself unable to get them back on after going to the bathroom at his girlfriend's house. He then even tried to "lubricate" his legs with moisturizer to get his pants on but that didn't work, so he eventually had to run out of her apartment in his underwear.
- He also unwittingly agreed to massage an old man after flirting with his daughter.
- He once got an eightfold spray-on tan on his front without any on his back and then completely overtanned his face to a dark orange.
- He "accidentally" spoke in a British accent in front of one of his classes. He then tried to "phase it out" with bad results.
- One of his male students claimed to be in love with him to get a better grade. He believed the student at first, but when a second one tried it and failed, he clued Ross in.
- He had to run so fast to teach college classes in classrooms located far apart that he arrived for the later class sweating, out of breath and unable to speak. He eventually solved this problem by going to the class using inline skates.
- Convinced of his superior skills playing his portable mini-keyboard, he even held a concert in Central Perk, where he only played sound effects. Phoebe was the only one to appreciate his music.
- A mix-up with shopping bags causes him to turn up for a date wearing the same top as his partner.
- He once left whiting strips on his teeth too long causing them to be far too white. He attempted to hide it from his date by covering his mouth; but when she turned off the lights, he took his hand away from his mouth and his teeth glowed bright green because the woman had a black light.
- Ross is revealed to be an incredibly slow and timid driver when he takes Rachel for a ride in Monica's Porsche and gets a ticket for driving only 37 miles per hour on a highway where the speed limit is 60. He then tries to flirt his way out of the ticket (with a male police officer) and embarrasses both himself and Rachel.
Rage
- Ross also had a rage problem which became so severe that he was fired from his job at the museum after he became enraged when someone ate his Thanksgiving leftover sandwich(YOU THREW MY SANDWICH AWAY?! MY SANDWICH?!). After his boss explained that it was he who had eaten the sandwich, Ross screamed so loud the entire neighborhood heard, causing his boss to recommend a sabbatical. Chandler and Monica started dating during this period, and they were too afraid to tell Ross because of his rage. However, while Ross was speaking with his old boss from the museum about how his rage was over and he wanted his job back, he spotted Chandler and Monica together from his apartment window across the street, throwing him into a fresh rage all over again.
- In the 4th season, during a rugby game he was playing to try and impress Emily he mentioned "Red Ross", a state he got into when he loses control of his anger- but it proved not to last long, when he soon got injured in the game and limped back over to his friends. Joey warned him that if he went back to play rugby, he would be "Dead Ross". However after a few words of encouragement from Emily, he fared much better but the cost was his broken bones.
Not knowing when to shut up
Stated by Joey as Ross's thing, Ross's ability to not know when to shut up proves to be liable for himself as well as his friends.
- Once he tries to coax Chandler out of depression after his breakup with Kathy, he tells him "Just take off your sweatpants and we'll have some fun".
- When he is out to buy a sofa in The One With the Cop, he states that he wants a sofa "that says: kids welcome here, but that also says: (in a sexy voice) come here to me."
- When trying to flirt with the pizza delivery woman, he says "I happen to like eight year-old boys" in reference to her earlier comment about her hair cut making her look like an eight year-old boy. When seeing the expression on her face after hearing this, Ross is embarrassed, and explains to her the reasoning for his comment, finally stating: "You realize, I don't actually like eight year-old boys."
- Ross has exceptionally bad pickup lines including: a conversation about gas, talking about an underground sewer system, and asking girls how they would prefer to die.
- While offering to take Mr Zelner's son, to the Prehistoric Museum, he tells him "How would he like to come with me to the Museum of Natural History after everyone else has left, just the two of us, and he can touch anything he wants."
- When he got hurt after being kicked on the face by a kid on the swing, he yells 'Son of a Bitch' in front of small kids and when they look in shock, he tries to justify himself by saying 'Relax, it's not like I said the F-Word".
- When Chandler is jealous of the guy who Monica proclaimed was the funniest guy in the world, Monica makes the situation cool by stating an instance where Chandler made a joke that Monica found very hilarious. Ross kills the moment by stating that he made up the joke and told it to Chandler.
Lack of masculinity
There are frequent running jokes about Ross' masculinity. This issue was most prominent in "The One with the Male Nanny". Rachel hired a sensitive male nanny named Sandy, who made his own lotion, played the recorder and baked madeleines (which were "lighter than air," according to Ross). Ross is very uncomfortable with such a sensitive man being around and eventually fires Sandy, but not before breaking down in front of him and hysterically revealing his own insecurities stemming from issues with his father.
- Masculinity comes up again after Ross and Joey accidentally fall asleep in each other's arms, and they both admit it to be the "best nap they ever had". Eventually they do so again, only to wake up and find all of the other friends watching them sleep.
- Ross is also incredibly afraid of several things, including spiders (arachnophobia) and being buried alive (taphophobia.)
Age and birthday
Two episodes fix Ross's birthday as October 18. In "The One Where Emma Cries" Ross names that date as his birthday. In "The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant" he is taken on his birthday to a concert of Hootie and the Blowfish. That episode aired on October 19 and the birthday was on the penultimate day depicted in the episode. There is, however, contradictory evidence. In "The One with George Stephanopoulos", when Joey and Chandler buy Rangers' tickets to celebrate Ross's birthday on the 20th of October, Ross says that his birthday was "seven months ago". In "The One with Joey's New Girlfriend", when Gunther asks Rachel when her birthday is, claiming to be making a list of people's birthdays, Ross says, 'Mine's December...' before being cut off by Gunther. As to year of birth, in "The Pilot", which aired in September, 1994, Ross exclaims, "I'm only 26 and I'm divorced." That would mean that Ross was born in 1967 (assuming that in using "26" he was not projecting forward to his upcoming October birthday). A person born on October 18, 1967 then would be expected to graduate from college around 1990, and we later learn that Ross and Chandler were Class of 1992. The discrepancy is not that great, and could be explained by Ross having taken some time off between high school and college. Ross's age is not, however, always treated consistently. He describes himself as 29 in each of Seasons 3, 4 and 5. In Season 3, he tells Chandler "No, thanks, I'm 29" when offered chocolate milk, in Season 4 when the guys try to party without Gandalf they all say they're 29, and in Season 5 when he's trying to reconcile with Emily he says either he does or he would get divorced for the second time before age 30. Also to add to the confusion, in "The One with the Videotape", while Ross is telling the "western Europe" story to try to get a girl into bed, Ross claims that he backpacked across Europe in 1983 then whispers to himself "I was thirteen?", implying he was born in 1970 or 1969.
Children
Ross has two children. The elder, Ben, is Ross and Carol's son. He was conceived before their divorce. Born in "The One with the Birth", Ben lives with Carol and her lesbian lover Susan. He was named after the name on a janitor's uniform worn by Phoebe as she attempts to escape from the janitor's closet that she, Susan, and Ross are trapped in while Carol was in labor. At first, Ben is a shy boy. However, an afternoon spent with Rachel transforms him into a mischievous prankster. He is played by Cole Sprouse. His younger child is Emma. She was born to Ross and Rachel, conceived in a one-night stand. Emma lived with Ross and Rachel until a fight made Rachel decide to move in with Joey, and took Emma with her. She remained there for the rest of the series until Ross and Rachel got back together in the season finale.
Production
- Although the producers were coy about the Friends' religious backgrounds, it was revealed that Ross and Monica's father was Jewish and their mother was not. That said, Ross is seen attempting to get his son Ben to celebrate Hanukkah, by dressing up as a character he invented named the 'Holiday Armadillo'. On another occasion, Chandler alludes to Ross being Jewish when Ross goes to steal a Bible from a hotel and Chandler says, "Besides it's a New Testament! What are you gonna do with it?." Ross simply shrugs and says he'll learn about Jesus.
- Ross appeared on the sitcom The Single Guy.
| Friends | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Rachel Green · Monica Geller · Phoebe Buffay · Joey Tribbiani · Chandler Bing · Ross Geller · Recurring characters |
| Guest stars · Episodes · Central Perk | |
