The One with the Fake Monica

"**The One with the Fake Monica**"
"The One with the Fake Monica"
Friends episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 21
Directed by	Gail Mancuso
Written by	Adam Chase & Ira Ungerleider
Production code	456671
Original air date	April 27, 1995
Guest appearances
	Claudia Shear as Fake Monica; Karla Tamburrelli as the Teacher; Harry Shearer as Dr. Baldharan; Anthony Backman as Coffee shop patron; Kevin Bright, David Crane, Marta Kauffman as Casting directors;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The One with the Evil Orthodontist"	Next →; "The One with the Ick Factor"
	Friends season 1
	List of episodes

"The One with the Fake Monica" is the twenty-first episode of Friends' first season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on April 27, 1995.

Plot

Monica finds out that someone has stolen her credit card and has been using it. When she receives the credit card statement she realises that the thief is doing all the things in life that she wishes she could do, including taking tap dancing lessons. She, Rachel and Phoebe decide to find the thief at the tap dance class and end up becoming her friends. In order to prevent suspicion, real Monica introduces herself as "Monana". The four become good friends and Monica lives her life as recklessly as she wished she did. However, Fake Monica eventually gets caught and the real Monica visits her in jail and tells her that it was her credit card that was stolen. Monica admits that she did not turn her in and thanks her for inspiring her. She also decides to use this experience as a lesson to not just wish she did things, but actually do them.

Ross's capuchin monkey, Marcel, reaches sexual maturity and will not stop trying to mate with objects and his leg. Ross decides that he can no longer take care of Marcel and so he looks for a zoo for him. After some frustrating attempts including an offer where Marcel would be pitted against other animals in combat, Marcel is eventually accepted into the San Diego Zoo and Ross, Chandler, Joey, Rachel and Phoebe say goodbye to him at the airport.

Joey's agent, Estelle, suggests that he create a stage name because "Joey Tribbiani" is too ethnic. Chandler tricks him into using the name "Joseph Stalin", only for him to be rejected at the audition upon finding out and being appalled about the dictator's actions. Later, at the audition, Joey uses the name "Holden McGroin", presumably having been tricked again.

Production

In one scene, Phoebe, sitting on the couch, can be seen playing Game Boy. Unusually though, she looks into the camera while doing so.^[1]^[2]

When Joey asks what his stage name should be, Phoebe replies with Flame Boy, presumably as she is playing Game Boy.

Reception

Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a C, describing the episode as "thin and hokey" with a "semi-sappy "carpe diem" theme that doesn't jibe with the series' tone of slackeresque cynicism". They also said the monkey-humping joke gets annoying after a while.^[3]

The A.V. Club were more positive about the episode, and called the tap dance scene a "total gem".^[4]

Telegraph & Argus ranked it #142 on their ranking of the 236 Friends episodes.^[5]

References

^ Aurthur, Kate (March 2, 2016). "64 Things That Happened In The First Season Of "Friends" That Would Never Happen Today". BuzzFeed. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
^ "Personal Notes on Friends & All of its Episodes - lambdan.se". Archived from the original on 2019-01-17.
^ "Friends Season 1 Reviews". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
^ Saraiya, Sonia; Reid, Joe (August 15, 2013). "Friends: "The One With The Evil Orthodontist"/"The One With The Fake Monica"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
^ "The definitive ranking of all 236 Friends episodes". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. September 16, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

[1] Aurthur, Kate (March 2, 2016). "64 Things That Happened In The First Season Of "Friends" That Would Never Happen Today". BuzzFeed. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

[2] "Personal Notes on Friends & All of its Episodes - lambdan.se". Archived from the original on 2019-01-17.

[3] "Friends Season 1 Reviews". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-01-16.

[4] Saraiya, Sonia; Reid, Joe (August 15, 2013). "Friends: "The One With The Evil Orthodontist"/"The One With The Fake Monica"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

[5] "The definitive ranking of all 236 Friends episodes". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. September 16, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2021.

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v t e Friends episodes
Season 1	"The Pilot" "The One with the Sonogram at the End" "The One with the Thumb" "The One with George Stephanopoulos" "The One with the Blackout" "The One with the Monkey" "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away" "The One with the Fake Monica" "The One Where Rachel Finds Out"
Season 2	"The One with Ross's New Girlfriend" "The One with Russ" "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" "The One After the Superbowl" "The One with the Prom Video" "The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies" "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding"
Season 3	"The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy" "The One Where No One's Ready" "The One with the Flashback" "The One with the Football" "The One with the Morning After" "The One at the Beach"
Season 4	"The One with the Jellyfish" "The One with the Cat" "The One with the Embryos" "The One with Ross's Wedding"
Season 5	"The One After Ross Says Rachel" "The One Hundredth" "The One with All the Thanksgivings" "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" "The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey" "The One with the Cop" "The One Where Rachel Smokes" "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt" "The One with the Ride-Along" "The One with Joey's Big Break" "The One in Vegas"
Season 6	"The One After Vegas" "The One Where Ross Got High" "The One with the Apothecary Table" "The One with Unagi" "The One with the Proposal"
Season 7	"The One with Monica's Thunder" "The One with All the Candy" "The One with All the Cheesecakes" "The One Where They're Up All Night" "The One with Ross and Monica's Cousin" "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding"
Season 8	"The One After 'I Do'" "The One with Rachel's Date" "The One with the Halloween Party" "The One with the Rumor" "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby"
Season 9	"The One Where No One Proposes" "The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song" "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" "The One in Barbados"
Season 10	"The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss" "The One Where Ross Is Fine" "The One with Ross's Tan" "The One with the Birth Mother" "The One with Phoebe's Wedding" "The Last One"
Specials	Friends: The Reunion