The One with the Lesbian Wedding

"**The One with the Lesbian Wedding**"
"The One with the Lesbian Wedding"
Friends episode
	Carol and Susan exchange vows
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 11
Directed by	Thomas Schlamme
Written by	Doty Abrams
Production code	457312
Original air date	January 18, 1996
Guest appearances
	Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick ; Jessica Hecht as Susan Bunch ; Candace Gingrich as the minister; Lea DeLaria as the woman; Phil Leeds as Mr. Adleman; Marlo Thomas as Sandra Green (Rachel's mother);
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The One with Russ"	Next →; "The One After the Superbowl"
	Friends season 2
	List of episodes

Last updated September 25, 2024

"The One with the Lesbian Wedding" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the television situation comedy Friends . It attracted mild controversy and censorship as a result of its portrayal of same-sex marriage. The episode first aired on January 18, 1996.

Plot

Ross' ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) and her lesbian life partner Susan (Jessica Hecht) are getting married; Ross' sister Monica caters the wedding. Carol's parents refuse to attend the wedding, leading Carol to doubt her decision, but Ross – initially hesitant to see his ex-wife remarry – finds himself in the position of being the one to encourage her to go ahead with the ceremony despite her parents' opposition. At the reception, Susan thanks Ross for his part in saving the wedding, and offers to dance with him; he agrees, apparently resolving their strained relationship.

One of Phoebe's massage clients, Rose Adelman, dies on the massage table and her spirit apparently gets stuck inside Phoebe for a while. Rose, via Phoebe, corrects people's behavior and makes weird jokes using references to obscure people or events. Upon talking to Rose's husband (Phil Leeds), who states that Rose wanted to see everything, Phoebe takes Rose sightseeing around New York, but is not able to rid herself of Rose. However, during Carol and Susan's wedding, Rose blurts out that she has now seen everything and promptly bolts out of Phoebe's body. During the reception, Phoebe muses to Chandler about how she misses Rose; one of the wedding guests (Lea DeLaria), comically assuming that Phoebe and Rose were a lesbian couple, suggests that Phoebe find a way to forget about Rose and move on with her life, and offers to buy her a drink, which Phoebe accepts.

Meanwhile, Rachel's mother, Sandra (Marlo Thomas), makes a major life decision after seeing how Rachel has learned to fend for herself: she is considering leaving Rachel's father. Rachel is horrified at the thought of her parents splitting up and angry at her mother, but Sandra admits she wants to do this because Rachel did not marry her Barry, the man she never loved, but she did hers. Rachel, stunned at this revelation, gives her mother her blessing to move on.

Early on in the episode, Joey makes his first appearance on the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives as Dr. Drake Ramoray. He shares with the group a "smell-the-fart" acting tip he had learned from the actress he did his first scene with.

Reception

As a result of its portrayal of a lesbian couple marrying, the episode attracted some controversy across the United States. Two network affiliates refused to air the episode⁠—KJAC-TV in Port Arthur, Texas and WLIO in Lima, Ohio⁠⁠—citing objectionable content, although the decision drew little press attention, partly due to the small size of the markets in question.^[1] Gay and lesbian groups⁠—notably GLAAD—decried the censorship of the episode.^[2]

While this episode of Friends was one of the first mainstream portrayals of gay marriage on U.S. television, it was actually the second gay marriage on a sitcom. Roseanne had aired an episode just five weeks before called "December Bride" in which the title character coordinated and attended a wedding for her co-worker Leon and his partner Scott. The New York Times claimed, "The biggest news about the wedding on Friends was that it was almost no news at all." However, the fact that Carol and Susan's ceremony was officiated by Candace Gingrich, a gay-rights activist and sibling to conservative Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich did draw some media attention, as the casting was perceived as a comment on the Republican Party's anti-gay rights stance and the "Contract with America" platform.^[1] A writer with the Associated Press noted in an article that week that the ceremony would not include a kiss by the newlyweds, including the episode as part of an observed trend of portrayals of gay characters while skirting controversy by avoiding or minimizing physical contact.^[3]

The episode was the highest-rated television program for the week, with 31.6 million viewers.^[4] According to Marta Kauffman, 'NBC expected thousands and thousands of phone calls and hate mail' but actually received only four complaints by telephone.^[5]

Related Research Articles

Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six friends in their 20s and early 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Kauffman, and Crane.

Candace Gingrich is an American LGBT rights activist at the Human Rights Campaign. Candace is the half-sibling of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Tribbiani</span> Fictional character from the American sitcoms Friends and Joey

Joseph Francis Tribbiani Jr. is a fictional character, serving as one of the primary characters of the NBC sitcom Friends and the protagonist of its spin-off Joey. He is portrayed by Matt LeBlanc in both series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandler Bing</span> Fictional character from the American sitcom Friends

Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas drag show called "Viva Las Gay-gas" as Helena Handbasket. It is revealed in season 1 that he went to an all-boys high school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Geller</span> Fictional character from the American sitcom Friends

Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom Friends. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relationship with Rachel Green was included in TV Guide's list of the best TV couples of all time, as well as Entertainment Weekly's "30 Best 'Will They/Won't They?' TV Couples". Kevin Bright, who was one of the executive producers of the show, had worked with Schwimmer before, so the writers were already developing Ross's character in Schwimmer's voice. Hence, Schwimmer was the first person to be cast on the show.

"The One with the Flashback" is the sixth episode of Friends' third season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on October 31, 1996.

"The One at the Beach" is the twenty-fifth and final episode of the third season of the American television sitcom Friends. It premiered on the NBC in the United States on May 15, 1997.

"The One with Ross's Wedding" is the two-part fourth-season finale of the American television sitcom Friends, comprising the 96th and 97th episodes of the series overall. Originally broadcast by NBC on May 7, 1998, the episode features Ross, Monica, Joey, Chandler and later Rachel travelling to England to attend the wedding of Ross Geller to his fiancée Emily in London. Ross and Emily's wedding vows are ruined when Ross accidentally says "I, Ross, take thee Rachel"; as the registrar asks Emily if he should continue, the episode ends on a cliffhanger until the season 5 premiere "The One After Ross Says Rachel". The episode also introduces Chandler and Monica's romantic relationship after they impulsively have a one-night stand. Lisa Kudrow won an Emmy Award for her work in the episode.

"The One After Ross Says Rachel" is the first episode of Friends' fifth season, and the 98th episode overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on September 24, 1998.

"The One After Vegas" is the sixth-season premiere of the American television situation comedy Friends, which was broadcast on NBC on September 23, 1999. The plot continues from the previous episode; after their drunken wedding in Las Vegas, Ross and Rachel plan a quick annulment, and Monica and Chandler discuss moving in together. A subplot has Joey and Phoebe driving back to New York from Vegas, picking up a hitchhiker on the way. The episode was directed by Kevin S. Bright, written by Adam Chase and its production was documented for a Discovery Channel program.

"The One with Monica's Thunder" is the first episode of Friends' seventh season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on October 12, 2000.

"The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" is a double length episode of the television sitcom Friends. It first aired on May 17, 2001 as the finale of season seven. It is usually broadcast in a one-hour slot and presented on DVD as one complete episode, but when the episodes are split the two parts are differentiated by the suffixes Part 1 and Part 2. For his guest appearance, Gary Oldman was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

LGBT representation in children's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.

"The One with the Sonogram at the End" is the second episode of the first season of the NBC television series Friends. It was first broadcast on September 29, 1994. In this episode, Ross processes his ex-wife Carol's pregnancy and supports her as she goes through her first sonogram, though he clashes with Susan over the name of the baby. Rachel struggles to balance her emotions as she meets with her ex-fiancé Barry, and Monica becomes increasingly irate with her parents, eventually spilling the details of Ross's failed relationship that he failed to mention to them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Puppy Episode</span> 22nd and 23rd episodes of the 4th season of Ellen

"The Puppy Episode" is a two-part episode of the American situation comedy television series Ellen. The episode details lead character Ellen Morgan's realization that she is a lesbian and her coming out. It was the 22nd and 23rd episode of the series's 4th season. The episode was written by series star Ellen DeGeneres with Mark Driscoll, Tracy Newman, Dava Savel and Jonathan Stark and directed by Gil Junger. It originally aired on ABC on April 30, 1997. The title was used as a code name for Ellen's coming out so as to keep the episode under wraps.

"December Bride" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the situation comedy television series Roseanne. The episode was written by William Lucas Walker and directed by Gail Mancuso, and originally aired on ABC on December 12, 1995. The episode revolves around the wedding of recurring character Leon Carp. Roseanne volunteers to plan his wedding to his boyfriend, but goes against his wishes to create her own vision of a gay wedding.

Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBT individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBT people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBT communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBT communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBT communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.

The 21st GLAAD Media Awards was the 2010 annual presentation of the media awards presented by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The awards seek to honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community. The 21st annual award ceremony included 116 nominees in 24 English-language categories, and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories.

References

1 2 Ron Becker. Gay TV And Straight America, Rutgers University Press, 2006, pp. 161-163.
↑ "GLAAD Condemns Censorship of Friends Episode." GLAAD 18 January 1996. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Web. 27 April 2012. Original, now a dead link:
↑ Lynn Elber (Associated Press). "TV gays avoid the physical stuff," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 15 January 1996 page 11D.
↑ Staff writer (1996-02-02). "Here come the brides". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
↑ Wild, David (2004). Friends ...'Til the End. London: Headline. p. 216. ISBN 0-7553-1321-6.

External links

"The One with the Lesbian Wedding" at IMDb

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[becker-1] 1 2 Ron Becker. Gay TV And Straight America, Rutgers University Press, 2006, pp. 161-163.

[2] "GLAAD Condemns Censorship of Friends Episode." GLAAD 18 January 1996. Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Web. 27 April 2012. Original, now a dead link:

[ap-3] Lynn Elber (Associated Press). "TV gays avoid the physical stuff," The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) 15 January 1996 page 11D.

[4] Staff writer (1996-02-02). "Here come the brides". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-08-14.

[5] Wild, David (2004). Friends ...'Til the End. London: Headline. p. 216. ISBN 0-7553-1321-6.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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