"The One With The Donor" is the twenty-second episode of season nine of Friends. It aired on May 8, 2003. In it, Rachel and Phoebe take Joey's new girlfriend out clothes shopping and Rachel reveals she's jealous of her, Monica and Chandler try to find a sperm donor to have their child, and Ross struggles with a speech that could land him a key note speaker role at a major event in Barbados.
Plot[]
Gynecologist, Dr. Connelly, talks to Monica and Chandler after their fertility tests, which has shown both of them to be infertile (Monica's uterus is an inhospitable environment and Chandler's sperm have low motility), which upsets both of them greatly. Except natural conception, which may still work for them despite their small chances, he suggests a few other solutions, including a sperm donor. Chandler brings a work colleague, Zack, home and introduces him to Monica as a prospective sperm donor. At first, Monica thinks that Chandler is being ridiculous and refuses to be a part of it, until Zack requests a coaster for his beer, which instantly changes her mind. However, the couple make Zack feel very uncomfortable and soon scare Zack away by asking him continuous health-related questions about him and his relatives. However, even though he is medically perfect, Monica refuses him as a sperm donor, explaining to Chandler how she will not have any other man to be the father if Chandler cannot get her pregnant. The couple decide to adopt.
Monica and Chandler look outside the window to see that their baby is out there.
Joey's girlfriend Charlie is an insecure shopper, so Joey volunteers Rachel to help, what with her being a fashion expert. At this point, Rachel is experiencing secret amorous feelings towards Joey, and is becoming more and more jealous of Charlie. Dreading being alone with her, she asks Phoebe to come along. Phoebe agrees, as she wants to buy an outfit in order to impress Mike and prove that she is over him at a party his sister is having. However, Phoebe notices how cold Rachel is towards Charlie, which leads to Rachel admitting to Phoebe how she has a crush on Joey in the changing rooms. Unfortunately for Rachel, Charlie overhears everything. Luckily for her, it seems that Charlie thinks that it is Phoebe who likes Joey.
Meanwhile, Ross hopes to be chosen to be the key note speaker at a paleontology convention in Barbados, but a somewhat grumpy professor, Professor Sherman, needs to choose him. Unluckily for Ross, Professor Sherman falls asleep during Ross' explanation. While trying to sneak away from his office, Ross trips and falls into Professor Sherman's lap, waking him up. Ross thanks him for making him keynote speaker, which Professor Sherman unknowingly agrees to.
Phoebe dresses up for the party, briefly stopping at Central Perk to hear Joey tell her how she looks "stop-eating hot; the highest level of hotness", but on her way to the party she meets David at a newspaper stand. David explains to her how he is back from Minsk for good as his reason for going out there in the first place, to achieve positronic distillation of subatomic particles, is impossible. Thrilled, Phoebe is diverted from the party and she goes out with David instead.
Cast and Crew[]
Main Cast[]
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
Supporting Cast[]
Hank Azaria - David
Dan Desmond - Sherman
Kim Harris - Cologne Spritzer
Cynthia Newman - Jeanette
Tracy Silver - Dressing Room Woman
John Stamos - Zach, Chandler's Co-Worker
Aisha Tyler - Charlie Wheeler
Andy Umberger - Dr. Connelly
Crew[]
Directed By:
Ben Weiss
Written By:
Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen
Trivia/Goofs[]
- Despite Charlie praising Rachel, it is later revealed in "The One Where Ross Is Fine" (S10E02) that Charlie never really liked her.
- The image on Rachel's Cosmopolitan magazine is of Renee Zellweger who starred in Nurse Betty (2000) alongside Greg Kinnear who appears as Professor Benjamin Hobart, ex-boyfriend of Charlie in "The One With Ross' Grant".
- Charlie thinks that Phoebe is the one who confessed to liking Joey, however just before exiting the dressing room Rachel who had been talking about her feelings for Joey stated "I have to get out of here. The smell of beets is killing me." Charlie was standing next to Phoebe when she was sprayed by the beet Cologne and should have been able to deduce (smart as she is) that Rachel was the one speaking of Joey.
- In this episode, Joey doesn't know what surrogacy is. In "The One With Phoebe's Uterus" (S4E11), Phoebe explains to him how she is going to carry her brother's baby, which is surrogacy. However, it is understandable that he forgot it after five years.
- Zack asks for a coaster since he doesn't want to leave a ring. However, when he gets up to wash his hands before dinner, he simply puts the beer on the table.
- Rachel, Phoebe and Charlie go shopping at Bloomingdale's, where Rachel used to work during Seasons 3, 4 and 5. Bloomingdale's doesn't reappear for a span of 106 episodes since "The One With Joey's Bag" (S5E13). However, Rachel's personal shopping office appeared in a flashback in "The One With Mac And C.H.E.E.S.E." (S6E20) which was 75 episodes ago from this one.
- The lady at the department store who sprays Phoebe with cologne is the same extra who played her alleged "best friend from high school" in the "The One With The Blind Dates" (S9E14); she's also the same actress who plays the owner of the bridal salon in "The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress" (S7E17), and the casting director at the audition where Joey sticks his hand in his pants because he's got a hernia.
- The World Trade center can be seen in a transition at around 18:07 despite this episode airing after the attacks of 9/11. However, it could be possible that the transition scenes were all taken at an earlier season and are just reused in later episodes to cut costs.
- When Zack asks for a coaster, he holds a bottle of beer in his left hand but when the shot changes, it's disappeared.
- John Stamos, who played Zack, is famous for his role as Jesse Katsopolis in the family sitcom Full House. The final season of Full House was filmed in the same soundstage as Friends. The Pilot was aired on September 22, 1994 (coincidentally the same airing date of Full House's pilot "Our Very First Show" 7 years earlier), exactly 5 days before Full House's final season premiere "Comet's Excellent Adventure".
- This episode was used as "Z is for Zack" in the Nick at Nite Friends A-Z Event (January 2023).
Photos[]
External links[]
- Transcript of the episode
- "The One with the Donor" at the Internet Movie Database
[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Preceded by "The One With The Fertility Test" |
Series Nine Episodes | Followed by "The One In Barbados, Part 1" |
| << Season 8 | Season 9 | Season 10 >> | |||||||
| #01 | "The One Where No One Proposes" | #09 | "The One With Rachel's Phone Number" | #17 | "The One With The Memorial Service" | ||||
| #02 | "The One Where Emma Cries" | #10 | "The One With Christmas In Tulsa" | #18 | "The One With The Lottery" | ||||
| #03 | "The One With The Pediatrician" | #11 | "The One Where Rachel Goes Back To Work" | #19 | "The One With Rachel's Dream" | ||||
| #04 | "The One With The Sharks" | #12 | "The One With Phoebe's Rats" | #20 | "The One With The Soap Opera Party" | ||||
| #05 | "The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner" | #13 | "The One Where Monica Sings" | #21 | "The One With The Fertility Test" | ||||
| #06 | "The One With The Male Nanny" | #14 | "The One With The Blind Dates" | #22 | "The One With The Donor" | ||||
| #07 | "The One With Ross' Inappropriate Song" | #15 | "The One With The Mugging" | #23 | "The One In Barbados, Part 1" | ||||
| #08 | "The One With Rachel's Other Sister" | #16 | "The One With The Boob Job" | #24 | "The One In Barbados, Part 2" | ||||