Friends Recycled The Same Creepy Story Twice, and Nobody Noticed

It's been almost 30 years since Friends premiered to become a global sensation and a TV classic. Despite not having a particularly original premise and borrowing liberally from sitcom giants like Seinfeld and Frasier, the show quickly became a massive hit with international audiences. What's genuinely impressive, though, is how Friends continues to resonate with new generations of viewers even as other shows from that era lose relevance.

The show follows a group of six friends living in the Big Apple. It's got numerous plot twists, lots of comic relief and even some drama. The relationship between Ross and Rachel serves as the cornerstone of the entire show, and yet, these two characters experience the greatest misfortune in terms of romance. When it comes to love life, Phoebe Buffay is perhaps the luckiest of the six in terms of the sheer number of dates she gets.

Being the eccentric that she is, it's natural that most of Phoebe's dates are a long cry from the ordinary, but some really push the boundaries of the bizarre, even by the Smelly Cat star's standards.

She actually manages to hook up with not one but two stalkers at different times, as if a stalker was her type in men, a fact that surprisingly tends to go unnoticed by most fans.

Malcolm

In Episode 3 of Season 3, Malcolm mistakenly stalks Phoebe, believing he's following her estranged twin sister, Ursula. Despite the unsettling nature of the situation, Phoebe develops feelings for Malcolm and decides to give him a chance. Their relationship goes well until Phoebe discovers that Malcolm is still stalking her twin, prompting her to dump him.

While we can kind of understand why she ended things with Malcolm (like, who would want to date a dude who's stalking another woman, right?), it's completely beyond comprehension why she started dating him in the first place.

Eric

The sixth and seventh episodes of Season 8 see Phoebe meet Eric at Monica's Halloween party. Once again, her prospective boyfriend is dating her sister Ursula, but when Phoebe explains how her sister has been lying to him, Eric breaks up with Ursula and immediately starts hitting on Phoebe like there is no tomorrow.

The two are having a great time together until Eric complains about having too much sex, and they realise he's actually been sleeping with Ursula half the time. Awkwardness eclipses happiness, and the two never see each other again.

And that's how Phoebe ended up sharing two boyfriends with her twin sister. But all's well that ends well, and Phoebe eventually meets Mike Hannigan, portrayed by Paul Rudd, a totally normal and super sane guy she ends up starting a family with.