It's Official: Friends Fans Agree That This Guest Star's Arc Is the Worst - Ever
During its 10-season and 236-episode run, Friends became so popular and beloved by audiences around the world that many Hollywood stars were happy to join the main cast for an episode or two.
The sitcom about six Manhattan friends featured dozens of big-name actors, from Julia Roberts to George Clooney, and to this day fans love to discuss those sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartwarming, and sometimes terrible cameos.
One of the guest stars whose episodes fans prefer to skip when re-watching is, surprisingly, Sean Penn.
The actor played the lovable second-grade teacher Eric, who first appeared in Season 8 during a memorable Halloween episode.
"I skip [Sean Penn's] arc every time. That whole plot with him, Phoebe, and Ursula makes me cringe," a fan wrote in one of the discussions to the agreement of others.
Commenters pointed out that the two-time Oscar winner was adorable in his episodes, but his entire arc was hard to watch. When Eric showed up at Monica's Halloween party in his solar system costume, he was revealed to be engaged to Phoebe's identical twin sister, Ursula.
_15060.webp)
And while viewers and Phoebe wondered how Ursula, known for her rude attitude and disastrous behavior, could end up with such a nice man, it was revealed that the sister had been lying to Eric about virtually everything.
This didn't sit well with Phoebe, who had come to like Eric, and she told him the truth, which led to Eric breaking off his engagement with Ursula. After that, Eric asked Phoebe out, and they hooked up. But while they were on a date, Phoebe had to go see a client, and when she returned, Eric told her he was tired of all the sex. It turned out that Ursula impersonated Phoebe and slept with Eric.
Both thought it was gross and decided to stop seeing each other.
Friends fans seem to hate everything about this storyline. Eric is too gullible. His dating his ex-fiancee's twin 5 minutes after a messy breakup is weird and gross.
The show always putting Ursula ahead of Phoebe is unfair. Also, the dynamic and chemistry between the actors seemed off. Director Kevin S. Bright attributed this to Penn not being used to starring in sitcoms like Friends.
"The style of the production wasn't what [Sean Penn] was used to, doing a show like that, so there was a little deer in the headlight effect," the director told Metro.co.uk.