Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

This week I’d like to take a quick look at some likely spectrum characters in the beloved TV sitcom Friends. Now I know what you’re thinking, autism was never mentioned during the 10 season run (likely due to a lack of general awareness of the condition during the 1990s), but many people have retrospectively noticed some autistic traits in the gang.

For those of you who have been living under a rock (or are so young you have yet to see the show), the TV series follows 6 friends in their 20’s/30’s living in New York, charting their friendship and the hilarious antics they get up to. Here’s a compilation video of the iconic intro across the seasons to give you a flavour of the show:

So let’s get to autism. First up- let’s take a look at Ross Geller (David Schwimmer).

Ross displays many traits of a high functioning autist. He’s a quirky, highly strung palaeontologist (do I smell a stereotype?) who is intensely passionate about science.

He is often socially awkward, misses out on social cues and sarcasm, moves with an unusual gait, and shows signs of sensory issues (he thinks that ice-cream is too cold). Ross is also prone to impulsive decisions, obsessive tendencies, and outbursts of rage that border on meltdown-like behaviour as you can see in the clip below.

Ross’s sister Monica (played by Courtney Cox) on the other hand, while not as overtly quirky as Ross, also displays some traits. Her OCD and control issues are often centre stage in the show with many comedic moments drawing from this. She can be an obsessive overthinker and fiercely competitive, often fixating on certain topics in her pursuit of perfectionism.

Her compulsive overeating in her teen years could also be considered an autistic trait. She may not be quite as neurodivergent as her brother, but she could fall under broader autism phenotype as do many siblings of autists. The iconic dance scene between the brother-sister duo really highlights their quirkiness and possible neurodiversity in their complete blindness at how ridiculous they look.

Finally, let’s take a look at the iconic Phoebe Buffay. Portrayed by Lisa Kudrow, Phoebe is the quintessential outsider displaying many autistic and ADHD traits. Brutally honest and hyperactive, she unashamedly marches to her own beat, completely oblivious to how others perceive her (or her terrible singing). She also flaps her hands an awful lot in the show and has been known to chew her hair in earlier seasons which are signs of stimming behaviour.

Interestingly, neurodivergent individuals tend to stick together in real life (I’ve spoken to many spectrum friends and you tend to subconsciously attract each other 🤣), which could explain why 3 out of the group of 6 display autistic traits. This is perhaps the most realistic aspect of autism that the show unconsciously portrays.

Now obviously we will never know if these characters are on the spectrum, but it’s still nice to see clearly neurodivergent characters marching to the beat of their own drum for us to identify with 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings! 🙂

Have a lovely weekend!

Aoife