The chemistry between Matthew Perry (Chandler) and Roberts was palpable. Behind the scenes, the two were actually involved in a brief, real-life romance, and that spark translates effortlessly onto the screen. Chandler, usually the king of deflection and sarcasm, is rendered speechless by Susie’s attention. The audience is led to believe this is a classic romantic comedy narrative: the nerd gets the girl, and the past bully is forgiven.
“The One After the Super Bowl” is not a subtle episode. Its humor is broad, its pacing frantic, and its B-plot involving a lost monkey and Jean-Claude Van Damme is pure silliness. But within that commercial, high-pressure environment—designed to capture the largest possible audience after the Super Bowl—Roberts and the writers delivered a perfect miniature revenge comedy. The episode endures not just for the nostalgia of a megastar visiting Central Perk, but for its smart, feminist twist on the humiliation narrative. Susie “Underpants” Moss walks away having won, proving that sometimes the most devastating weapon against a sarcastic man is a patient, clever woman who remembers exactly what he did. And for Chandler Bing, the lesson is clear: be careful who you mock in the fourth grade—she might just grow up to be Julia Roberts.
This narrative choice elevates the episode beyond a simple “star cameo.” It reverses the typical power dynamic of the sitcom. Normally, Chandler is the observer, the one who verbally deconstructs everyone else’s awkwardness. Here, he becomes the spectacle. Susie doesn’t just beat him at his own game; she changes the rules entirely, using her Hollywood glamour as bait for her petty, righteous vengeance. The episode smartly comments on the nature of celebrity: Susie’s fame is her camouflage. Chandler, blinded by her status, fails to see the angry, clever girl beneath the designer dress. He assumes a star would never remember a childhood slight, and that assumption is his downfall. friends episode with julia roberts
Here are a few ways you can post about this legendary guest spot: Option 1: The Fun Trivia Post
For a show that was rapidly becoming a cultural phenomenon, securing Julia Roberts was a coup. At the time, Roberts was at the absolute zenith of her fame, fresh off iconic roles in Pretty Woman and The Pelican Brief . Her appearance on Friends wasn't just a guest spot; it felt like a validation of the show's status as a pop-culture powerhouse. Yet, what makes the episode truly helpful to revisit is not just the star power, but how the writers and Roberts herself managed to balance that celebrity status with genuine, situational comedy. The chemistry between Matthew Perry (Chandler) and Roberts
Roberts plays Susie Moss, a childhood classmate of Chandler Bing’s. The set-up is classic sitcom irony: Chandler, the king of sarcasm, once played a cruel prank on Susie in the fourth grade, humiliating her by pulling up her skirt and revealing her underpants to the entire school. Now, years later, Susie has transformed from a bespectacled, awkward girl into a glamorous movie star (a wink to Roberts’s own real-life stardom). Chandler, unaware of her identity, is immediately smitten. The genius of the episode lies in the tension between Chandler’s present-day desperation to impress a beautiful woman and Susie’s long-simmering, meticulously planned revenge.
In the pantheon of Friends guest stars—from Bruce Willis’s stoic Paul Stevens to Brad Pitt’s hateful Will Colbert—Julia Roberts’s appearance in the second season stands out as a masterclass in meta-casting and narrative economy. Her episode, “The One After the Super Bowl” (Season 2, Episodes 12 & 13), originally aired as a two-part, hour-long special following Super Bowl XXX in 1996. It is a glossy, chaotic, and immensely entertaining piece of 1990s pop culture. While the episode juggles multiple storylines—including the origin of Ross’s monkey, Marcel—the central thread featuring Roberts as Susie “Underpants” Moss is a sharp, playful deconstruction of celebrity, childhood grudges, and the performative nature of charm. The audience is led to believe this is
Looking back, the episode serves as a time capsule of the mid-90s. It captures a moment when the lines between movie stars and television actors were just beginning to blur. Before the era of "prestige TV" brought film actors to the small screen regularly, seeing a massive movie star like Julia Roberts do a multi-episode arc on a sitcom was a rare treat.
Susie seemingly forgives him and they go on a date, but it is actually a meticulous trap. During dinner at a high-end restaurant, she convinces Chandler to put on her panties in a restroom stall. Once he is undressed, she steals his clothes and leaves him stranded in nothing but the lace underwear. Her parting line, "Why don't you call me in 20 years and tell me if you're still upset about this?" is a classic moment of sitcom justice. Behind the Scenes: A Quantum Physics Courtship