Ross Geller

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Ross Geller

First appearance	The Pilot
Last appearance	The Last One
Information
Aliases	Vikram/Clifford Alveres
Gender	Male
Age	36 (by series end)
Occupation	Paleontologist
Title	Ph.D.
Family	Jack Geller (father) Judy Geller (mother) Monica Geller (sister) Jack and Erica Geller-Bing (niece and nephew)
Relationships	Carol Willick (divorced) Emily Waltham (divorced) Rachel Green (girlfriend/divorced)
Children	Ben Geller Emma Geller-Green
Relatives	Cassie (cousin) Fran (aunt)
Portrayed by	David Schwimmer
Created by	David Crane Marta Kauffman

Ross Eustace Geller, Ph.D., (born October 18, 1967) is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by David Schwimmer.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Background
2 Relationships
3 Personality
4 Age and birthday
5 Children
6 Trivia

[edit] Background

[edit] Family

Ross is the older brother of Monica Geller, and was often favored by their parents (particularly their mother) over her. His birthday is on October 18 (although in another episode he claims it's in December). When he was born, he was described as a "medical marvel", since his mother was originally believed to be barren. The two siblings are extremely competitive as was demonstrated in 'The One With the Football', where it emerged that every Thanksgiving during their childhood they had taken part in a football match called 'The Geller Bowl'. This continued until one year (Geller Bowl 6) Monica broke Ross' nose, and their parents forbade them from ever playing football again. In their childhood, Monica and Ross were very violent with each other. For example, Monica apparently hit Ross with a giant pumpkin. For his part, Ross once jammed a stick through the spokes of Monica's bike causing her to flip over and hit her head on the curb.

[edit] Career

Ross later went to college where he met Chandler Bing, with whom he formed a band, and Carol Willick, who became his first wife. At college, Ross trained for a career in paleontology (on a dare), completing his PhD, and later became employed at the New York Museum of Prehistoric History. In the episode where Rachel moves out of Monica's apartment, Ross claims to have "given up a career in basketball" to become a paleontologist. He also claims that he would have been good at advertising. In "The One with the Mugging", Ross claims that he invented the phrase 'Got Milk?'. After Monica questions this claim, Ross turns to Joey and mentions that he "should have written it down". He also claims to have had the idea for Die Hard (ironically, his, Chandler and Joey's favorite movie) stolen from him, and when Rachel is doubtful, he replies "don't make me show you the napkin!" Ross's love of dinosaurs became a running joke throughout the series. Monica ponders when Ross's dinosaur stories would become extinct and Joey once asks Ross "if homo sapiens really were homo-sapiens, is that why they're extinct?"

Ross was forced to take a "sabbatical" as he called it, from the museum due to a (somewhat exaggerated) problem with rage after his sandwich was half eaten and thrown in the bin by the director of the museum, and later found a job as a professor at New York University and was given tenure, although he caused a stir among his peers when he dated one of his students for a while.

Ross comes into conflict with Phoebe Buffay most of all. Ross' scientific beliefs and Phoebe's self-devised beliefs led to conflict over the theories of evolution, gravity and whether or not Phoebe's dead mother had been reincarnated into a cat. Also, it is revealed in "The One with the Mugging" that Phoebe once mugged Ross during her homeless years. She kept Ross's own childhood cartoon strip named "Science Boy" (who had a super-human thirst for knowledge) in a box labeled "crap from the street" (claiming it was stuff she thought was too important to sell or smoke). Phoebe claims she learned a lot from Science Boy. Both Ross and Phoebe always remained firm friends and it later emerged that they almost slept together after Ross's first marriage collapsed.

[edit] Marcel

In response to his loneliness after his divorce from Carol, Ross adopted a capuchin monkey named Marcel. The relationship was troublesome at first, but the two grew quite close, until Marcel's sexual drive (causing him to hump inanimate objects and people's legs) forced Ross to donate him to the San Diego Zoo. An underlying joke was how comparable their relationship was to that of a live-in couple. Ross later felt the urge to see Marcel again, but was told by the zoo that he had since died. However, a zoo keeper informed Ross that Marcel had actually been stolen. It turned out that Marcel was now a famous mascot for a brand of beer (Monkey Shine) and was starring in Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan. (The monkey, Katie, who played Marcel, played the monkey in the real movie Outbreak). Marcel's favorite song is "In The Jungle"

[edit] Apartment

In seasons 1-4, Ross lives in the same apartment. In season 5, Ross moves to the apartment owned by relative of his second wife Emily, who kicks him out when Ross and Emily divorce. He spent a short time living in Chandler and Joey's apartment before settling in the apartment directly opposite Monica's, which had once been inhabited by Ugly Naked Guy (which he managed by pretending to share Ugly Naked Guy's common interest of 'being naked', much to the dismay of the other friends who could see him across the street from Monica's apartment). This meant that 5 of the 6 Friends now lived in very close proximity.

[edit] Relationships

Ross is perhaps the unluckiest of all the Friends in love (once claiming to have been "dumped during sex").

[edit] Carol

He divorced his first wife of eight years (although in the beginning claimed to be four years), Carol Willick, when it emerged that she was a lesbian and was having an affair with another woman. However, in a flashback episode to when he and Carol were newly dating, he gushed about how "she's on the lacrosse team and the golf team" and he enthuses that "she plays for both teams!". They still got along fairly well, however, and shared custody of their son Ben, who was born in 'The One with the Birth', one of the final episodes of the first season. In an alternate reality storyline during the show ("The One That Could Have Been, Part 1"), Ross remained married to Carol, but their sex life was stagnant. He doesn't seem to realize Carol is a lesbian. When Ross suggests to Carol that they have a threesome, she not only is all for it, but has the perfect woman: Susan. Ross is forced to accept that his wife is gay, and he ends up consoling Rachel after she discovers that her own husband (Barry Farber, whom she leaves at the altar in "The Pilot") is having an affair as well.

[edit] Emily

Ross's second marriage, to his English girlfriend Emily Waltham, appeared more hopeful than his first. The wedding took place in London (in a half-demolished building, where her parents were married), where Joey and Chandler were both the best man and Monica was a bridesmaid. (Phoebe could not attend as she was too far into pregnancy, and Rachel only came at the last minute.) However, at the ceremony Ross said Rachel's name instead of Emily's which led to the complete breakdown of his relationship. Ross attempted to reconcile with Emily, but she insisted that Ross never see nor speak to Rachel ever again. Ross was unable to comply; when Emily found out that Ross had been spending time with the friends (including Rachel) she realized could never trust Ross again, and the marriage quickly dissolved.

[edit] Rachel

Ross is perhaps most famous for his turbulent relationship with Rachel Green. Ross had harbored a crush for Rachel since their high school days, when Rachel was Monica's best friend. When Rachel moved to the city, Ross's affection returned, and after a rocky start the two finally got together in "The One with the Prom Video". The relationship ended with Ross's jealousy over Rachel's co-worker Mark. Believing them to be "on a break", he slept with Chloe (Angela Featherstone), the "cute girl from the copy place with a belly-button ring". When Rachel found out, she broke up with Ross in a famous scene in Monica's apartment, which involved Ross and Rachel arguing in Monica's living room whilst the other four Friends are trapped in Monica's bedroom, afraid of interrupting the argument. (The scene was so emotional that both David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston actually cried after it was shot.) The two shared an 'almost on-again, almost off-again' relationship over the years. They even got married as a result of a drinking binge in Las Vegas. This wasn't resolved until weeks later when - unable to get an annulment - they had to get a divorce, leading Ross to panic over being a triple divorcee. Later in the series, they slept together again, resulting in the birth of Ross's second child Emma. In "The Last One", Ross is encouraged by Phoebe to declare his love to Rachel before she leaves to pursue a career in Paris. His plea is successful and the two once again enter into a relationship.

[edit] Other relationship trivia

Early in the series, after finally getting over his crush on Rachel, he dated the "perfect" Julie (who he had met in China), drawing jealousy from Rachel.
Ross has exceptionally bad pickup lines, and once even strikes up a conversation about gas with a pizza delivery girl in an attempt to prove his skill at flirting to the rest of the gang. *Other pickup lines included talking about underground sewer system and asking girls how they would prefer to die. (It was decided at one point that his "thing" or trademark habit was "not knowing when to shut up.")
There are frequent running jokes about his masculinity, which came to a head when he and Rachel hired a sensitive male nanny named Sandy who made his own lotion, played the recorder and baked madeleines (which were "lighter than air," according to Ross). Ross is very uncomfortable and eventually fires Sandy, but not before breaking down in front of him and hysterically revealing his own insecurities stemming from issues with his father. Masculinity issues were revealed again after Ross and Joey accidentally fall asleep in each other's arms, and they both admit it to be their best nap ever.
Ross also had a brief relationship with Janice (who still believed Chandler was in Yemen) - Janice rejected him when she grew tired of his constant whining.

Ross' other relationships are described at List of significant others of Friends.

[edit] Personality

[edit] Nerdiness

Generally considered the most intelligent of the friends, he is also seen as a nerd, and has exaggerated events to make his life seem more exciting than it actually is.

During his school years, he sampled some marijuana in his room - when his parents came in and smelled it, he claimed Chandler had been smoking it, then jumped out the window to escape. This caused his parents to dislike Chandler (subsequently, Monica did not reveal her relationship with Chandler to them for about a year) until Thanksgiving in 1999 ("The One Where Ross Got High"), when Monica tells their parents the truth.
When discussing the time he was mugged by Phoebe as a teenager, Ross claimed to have been mugged by a "huge dude" rather than a 14-year-old girl. This also revealed that Ross had created a comic book, the superhero being 'Science Boy' (who according to him has the superhuman lust for knowledge for a power).
Ross only got a 1250 (out of 1600) on the SATs, however, he advertises himself as getting a 1450.
He had a pretend wake for himself when Chandler jokingly posted that he had died in a blimp accident on their college website and no one responded; a beautiful woman showed up and confessed she'd always had a crush on him and that she was sad that she missed her chance, at which point he came bounding out of the other room declaring "No you didn't! I'm still alive!", to which she replies, "You freak! Who does that?"
When Phoebe announced that she doesn't believe in evolution, Ross got so frustrated he spent days trying to convince her, even bringing in bone samples to demonstrate his point.
Ross's friends are bored by his profession and do all they can do avoid hearing about it. In one episode, Chandler says that he can "safely say that [they] all have work issues, family problems and/or are sick" when asked to attend a conference at which Ross is keynote speaker, only to discover it's to be held in Barbados, at which point they are eager to go.
When the book Ross had published is put in the college library, he is furious to learn that students use that section of the library to make out (even Joey admits he's been there). Ross then takes up guarding the section to angrily chase away any amorous students. Eventually, though, he is so delighted when he meets up with the "one person" who ever checked out his book, that he even ends up having sex with her in that same section of the library.
As Chandler was preparing to marry Monica, Ross vowed that should Chandler ever upset Monica he would "kick his ass". As another example of how Ross is mocked for being a nerd, all of the friends found this threat to be hysterically funny and even Chandler couldn't take it seriously.
When looking through some of his old belongings in his parents garage, Ross finds an old report card. He boastfully reads out what grade he got for each subject: "History, A; Science, A; Math, A; but when he reads out 'gym' he stops, with an embarrassed glance and put the report away, obviously revealing he was not good at sports, despite his claims to the contrary.

[edit] Embarrassing Situations

Ross's nerdy personality combined with being somewhat stylish in an unorthodox manner has gotten him into awkward and embarrassing situations.

Flashback episodes show a teenage Ross with a drastically unstylish tuxedo, a mustache and a frilly hairdo.
He also once tried to look "cool" by buying a new pair of super-tight leather pants, only to find himself unable to get them back on after going to the bathroom at his girlfriend's house. He then even tried to "lubricate" his legs with moisturizer to get his pants on but that didn't work, so he eventually had to run out of her apartment in his underwear.
He also unwittingly agreed to massage an old man after flirting with his daughter.
He once got an eight-fold spray-on tan on his front without any on his back and then completely overtanned his face to a dark orange.
He "accidentally" spoke in an English accent in front of one of his classes. He then tried to 'phase it out' with bad results.
One of his male students claimed to be in love with him to get a better grade. He believed the student at first, but when a second one tried it and failed, he clued Ross in.
He had to run so fast to teach college classes in classrooms located far apart that he arrived for the later class sweating, out of breath and unable to speak. He eventually solved this problem by going to the class using inline skates.
Convinced of his superior skills playing his portable mini-keyboard, he even held a concert in Central Perk, where he only played sound effects. Phoebe was the only one to appreciate his music.
A mix-up with shopping bags causes him to turn up for a date wearing the same top as his partner.
He once left whiting strips on his teeth too long causing them to be far too white. He attempted to hide it from his date by covering his mouth; but when she turned off the lights, he took his hand away from his mouth and his teeth glowed bright white because the woman had a black light.
Ross is revealed to be an incredibly slow and timid driver when he takes Rachel for a ride in Monica's Porsche and gets a ticket for driving only 37 miles per hour on a highway where the speed limit is 60. He then tries to flirt his way out of the ticket (with a male police officer) and embarrasses both himself and Rachel.

[edit] Rage

Ross also had a rage problem which got so severe he was fired from his job at the museum, after he got extremely angry after someone stole his Thanksgiving leftover sandwich (with a "Moist Maker") from the staffroom. After his boss explained that he had eaten the sandwich, Ross screamed so loud the entire neighborhood heard, causing his boss to recommend a sabbatical. Chandler and Monica started dating during this period, and they were too afraid to tell Ross because of his rage. However, while Ross was speaking with his old boss from the museum about how his rage was over and he wanted his job back, he spotted Chandler and Monica together from his apartment window across the street, throwing him into a fresh rage all over again.

A few seasons earlier, during a rugby game he was playing to try and impress Emily he mentioned "Red Ross", a state he got into when he loses control of his anger- but it proved not to last long, when he soon got injured in the game and limped back over to his friends. However after a few words of encouragement from Emily, he faired much better but the cost was his broken bones.

[edit] Age and birthday

Two episodes fix Ross's birthday as October 18. In "The One Where Emma Cries" Ross names that date as his birthday. In "The One With Five Steaks and an Eggplant" he is taken on his birthday to a concert of Hootie and the Blowfish. That episode aired on October 19 and the birthday was on the penultimate day depicted in the episode.

There is, however, contradictory evidence. In "The One with George Stephanopoulos", when Joey and Chandler buy Rangers' tickets to celebrate Ross's birthday in October, Ross says that his birthday was "seven months ago". In "The One with Joey's New Girlfriend", when Gunther asks Rachel when her birthday is, claiming to be making a list of people's birthdays, Ross says, 'Mine's December...' before being cut off by Gunther.

As to year of birth, in "The Pilot", which aired in September, 1994, Ross exclaims, "I'm only 26 and I'm divorced." That would mean that Ross was born in 1967 (assuming that in using "26" he was not projecting forward to his upcoming October birthday). A person born on October 18, 1967 then would be expected to graduate from college around 1990, and we later learn that Ross and Chandler were Class of 1992. The discrepancy is not that great, and could be explained by Ross having taken some time off between high school and college. Although this would be incorrect because in Season 1 Monica repeatedly says her age is 26 thus having to make Ross and herself be twins.

Ross's age is not, however, always treated consistently. He describes himself as 29 in each of Seasons 3, 4 and 5. In Season 3, he tells Chandler "No, thanks, I'm 29" when offered chocolate milk, in Season 4 when the guys try to party without Gandalf they all say they're 29, and in Season 5 when he's trying to reconcile with Emily he says either he does or he would get divorced for the second time before age 30.

Also to add to the confusion, in "The One with the Videotape", while Ross is telling the "western Europe" story to try to get a girl into bed, Ross claims that he backpacked across Europe in 1983 then whispers to himself "I was thirteen?", implying he was born in 1970 or 1969.

[edit] Children

Ross has two children. The eldest, Ben, is Ross and Carol's son. He was conceived right before their divorce. Born in "The One with the Birth", Ben lives with Carol and her lesbian lover Susan. He was named after the name on a janitor's uniform worn by Phoebe as she attempts to escape from the closet that she, Susan and Ross are trapped in while Carol was in labor. At first, Ben is a shy boy. However, an afternoon spent with Rachel transforms him into a mischievous prankster.

His youngest is Emma. She was born to Ross and Rachel. She was conceived in a one-night stand a month before Monica and Chandler's wedding. Emma lived with Ross and Rachel until a fight made Rachel decide to move in with Joey, and took Emma with her. She remained for the rest of the series. The first time Emma laughed was in "The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song", when Ross sings Baby Got Back to her.

[edit] Trivia

Ross has kissed all the other five Friends members, although not all the kisses were on screen, and not all of them are the same canon. He kissed Rachel when they were dating. He kissed Phoebe in "The One With the Flashback" when he finds out Carol was a lesbian and Phoebe was there to console him. He also kissed Phoebe on New Year's Eve in season 5. He reluctantly kissed Joey to help him rehearse for a part he was auditioning for in "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding". In "The One Where Chandler Can't Remember Which Sister", Chandler got drunk and kissed Ross off-screen. He and Monica kiss off-screen in "The One Where the Stripper Cries" when Ross thought he was kissing Rachel during a flashback to his college years.
Although it's not a widely known catchphrase, Ross uses the phrase "It really was" numerous times throughout the 10 seasons. In one episode, he says it 3 times. Whether this is due to David Schwimmer improvising lines or the writers intentionally included it in the scripts is unknown.
Although the producers were coy about the Friends' religious backgrounds, it was revealed that Ross and Monica's father was Jewish and their mother was not. That said, Ross is seen attempting to get his son Ben to celebrate Hanukkah, by dressing up as a character he invented named the 'Holiday Armadillo', and we also see him polishing a menorah. On another occasion, Chandler alludes to Ross being Jewish when Ross goes to steal a Bible from a hotel and Chandler says "Besides it's a New Testament! What are you gonna do with it?".
Ross is shown to be very relaxed and humorous in the first couple of seasons, but after his break-up with Rachel in the later part of the third season, he becomes more dorky and unsure of himself.
Ross appeared on the the sitcom "The Single Guy" as well.
His first line in the series was "hi" (to which Joey replies "this guy says hello, I wanna kill myself").
Ross is seen several times in the series trying to steal items from hotels. He, however, claims that he is only "taking what the hotel owes him" and has specific rules about what can and cannot be taken, such as that you cannot take salt shakers, but it is okay to take the salt, and you can't take the remote, but it is all right to take the batteries. He also takes all forms of complimentary toiletries (including tampons) as well as lightbulbs, newspapers, and fruit left out in baskets near the front desk. Ross tries to take as much as possible, on one occasion even takes things directly from a maid's cart, which caused the contents of his suitcase to spill all over the lobby.
Ross is the character that most frequently injures, mostly burns, his hands throughout the series. The most obvious ones are when he burns his hands on a lamp, when carrying a frying pan and when picking up the tennis ball used in Chandler and Joey's game of "Fireball". He also breaks his thumb when he punches a metal pole instead of Joey.