this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 60 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

Chandler being able to afford paying for rent AND providing for Joey is also incredibly unrealistic.

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 83 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Canonically Chandler is actually super rich from his mysterious nerd job and just lives frugally, and Monica's giant-ass apartment is rent controlled and inherited from her grandmother.

[–] Genius@lemmy.zip 31 points 15 hours ago (3 children)

He works in data analytics, his friends just don't care enough to learn what that means.

He probably analyses consumer and advertising trends to guide investments and product launches.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 17 points 15 hours ago
[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 11 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

You will care about the W.E.N.U.S because I care about the W.E.N.U.S!

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago

I thought he was a dentist with a hitman friend.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 11 hours ago

I don’t think Chandler is super rich, but he’s definitely comfortable. He doesn’t have the money to outright replace their furniture when it is all stolen, for instance. They end up using lawn chairs (and a canoe) as their living room furniture for a while. But yeah, he definitely lives below his means, because he always has money to pass off to Joey whenever he needs it.

[–] ansiz@lemmy.world 12 points 16 hours ago (3 children)

Chandler's job was just made to be some generic finance sector job, right? It's definitely possible even today, but he'd be working a lot more hours. You'd never see him on the show.

Ross being stable even as a PhD grad student seems a lot more unrealistic to me. He even loved on his own. But maybe it was family money.

[–] LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world 17 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Ross wasn't a grad student though. he was a PhD researcher + professor. back in the 90s, that would've been a decent gig.

[–] ansiz@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I was under the impression Ross was still in a PhD program the first year, working at the museum seems like a gig for a PhD student. Worrying about the museum displays and stuff like that in season 1.

[–] odelik@lemmy.today 3 points 7 hours ago

Nah, just your typical PhD paleontologist dinosaur nerd. The times they showed that side of Ross was probabaly some of the most realistic moments in the show.

It wasn't (and still isn't) a decent gig as a young professor, especially not in a field where you can't bring in much grant money. Making even decent money in academia requires decades of seniority, and the really big bucks requires popular fame (a la Stephen Jay Gould) or enormous research grants that your institution gets to take 30% or 40% of.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Ross wasn’t a grad student; He had his doctorate. Initially he worked at a museum of natural history, then eventually got fired (for screaming at his boss) and went to work at the university as a professor. Either way, in the mid-90’s, he would have been comfortable.

[–] ansiz@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

I mean they mentioned he and Chandler graduated in 1991, so if Ross got a PhD in 3 years that is probably a record, lol. I was always under the impression he was in a PhD program the first season of Friends and that's why he was working at the museum.

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Chandler was more some bureaucratic data guy. The way they describe him is inputting numbers into speeadsheets at a megacorp. But he eventually becomes a manager.

[–] Robust_Mirror@aussie.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

When he tries to leave early on because he hates it so much they call him and offer a huge raise to get him to come back, so I think he's more than just a random data entry guy that could easily be replaced.

[–] LadyButterfly@lazysoci.al 5 points 15 hours ago

Yep it's ludicrous