Over the course of nine seasons, Friends developed many iconic characters that live on in fans' memories years after the series ended. Joey Tribbiani was undoubtedly a fan favorite, coining some of the show's funniest moments.
With these funny moments came hilarious and unforgettable lines. With his outgoing and sometimes halfwitted personality, Joey was the origin of some of the lines that are most quoted today. His quotes have generated merchandise and a significant amount of praise for Friends. Joey was definitely the most quotable character in the series and probably one of the most quotable characters in television history.
Updated on March 3rd, 2020 by Matthew Wilkinson: Out of the main group, Joey was often the one who provided a large portion of the comedic relief. His storylines were often far less serious than the rest, as he didn't seem to want to grow up much. He was portrayed as the 'dumb' member of the group, but always had a wise line to throw out every now and then. With HBO confirming the highly anticipated one-off Friends special on HBO Max, now is the perfect time to take a look back at some of Joey's greatest lines throughout the series.
"SUP WITH THE WACK PLAYSTATION, SUP"
We kickstart the list with one of Joey's greatest lines from Friends as he tries to convince Chandler that he can look and act like a 19-year-old. He does so by dressing up in the most ridiculous way possible, and to make matters even funnier he then begins trying to talk hip, and young.
He brings out the word, "Sup" constantly, and shows his respect to the games console that Chandler is playing while they talk. It's a prime example of just how funny Joey can be, as his character is able to act in ways that no others are able to get away with.
"JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD!"
One of the things that made Joey so loveable was how relatable he was. His passion for food was always hilarious, from proving he was willing to take a "bullet" (car backfiring) for a sandwich he was immensely attached to, and to his undying love for Italian cuisine.
Due to this love affair with food, Joey had a very hard time sharing it. He would cringe when his dates took as much as a French fry off his plate, and in later seasons, he even found it difficult to share food with Rachel's daughter, Emma. This served for a humorous scene when Phoebe confronts Joey's ridiculous excuse for not going out with a woman again (she took some fries off his plate), in which Joey reaches his breaking point, yelling, "Joey doesn't share food!"
"A MOO POINT."
In a season 7 episode, "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs", Joey's advice to Rachel regarding her crush on her assistant, Tag, results in this hilarious line: "If he doesn't like you, then this is all just a moo point... it's like a cow's opinion, you know, it just doesn't matter. It's moo."
This is possibly one of the most quoted lines from Friends, and is an example of Joey's weird but always humorous logic. The things he says might not make sense most of the time, but they are always weird and random enough to evoke laughs.
"THE LINE IS A DOT TO YOU"
This hilarious line from Joey proves that he can even be funny while going through an incredibly tough time, arguing with his friend, Chandler. After he learns that Kathy cheated on him with his roommate, the two of them get into a huge argument about Chandler crossing the line.
Of course, Joey put his own spin on the line about that. He stated, "Over the line? You're so far past the line you can't even see the line!" To then make the moment even better, the icing on the cake came afterwards as Joey simply added, "The line is a dot to you," leaving audiences in stitches as they laughed.
"JOEY'S APPLE."
The season 7 episode titled "The One Where They All Tun Thirty", features a flashback sequence that shows the gang at Monica's thirtieth birthday party. Chandler, in the midst of trying to make sure everything's running smoothly with the party, finds that Joey has taken off his tie. Joey's explanation will forever be one of the most hilarious Friends quotes;
"It hurts my Joey's apple."
Chandler has to explain to Joey that Adam's apples are not named after individual men, and the scene could not be funnier.
"HOW YOU DOIN'?"
Out of all the things Joey said over the course of Friends, "how you doin?", became the most famous. Since almost the beginning of the series, this was his catchphrase. Friends turned the simple line into something unforgettable when Joey was saying it, and it will probably forever be associated with his character.
Joey had a unique way of doing just about everything, and his flirting was no exception. His simple catchphrase perfectly encapsulated the charm and humour of his character. No one can say "how you doin'?" quite like Joey Tribbiani did.
"I'M SORRY"
While this moment is actually quite a sincere and serious one as Joey tries to apologise to Ross for accidentally proposing to Rachel in the hospital, it ends up being unintentionally hilarious. Of course, this is down to the fact that Joey doesn't know how to use quote marks correctly.
He ends up using them while he tries to apologise, which makes his entire apology insincere, but he doesn't do it on purpose. He doesn't know any better but because the situation is so serious, it brings out a nice moment to break things up.
"YOU CANT HAVE S-E-X"
This is another amazing line as Joey confronts Chandler and Monica for having sex when they are supposed to be babysitting Emma. He heads into their apartment to see her in a crib in the main room while the lovers are away in the bedroom, so he takes her out of the situation.
It is only after when Chandler and Monica see she is missing that they end up talking about the situation. This leads to a hilarious line as Joey tells them that they "Can't have S-E-X, in front of a B-A-B-I-E." It's the fact he spells out the words and covers Emma's ears that really makes this a great moment.
"I'M A DOCTOR, NOT A MATHEMATICIAN."
Joey's role as Dr. Drake Ramoray on Friends' version of the soap opera, Days of Our Lives, was a running joke throughout the show's nine seasons. Joey's acting career was always questionable, as he usually didn't manage to get a lot of work. So when he landed a recurring role on Days of Our Lives, he began to scratch the surface of fame, which he often bragged about. Even after Joey was eventually fired from the show for stating in an interview that he wrote a lot of his own lines, Dr. Drake Ramoray was the highlight of his career.
Seeing Joey's portrayal of the fictional doctor was always hilarious, whether he was performing on the actual soap opera, entertaining a crazy fan, or even using this name to pretend to be a real doctor. The latter was the case when he said this hilarious line, "I'm a doctor, not a mathematician".
"OCCUPATION? DINOSAURS"
We have already mentioned one amazing line from this episode, but after Joey and Ross fallout and Ross ends up breaking his thumb, the two of them end up in the doctors waiting room together. This is where Joey brings out one of his best moments.
He fills out the form on Ross' behalf, due to his thumb injury, but he doesn't really know any of the answers. The best of the bunch comes when he reaches the occupation category where Joey says out loud, "Dinosaurs."
"WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?"
One of the most famous and memorable episodes of Friends is, "The One Where Ross Got High", a Thanksgiving episode. Rachel attempts to bake a traditional English trifle for dessert. Midway through the episode, it's revealed that this should-be creamy, delicious dish is actually a trifle-shepherd's pie hybrid.
Ultimately, the gang decides not to let Rachel know that she ruined her dish, so everyone tries to eat the meat-cream dessert. And everyone is on the verge of gagging - except for Joey. Of course, being Joey, he likes the shepherd's pie trifle, saying, "What's not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Good!"
"A SPOON! YOUR HANDS! YOUR FACE!"
When Joey appears on the gameshow, Pyramid, watching him trying to guess the answers to painfully obvious questions is completely hilarious.
Joey's partner didn't know what he was in for. Joey was certainly not gameshow material, as he guessed the wrong answer to almost every question. The answer to the first question Joey is asked on the show, is "cream". Joey's partner gives him the hint, "you put this in your coffee." Joey's responses are utterly hilarious, ranging from, "a spoon! Your hands! Your face!", to, "paper! Snow! A ghost!", and finally to, "a rock! A dog! The earth!"
"WHAT WOULD A DINOSAUR DO?"
The gang's very limited understanding of the things Ross says serve as audience representation. Out of everyone, Joey is the one who knows the least about Ross' palaeontology career. This means that whenever Ross starts rambling about dinosaurs, Joey blanks out, as does most of the audience.
In one of the final episodes of Friends, Joey and Phoebe try to encourage Ross to tell Rachel how he feels about her before she leaves for Paris. This prompts Joey to tell Ross not to give up, saying, "is that what a dinosaur would do?". Ross scoffs at this but Joey was just trying to speak his language.
"IS IT OBVIOUS I'M WEARING SIX SWEATERS?"
Joey had the biggest collection of relationships over the course of the series, ranging from normal women, and sometimes, total lunatics. In a season 5 episode called, "The One With The Girl Who Hits Joey", Joey starts dating Katie, a tiny woman who, well, hits him.
She does this in a playful way, and is about five feet tall, so of course, none of Joey's friends take him seriously when he says she's hurting him. Eventually, Joey can't take the pain anymore. He walks into Central Perk looking like the Michelin Man, and asks Rachel, "is it obvious I'm wearing six sweaters?".
"I HAD TO EAT EVERYTHING."
Since Joey's acting career was so unreliable, he was almost always struggling for money. This got worse when Chandler moved out of their shared apartment and in with Monica. When Joey's fridge breaks in season 6, he tries to get everyone to pay for it. He attempts to get Chandler to pay for it first, and when that doesn't work, Joey shoves Ross into the fridge and accuses Ross of breaking it.
Hilariously, after the fridge breaks, Joey decides to do the "sensible" thing and eat all the food in the fridge before it goes bad, saying,"well, the fridge broke, so I had to eat everything."