Although the main characters in Friends had their own apartments and sometimes shared them with another member of the group, they all lived in the main setting of the series at some point: Monica’s apartment, and here’s when and why they moved in with her. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 and came to an end in 2004 after 10 successful seasons and a lot of memorable moments. Even though over a decade has passed since Friends came to an end, it’s still regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time, and its fanbase has recently expanded thanks to its arrival to the world of streaming through HBO Max.
Friends follows a group of six young adults living in New York City as they do their best to juggle their social, personal, and professional lives, as well as dealing with everything adulthood throws their way. Over the course of ten seasons, viewers got to know Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross quite well, following them through breakups, family drama, new jobs and relationships, and even all those times where they had to move to another place, for whatever reason. One of the main settings of the series was Monica’s apartment, where she lived through most of the series as she and Rachel once lost a bet and had to exchange apartments with Chandler and Joey for a while.
Monica’s apartment became a very important place in Friends, as it was a home to all the main characters, and the place saw a bit of everything – from Ross and Rachel’s messy (first) break up, to the great news of Monica and Chandler becoming parents. The apartment even had the pleasure of housing every member of the group at some point, either as Monica’s roommate, partner, or without her. Here is when each Friends character lived in Monica’s apartment and why they moved there.
Ross Geller
Ross’ time living in Monica’s apartment didn’t happen during the events of Friends, but it obviously still counts. In the series finale, appropriately titled “The Last One”, the group was standing in the empty apartment as they said goodbye to the place, as Monica and Chandler were moving to a house with their newborn babies and the rest of the group already had their own places to stay at. They started to reminisce about everything they went through and Phoebe pointed out that at one time or another they all lived in the apartment. Ross replied that he had never lived there, but Monica quickly revealed that he did stay at the apartment when their grandmother still lived there, and it was when Ross was in college and was “trying to make it as a dancer”. Visibly annoyed, Ross told her they almost made it “10 years without that coming up”.
Monica Geller
The official tenant of the apartment was Monica and Ross’ grandmother, who moved to Florida and so left it to Monica. By the time Friends begins, she’s the only resident of the apartment, and she ended up being its most loyal one as she’s the only one who lived there through most of the series. Monica got into trouble because of the apartment in season 4’s episode “The One With The Ballroom Dancing”, where Mr. Treeger revealed he knew Monica had been subletting the apartment, and that wasn’t allowed in the building. Ultimately this was quickly solved and Monica kept living there until the very last episode, where she had to say goodbye to it as she and her family needed a bigger place.
Phoebe Buffay
Phoebe lived in Monica’s apartment twice: before the events of Friends and during the series. Her first time living there was shown in season 3’s episode “The One With The Flashback”, where the audience was taken three years back to see what the main characters were doing. Back then, Phoebe had just moved out of Monica’s apartment but hadn’t told her yet, as the reason she left (and started living with her grandmother) was that she couldn’t handle Monica’s obsessive behavior anymore. Phoebe returned to the apartment in season 6, specifically in the episode “The One Where Ross Dates A Student”, as she and Rachel (who was living with her at the time) were forced to move out temporarily after a fire in Phoebe’s apartment damaged their bedrooms. Phoebe moved out and lived with Ross for a while following Monica and Chandler’s engagement, and was eventually able to return to her own apartment.
Rachel Green
As mentioned above, by the time Friends begins, Monica was the only resident at the apartment, meaning she had one extra room. In the pilot episode, Rachel arrived at Central Perk after running away from her wedding, and as she had nowhere to go, she went to look for Monica. By the end of the episode, Rachel decided to move in with Monica, and so she not only became Monica’s longest-lasting roommate but also her best friend. Rachel moved out of the apartment when Monica and Chandler made the decision of living together, and so she moved in with Ross and later with Phoebe. Rachel briefly stayed at the apartment again following the fire at Phoebe’s apartment, but it only lasted a couple of days.
Chandler Bing
Chandler also lived in Monica’s apartment on two different occasions. First, he and Joey won a quiz game to prove they knew Monica and Rachel better than they knew them, and so they swapped apartments. Chandler and Joey happily moved to Monica’s apartment and she and Rachel moved to theirs, though for them it wasn’t a happy experience. Monica and Rachel got the apartment back some time later, and Chandler and Joey moved back to their initial home. Chandler returned to the apartment when he and Monica decided they were ready to move in together, and he stayed there until the last episode of the series.
Joey Tribbiani
Joey spent a lot of time at Monica’s apartment as there was always food there, and he also lived there for a short period of time. As mentioned above, Monica and Rachel lost the apartment in a quiz game and had to give it to Chandler and Joey. As the apartment was bigger, cleaner, and overall better than theirs, Chandler and Joey were very happy during their time there, while Monica and Rachel struggled to make the boys’ dirty apartment feel like a home. Along with Chandler, Joey returned to his apartment sometime later, but unlike Chandler, he didn’t live in Monica's place again for the rest of Friends.