107 The One With The Blackout

New York City is blacked out (due to a mishap on Mad About You). Chandler is trapped in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre. The rest of the gang hangs out at Monica and Rachel's apartment. Ugly Naked Guy lights a bunch of candles and has a slight accident. While trying to share his feelings with Rachel, Ross is attacked by a cat. While searching for the cat's owner, Rachel and Phoebe meet "the Weird Man", known in later episodes as Mr. Heckles. He tries to claim the cat, but it obviously isn't his. The cat turns out to belong to Paolo, an Italian hunk who lives in the building and doesn't speak much English.

Original Airdate:
11/03/94

Other Info:
• This episode was part of NBC's Blackout Thursday. Three of four Must-See Thursday comedies centered around a blackout in New York City. On Mad About You, Paul and Jamie Buchman's attempt to get free cable created a blackout. After Friends and Seinfeld (there was no blackout story on Seinfeld), on Madman of the People most of the main characters were trapped in a tunnel.
• This episode received an Emmy nomination for Directing (James Burrows).
• Jill Goodacre plays herself, yet is credited as Jill Connick, her married name.
• This episode runs 24:50 on DVD (a typical sitcom runs about 22:00). One added scene features Jill Goodacre on the phone with her mother talking about her dog, while Chandler's inner voice talks about mothers. There's also a couple more seconds of Ross flailing about with the cat on his neck.

Credits:
Written by Jeffrey Astrof and Mike Sikowitz
Directed by James Burrows
Jill Connick as Jill Goodacre
Larry Hankin as the Weird Man (Mr. Heckles)
Cosimo Fusco as Paolo