108 The One Where Nana Dies Twice

Chandler finds out a lot of people think he's gay when they first meet him; he tries to find out why. Paolo gives Rachel calls and shoes from Rome. Ross and Monica's grandmother dies... twice; At the funeral, Joey watches a football game on a portable TV; Ross falls into an open grave and hurts his back, then gets a bit loopy on muscle relaxers. Monica tries to deal with her mother's criticisms.

Original Airdate:
11/10/1994

Other Info:
• Christina Pickles received an Emmy nomination for Guest Actress for her work in this episode.
• "The Rachel" makes its debut in this episode. It was an oft-imitated hairstyle for the next couple of years.
• Rachel says that she met Chandler at Phoebe's birthday party. However, didn't Rachel meet everyone with the exception of Ross and Monica in the pilot. Many people suggest that Chandler and Rachel HAVE met before, due to flashbacks in season five's The One With The Thanksgiving Flashbacks. However, since Rachel didn't seem to recognize Chandler in the pilot, and the Thanksgiving episode negates the story in this episode, not to mention their encounter in The One With The Flashback, I think it's safe to say that this is one enormous goof on the part of the writers. Rachel mentions that she thought Chandler was gay because he spent Phoebe's entire birthday party talking to her breasts - however, Phoebe's birthday doesn't occur for another 3 months and Rachel has only lived in the city for 2 months.
• This episode runs 23:58 on DVD (a typical sitcom runs about 22:00). One added scene features Monica and her dad looking at coffins, before he says he wants to be buried at sea.

Credits:
Written by Marta Kauffman and David Crane
Directed by James Burrows
Christina Pickles as Judy Geller
Elinor Donahue as Aunt Lillian
Nancy Cassaro as Shelly
Stuart Fratkin as Lowell
Elliott Gould as Jack Geller
Carolyn Lowery as Andrea
Marilyn Tokuda as Nurse