| "The One After the Superbowl" | |
|---|---|
| Friends episodes | |
| Episode nos. | Season 2 Episodes 12/13 |
| Directed by | Michael Lembeck |
| Written by | Mike Sikowitz and Jeffrey Astrof (part 1) Michael Borkow (part 2) |
| Production codes | 457313 (part 1) 457314 (part 2) |
| Original air date | January 28, 1996 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"The One After the Superbowl" [sic] is a double-length episode of the American television sitcom Friends' second season. The episode premiered on NBC on January 28, 1996, as the lead-out for NBC's telecast of Super Bowl XXX. The main storyline of the episode follows Ross, who learns that his former pet monkey Marcel had been employed for a film being shot in New York City, and then tries to get a role in said film as a ploy to reunite with the monkey.
Citing previous failures in the high-profile post-Super Bowl timeslot, NBC deliberately decided against premiering a new series, and instead chose to schedule a high-profile episode of an existing, popular series. It was part of an effort by the network to achieve the "highest-grossing ad-revenue day in television history."[1] The episode featured many guest stars, including Brooke Shields, Chris Isaak, Julia Roberts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Fred Willard, and Dan Castellaneta.
With 52.925 million viewers and a 47 percent audience share, "The One After the Superbowl" was the most-watched episode of the series, and is the highest-rated Super Bowl lead-out program of all time. The episode itself received mixed reviews, with some critics arguing that the excessive number of guest stars dampened the episode's quality (with several reviews making comparisons to The Love Boat), but others praising it for its funnier moments. Shields was considered a standout among the guest stars; impressed by her performance, NBC would cast her in the starring role of its new sitcom Suddenly Susan.