The One with the Embryos

In the episode, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) agrees to be the surrogate mother for her brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and his older wife Alice Knight (Debra Jo Rupp).

Meanwhile, a display by Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) of how well they know Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) by guessing the items in their shopping bag leads to a large-scale bet on a quiz, for which Ross (David Schwimmer) acts as the gamemaster.

Later, as Rachel returns with her shopping and complains to the others about the situation, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) urges the boys to get rid of their birds as they should not be living in an apartment.

She offers to do this as many times as possible for them, but is concerned when the two reveal that they are paying $16,000, which is all of their savings, for the single IVF procedure, and is helpless to influence the results.

The trivia game begins, with various facts about the characters being revealed such as Joey's space-cowboy imaginary friend (Maurice) and Rachel's actual favorite movie (Weekend at Bernie's).

The boys and the girls begin to argue along with Ross, which is cut short when Phoebe emerges from the bathroom and joyfully announces she is pregnant, the mood turning to one of celebration.

[3] When Marta Kauffman first learned of Kudrow's pregnancy, she was overjoyed and wanted to find a solution of incorporating it into the show without choosing to cover up.

[5] The producers found it difficult to get Giovanni Ribisi to reprise his role as Frank Jr. on a longer-term basis because the actor had continuous filming commitments.

[4] A similar situation occurred with Debra Jo Rupp, who was named as a cast member in the upcoming period sitcom, That '70s Show on the Fox network.

[7] Kauffman told TV Guide the writers felt it was important that the trivia contest reveal new information about the characters "otherwise it's just exposition.

It was the fourth highest-rated show on NBC that week, following ER, Seinfeld and Veronica's Closet–all of which aired on the network's Thursday night Must See TV lineup.

[6] David Crane highlights how the episode explores generosity; doing a selfless act which pays off when Phoebe gives birth in "The One Hundredth".

[6] In a 2001 review, Entertainment Weekly rated the episode A+, stating that "Thanks to the trivia contest alone, Embryos is quite possibly Friends' finest moment".

The game uses clips from the show to provide answers, allows viewers to choose a team (boys or girls) and call the coin toss.