‘Who is THAT?!’ Friends fan spots major continuity error with Ross Geller’s dad

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It’s been almost 27 years since the iconic sitcom first hit the screens.

Yet Friends fans have continued to discover major continuity errors over the years, with the latest one involving Ross and Monica Geller’s dad Jack.

One shocked TikTok user asked ‘Who is THAT?’ after spotting that Jack (played by Elliott Gould) was replaced by an entirely different person in a scene from the episode The One in Massapequa.

The 18th episode of series 8 sees the gang attend Jack and Judy’s 35th wedding anniversary party, with the couple having told all their friends that Ross and a then pregnant Rachel were married. 

The pair (played by Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer) then had to keep up the pretence, with Rachel famously coming up with an elaborate lie – featuring blind Belgian nuns – about their big day.

In one scene, the ‘happy couple’ are seen talking to Ross’ parents Jack and Judy, but when the scene cuts to Ross and Rachel, Jack is replaced by someone completely different. 

The extra standing in for Jack fails to look anything like him, with the two being different heights, wearing different outfits and the newbie even sporting glasses. 

One TikTok user discovered the huge mistake while watching the episode, filming the scene on their TV and captioning it: ‘Who is THAT?’

They added: ‘In all my Friends fan years, how have I never noticed this guy before?’ 

Despite the confusion over the scene, Digital Spy cleared up the fuss by revealing the error was simply down to a change in filming ratio when the popular series was streamed on Netflix. 

The publication explained that Friends, which began in 1994, was first filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, which was normal at the time.

However, these days, shows are filmed in the standard 16:9 ratio, meaning that fans are now watching the wide view version of the programme, meaning that all the secret stand-ins and extras that weren’t meant to be seen are now visible. 

Last year, another continuity blooper was spotted on the show, this time involving Ross’ son Ben.  

Season two episode The One With The Lesbian Wedding sees Ross Geller’s baby transform from being blond to being dark-haired between two swift shots.

The opening scene of the episode sees Ross chatting to ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) and the woman she left him for Susan (Jessica Hecht) as they pick Ben up from his apartment.

Carol and Susan have news for Ross, telling him they’re getting married.

Susan holds a carrier with Ben in it – who was played by blond twins Charles Thomas Allen and John Christopher Allen until he was recast in season 6 – as Carol tells Ross about the impending nuptials.

But as the shot returns back from Ross’ reaction, the baby us brunette.

The identical twins playing the character were both blond – suggesting a replacement child was temporarily placed in the carrier for some reason, with producers forgetting to switch him back again.

Devout fans have been left stressed out about a number of major character developments, such as Rachel’s [Jennifer Aniston] seemingly overly-long pregnancy, to Phoebe [Lisa Kudrow] and Ross’ birthdays switching to different months, and the entire cast of characters’ ages been altered constantly.

Other blunders have included Ross claiming to be allergic to shellfish, only to be seen tucking into crab cakes in a later episode, as well as him declaring in season 1 that he had only had sex with Carol, before Chandler [Matthew Perry] revealing in season 7 that Ross had slept with their dorm cleaning woman in college.

In terms of physical continuity blunders, a multitude have been spotted over time.

In The One With The Red Sweater, Monica [Courteney Cox] is seen ripping open her and Chandler’s wedding gifts, only for them to be magically re-wrapped as the shot changes.

In The One With The Rumour, guest star Brad Pitt’s character Will brings a pie to Thanksgiving dinner, only for it to vanish into thin air.

And in season 7’s The One Where Rosita Dies, after Joey [Matt Le Blanc] and Chander’s barcaloungers are both destroyed, Chandler’s miraculously re-appears in Monica’s apartment in The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress.