Had the gang traded one of their Central Perk chats over coffee for an escape room here at Fox in a Box Chicago, would they have managed to outfox Mr Fox?
25 years and a few days ago, a new TV series premiered on American television.
The show creators had really struggled to name it, with candidates like Insomnia Cafe and Across the Hall being in the fray.
And NBC, the network the show premiered on, was worried over the ‘poor morals’ being featured in it.
However, all the bigger alternatives were dropped in favor of a single word – F.R.I.E.N.D.S. – and the TV series/sitcom would go on to reign on American television over the next decade and change the US sitcom scene forever.
What does FRIENDS have to do with Fox in a Box Chicago?
Well, one of the things we at Fox in a Box Chicago take very seriously is making sure that family time is fun time.
And the family (maybe with the exception of the very youngest kids) would certainly have a fun time together watching FRIENDS, wouldn’t they?
Clearly, we got a lot in common.
And so, we were thinking how the FRIENDS gang would do when pitted against one of our escape rooms.
Team size and demographics
With 6 FRIENDS in total, the gang would easily clear the minimum team size of almost any escape room and qualify for private bookings.
With 3 guys and 3 gals, it’s clearly a case of #Equality.
Finally, they’re all young adults (a popular escape room demographic) and as far as buying the tickets are concerned, we’re reasonably certain it won’t spark a PhilloSophie type argument (Season 2, Episode 5, The One With Five Steaks And An Eggplant).
Monica Geller
Gif courtesy giphy.
Do you even have to ask?
She’d be the one in charge of arranging the whole thing, of course!
Booking the tickets, dividing up the numbers to see who pays what, making the travel arrangements, becoming the team leader.
We also know from The One With The Cop that Monica is ‘freakishly strong’ (that’s a direct Chandler Bing quote) but here at Fox in a Box Chicago, it’s mental prowess that matters the most.
Chandler Bing
Gif courtesy giphy.
Well, my extensive experience with and knowledge of escape room teams leads me to conclude that Chandler Muriel Bing – Why do they call it a check? Why not a Yugoslavian? – would be an automatic fit for Entertainer-in-Chief.
You know, the person who keeps cracking jokes, keeping people’s spirits high all through the escape game.
And just perhaps, he’d be good with puzzles based on word plays and puns.
Rachel Green
Gif courtesy giphy.
Presumably, having been an assistant shopper at Bloomingdale’s and then women’s wear coordinator at Ralph Lauren, Rachel Green has an attention to detail and an eye for colors and patterns.
Which would make her a terrific asset in visual puzzles and tasks in an escape room.
Ross Geller
Gif courtesy giphy.
As the only person in the group proud of his PhD – also the only person with a PhD – Ross would seemingly be very interested in leading the team...but of course we know there’s only one team leader.
But he would almost certainly be good with information-based or quiz-type sections of an escape game.
Ross would also claim to be ‘very aware’ of his surroundings and able to ‘sense’ things – both of which are assets in a Fox in a Box Chicago escape mission – but we know from The One With Unagi just how unagi he really is.
Phoebe Buffay
Gif courtesy giphy.
We know that Phoebe separated Monica and Rachel while they were fighting each other over in The One After The Superbowl Part II so presumably she’d be The Negotiator, resolving arguments – even ones in which the team leader is involved.
Joey Tribbiani
Gif courtesy giphy.
As someone who’s played the role of neurosurgeon Dr Drake Ramoray (and thereby having picked up a lot of medical chit chat and jargon), Joey would be good at medical trivia.
In the absence of Dr. Gregory House or Dr. Derek Shepherd on the team, Joey would have to become the go-to guy for medical trivia related tasks.
Fox in a Box Chicago adds: Matt LeBlanc actually turned up at a FRIENDS audition straight from a ‘drinking bender’.
If that actual trait had been added to the Joey Tribbiani character – turning up drunk – it is safe to say he would not have been allowed into our escape room at all.
So – to return to the original question – would the FRIENDS gang have been able to beat a Fox in a Box Chicago escape room?
Truth be told, there are too many imponderables and variables for us to give a definitive answer to that.
Maybe someone with Chandler’s specialization – Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration – could work it out?
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