Chandler Bing

Chandler Bing
Friends character
Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing
First appearance	"The Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"The Last One, Part 2" (episode 10.18)
Created by	David Crane Marta Kauffman
Portrayed by	Matthew Perry
Information
Nickname(s)	Bing, Bing-A-Ling, Bob, Chalala, Chan-Chan Man, Chandler Bing – BING!, Chandy, Channy, Channy-Fanny, Chauncey, Clint, Dennis, Duck, Gene, John Markson, Laundry, Mark Johnson, Mr. Big, Mr. Bigot, Miss. Chanandler Bong, Roland Chang, Skidmark, The Dropper, The Funny One, Toby, Mondler
Occupation	Statistical analysis executive (1989–2003) Junior advertising copywriter (2003–present)
Family	Nora Bing (mother) Charles Bing (father)
Spouse(s)	Monica Geller (m. 2001-present)
Children	Erica Bing (adoptive daughter, with Monica) Jack Bing (adoptive son, with Monica)
Relatives	Ross Geller (brother-in-law) Jack Geller (father-in-law) Judy Geller (mother-in-law) Ben Geller (nephew/ God Son) Emma Geller-Green (niece) Rachel Green (sister-in-law)

Chandler Muriel Bing^[1] is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends, portrayed by Matthew Perry.

Background

Chandler Muriel Bing was born on April 8, 1968, the son of an erotic novelist mother and a cross-dressing Las Vegas star and is of Scottish ancestry. Chandler was Ross Geller's roommate at college. Chandler met Ross's sister, Monica Geller, and her friend, Rachel Green, while celebrating Thanksgiving with the Geller family during his first year at college. On a tip from Monica, Chandler later moved to Apartment #19 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, across the hall from Monica and her roommate Phoebe Buffay.

Throughout most of the series, Chandler was an executive specializing in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. He fell asleep at a meeting and accidentally agreed to become the processing manager and head of the company's office in Tulsa. Not happy about being away from Monica and the rest of his friends, he quit and soon after became a junior copywriter at an advertising agency.

Chandler's first line of the show is "All right, Joey, be nice. So, does he have a hump? A hump and a hairpiece?", referring to Monica's new date. Chandler's last line is answering Rachel's offer to have coffee: "Sure. Where?", making a joke since obviously they will be going to Central Perk, the place where they have been going every day for 10 years. This is also the last line of the series.

Religion

It is never clearly stated what religion Chandler is. Most facts, however, point towards Christianity. He will make comments such as, "Oh Moses!" when he's shocked, and he talks about priests. In season 3 Joey says he looked like Satan. However he is likely not Catholic as in the third season he refers to Joey as his "Catholic Friend". In Season 4 when Phoebe is writing a holiday song Chandler mentions to her that he is not Jewish after the Line, "Happy Hanukkah, Chandler and Monica". It is possible he is not religious at all.

Thanksgiving

Numerous times throughout the series, Chandler mentions that he hates Thanksgiving as his parents announced that they were getting divorced at Thanksgiving dinner when he was nine, so his father could run off with the houseboy. Therefore, Chandler refuses to celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way. He has a "tradition" of retelling the story of his parents' announcement for divorce every Thanksgiving. Joey goes even as far to say, "It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Chandler bumming us out." During Season 5 ("The One With All The Thanksgivings"), it is revealed that Monica, while trying to get back at Chandler for calling her fat one year, accidentally dropped a knife on Chandler's foot and chopped off part of his pinky toe, the portion containing the nail. During Season 8, Monica cooks a separate chicken for him on Thanksgiving.

Physical appearance

Chandler's physical appearance goes fairly unnoticed by the friends, to the point, when in one Season 7 episode in which he announces he has glasses, all of the friends dismiss it believing him to have always worn them and how Ross believed he was left-handed, to which he replies in grief, "Does anybody know me?!". It is also revealed in Season 2 that Chandler has a third nipple, which he later has removed.

Relationships

Monica Geller

At the end of Season 4, Chandler begins a secret relationship with Monica Geller in London. They had been friends for some time and met when Chandler and Ross were at college together. Chandler had dropped hints about his interest in Monica during Season 1, then increased his efforts in Season 3, although Monica thought he was joking.

At Ross and Emily's wedding in London, Monica and Chandler slept together and began dating (a few years later, Monica reveals that she had actually gone to Chandler's room looking for Joey). Monica and Chandler try keeping their relationship secret, not wanting the others to make a big deal out of it, but they all eventually find out. Because Chandler and Monica don't tell them, Rachel and Phoebe try getting them to admit their relationship. Correspondingly, Monica and Chandler try getting them to admit that they knew, and a silent battle broke out (with Joey as the go-between). This ended with Phoebe and Chandler together with the false intent to sleep together, but Chandler finally cracked and admitted his love for Monica.

The two move in together at the beginning of Season 6, Chandler proposes by the end of the season, and they get married at the end of Season 7. Their wedding is officiated by Joey, who becomes ordained over the Internet. In the final episode, Monica and Chandler (who are unable to conceive) watch as their adopted twins, Erica and Jack, are born, though they had expected only a single child. Chandler also has problems with Monica's ex-boyfriend Richard (portrayed by Tom Selleck), whom he and Joey had briefly idolized before Chandler and Monica started dating, mostly because of Richard's moustache and macho appearance. The biggest problem with Richard occurs when Chandler wants to propose to Monica, and Richard confesses his true love for her. Richard eventually lets Chandler marry her, realizing he missed his chance.

Monica also sometimes gets on Chandler's nerves because of her bossiness, neatness, and overly competitive nature. This forces Chandler into several situations, such as Monica being unable to throw a game of tennis against Chandler's boss and Chandler's having to hide the fact that he is incredibly good at ping-pong to keep Monica from entering them into doubles-tournaments. During Season 8 episode "The One with Monica's Secret Closet", Chandler says that he married Monica despite the fact she was overly organized.

In the alternate reality episode of "The One that Could Have Been", Monica is still fat and Chandler does not show much interest in her. However, when Monica's current boyfriend gets called out to work during dinner, they sleep together and Chandler falls in love with her, so the two end up together anyway.

Jack and Erica Bing

Twins Jack and Erica appear in the final episode, on May 6, 2004, when biological mother Erica (Anna Faris) gives birth to them. Everyone, except the doctor (who was more surprised that they didn't know), is shocked as Erica has not realized she was expecting twins. Erica said, that at an antenatal appointment, the doctor had said "both heartbeats sound strong" and assumed he meant hers and the baby's. Chandler and Monica are a little shocked and discuss having the other baby adopted by someone else, but soon decide to adopt both when Monica says that they could not split them up. Jack is named after his adoptive grandfather and Erica after her biological mother. They are shown in Apartment 20, with the rest of the group before leaving for their new home.

Ross Geller

Ross and Chandler have been best friends since college where they were roommates. They made pacts of girls they shouldn't sleep with, were in a band together, and Chandler went to Ross's house for Thanksgiving. Ross and Chandler frequently go out to play racquet ball and basketball. They also get bullied together and stand up to the bullies, who steal Chandler's hat. In "The One with the Football", Ross picks Chandler as his first player, despite Rachel being his girlfriend at the time. Ross sometimes describes Chandler as his best friend and Chandler vice versa. Chandler was the first person to know about Ross's secret love for Rachel.

Joey Tribbiani

Up until Chandler moves in with Monica, he shares an apartment with his joint best friend Joey Tribbiani. Chandler and Joey's apartment is an important focal point for the series as one of the few meeting areas of the gang. The two form a close and enduring friendship, and get into many humorous situations. Their adventures include: losing Ross's infant son (Ben) on a bus; Chandler's dismay at Joey building an "entertainment unit" which is so big it partially covers both of their bedroom doors; buying a chick and a duck (affectionately named "The Chick and The Duck"); and replacing their dining table with a foosball table. A famous running gag suggests they are like an old married couple when they argue, with Chandler usually assuming the wife's role. Although in one of the episodes where Joey's new roommate Janine is present, Joey takes the more woman-like role of their argument with comments such as "Why would you say that? It's just mean!" and "It's not what you said; it was the way you said it", due to Janine's feminine qualities rubbing off on Joey.

The two start off on the wrong foot when Chandler is looking for a roommate when Joey said that he "was cool with the gay thing" (Joey thinking that Chandler was gay). Joey comes to fill the slot, only Chandler had already chosen a roommate – a fashion photographer with a porn-star sister. But after Mr Heckles (the grumpy old man who lives in the apartment below Monica and Rachel) tells the photographer that he is Chandler's new roommate, the photographer leaves disappointed and never moves in. This forces Chandler to give the keys to Joey and they find out they had a lot in common, including sports and beer. Joey also introduces Chandler to watching the women of Baywatch (especially Yasmine Bleeth and Nicole Eggert).

Chandler often supports Joey throughout the show, paying the rent, paying for Joey's headshots, and buying most of the food. Joey tries in one episode to repay Chandler by allowing him the only ticket to the première of his new movie. Unfortunately, Chandler falls asleep during the movie. Later in the same episode, Joey comes in Chandler's apartment saying that he will pay Chandler back every penny he owes him. However, seeing that Chandler had covered so many expenses for him, he dismisses it saying "So what, you fell asleep during my première."

However, in the alternate reality of "The One that Could Have Been" these roles are reversed as Chandler struggles with finances while Joey rakes in the money. At one point in this episode, Joey helps out Chandler by allowing Chandler to be his assistant.

Janice Litman Goralnick (née Hosenstein)

Before his relationship with Monica, Chandler has an on-and-off relationship with Janice Hosenstein (Maggie Wheeler). She is a regular feature in his life, even though he spent most of the time trying to break up with her. In Season 1 he dated her and then broke up with her multiple times.

During the Season 2 finale, Chandler spends most of his time on his computer chatting with an unnamed woman on an internet chat room. She reveals that her husband is having an affair. When they decide to meet up, it is revealed that the woman is Janice. They passionately kiss and their relationship continues into Season 3. Joey admits to hating Janice at the beginning of Season 3 but decides to try to get along with her since Chandler is really starting to fall for her this time. In the episode "The One With The Race Car Bed" Joey sees Janice kissing her ex-husband. Joey tells Chandler, who confronts Janice about it. Janice tells Chandler she doesn't know what to do. Chandler, after talking with Joey, decides to back off because he doesn't want to be the reason that a family does not get back together.

Yet, they reunite later in the series and Chandler wants to break up with her but once again doesn't know how, so he figures the best way to to tell her is to lie and say he is moving to Yemen. Janice tells Chandler she wants to see him off at the airport so he actually has to buy an expensive ticket, board a plane and fly to Yemen. This is the last time they date because Chandler starts dating Monica soon after. However, Janice makes further appearances in the sitcom. She briefly dates Ross in a later episode, and in the seventh season, Janice plans on attending Chandler and Monica's wedding. In order to prevent this, Chandler pretends he still loves her and they should pick up where they left off. Janice, not wanting to ruin Chandler and Monica's marriage, decides to leave, although she asks him to call her when his marriage breaks up. He uses the same excuse in Season 10 when purchasing a house and realizing that Janice was attempting to buy the house next door.

Her character is best known for her famous line "Oh... My... God!" in her very nasal voice, that the friends imitate. She appears in every season of Friends except Season 6, although her voice is heard on a mixed tape she had made for Chandler years before.

Career

Chandler works as an IT procurement manager with the specialization "Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration," a job which he thoroughly loathes. It remains a running joke through most of the seasons that no one is exactly sure of what he does. His friends, in a trivia game, could not guess his job in one instance, with Rachel calling him a "transponster". Joey once says "Jeez, Chandler, you call yourself an accountant?", to which Chandler incredulously replies, "No..." The other friends go on to admit that they have no idea what he really does for a living. Monica admits several times that she doesn't pay attention when he talks about his work, but finally learns what he does when he quits in Season 9, to which Chandler looks at Monica and asks: "I quit and you learn what I do?" although he does mention his job title in "The One with the Cooking Class," a job which inspired Chandler's oft-referenced office slang word "WENUS" (Weekly Estimated Net Usage Statistics), as well as the "ANUS" (Annual Net Usage Statistics). Because of this job, Chandler, with Ross, is the most financially well-off among the six friends for the most part of the series. He reveals in one episode to have a considerably large (the exact number is unknown) sum of money which he has saved up for six years. He is also shown to hold a position of authority in his company. This may explain his hesitation to quit.

However, Chandler was unable to simply quit his job as it was his nature to avoid ending anything forcefully, be it his job, a relationship, or even his membership with a gym. Chandler tried to quit his job in Season 1, but was lured back by a huge raise on top of the yearly bonus structure. During one of the presumed many meetings that Chandler endures, he falls asleep. After waking, he realizes that his boss has selected him to head up the new corporate division in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On Christmas Day, Chandler quits his job in Tulsa so that he can fly home to New York to be with Monica. Monica helps Chandler secure a job in advertising. Much to Chandler's dismay, the job is as an intern. He soon secures a full-time job in the business.

In an alternate reality storyline during the show ("The One that Could Have Been"), Chandler did have the guts to quit his job and works as a freelance writer, specializing in comics.

Humor

The character of Chandler is noted for his wise-cracks and sardonic attitude, which provides a defense mechanism. His most famous phrase is the rhetorical question "Could I be any more...?" and is used on the show as a source of humor many times, primarily mocking from the other friends (indeed, the other friends actually make fun of the line more often than Chandler says it).

Some of the humor used by Chandler includes him describing Rachel's attempts to stop him smoking by throwing away every cigarette he puts into his mouth as "the least fun game ever", quoting A.A. Milne as having said "Get out of my chair, dillhole!" in an attempt to persuade Joey to vacate the chair he had been sitting in, and his insistence that his surname (Bing) is Gaelic for "thy turkey's done". His humorous conversations with Phoebe ranged from why Donald Duck wears a towel when getting out of the shower, to why there isn't a superhero called "Goldman" (inspired by Spider-Man). When he and Ross are trying to pick up women, he would be referred to as 'The Funny One'.

Throughout the show, Chandler claims he started using humor as a defense mechanism when his parents broke up, and tends to make jokes when he is nervous. In fact, when Phoebe dates a psychologist named Roger, he states that Chandler's behavior is textbook of someone who does. His co-workers are so used to his sarcastic jokes that any serious comment he makes is thought to be another joke. At one point, the friends challenge him to not make fun of them for an entire week as his New Year's Resolution; this proves difficult when, among other things, Ross starts dating a woman named Elizabeth Hornswoggle. He eventually breaks his resolution by sarcastically saying, "And, Ross, Hornswoggle? What, are you dating a character from Fraggle Rock?"

In Season 9, Chandler became jealous of Monica's new colleague, Jeffrey, because she claims that he is 'the funniest guy' she has ever met. He tells Joey about the situation, and Joey agrees that Chandler has a right to be upset: "Bein' funny's your thing!" In an early episode, Joey's father, visiting the neighborhood, suggests "Chandler, say something funny!" to defuse a tense moment, implying Chandler's sense of humor is well-known to Joey's family. However, Chandler's humor is sometimes seen as annoying throughout the show. The friend who tends to find Chandler's jokes most annoying is Rachel. In "The One Where Joey Dates Rachel", Joey asks Rachel who she would want to punch out of all of her friends. Rachel refuses to answer, until Joey says "Chandler?" Rachel replies "Yeah, but I don't know why." In "The One with Phoebe's Wedding", Rachel has to choose who will be Mike's last groom's man. Ross tries to convince Rachel that if she picks Chandler, he will make jokes the whole way down the aisle. Rachel realizes that fact, and tells Ross that he is the lesser of two evils (although Chandler is still involved with the wedding when he is assigned the position of Phoebe's 'father' to give her away when Joey - the original candidate - ends up performing the ceremony). Chandler is also made fun of for his name many times in the series.

When Chandler is going for a job interview which he is nervous about, he is told by Phoebe that he does not make a good first impression as he makes too many jokes. He asks for her help in preparation for the interview, and Phoebe tests him by saying, "Instead of talking about what you don't do, let's talk about what you do do." When Chandler avoids joking about it, Phoebe responds by saying "Nice side step on the doo doo thing" and Chandler replies, "Hardest thing I've ever done in my life." Later, at the actual interview, the boss mentions "duties" (which, with his accent sounds like "doodies") and makes several innocuous references to excretion, which Chandler nervously sidesteps. After the interview, he explains to the boss that it "was hard to sidestep that doo doo thing" much to the boss's confusion. Chandler explains to him that "duties" are "poo" which offends the boss, thus ruining the first impression.

Gay innuendo

Chandler often finds himself in difficult situations or making statements that make him sound gay in accordance with a common stereotype of popular culture that gay men are behaviourally and emotionally 'effeminate'. His friends and colleagues describe him as having a certain "quality" that make people think he could be gay. He also often has long "gay" hugs with Joey. At one point, he enters a room full of the friends and declared, "Well, don't we look nice all dressed up? ... It's stuff like that, isn't it?". In the Season 4 episode "The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line", Chandler invites Kathy to sit in the canoe with him, and asks her whether she would rather sit in the bow or the stern of the boat. Kathy replies saying she does not have a preference and asks Chandler which he prefers, to which he replies, "I like it in the stern... (long pause) ...of the boat!". In another episode, when Phoebe is wondering whether to propose to Mike, Chandler says, "If I were a guy... did I just say 'if I were a guy?'" The show's creators were actually considering making him gay at the beginning of the series, but ultimately decided not to. The creators had Chandler reveal that he is, in fact, straight in the eighth episode of the first season, in "The One Where Nana Dies Twice", when a colleague of his offers to arrange a date with a man for him, thinking he is homosexual. He tells his friends about this, but he soon realizes that they also thought he was gay when they initially met him. However, when telling a gay colleague of his that he is not gay, the colleague replies, "I know," and tells him that all gays have some kind of "radar".

After Chandler plays a prank on Ross by posting on their college website that Ross had sex with dinosaurs, Ross creates a page for Chandler and puts on it that Chandler is "as gay as the day is long" with digitally edited images of Chandler and a policeman. Many of the alumni congratulate Chandler on revealing this fact. As a retort, Chandler posts on Ross's page that he has died. Another instance which insinuates Chandler's homosexuality is when Ross exposed Chandler's kiss with a man to Monica. Ross states "Now, Chandler isn't the type of guy who goes to bars and makes out with girls," which causes Monica to scream, "You kissed a guy?!" to which Chandler replies, "In my defense, it was very dark, and he was a very pretty guy!"

Much of Chandler's sexual ambiguity stems from his childhood, as do other personality traits such as smoking and resorting to humor. The oldest is his middle name, Muriel, revealed in "The One with Rachel's Date". On Thanksgiving when Chandler was nine, his father announced that he was gay and that he intended to divorce his wife, because he would "rather sleep with the house-boy than [her]." The house-boy says, "More turkey, Mr Chandler?" in a very feminine voice just after this announcement. Charles Bing later moved to Las Vegas where he opened up an all-male burlesque called 'Viva Las Gaygas', featuring such musical numbers as "It's Raining Men", where he became a drag queen named Helena Handbasket (played by Kathleen Turner). While seeing the show in Las Vegas, Chandler tells Monica that when he was growing up, he "played the one on the far left," referring to the line of men on the stage. As a result, Chandler hates Thanksgiving and refuses to eat traditional Thanksgiving food. Chandler also highlights this as the point where he began to use humor as a defense mechanism and started smoking (despite his young age).

Further amusement emerges when listening to a self-help hypnosis tape designed to prevent him from smoking. Unfortunately the tape was designed for females and Chandler comes under the suggestion of being a 'strong confident woman'. This manifests itself in Chandler applying ChapStick like a woman applying lipstick and blotting with a tissue, and emerging from the shower with a towel around his chest and a turban on his head. He also tells Rachel that she is wearing a "stunning blouse". Eventually Joey overhears the tape and tampers with it, recording a message within it suggesting that Chandler should make him "...a cheese sandwich every day..." and buy him "...hundreds of dollars' worth of pants".

Another instance of Chandler seeming gay is in an episode in the ninth season. Joey (who is unable to stand the pain of eyebrow waxing) asks Chandler to help fix his eyebrows having only been able to withstand the pain of one eyebrow waxing. Chandler decides to help Joey, but only if he doesn't tell anyone that he is an expert at fixing eyebrows, having fixed his Dad's and his Dad's friends eyebrows instead of doing regular chores. When Chandler is done, Joey says that he is extremely good at fixing eyebrows. After an awkward silence, Joey asks Chandler to curl his eyelashes and Chandler excitedly says "Yeah!".

References

1. ^ middle name established in "The One With Rachel's Date"

External links

• Character biography at the Internet Movie Database

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