Chandler Bing

Chandler Muriel Bing (born April 8, 1968) is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by Matthew Perry.

History

Chandler Muriel Bing, son of erotic novelist Nora Tyler Bing and cross-dressing Vegas burlesque star Charles Bing, was the roommate of Ross Geller in college. Throughout most of the series, Chandler was an executive specializing in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. He later quit and found a job as a junior copywriter with an advertising agency. Chandler met Ross' sister, Monica Geller and her friend Rachel Green while celebrating Thanksgiving at the Geller family residence. Chandler later moved to apartment #19 in New York City, across the hall from the apartment of Monica and her then roommate Phoebe Buffay. At this time, the unseen character Kip was Chandler's roommate, but the former moved out before the series began. Chandler's next roommate, Joey Tribbiani, completed the group of friends. Chandler lived with Joey until season 6, when he moved in with Monica. He later married Monica at the end of season 7. As we find out before the wedding, Chandler is one of the wealthiest friends because he had been saving money from his job for the last six years. He nearly spent all of the money on his and Monica's wedding, but convinced her to save it for their life after the wedding instead.

Because of the Thursday night line-up that led with Friends, Thanksgiving was always an important episode for the series. Chandler's most vivid memory of Thanksgiving was when he was nine years old and his mother and father told him they were getting divorced so his father could run off with the house-boy. Chandler therefore refuses to celebrate Thanksgiving in the traditional way, including a ban on all "Thanksgiving food", insisting it's not as good after seeing a Thanksgiving dinner in reverse. His Thanksgiving dinner consisted of tomato soup, grilled-cheese sandwiches, and a family-size bag of Funyuns. Several Thanksgiving episodes included retellings of this backstory of Chandler's home life and his hatred of the holiday, Joey going so far as to say, "It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Chandler bumming us out!"

Chandler's left foot is not complete. In the episode "The One with All the Thanksgivings", it is revealed that whilst trying to get back at Chandler for calling her fat the previous year, Monica accidentally drops a knife through his wicker shoes, cutting off most of his pinkie toe. It couldn't be replaced because Monica brought a baby carrot to the hospital instead of the toe. Chandler was not aware that it was Monica's revenge-gone-bad that caused him to lose his toe until she told him. This incident led to Ross inventing the nickname "Sir Limps-a-lot".

In "The One with Phoebe's Husband", Monica reveals that Chandler has a third nipple (Which Chandler called his "nubbin") after she found out Chandler told Phoebe about her having sex on the balcony. The friends are amused at the secret, and joke with Chandler about it until he has the nipple surgically removed after a would-be lover is repulsed by it, although evidently none of Chandler's previous lovers were bothered by it.

Chandler was a bedwetter as a child; in "The One with the Two Parties", while supporting Rachel during her parents' divorce, he jokingly recommended the "carefully regimented program of denial... and, and wetting the bed" which he himself relied on as a child.

Chandler's birthday is most likely early April. In the episode where a month-early surprise party for Rachel is thrown, Rachel says that Chandler's birthday is before hers. So his birthday would have to be after or on Rachel's party day (April 8) and before Rachel's birthday (May 5). In "The One with Unagi", an episode that takes place on February 24, Monica says that Chandler's birthday is in a month and a half. A month and a half from February 24 is early April. This would make him an Aries.

Relationship with Monica Geller

At the end of season 4, Chandler began a secret relationship with his close friend Monica Geller in London. They had been friends for some time and had met when Chandler and Ross went to college together.

Chandler began dropping hints that he was interested in Monica during the first season. Chandler genuinely increased his efforts in season 3, but Monica thought he was joking and expressed little interest in a romantic relationship. At Ross and Emily's wedding in London, a somewhat intoxicated Monica and Chandler slept together. (A few years later, Monica revealed that she had actually gone to Chandler's hotel room looking to have an encounter with Joey.) They tried to keep their relationship secret from their other friends but they all eventually found out.

The two moved in together during the start of season 6 and were married at the end of season 7. Their wedding was officiated by Joey, who was ordained over the Internet. In the final episode, Monica and Chandler (who were unable to conceive) watched as their adopted twins, Erica and Jack, were born, though they had expected only a single child. Chandler has also had many problems with Monica's ex-boyfriend Richard (Tom Selleck), whom he and Joey had briefly idolized before Chandler and Monica started dating, mostly because of Richard's moustache and macho appearance.

Monica also sometimes got on Chandler's nerves because of her bossiness, neatness, and overly competitive nature. This caused Chandler to be forced into several situations, such as Monica being unable to throw a game of tennis against Chandler's boss and having to hide the fact that he is actually incredibly good at ping-pong to prevent Monica from ever entering them into doubles-tournaments.

In the alternate reality of "The One that Could Have Been" Monica is still fat and Chandler doesn't show much interest in her, but after sleeping together when Monica's current boyfriend gets called out to work during dinner, Chandler still falls in love with Monica and the two end up together anyway.

Friendship with Joey Tribbiani

Chandler famously shared an apartment with his best friend Joey Tribbiani. Chandler and Joey's apartment became an important focal point for the series as one of the few meeting areas of the gang. The two formed a close and enduring friendship, and got into many humorous situations. Their adventures included losing Ross's infant son, Ben, on a bus, Chandler's dismay at Joey building an "entertainment unit" which was so big it partially covered both of their bedroom doors, buying a chick and a duck (affectionately named "The Chick and The Duck"), replacing their dining table with a foosball table and spending hours watching Baywatch. A famous running gag suggested them as an old married couple when they argued, with Chandler usually assuming the wife role and Joey assuming the husband 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 the fact that Janine's feminine qualities are rubbing off on Joey).

The two started off on the wrong foot when Chandler was looking for a roommate and Joey came to fill the slot, only Chandler had already chosen a roommate – a photographer with a porn-star sister. But after Mr. Heckles (the grumpy old man who lived in the apartment below Monica and Rachel) told the photographer that he was Chandler's new roommate, the photographer left disappointed and never moved in. This forced Chandler to give the keys to Joey and they found out they had a lot in common – sports and beer. He also introduced him to watching the women of Baywatch (especially Yasmine Bleeth).

Chandler often supported Joey throughout the show, paying the rent, paying for Joey's headshots, and paying for most of the food. 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, Joey even helps out Chandler by allowing Chandler to be his assistant.

The two "broke up" temporarily after Joey found success as "Dr. Drake Ramoray" on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. When "Dr. Drake Ramoray" was killed off and Chandler became freaked out by his new psychopathic roommate Eddie, the two soon moved back in together.

Once Chandler moved in with Monica, Joey and Chandler remained close as neighbors instead of roommates. In the final episode, Monica destroyed the foosball table in order to save Chick Jr. and Duck Jr., before she and Chandler moved to Westchester. Despite no longer living in the same apartment block, Chandler and Monica made it known that their new home would have a specially designated 'Joey room' above the garage.

Chandler often refers to Joey as a family member, stating to Ross in "The One With Rachel's Other Sister" that if he can't have Emma when Ross, Rachel and Monica died, then Ross couldn't have Joey in the event of Chandler's death.

Humor

The character of Chandler is noted for his wise-cracks and his sardonic attitude, which provides a defense mechanism. His most famous phrase is the rhetorical question "Could this be any more...?" and is used on the show as a source of humor many times.

Some of the humor used by the character on the show 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'd been sitting in, and his insistence that his surname 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). Often, 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's in an uncomfortable social situation. In fact, when Phoebe dates a psychologist named Roger, he states that Chandler's behavior is textbook of someone who does. His co-workers were so used to his sarcastic jokes that any serious comment he made was thought to be another joke. At one point, the Friends even challenged him to not make fun of his friends for an entire week as his New Year's Resolution; this proved difficult when, among other things, Ross started dating a woman named Elizabeth Hornswoggle. He eventually broke down and sarcastically demanded "What, are you dating a character from Fraggle Rock?"

In season 9, Chandler became jealous of Monica's new chef, Jeffrey, because she claimed that he was 'the funniest guy in the world.' He told Joey about the situation, and Joey agreed that Chandler had 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 usually 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, saying that they are all her friends, and she would not punch any of them. After Rachel finishes, Joey replies," So it would be Chandler." Rachel respondes with, "Yeah, but I don't know why." In "The One with Phoebe's Wedding", Rachel has to choose who will be Mike's last groomsman. 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.

Gay innuendo

Chandler often found himself in difficult situations or making statements that made him sound gay. His friends and co-workers described him as having a certain "quality" that made people think he might be gay. He also often had long "gay" hugs with Joey. At one point he entered 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?" Once when he entered the apartment with Joey and Ross, the girls asked the men who they'd rather be with if they had to date each other. While Joey and Ross refused to answer, Chandler abruptly replied "Joey" then recoiled in embarrassment when everybody looked at him in shock. In the series 4 episode 'The One With Joey's New Girlfriend', 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 doesn't 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, "The One Where Nana Dies Twice", when a colleague of his at work wanted to arrange a date with another man, thinking he was gay. He tells his friends about this, but he soon realizes that they also thought he was gay.

After Chandler played a prank on Ross by posting on their college website that Ross had sex with dinosaurs, Ross created a page for Chandler and put on it that Chandler was "as gay as the day is long" as well as supplying digitally edited images of Chandler with a policeman. Many of the alumni congratulated Chandler on revealing this fact. As a retort, Chandler posted on Ross' page that he had died. Another instance which insinuated Chandler's homosexuality was when Ross exposed Chandler's kiss with a man to Monica. Ross had stated "Now, Chandler isn't the type of guy who goes into a bar and kisses girls," placing an emphasis on girl which caused Monica to scream, "You kissed a guy?!" to which Chandler replied, "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. On Thanksgiving when Chandler was nine, his father announced that he was gay and that he was getting a divorce from 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 right 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). Chandler also states to Monica that when he was growing up... he played the one on the far left. As a result of this, Chandler hates Thanksgiving and refuses to eat any traditional Thanksgiving food. Chandler also highlights this as the point where he began to use humor as a defense mechanism and also started to smoke (despite his young age).

Further amusement emerged when Chandler began listening to a self-help hypnosis tape designed to prevent him from smoking. Unfortunately the tape was designed for females and Chandler came under the suggestion of being a 'strong successful confident woman.' This manifested 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 bosoms 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 everyday..." and buy him "...hundreds of dollars worth of pants."

"Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration"

Chandler worked as an IT Procurement Manager with the aforementioned specialization, a job which he thoroughly loathed. It remains a running joke through most of the seasons that no one quite knows what he does. His friends, in a trivia game, could not guess his job in one instance, with Rachel hysterically calling him a "transpondster." Joey once said "Jeez, Chandler, you call yourself an accountant?", to which Chandler incredulously replied, "No!" Everyone else would go on to admit that they had no idea what he really did 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 — she calls it Statistical Analysis And Data Reconfiguration. To which Chandler looks at Monica and asks: "I quit and you learn what I do?" (but he does mention his job title in "The One with the Cooking Class," (season 8), a job which inspired Chandler's oft-referenced office slang word "WENUS" (Weekly Estimated Net Usage Systems), as well as the "ANUS" (Annual Net Usage Statistics)). Because of this job Chandler appears to be the most financially well off among the six friends for the most part of the series and is also shown to hold a position of authority in his company.

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 and a yearly bonus structure. During one of the presumed many meetings that Chandler endures, he falls asleep. After awakening, he realizes that his boss has selected him to head up the new corporate division in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Eventually he does finally quit after accidentally agreeing to work 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 worked as a freelance writer, specializing in comics.

Production

* In a crossover, Chandler Bing appeared in Caroline in the City, the main character of which was introduced in an episode of Friends.

* Chandler has the last line spoken by a cast member of the series. He says "Where?" when the others suggest to go get coffee for a last time.

* John Bennett Perry, the real-life father of Matthew Perry, appeared in "The One with Rachel's New Dress" as the father of Rachel's boyfriend at the time, Joshua.

* The name Chandler is actually named for an archaic trade – a chandler was a candlemaker.

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