Ross Without a Laugh Track

Friends is one of my favorite shows of all time. I have memorized most of the lines, I know the episodes off by heart, and the jokes make more sense to me now that I am older. My boyfriend recently watched a video on Facebook where the creator took away the laugh track, and added creepy sounding music to certain clips of Ross. I must say, dear Lord, I have never seen anything more mortifying. For example, there was an episode shortly after Ross gets a divorce, and the episode is about Ross's sandwich and how he gets upset about the fact that, I believe, his supervisor or colleague had mistakenly eaten this sandwich. You take away the laugh track, and Ross becomes one of the creepiest guys there is. Especially when he finds out that Donald had eaten his sandwich. His facial expressions and his reactions all scream "serial killer."

Sure the video creator had added a dark color to the entire video, but man doesn't he look like a serial killer who gets upset about sandwiches?

That video led me to another one, which also has no laugh track, and you cannot hear Ross's thoughts in his head, which just makes the scene seem like he was just waiting for the right moment to pounce on his cousin... It is taken from the episode "The one with Monica and Ross's Cousin." She comes to visit, and was staying at Chandler's and Monica's at first, but then due to the fact that she has gorgeous features and Chandler cannot stop staring, she ends up staying at Ross's, who then becomes a victim to her looks. This is the scene where they are watching a movie together and Ross... well, he gets the wrong impression.

As you can see Ross's facial expressions really make him creepy here, especially because you can't tell what he is thinking in the moment. The silences are longer, and it becomes much more awkward to watch than watching it with his thoughts recorded.

The next clip is from the episode where Phoebe and Rachel take a self-defense class, and Ross was trying to teach them the importance of having "Unagi," or as Rachel refers to it as fresh water eel. Ross then goes into the classroom where the instructor is, and listens in on the lesson, but then later asks the instructor what the attacker would do next. Ross does not realize how crazy he sounds when asking this question, and it brings concern to the instructor. Now, with a laugh track, the situation is already looking pretty bad, but you take the laugh track away, and it comes across as a little bit... what's the word? Stalker-ish

Then, the next scene is when he mistakes two women as Rachel and Phoebe, when he moves in on them, it honestly makes him look so creepy, it is hard to watch. His eyes get all big and weird, and then he stares with such excitement that only stalker Ross could look like that.

Overall, you should watch Friends with the laugh track, and then you find some clips without the laugh track, and even see the videos above for yourself to see how a friendly, sweet character like Ross can become creepy with a simple adjustment to the sound.