Phoebe Buffay's Twin Sister Is A Recurring Character On A...

Phoebe Buffay's Twin Sister Is A Recurring Character On Another 90s Sitcom

Rachel Phoebe and Monica in Friends Thanksgiving episode

By Casey Duby Published 23 minutes ago Casey Duby is an avid TV writer, watcher, and reviewer. She graduated from Emerson College in 2021 with a focus in Writing for Film and Television, where she wrote several pilots and watched countless more. She's been working in television ever since. Casey loves thoughtful content that makes her ponder our world and the people in it, and she's learned that any genre can surprise her. With favorites in every genre from horror to politics, family to action, nothing is off limits. Casey has experience working in TV development, as well as writing both narrative and host-driven shows. Currently working as a Writer in Los Angeles, with an AMC A-List membership to boot, she is always hunting for the next good story and great theme song. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Friends has fun with Lisa Kudrow's portrayal of both Phoebe and Ursula, but the lesser-known twin can actually be seen more prominently in another popular '90s sitcom, Mad About You. Ursula spends enough time on Friends that viewers get a strong understanding of her personality, making it even more compelling that that energy fit into a different series.

Phoebe is a quirky character, what with her staunch vegetarianism, her choice to carry her brother's triplets ("My sister's gonna have my baby!"), her questionable musical ability, and Phoebe's comparatively tragic (and somewhat inexplicable) history of homelessness after her mother's suicide. Yet perhaps one of the most off-the-wall discoveries in Friends was the reveal of her aloof porn star identical twin sister.

Ursula Was Mad About You's Ditzy Waitress

Ursula Waiting on Paul and Jaime in a Restaurant

Riff's is Mad About You's Central Perk, the restaurant frequented by the sitcom's main characters, New York City newlyweds Paul and Jamie Buchman. The Buchmans keep coming back despite the mediocre service, as they're always waited on by none other than Ursula.

In Mad About You, Ursula's presence serves as a comedy gold mine. She refills teacups with coffee and drifts off without fully taking Paul and Jamie's orders, seemingly perpetually bewildered by the concept of a restaurant.

In one instance, Paul follows Jamie's order by saying he'll have the same thing. Ursula responds, "As her?" She then walks off to check if that's allowed. Mad About You is filled with moments like this, making Ursula a core component of the show's humor.

Ursula Actually Predates Friends' Phoebe Buffay

Sean Penn and Lisa Kudrow in the Friends episode "The One with the Halloween Party".MovieStillsDB

Mad About You premiered in 1992, and Lisa Kudrow's Ursula first appeared on the show in 1993. Kudrow was originally offered a one-time guest star role billed simply as "waitress", but she impressed Mad About You co-creator Danny Jacobson so much that they kept writing her into episodes.

When Kudrow was cast in Friends, which premiered two years after the launch of Mad About You, Phoebe was given a twin sister to explain Kudrow's presence on both shows. For much of their original run, Friends and Mad About You aired on the same night, making the situation very noticeable and in need of an explanation.

While Mad About You's Ursula is essentially just spacy, Friends reveals more of her personality. The side of Ursula seen on Friends is colder, often selfish, and dismissive of Phoebe. In one episode, Phoebe warns Ursula's fiancé, Eric (a guest appearance by Sean Penn), to stay away from Ursula as he is so hopelessly in love with her that he doesn't see her true colors.

Do Mad About You And Friends Take Place In The Same Universe?

Ursula Waiting on Chandler and Joey in Friends

Yes they do. Part of why NBC aired Friends and Mad About You on the same night was to immerse viewers in this sitcom universe (which also included Seinfeld). Mad About You's Ursula only posed a problem for Friends because of this universe — it would break the bubble of the world if an actor was one character on one show and someone else on another.

Ultimately, NBC and the series showrunners really made lemons out of lemonade with Ursula and Phoebe. It ended up being one of the clearest and most interactive elements of this universe, which otherwise went largely unnoticed.

Friends, Mad About You, and Seinfeld each take place in such a bubble, rarely venturing out of their apartments except to go to their regular haunts, creating a world so specific that it's hard to remember they're all in the same city.

Joey and Chandler take a bus in one episode of Friends, but by and large, these shows didn't often utilize New York's most recognizable public spaces or create the opportunity for characters to run into each other on the street or the subway.

Ursula And Phoebe's Worlds Have Collided

Jaime Buchman, Fran, and Phoebe at Central Perk

NBC managed to pull off a couple of fun and organic run-ins when it came to Phoebe and Ursula. Jamie Buchman and her best friend, Mad About You series regular Fran, had a cameo on Friends. They once stepped into Central Perk to cheers from the studio audience.

They spot Phoebe and are shocked and horrified at their choice of coffee shop, assuming that it's Ursula. Fran quietly asks Jamie if she got fired from Riff's, to which Jamie replies, "No, we were just there last night. She kept bringing swordfish."

They tentatively approach Phoebe, who obviously does not know them. Assuming both that it's Ursula and that she must also work at Central Perk, they give her their orders. Phoebe says, "Good choice," and walks away. Jamie and Fran are left convinced that, "Yeah. It's definitely her."

Ursula is first introduced on Friends in season 1 when Joey and Chandler were out to lunch at Riff's, where Ursula was their server, and they, of course, mistook her for Phoebe. This is less of a cameo since Ursula is also a Friends character, and no one else from Mad About You is featured, but the meeting taking place at Riff's is certainly a nod to the other sitcom.

After this, there's a brief arc where Joey dates Ursula (and then ultimately ends it to protect Phoebe's feelings). Addressing the elephant in the room of Lisa Kudrow's dueling appearances in Mad About You and Friends proved to provide a well of emotional depth for Phoebe while tying the shows together nicely.

Mad About You
Friends

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