These Friends of Mine: The Anchor

These Friends of Mine: The Anchor
ABC
March 30, 1994
Sitcom
DVD
B

Although this was the second TFoM episode to air, and the first in the regular slot on Wednesdays, it was actually the fifth shot, and indeed the TFoM/Ellen air-date order would be drastically different than the production order.  In any case, this episode, written by David S. Rosenthal, is interesting, and funny in its own right, as it introduces Ellen's annoying friend Audrey Penney, played perfectly by Clea Lewis.  Oddly enough, her character is originally overly negative, while later she would be unbelievably upbeat.  Ellen accidentally offends her through call-waiting, and there are some nice visual gags with split screens.  Meanwhile, Holly stuffs her bra to make a point and then wonders if her new boyfriend will accept her "breast reduction."  And, yes, the references to puppies would later become ironic.

This was the first episode where Ellen's weird neighbor Rick, played by Greg Germann, appeared.  Rob Schiller directed this and four other early episodes.