Friends fans baffled after spotting ‘random’ woman in episode for first time in over 20 years

Friends fans are baffled after noticing a 'sloppy' editing error in an episode where a random woman appears.

If there's one thing that Friends fans pride themselves on, it's being able to recite the entirety of every episode, and knowing the characters as well as their besties.

So viewers were surprised to see a completely 'random' woman appear for a split second in one particular episode.

In a conversation between Monica and Phoebe, the camera cuts to different angles throughout scene.

And while we're aware that TV productions often use body-doubles, this was a serious blunder.

Monica's stand-in could be seen later on in the shot. (HBO)

Towards the end of the scene, the camera cut to a shot of Phoebe, in which half of a 'random' woman's face can be seen in the corner of the screen - standing in for Monica.

But according to eagle-eyed fans, this isn't the first time this sort of editing mistake has occurred in the show.

One viewer said: "Not the only time this happened. There were a few more instances.

"The clearest one was the Geller's wedding anniversary. Jack was completely replaced by someone else, for a few seconds."

Other fans said they had clocked onto the mistake years ago when the episode was released.

One said: "Noticed that MANY YEARS ago. It’s her stand in. Every actor has one."

Another added: "Bad editing, just stand-ins. There’s other episodes like this."

The editing has been branded 'sloppy' by fans (HBO)

A third wrote: "I’ve seen this before and honestly like if she had to go to the bathroom or wherever she went for like five secs, couldn’t they have just waited for her to get back?"

However, some industry boffins in the comments cleared up exactly how errors like this can happen.

And it's actually because of the 'era' that it was filmed in.

One explained: "Friends was shot in wide screen but shown in the original 4:3 square ratio format for TVs of that era, so back then the stand in actor would have never been seen.

"Repeats on modern wide screens show a lot more of the frame and therefore mistakes' like this."

Another viewer agreed, stating that the mistake was a 'consequence of a 4:3 show being converted to widescreen'.

But others just accused the editing of being 'sloppy'.

One said: "Friends editing is SO sloppy. I see stand in, out of sync audio etc. I still watch it, but it’s sloppy."

Despite the blunders, it didn't stop the show from being viewed by millions around the world.

On the series finale in 2004, 52.5 million people tuned in to watch the sitcom.

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