'Friends' Supercut Spotlights Joey's 'How You Doin'?' Evolution

Despite the upcoming Friends reunion special on HBO Max being postponed due to the Coronavirus, it isn’t stopping further reminiscing about what made the show so popular. Part of that comes in analyzing the quirks of each individual character and some of the catchphrases they brought to pop culture.

No matter what any Friends fan thinks of Joey Tribbiani, he did manage to create a classic pickup line (“How You Doin’?) that no doubt many men copied back in the ’90s. Nowadays, a line like this might be considered the creepiest or most contrived thing to ever say to a woman. Then again, many still do say it…with a much different delivery.

Recently, Entertainment Weekly put together a supercut of all the times Joey said “How You Doin’?”, making it permanently embedded into pop culture history.

Just how many times did Joey say “How You Doin?” on ‘Friends’?

Based on EW’s video compendium of Joey’s utterance, it was arguably said far more than it should have been. What’s most interesting is he used it in a deliberately smarmy way sometimes around his fellow friends in the apartment. More than a few times, he’s seen uttering it to Rachel while demonstrating how he picks up women.

Only one clip is shown of him using the line on an actual woman he doesn’t know. Being the ’90s, the woman reacts favorably to it, something that probably wouldn’t have even happened back then, let alone now.

As ingratiating as the line may be, it still makes people laugh seeing how clueless Joey was in using the most hackneyed pickup line in history. Yet, it seemed to work, something only from the mind of Friends writers.

At least Matt LeBlanc uttered the line in the smuggest way he could do it. He clearly understood that Joey was a stereotype of guys who only chase women and do virtually nothing else. He must have realized the comedic absurdity of it all and played it to the hilt.

It would be interesting to know what Matt LeBlanc thinks about his famous line

The Friends reunion special on HBO Max will probably air eventually once the risk of Coronavirus dies down. It’s expected that the show was only going to be them sitting around and reminiscing about the series anyway.

While some might find this disappointing rather than reviving the characters they played, it does allow them to expound on things they did during the show’s run.

For instance, there hasn’t been a lot known about how Matt LeBlanc felt about his “How You Doin’?” line and keeping it up for a decade. Having him place it in the proper historical perspective would be worth the reunion special’s big-budget cost.

Of course, many will probably want to know if LeBlanc ever used the line in real life to pick up dates. Most likely not, unless he has some very meta stories to tell from the show’s heyday.

One thing for sure is pickup lines are still being used, if more carefully and subtle to avoid getting an eye roll.

Do today’s men still use this pickup line because of ‘Friends’ reruns?

The relevance of Friends is still kind of amazing considering everything from the ’90s seems so dated nowadays. Having it stream so regularly and having references to episodes continuing on social media, it makes it worth pondering how many single men still use “How You Doin’?” when out looking for dates.

Obviously, such a thing won’t be happening for a while in the age of Coronavirus. However, since that phrase can have a million different connotations, there may be some who utter it often with a more sincere delivery.

In a surreal way, it may be the best line anybody can utter right now, whether just checking in on people’s welfare, or doing a rain check on a future romantic date.

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