Monica’s mother is really awful at many points. She is very critical of Monica’s weight, considers her to be a failure and strongly prefers Ross. It could be upsetting for anyone with an emotionally abusive parent.
Not really but Joey has a girlfriend who jokingly punches his arm a lot. The ‘friends’ make fun of him for being hurt/upset by it because she is very small and he is supposed to be a ‘man.’ Could be upsetting for men who have been subject to domestic violence and been gaslighted on account of their masculinity.
Phoebe starts dating a cop, who gets annoyed with a bird singing outside his apartment window in the morning. Instead of simply scaring it away or closing the window he shoots and kills it. Phoebe breaks up with him pretty quickly.
Joey was molested throughout his childhood by his tailor, and he only realizes it was assault when the tailor assaults Chandler as well. It is entirely played for laughs.
You never see vomit in any episodes, just the sound and some motions by the actors. I can't remember the episode names but here's what I do know ..
1) it's an episode about stuff that could have been. In one scene, Rachel is drunk and was married to Barry, but went on a date with Joey who is famous. They are about to kiss when she throws up (loud noises, Rachel's head moves forward and Joey makes reference to it)
2) Monica is trying to figure out Phoebe's grandmothers' chocolate chip cookie recipe and Ross is taste testing. One cookie makes him feel sick. They talk about it, Ross makes a gagging motion and at once point makes it known he is about to vomit then runs to the bathroom.
3) Rachel is pregnant and living with Joey. Ross brings Rachel lunch. She begins to eat a sandwich and then asks Ross, "did you put pickles on this?" Ross explains he did, and Rachel runs to the bathroom and then slams the door. You hear and see nothing, but they talk about food aversions from her pregnancy making her sick.
I can't remember any others but I hope this helps!
Phoebe briefly describes an incident from her teenage years on the street where she says "a pimp spit in my mouth". There is no further elaboration, but disgust is shown on the faces of other characters listening.
The girls have a sleepover and find out George Stephanopoulos lives across the street they repeatedly say "drop the towel george" and they watch him, it is implied he doesn't have clothes on
No but lots of problematic gay jokes and plot lines that portray gay people in a negative light. Chandler is often teased for seeming ‘gay’ (he is not); an episode where upon getting a female roommate Joey ‘acts like a woman.’
Ross becomes concerned at one point that his son is playing with a Barbie & is generally hostile towards his ex-wife (who left him for a woman) and her [female] partner. He occasionally gets paranoid about future girlfriends being gay.
In Carol and Susan's wedding, basically the only straight women there were Rachel, her mom, Monica and Phoebe. All the others were lesbian and very stereotyped (like if for being lesbians they'd only know lesbian women).
This is probably THE most problematic/triggering part of the show. I would not recommend it to anyone triggered by eating disorder/fat shaming content.
1) Monica was ‘fat’ as a child/teen and it is a very frequent joke (and at times plot line). She played by Courtney Cox in a fat suit (and IMO does not actually appear obese even though she is described as being incredibly overweight). Scenes with ‘Fat Monica’ portray her as an unattractive buffoon. Her mother makes very damaging comments about her appearance. There are several episodes where it seems like she may be ‘slipping back.’ She ultimately loses the weight to become ‘attractive’ after Chandler calls her fat behind her back. It is made worse by the fact that the female characters (esp. Monica + Rachel) are incredibly thin.
2) there is a running joke about a character dubbed ‘Ugly Naked Guy’ who lives across the street from the ‘gang’. They frequently watch him from their window and he is described as being very large (to the point of breaking things and smothering a cat). He is rarely shown but when he does appear he is shown as being fat (and naked).
3) Also: an episode where Chandler is ‘gaining weight’ and the ‘friends’ tease him aboht it; an episode where a woman in Joey’s life harasses him about his body + eating habits (he fights back). General fat shaming jokes.
[for context the show’s environment seems to have been very fatphobic. Matthew Perry (Chandler) was instructed by producers to lose weight in Season 8 & at one point a billboard advertising the show showed Monic, Rachel and Phoebe with the caption ‘anorexic chic’]