The One Where Rachel Smokes

"The One Where Rachel Smokes"
Friends episode
Rachel attempting to smoke in front of her colleagues
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 18
Directed by	Todd Holland
Written by	Michael Curtis
Production code	467668
Original air date	April 8, 1999
Guest appearance(s)
Joanna Gleason as Kim Clozzi Jane Sibbett as Carol Megan Ward as Nancy Judy Kain as The Casting Director Jim Wise as Kyle Jack Allen & Charlie Allen as Ben Matt Weinberg as Raymond
Episode chronology
← Previous "The One with Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss" Next → "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt"
Friends (season 5) List of Friends episodes

"The One Where Rachel Smokes" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of Friends and 115th overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on April 8, 1999. In the episode, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) starts her new job at Ralph Lauren and soon feels left out because all the decision making takes place on smoking breaks and she does not smoke. Rachel attempts to solve the problem by taking up the habit, which proves difficult. Meanwhile, Ben auditions for a soup commercial and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) decides to come along to try for a part as well. When both are paired with different actors, the auditions become competitive. Elsewhere, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) plan a surprise party for Rachel.

The episode was directed by Todd Holland and written by Michael Curtis. Although Aniston's character Rachel was not a smoker, the actress at the time of filming was, who often said she planned to quit. In its original broadcast, "The One Where Rachel Smokes" acquired a Nielsen rating of 14.8, finishing the week ranked third.

Ross (David Schwimmer) and Carol (Jane Sibbett) inform the others that their son Ben (Jack and Charlie Allen) has an audition for a soup commercial, which Joey (Matt LeBlanc) finds hard to accept. When he learns that the TV commercial also has a part for the father, he volunteers himself for the audition. Both Joey and Ben are chosen for the callback but a lack of similarity in looks makes the director cast them with different individuals, therefore ensuring only one of them can be chosen for the commercial. Joey is paired up with a famous child actor. He talks to Ross about the callback in an attempt to make Ben back out of the audition which Ross finds unreasonable as it was Ben's audition in the first place, and Joey just invited himself along. Both end up fighting over it, which drags on until the callback is held. Joey messes up his two-word line: "mmm soup", ultimately losing him the part. Ross consoles him, informing him later that Ben also didn't get the part.