Shelf SleuthFictional characters. Real reading list.
Add a book
Friends (1994)/S8E9 · The One With the Rumor/Swollen-fingers prank in the cold open: What to Expect When You're Expecting
Friends · Season 8, Episode 9, "The One With the Rumor"

Swollen-fingers prank in the cold open: What to Expect When You're Expecting

Joey

Swollen-fingers prank in the cold open: What to Expect When You're Expecting. Still from Friends: What to Expect When You're Expecting
Friends · S8 E9Sleuthed by @sundance#002

Still © NBC. Shown for commentary.

Buy What to Expect When You're Expectingfrom an indie, via Bookshop.org. Not the other guy.
What it tells you

In the cold open of S8E9, Joey Tribbiani reads Rachel's copy and tells her pregnancy swells fingers to twice their size for good. Rachel panics and grabs the book to check, then throws it at him in disgust while he laughs that she falls for it every time. Joey has read exactly enough to be dangerous.

Sources: Friends Wiki (Fandom) · Book Riot · Forever Dreaming Transcripts · Comegetsome Friends · Web research summary (from Friends Wiki (Fandom), Book Riot, Forever Dreaming Transcripts, Comegetsome Friends, Spotern) · iHeart (Pod Meets World podcast), TGI – Friends 809 The One with the Rumor · Lives in a Box (transcript), The One With The Rumor
Every book in Friends10 books →

Paused Tuesdays

One still, one stack, every Tuesday morning.

The book

Cover of What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff

The show

Friends key art

Sleuthed by @sundance#002 · 2026-10-27

Spotted another book in Friends? Drop the frame. The first 100 become Founding Sleuths.

Paused Tuesdays

One still, one stack, every Tuesday morning.

Also in Friends

All 10 books
Cover of Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. SeussSusan's reading to the bump: Yertle the TurtleS1 E9Cover of Little Women by Louisa May AlcottJoey's half of the swap: Little WomenS3 E13Cover of The Shining by Stephen KingJoey's freezer: The ShiningS3 E13Cover of The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan DidionRachel on the beach house porch: The Last Thing He WantedS3 E25Cover of The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery WilliamsChandler's gift for Kathy: The Velveteen RabbitS4 E6Cover of Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëRachel's borrowed homework: Jane EyreS5 E9Cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor HansenChandler's secret read: Chicken Soup for the SoulS6 E14Cover of Love You Forever by Robert MunschJoey's birthday reading: Love You ForeverS10 E4
We may earn a commission when you buy through these links. Learn more ›