Friends: Why Chandler Starts Wearing Glasses In Season 7

The main characters in Friends went through a lot of changes, including physical ones, with their looks changing in almost every season, but there’s a minor one that awoke viewers’ curiosity: when Chandler started wearing glasses in season 7. Now considered one of the greatest TV shows in history, Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 and came to an end in 2004 after 10 successful seasons. Thanks to its arrival to the world of streaming through HBO Max, fans of the show have been able to rewatch it while new generations have been enjoying the stories of Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross.

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Friends followed the aforementioned characters living in New York City and doing their best to juggle their social and personal lives while also dealing with whatever adulthood threw their way. Over the course of ten seasons, viewers saw the main group go through a lot of changes – some more than others – including physical ones. Phoebe went through different hairstyles, as did Rachel (who even made one of them a big trend in the 1990s), but there were other changes that weren’t exactly for aesthetic purposes. For example, Joey once wore a sling for behind-the-scenes reasons, and the same happened when Chandler started wearing glasses.

Chandler, like the rest of the members of the group, had a very specific look throughout Friends, with the characters even making fun of it on different occasions. In season 7, specifically in the episode “The One With Phoebe’s Cookies”, Chandler started wearing glasses, which was a minor change but one that caught the attention of viewers, who have been asking about the reason behind this sudden addition to this look. The real reason behind Chandler’s glasses is actually nothing out of the ordinary: Matthew Perry needed glasses, so the writers of Friends incorporated them into the character. It’s worth noting, however, that Chandler had already worn glasses prior to season 7, but it was in the non-canon two-part episode “The One That Could Have Been”, and the glasses were props.

Although there’s a completely normal and understandable reason for Chandler wearing glasses from season 7 onward, that hasn’t stopped fans from coming up with different in-universe explanations for it. The most common and believable one is that Chandler’s eyesight deteriorated with time because of his job, as he had to spend many hours in front of the computer, so that would have obviously messed with his eyesight. Adding glasses to Chandler wasn’t a tragedy, as it made way for one of the most memorable jokes in his arc: in the same episode where he started wearing them, Chandler wanted to bond with Monica’s father, Jack, so they played a racket ball game and then went to the steam room, but he forgot to take his glasses off so they fogged up and he ended up sitting on Jack’s lap.

It’s fun to see how small details like Chandler suddenly wearing glasses in Friends can spark so much curiosity, but more often than not, these additions and changes are rooted in behind-the-scenes problems and needs rather than in-universe ones. Luckily, the writers of Friends found a way to use the glasses in their favor, giving the audience one of Chandler’s most embarrassing moments.

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