Friends’ Joey’s character was great for a lot of reasons. He was incredibly loyal, funny, and always ready to defend the people he cared about. Although he had a lot of admirable qualities, there were very few moments of character growth. Joey’s relationships, career, and overall perspectives didn’t seem to progress much throughout the show, especially compared to the rest of the characters.

Chandler got over his fear of commitment, Monica learned to pretend to be less controlling, Rachel became more independent, Phoebe learned not to stab cops even if they stabbed her first.

Joey’s non-maturing character may have been more noticeable, but Ross’s character was lacking in more subtle ways.  Here are 5 reasons why Joey was the least developed character on Friends and 5 reasons why it was Ross.

Joey doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to women. When Ross was going through his divorce with Carol, Joey told him to “grab a spoon,” and he was speaking from experience. Joey often showed some questionable behaviors while dating throughout the show.

Multiple times Joey was portrayed as overtly promiscuous, with his ability to finesse ending there. His “romantic” escapades seemed to be the only area in his life where he was able to think at a high level, which isn’t saying much about the guy who thought his and Chandler’s phone number was the amount owed on a bill that came in the mail.

Ross: How He Treated Women (Not Named Rachel)

Although Joey’s perspectives on women and dating appeared stagnant for a lot of the show, Ross was in the same boat with a much more contradictory sign tacked on the front of it. The sign would read, “I love Rachel but I will still waste your time and date you even though I’m interested in someone else. Here’s a soda can top, let’s get married.”

The way Ross thought of women and dating proved evident in all of his relationships. He left Julie for Rachel, said Rachel’s name at the altar instead of Emily’s, and forgot about his girlfriend Mona several times. Ross’s actions steadily showed that his other partners were merely placeholders for someone he believed to be better.

Joey: He Was Holden McGroin

Joey’s stupidity is a hot topic of discussion for fans of the show. One minute, he was spelling out “pleh” in the snow in hopes of rescue, and the next he was fixing a radiator that everyone else struggled to figure out. At times, it was confusing to decipher whether Joey just wanted someone to make him pancakes or if he hadn’t heard about Joseph Stalin.

Were Joey’s dumber moments just a ruse? Or did he actually lack the common sense a person his age should arguably possess? Either way, his character appeared to bathe in a general pool of goofy idiocy for a majority of the sitcom’s run, although he had his “moo” moments.

Ross: His Education Only Extends So Far

Even though there was a time when Joey believed that he could audition to play a 19-year-old, there were also many instances when Ross “I didn’t get the annulment” Geller acted like he was the same age as his son Ben.

Ross sometimes made it easy to believe that his Ph.D. mainly lent to his dinosaur smarts. Be it not telling Rachel that they were still married or speaking in an awful British accent at his first lecture, Ross showcased a very basic mindset many times during the show.

Joey: A Lone Wolf

There were times when it seemed like Joey would have some sort of level-up and possibly maintain a relationship for more than a few exciting nights, but it never happened. All of the possible hints of a Phoebe and Joey match faded into nothing.

When Joey went completely out of character and fell in love with Rachel, it ended in friendship. Even at the end of the show, Joey was the only single character left, which is how he started. In a way, it was comforting that he stayed true to his character in this way, but it was also kind of sad. With everyone else married or in a relationship, Joey truly was the lone wolf that he claimed to be.

Ross: The Way He Handled Relationships

Ross had a few long-term relationships but they all followed the same story arc. None of his relationships were varied and he treated a lot of his partners poorly. At the beginning of the show, he asked Rachel out right after his divorce. Then at the end of the show, Ross asked Rachel to give up the opportunity to work in Paris so they can be together.

Ross’s relationships were much of the same the whole time. There were different women, different fights, but a lot of the mess was for the same predictable reasons. Ross seemed to stick to what he knew when it came to relationships, which wasn’t a lot.

Joey: The Time Dr. Drake Ramoray Fell Down An Elevator Shaft

Joey’s weird career progression could almost be labeled as another branch of his goofily vacant personality. His acting career did have its ups and downs, but even the ups seemed like they weren’t completely successful. Joey’s biggest role, as Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days Of Our Lives, ended with the character being killed off after Joey said in an interview that he wrote his lines.

After that, Joey jumped from one obscure role to the next, and even when he was cast as a lead in Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E., it didn’t last long. All of his gigs seemed to fall through at the last minute. It was extremely noticeable, and perhaps that’s why he seems to do better in the Friends spin-off Joey. 

Ross: Parallel Line Career

After the entire universe heard him screeching about his sandwich, the changes of Ross’s career progressing seemed slim to none. His published work was often debunked, discredited, and negatively reviewed. Perhaps it was because his job was the most stable throughout the show, thanks to his academic background, but his work life didn’t have an upwards progression.

Even when Ross became a professor at New York University, things stayed quite monotonous. Let’s not forget that the only reason he was invited to speak at the paleontology conference in Barbados was that the deciding professor fell asleep during his speech.

Joey: His & Phoebe’s Failed “Frenaissance”

Joey and Phoebe appeared to be close throughout the show. It’s probably because of things like their scheduled dates where they talked about everyone else, that their relationship didn’t advance as much as others during the show.

Their weird nicknames for each other and moments of awkward laughter marked their connection as one of a kind, but that was pretty much it. Perhaps they could have explored something further than friendship, even if for a short time like Joey did with Rachel. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because they were able to maintain their quirky friendship.

Ross: He Knew Phoebe Would Be The Death of Him

Ross and Phoebe had an interesting relationship from the start. While not terrible, their relationship wasn’t as easy as Phoebe and Joey’s friendship. The debate about evolution and the time when they almost got mugged are two instances that their friendship seemed not that strong.

They had their good times and they had their tense times, which happens a lot in normal friendships, but this friendship progressed relatively little by the end of the show, especially compared to the others. The only relationship on Friends that was probably more stagnant was Phoebe and Chandler, but that’s a different story.