Back in the late '80s and early '90s -- when the gulf between respectable movies and lowbrow TV was wide and forbidding, stuntcasting was a big deal. Viewers were shocked and thrilled to see their favourite stars of the silver screen slumming it among the regular old TV actors. Now, of course, it's so commonplace that casting "stunts" routinely involve not just movie stars, but politicians, sports figures, and TV stars of yesteryear. Thus, no one's terribly surprised to see Sally Field on ER and Meryl Streep voicing over the minister's daughter on The Simpsons; George W. Bush, Al Gore, and Rudy Giuliani on SNL; Keith Hernandez on Seinfeld; and Marion Ross playing mother to Drew Carey (on The Drew Carey Show), Kurtwood Smith (on That '70s Show), and Edward Herrmann (on Gilmore Girls). But the holy grail of stuntcasting for movie stars who really want to get noticed -- whether to send up their public image, or to prove they can do comedy -- is Friends. Over the seven seasons (and counting) that the show's been on the air, it's boasted stuntcasting from heavy hitters like Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, and Bruce Willis, among many other minor luminaries (Tom Selleck, Morgan Fairchild, and Kathleen Turner, we're rolling our eyes in your direction). Producers recently announced that they've landed Sean Penn to play Phoebe's love interest for several episodes in the eighth and current season, but that's just the tip of the stuntcasting iceberg. Behold!

Episode 9: The One With the Showoff Chef

Monica's defense mechanisms go on full alert when the restaurant where she's worked the past several years comes under new management by a consortium of Hong Kong investors who want to turn the place into a Benihana-style theme restaurant. In order to keep her job, Monica must demonstrate that she can chop vegetables just as fast and flip chicken just as high as Ben Cho (Jet Li), her rival for the job. Elsewhere, a new hire named Andrew (Marlon Wayans) gets transferred into Chandler's department to co-manage Chandler's team. At first, Chandler's just psyched not to have to do as much work on his own, but he soon becomes fascinated with the suave, sophisticated, street-smart Andrew, watching his every move, insisting on treating him to lunch every work day, and trying to emulate Andrew's mannerisms with his friends, with as little success as one might expect. Finally, Ross and Rachel argue over who gets to name the baby; and when Gunther catches them sticking their used gum under the coffee table, Phoebe and Joey find themselves banned from Central Perk.

Episode 12: The One With the Sexy Chairs

After years of painstakingly working his way up the university ladder, Ross is invited to join his first faculty committee. At first Ross is honoured to contribute to school policy on sexual harassment, until he gets to his first meeting, and finds himself shouted down at every turn by the committee Chair, Prof. Bryant (Sigourney Weaver). However, her steely putdowns and icy condescension are mitigated, for Ross, by her attractiveness; unfortunately, Ross -- legendarily unskilled at flirting -- undertakes a campaign to woo her through his suggestions for the faculty's sexual-harassment handbook, and hilarity ensues. Meanwhile, Joey, Chandler, and Rachel get addicted to TLC's Trading Spaces, and Phoebe and Monica get the same haircut and hold a competition to determine who should get to keep it.

Episode 16: The One With the Baby Shower

Now that Rachel's pregnancy has entered its second trimester and she's started giving people her big news, the time is ripe to celebrate the imminent arrival with a lavish baby shower (completely engineered by Monica, of course). What Monica doesn't realize is that Rachel hadn't gotten around to telling anyone in her family yet, which makes for an awkward High Tea when they -- represented by Mrs. Greene (Marlo Thomas), and Rachel's sisters Jill (Reese Witherspoon) and the never-before-seen Lisa (Heather Graham) -- descend upon the scene. Monica and Phoebe rise to the occasion, and attempt to defuse the Greenes' disapproval of Rachel's out-of-wedlock pregnancy by inventing even more unseemly circumstances in their own lives (entirely fictional, of course). Across the hall, Ross, Chandler, and Joey take refuge from the estrogen-fest with an afternoon of beer and videogames, but it quickly goes awry when Joey dismisses Tetris as "a wussy game"; Ross and Chandler take umbrage, and set out to prove to Joey that Tetris can be just as big a test of nerves as any installment of Gran Turismo.

Episode 19: The One Where Phoebe Tricks a Limey

Heading into his third season playing Dr. Drake Ramoray on DOOL (Days of Our Lives), Joey is thrilled to learn that the writers have given him a love interest: Dr. Vivienne Price, played by veteran soap star Gina LaFoy (Bridget Fonda). Gina's cute, smart, funny, and a total pro...so what's the problem? Joey freezes up every time he has to stage-kiss her, because Gina is also his sister's name, and the prospect of making out with her gives him the heebie-jeebies. Will he be able to overcome it, or will his anxiety force the DOOL producers to recast? Across town, Phoebe spies Geoffrey (Guy Pearce) at Central Perk and resolves that he is the man for her. Too bad he's arrived with another woman, but Phoebe makes short work of her by trapping Geoffrey's date in a bathroom stall and tricking Geoffrey into leaving his date there. Monica, Chandler, Rachel, and Ross head for Long Island to attend Jack's and Judy's 35th wedding anniversary, but getting there is no picnic, given the hugely pregnant and increasingly testy Rachel.

Episodes 21 & 22: The One With Phoebe's New Partner/The One With Rachel's Baby

In the hour-long season finale, Phoebe is on her way to perform at Central Perk when she happens upon Oliver (Jack Black), a busker whose stream-of-consciousness pop stylings closely parallel her own. Humbled and inspired, she insists that they must blend their talents, talks him into forming a pop duo with her, and gets them booked at Central Perk. As Phoebe's and Oliver's friendship grows, Joey grows jealous, and tries to split them up by getting Phoebe signed on with a powerful talent agent and accidentally "forgetting" to give Oliver the details of the meeting. Phoebe finds out at her first show with Oliver and confronts Joey in front of the whole gang, but her righteous anger is somewhat deflated when Rachel's water breaks. Upon their arrival at the hospital, Ross has to break the news to Rachel that her OB/GYN is stuck at a medical conference and can't fly back due to bad weather, so Rachel is entrusted to the care of the obstetrician on call, Dr. Cavanaugh (Brad Pitt). In the midst of all the baby fever, Chandler and Monica come to blows over whether to celebrate their first anniversary with a trip to the Hamptons, or an X-Box and a flat-screen TV.