The One With The Missing Handclaps: What’s The Deal With The Mysterious Theme Song Omission On ‘Friends’?

Since the complete series of Friends landed on Netflix January 1st, viewers have been relishing in revisiting the painfully ’90s attire, hysterical hairstyles, and production inconsistencies (i.e. boom mics clearly left in shots). But one thing that has people talking is the absence of the signature clapping during the opening theme of an episode.

In Season One, Episode Three, “The One with the Thumb,” the famous four claps are missing during The Rembrandts’ “I’ll Be There for You;” it looks like the only episode (out of 236) since the series has been syndicated over to streaming video. The six characters are seen clapping, but the diegetic familiarity has seemingly disappeared. Missing claps have been reported of DVD and broadcast versions of the series in various episodes, but never before on streaming.

Could this be a long unresolved licensing issue with The Rembrandts for this particular episode? Could Warner Brothers Television be at fault when making the switch to digital? This could very well be the greatest mystery of our time.

We reached out to Netflix and they told us they have no intel of what’s behind this. If you have any information as to where these claps went, please do not hesitate to send tips to oarmstrong@decider.com.

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