In this episode, Joey receives his first fan mail addressed to his character, Dr. Drake Ramoray, from a woman named Erika Ford, who comes across as an obsessive fan. Both Joey and Chandler become apprehensive when Erika unexpectedly shows up, but Joey, swayed by her appearance, agrees to have dinner with her, inadvertently leading her to believe that she is Dr. Drake Ramoray’s fiancée.
Meanwhile, Phoebe is invited by the handsome Rob Donan to perform her songs for children at the public library. However, her songs, known for their candid and direct lyrics, shock the parents in attendance.
Elsewhere, inspired by a commercial featuring a monkey reminiscent of Marcel, Ross decides to visit him at the San Diego Zoo. The zoo officially informs him that the capuchin monkey has passed away. However, Ross discovers the truth from a discreet zookeeper: Marcel is actually in New York, filming a movie. Determined to reunite with Marcel, Ross, along with the rest of the group, heads to New York City.
Did you know?!
• Brooke Shields won the lead in her own sitcom Suddenly Susan (1996) based on her performance here.
• After Rachel and Monica throw water at Joey saying he’s Drake’s evil twin Chandler throws water at him too saying he forgot to close the toilet lid. It was an add lib by Matthew Perry.
• Director Michael Lembeck won an Emmy for his work on this episode.
• During the end credits, while Phoebe teaches her boyfriend (played by singer Chris Isaak) her famous “Smelly Cat” song, he attempts to make it a mashup by adding his own single “Wicked Game”, which can be heard in other episodes. He interjects with the subtle “And I…” portion of the song before she tells him to “pick a more masculine note.”
• The episode’s title is based on the fact it was aired after Super Bowl XXX, where the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• New opening titles is introduced with this episode.
• Phoebe plays a different guitar at the library (her third in the series) This guitar is a Guild model. (Previously this season she played a relatively inexpensive Yamaha model and in the first season she played a Martin D-18)
• The Zoo Owner, Dean Lipson, is named after a friend of some of the writers.
• The scene at the end of the episode where Phoebe is teaching Chris Isaak “Smelly Cat” isn’t included on the DVD/Blu-Ray version.
• Some bisexual people claim that Phoebe’s song {Sometimes Men Love Women…} had such an impact in pop culture making straight and gay people to believe that bisexuals are gay people kidding themselves, a stereotype that endure for many years after this episode was aired.
• While some people regard Phoebe’s song in this episode as bi-phobic, other people think the scene was progressive, because It wasn’t normal way back then to Talk children about such issues.
• This episode is incorrectly listed on the 2006 DVD release as “The One with the Superbowl: Part 1”.
• In her fan letter to Joey, Erika Ford (Brooke Shields) enclosed 14 of her eyelashes.
• Chris Isaak plays Phoebe’s love interest, Rob Donnen, in this episode. Isaak’s famous song, Wicked Game, is playing during Ross and Rachel’s date in the planetarium later in the season.
