How Many Episodes Of Friends Did Tom Selleck Star In?
Of all the "Friends" love interests played by famous guest stars, Tom Selleck's Dr. Richard Burke may be the most beloved. Even Monica's (Courteney Cox) eventual husband, Chandler (Matthew Perry), thought that Richard was the perfect man for her.
Richard Burke met Monica Geller when she was a young, young child, as he was a close friend of Monica's dad, Jack Geller (Elliott Gould). After Monica grew up and Richard got divorced, the two met up when Monica and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) catered Richard's party. Sparks flew, and the two quickly started dating.
Richard and Monica seemed to have a phenomenal relationship, and her friends all respected him. Chandler even grew a mustache to be more like him. But the two parted ways when they realized they were at very different places in their biological clocks: Monica wanted children, while Richard already had two that were Monica's age. Monica even briefly dated Richard's son, until she realized the two kissed alike and got weirded out.
After that, Richard would occasionally pop back into the lives. Monica has lunch with Richard right before the characters fly to Vegas, and Chandler steals what he thinks is Richard and Monica's sex tape from his house in Season 9.
Tom Selleck appears in three seasons of Friends
Believe it or not, though, Richard is mentioned more often that he actually appears. In fact, he is brought up more often after breaking up with Monica. Despite looming large in Monica's love life, the future "Blue Bloods" star only appears in nine episodes of the show, per Friends Central.
Richard first appears in "The One Where Ross and Rachel ... You Know," hosting the party that Monica and Phoebe cater. The two date for the back half of Season 2, only to break up in season finale, "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding." Selleck's voice can be heard in Season 3's "The One Where No One Is Ready" on his answering machine.
Post-breakup, Richard's first onscreen appearance occurs in Season 3's "The One Where Monica and Richard Are Just Friends." Monica and a (now mustache-less) Richard run into each other and try to become casual hook-up partners. That doesn't work out great. Selleck's last appearance on the show is in Season 6's two-part finale, "The One with the Proposal." Richard runs into Chandler and Monica at dinner. He later comes by her work to tell her that he's still in love with her. This gets in the way of Chandler's plans to surprise Monica with a proposal. Monica eventually chooses Chandler over Richard, and even surprises him with a proposal. After that, Richard fades away from the show.