Chair Transplant: the recliners featured on 'Friends'

It was the end of a chair — and of an era. On NBC's first supersized Friends, Rachel broke Joey's sacred Barcalounger — verily, the equivalent of shooting J.R. — then replaced it with (heresy!) a La-Z-Boy. But not just any La-Z-Boy. The new recliner is the Oasis ($999; in leather, $1,499), which features motor massage with heat (in wave, pulse, or tap mode), a thermoelectric cooling unit, an optional phone with caller ID, and, of course, cup holders. No speakers, though; that was a Friend-ly fabrication, as was the name (the ''E-cliner 3000''), which was changed for legal reasons. (La-Z-Boy does have a model called the Explorer e-cliner.) For its part, Barcalounger is taking the change in stride. ''The show was pure fiction,'' sniffs a spokesman. ''In reality, the reverse would have been true.'' Meaning, we assume, the Barcalounger would have broken Rachel.