Top 10 Friends Episodes

Friends was an excellent series all through its ten-year run (1994-2004) -- one of the few sitcoms that never left its prime. The show followed six young hipsters living in New York City's Greenwich Village, struggling with their jobs, families and dating. What made the show so accessible were its characters, which were quite diverse yet all cool in their own ways. There's smart, nerdy Ross; neurotic, competitive Monica; suave, dimwitted Joey; weird, spiritual Phoebe; sarcastic, psychosomatic Chandler; and blond, braless Rachel. No matter who you are, you're bound to latch onto at least one of them. Every episode is an ensemble piece, giving all six a fair share of the screentime, often telling three or four separate stories at once. This made it extremely difficult to choose a top ten, especially when there are 236 episodes to choose from, but I finally did it:

#10: The Last One
Episodes #235 and 236
(Season 10)

Let's start at the end, shall we? The highly anticipated series finale was viewed by more households than any Superbowl in television history. That alone should give you an idea of how many people loved the show. The final, two-part episode wrapped up all the loose ends and featured countlesss call-backs to other episodes. The shows’ creators and lead writers, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, wisely brought the series to a bittersweet, symbolic finale in which the six friends must say their farewells to each other as they prepare to go their separate ways in life. After watching the show for ten years, it was just as hard for the audience to say goodbye.

#9: The One Where Eddie Moves In
Episode #41
(Season 2)

Shortly after Joey moves out of Chandler's apartment, they begin missing each other. The running gag is that the two treat the move like a breakup. It’s hilariously bromantic. But when Joey decides to move back in, Chandler already has a new roommate: some weirdo named Eddie. Meanwhile, Ross and Monica go through sibling rivalries, and Phoebe signs with a record label to do a music video for her original song, “Smelly Cat." Music played a big role in the show, from the classic opening theme song to frequent use of popular music, and of course, Phoebe’s quirky original songs, most famously, her ode to a stinky stray.

#8: The One Where No One's Ready
Episode #50
(Season 3)

This was the only Friends episode told entirely in real-time, and in twenty-two minutes, it tells four different stories. The gang has less than half an hour before they have to leave for Ross's museum benefit, and nobody's ready to go, much to Ross's frustration. Rachel can't decide what to wear, Monica obsesses over a message from her ex-boyfriend, Richard, and Chandler and Joey get in a childish fight over the comfy chair. The stories all escalate to hilarious heights. Could this episode BE any funnier?!

#7: The One With The Prom Video
Episode #38
(Season 2)

Now that Joey is playing Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives, he finally has money. To repay Chandler for all his help, Joey buys him a humongous gold bracelet. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Chandler has no choice but to wear it. Monica, on the other hand, is unemployed and desperate for money. She asks her parents for money, which leads to the discovery of an old videotape from their senior prom night. This was the first of many “flashback” episodes where we got to see the gang back when they were teenagers. Ross had big hair, Rachel had a big nose, and Monica had a big… everything. The episode's brilliant ending will break your heart, then glue it right back together again. Ross is my favorite character, and he really shines in this episode, which is also David Schwimmer’s favorite.

#6: The One With Monica & Chandler's Wedding
Episodes #169 and 170
(Season 7)

You could always count on the Friends writers to deliver great wedding episodes and great season finales. This episode was both. As Monica and Chandler’s wedding day approaches, Chandler freaks out and runs for the hills. Rachel and Phoebe attempt to distract Monica while Ross hunts him down (and kicks his ass!). Joey, who’s supposed to be the couple's minister, is shooting a war film on the same day, and his costar’s unprofessionalism runs the film so overschedule that it cuts into the ceremony. The wild episode ends with a surprise twist and a great cliffhanger.

#5: The One Where Rachel’s Sister Baby-Sits
Episode #223
(Season 10)

This gets my vote for the funniest episode ever. Returning guest star Christina Applegate plays Amy, Rachel's bitchy sister, who offers to baby-sit Emma. B story: Ross teaches Joey how to use a Thesaurus so he can write Monica and Chandler an intelligent recommendation letter for a child adoption agency. C story: Mike proposes to Phoebe -- er, tries to. All three stories become hysterical disasters. This episode made me realize how far each character had come over the course of the show. They've all grown up so much... except for poor Joey -- or, as he signs the adoption agency letter, "Baby Kangaroo Tribbiani."

#4: The One With the Morning After
Episode #64
(Season 3)

Previously on Friends, Ross and Rachel broke up. Well, technically, Rachel told Ross she wanted to go “on a break,” so Ross, heartbroken, got drunk and slept with some other chick. But then Rachel changed her mind and decided to take Ross back… until she finds out what Ross did. Ross and Rachel had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, and this episode marked the lowest point of their relationship, which marked the highest point for the show's entertainment value. The second half of this episode is simply an extremely long fight between the two (while the other four eavesdrop from the bedroom). The Big Fight is as emotional as it is funny, a trademark of the series (see also Joey and Chandler’s fight in The One Where Chandler Crosses the Line). Of all the recurring guest stars, my favorite was Gunther, Central Perk's lonely, bleach-blond waiter, who finally got to play a significant role in this episode.

#3: The One Where Everybody Finds Out
Episode #111
(Season 5)

At this point in the series, Monica and Chandler had been secretly dating for nearly a year. It was this episode when the rest of the gang found out, which begins a game of secrets and one ups-manship as the gang pretends they don't know, Chandler and Mon pretend they don't know they know, then the gang pretends Chandler and Mon don't know they know they know. Meanwhile, Ugly Naked Guy, a neighbor the gang enjoyed spying on, decides to move out, and Ross decides to move in. It's great fun!

#2: The One With The Football
Episode #57
(Season 3)

Sure, those wedding episodes were good, and the season finales never disappointed, but no other episodes received a better traditional treatment than the Thanksgiving specials. I think the reason the turkey-day shows always rocked was because they brought all six friends together in one location. In this classic episode, the gang decides to play a game of football. The rest is Friends history. Ross and Monica take sibling rivalry to a whole new level while Phoebe and Rachel struggle to learn the rules and Joey and Chandler compete for a hot Dutch chick who's also at the park. It was a big, fancy episode with an elaborate set, crane shots, montages, slow-motion and loads of humor, especially slapstick.

#1: The One with the Embryos
Episode #85
(Season 4)

Although the title refers to Phoebe’s story, in which she gets her brother and his wife's embryos transferred into her uterus (to serve as a surrogate mother), I think this episode should have been called The One With The Trivia Game, because the bulk of the episode focuses on the other five characters. The guys bet the girls they know them better than the girls know the guys, so Ross’s geeky dungeon-master side inspires him to create a trivia game for which he serves as host. It’s like Friends Trivial Pursuit (which, by the way, is actually a real game, and a must-own for Friends fanatics). The contest is as funny as it is exciting, constantly revealing fun facts about each of the friends. This is my all-time favorite episode. Courtney Cox and Matt LeBlanc cited it as theirs, too. It's funny, exciting, touching and above all, it really takes me back to my youth, when I, too, had a tight, exclusive circle of friends that knew everything about each other. Ah, the good old days...