Holiday season is upon us, my friends, and while you may not be quite ready for tinsel and presents (although who isn’t ready for presents?), we’ll bet you’re ready to chow down on a huge Thanksgiving feast. And what’s one of the best ways to celebrate Thanksgiving? By binge-watching some of your favorite Thanksgiving episodes of television. One series that has you covered with 10 episodes of ’90s (and early 2000’s) goodness is, of course, Friends.
And, because everyone loves a list, we’re going to rank all 10 Friends Thanksgiving episodes. So let’s get to it, shall we?
10. 10x08 - The One With The Late Thanksgiving
Though Friends still had some fun moments in the later seasons, after season six, I think we can all agree that things started to go a bit downhill, with everyone becoming a bit of an exaggerated version of themselves (yes, Joey was always a little dumb, but he wasn’t a complete buffoon in the earlier seasons). And this last Thanksgiving episode from season 10 is no exception to those exaggerated traits, with Monica being overly competitive and Joey getting his head stuck in a door opening. In case you don’t remember the plot of the episode, everyone guilts Monica into cooking Thanksgiving dinner despite her not wanting to do it this year, only to show up an hour late because they were doing other, selfish things. The episode ends on a happier note, though, when Monica and Chandler get news from their adoption agency (working on Thanksgiving day, apparently!) that an expectant mother has chosen them to be the parents to her baby.
9. 7x08 - The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs
For this Thanksgiving episode, there are a few different stories going on. First, like the title suggests, we find out that while Chandler has claimed to be allergic to dogs to everyone (except Joey), he really just doesn’t like them. There’s a whole story around a dog that Phoebe has snuck into the apartment, but it’s not the most interesting story. Meanwhile, Ross is trying to name all 50 states in a challenge set forth by Chandler, and Rachel has invited her assistant Tag over for dinner, who joins them after his girlfriend has broken up with him. To be honest this is one of the weaker Thanksgiving episodes, and the only truly great part of it is when Joey has his iconic line about what a “moo point” is. You know, a cow’s opinion — it doesn’t matter.
8. 1x09 - The One Where Underdog Gets Away
Friends started their Thanksgiving episode tradition all the way back in season 1 with this episode focused on how everyone’s plans for their typical Thanksgiving were going awry. Monica decides to host her first Thanksgiving dinner, but the gang gets locked out of the apartment when they go to watch one of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons escape. Emotions are frayed and dinner gets burnt, but in the end everyone is thankful that at least they’re together.
7. 2x08 - The One With The List
This episode isn’t quite as traditional as the other Thanksgiving episodes, as it only takes place around the holiday and not actually on it. But the episode is a memorable classic that happens right after Ross and Rachel finally kiss, and Ross must decide between staying with his current girlfriend Julie, or pursuing a relationship with the girl he has been pining for forever. Chandler and Joey suggest making a pros and cons list to compare the two, and while Ross kind of throws out the list, Rachel ends up seeing it, and of course that derails everything. So what makes this a Thanksgiving episode, then? Well, Monica’s side story where she has to come up with Thanksgiving-related recipes featuring “Mocklate,” a horrible chocolate substitute.
6. 9x08 - The One With Rachel's Other Sister
Christina Applegate guest stars in this episode as one of Rachel’s sisters who comes to “visit” on Thanksgiving. Okay, she doesn’t actually come to visit, but rather to use a hair straightener to get ready to spend the day with her married boyfriend. But, when those plans fall through, Rachel invites her over to have dinner with her and the gang. Most of this episode is spent on Rachel’s sister wanting to be the person who would get Rachel and Ross’s daughter Emma in the event that they died. Christina Applegate is great as the obliviously selfish Amy, and though the plot is fairly one-note, the episode is pretty funny.
5. 4x08 - The One With Chandler In A Box
To be honest, we forgot that the episode featuring Chandler in a box, as the title so appropriately reminds you, was also a Thanksgiving episode. But indeed it is! In case you don’t remember why Chandler is in a box for a good portion of this episode, it’s because he fell for Joey’s girlfriend, causing a rift between the two of them. And, in Joey’s mind, the way to heal the rift was for Chandler to stay in a box for hours to mimic how Joey was trapped in the entertainment unit when their apartment was robbed. Also memorable in this episode is Monica’s story, where she has to go see the on-call eye doctor after getting ice in her eye. Said doctor happens to be Richard’s handsome son, and she invites him over for dinner. Not weird at all!
4. 8x09 - The One With The Rumor
Brad Pitt guest stars in this episode as a former high school classmate of Ross, Monica, and Rachel, only Rachel doesn’t remember him. But, he definitely remembers her, as he and Ross started an “I Hate Rachel Greene” club in high school that started a pretty controversial rumor about Rachel being a hermaphrodite. We also find out that Rachel started a rumor about Ross in high school, only it wasn’t a rumor but the truth — that he made out with their school librarian. Meanwhile, Joey has committed to eating a whole turkey essentially by himself, which he is somehow able to do despite it being a huge, 19 pound turkey.
We also feature this episode in our ranking of the 15 most memorable Friends cameos.
3. 6x09 - The One Where Ross Got High
In the season six Thanksgiving episode, the Geller parents are coming over to join the gang for Thanksgiving dinner. But, Joey and Ross don’t want to stick around as Joey’s hot dancer roommate has invited them to hang out with her fellow dancer friends. Meanwhile, Rachel is making the dessert for the evening — a classic English trifle — and Chandler finds out that Monica hasn’t told her parents that she and him are dating because they don’t like him. Why don’t they like him? Because Ross told them he got high in his room once in college, when it was really Ross who was the one who got high. The episode features some standout moments such as when Joey enjoys Rachel’s dessert despite it being a terrible combination of an actual English trifle and, you know, Shepherd’s pie, and when all of the secrets are finally revealed to the Geller parents.
2. 5x08 - The One With All The Thanksgivings
In a classic flashback(s) episode, this one features many different Thanksgiving holidays throughout the years, but the two that are most memorable are two that happened at the Gellers’ while Ross was in college. Since Monica and Chandler started secretly dating during this season of the show, the flashbacks were mainly related to how their relationship evolved over different Thanksgivings, from Chandler calling Monica fat, to Monica accidentally cutting off part of Chandler’s toe. At the end of the episode, we of course get the iconic moment where Monica goes to cheer Chandler up by putting a turkey on her head, complete with glasses and a fez hat, and he says he loves her for the first time.
1. 3x09 - The One With The Football
Ah yes, nothing is more classic than Thanksgiving and football, and this episode takes it to another level. And honestly? It’s probably one of the most memorable episodes of the show, period, so it’s no wonder it gets the top spot on this Thanksgiving list. The episode spends a majority of the time focused on a football game between the friends, and features a few different subplots – Monica and Ross’ sibling rivalry, Joey and Chandler’s competition to get a cute girl to choose between them, and Rachel being upset that no one wants her to play on their team.
What’s your favorite Friends Thanksgiving episode? Let us know in the comments, or vote in the poll below!
- The uncut DVD version of “The One With The Football” features a different ending where Monica and Ross decide to toss the Geller Cup down the garbage chute. Phoebe is at the bottom, catching it for Monica, but as she’s about to leave, Ross walks in to claim it for himself.
- “The One With Chandler in a Box” is referenced in the Parks and Recreation episode “Telethon,” where Leslie Knope, in an attempt to draw out time in a telethon, begins describing the episode’s plot while talking about her favorite Friends episodes.
- Interestingly, the year “The One with the List” released, NBC had mandated that all of their shows have a Thanksgiving-themed episode. While Friends does sort of feature Thanksgiving in their episode, it’s the only episode out of all the Thanksgiving episodes that doesn’t take place on the actual holiday.
- It is revealed in “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” that Ross got 1250 on his SATs, even though he initially tried to say he got 1450, but Monica corrected him.
- “The One With The Late Thanksgiving” is the last episode of the show to only feature the main six characters and no guest stars.
- The uncut DVD version of “The One With The Football” features a different ending where Monica and Ross decide to toss the Geller Cup down the garbage chute. Phoebe is at the bottom, catching it for Monica, but as she’s about to leave, Ross walks in to claim it for himself.
- “The One With Chandler in a Box” is referenced in the Parks and Recreation episode “Telethon,” where Leslie Knope, in an attempt to draw out time in a telethon, begins describing the episode’s plot while talking about her favorite Friends episodes.
- Interestingly, the year “The One with the List” released, NBC had mandated that all of their shows have a Thanksgiving-themed episode. While Friends does sort of feature Thanksgiving in their episode, it’s the only episode out of all the Thanksgiving episodes that doesn’t take place on the actual holiday.
- It is revealed in “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” that Ross got 1250 on his SATs, even though he initially tried to say he got 1450, but Monica corrected him.
- “The One With The Late Thanksgiving” is the last episode of the show to only feature the main six characters and no guest stars.
