Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman in 1994, Friends is one of the most popular comedy TV series in the world. Starring Jennifer Aniston as ( Rachel Green), Matt Leblanc as (Joey Tribbiani), Lisa Kudrow as (Phoebe Buffay), Matthew Perry as (Chandler Bing), Courtney Cox as (Monica Geller) and David Schwimmer as (Ross Geller). This is a story of six friends living in New York city.
With 10 seasons and 236 episodes, the series revolve around the life & friendship of these six friends. Each character is relatable, funny, & complex. This is one of the reason why the show successfully managed to run for these many years. I think every generation has it’s pop culture reference and for millennials Friends is one them. Today when I see my Gen Z friends sharing a reel or a meme from this epic sitcom, I’m convinced that Friends is the kind of show that’ll never go out style.
I personally love this show and Chandler Bing is one of my favorite character. In this post I share with you the best episodes from this popular TV series.
Top 10 episodes from FRIENDS
10. “The One Where Monica gets a Roommate” (Season 1, Episode 1) – I must say that the first episode of this show really sets the tone and life of these six friends. In a New York city coffee shop “Central Perk” Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe and Ross are hanging around; suddenly Rachel waltz in, dressed in a wedding dress and she looks completely distressed.
When Rachel finds Monica (her high school best friend) at the coffee shop, she is filled with surprise and joy. Till now Rachel had been living with her affluent family and unaware about the struggles of living alone in a city. Monica graciously helps Rachel by letting her stay in her apartment and although now she has a place to live, now all she needs is a job.
What I love about this episode is that it simultaneously introduces the other characters as well. Joey is a charming struggling actor, Chandler is the sarcastic one with a boring job, Ross is in a middle of a break up after his wife turns out to be a lesbian and he has a big crush on Rachel since high school. Phoebe is the weird one with a dark past, and Monica is having trouble with her dating life.
After watching first few episodes of this season I was instantly hooked on to this show and till today these episodes make me smile as they did before.
9. “The One Where Chandler Can’t Remember Which Sister” (Season 3, Episode- 11) – Chandler is missing her loving girlfriend Janice. Or I may say annoying girlfriend, as per Joey! Chandler gets insanely drunk on Joey’s birthday party and he ends up fooling around with one of Joey’s sister. But, the worse thing is that he can’t remember which sister. In his defense I’d say it’s obvious, because Joey has seven sisters and to me they all look the same.
The next morning when Chandler wakes up he is scared of Joey but he doesn’t know which sister he should apologize to. Meantime Rachel is working in a fashion store but she is managing trivial activities and she isn’t happy about it. Ross is jealous when he finds that a handsome guy has offered to help Rachel to get a job in Bloomingdales.
Eventually Joey finds about the mishap and he confronts Chandler. This scene where Joey acts tough on Chandler is truly comical. Finally Joey takes Chandler to his home for an apology but Chandler is perplexed as he can’t seem to remember the face of the sister he fooled with.
8. “The One with the Embryos” (Season 4, Episode 12) – Phoebe agrees to help her brother Frank and his wife Alice with a baby via surrogacy. She is excited and concerned about this procedure as she really wants to help her brother. At the apartment Chandler and Joey are up against Monica and Rachel in a high stake trivia game.
Ross has prepared all the questions and he plays the host to this epic match. Monica being highly competitive raises the stake and ends up loosing her apartment to Chandler and Joey. The entire game is funny, idiotic and it is one of the most loved episodes. As the game reaches its final rounds the banter between the teams gets hysterical and fun to watch. By the way the girls do end up getting back their apartment, which is again a ROFL moment!
In the end Phoebe takes the pregnancy test and she shares the good news to Frank, Alice and her friends.
7. “The One with Ross’s Wedding Part: 2” (Season 4 , Episode 24) – A great ensemble episode with multiple story lines running at the same time. Phoebe is heavily pregnant and her mood is hard to predict. One moment she is the charming lady that the gang loves and in a snap she is a fierce woman with high estrogen level that no one wants to be around.
Ross is about to get married to Emily in London, and the Geller family is upset with all the splurging. Monica, Chandler and Joey are in attendance for the wedding and Rachel is in New York taking care of Phoebe. Everything is fine until Rachel realizes her love for Ross and she packs her bag to stop the wedding. Meantime, Chandler and Monica come with the biggest plot twist ever. Yes, they end up having sex in London. I know!!!! The first time when I saw this episode, my jaw dropped and I had a big smile on my face.
But wait, the drama doesn’t end here, Ross and Emily are standing at the altar and at last moment Ross unknowingly ends up taking Rachel’s name instead of Emily.
6. “The One with the Prom Video” (Season 2, Episode 14) – The gang uncovers an old prom video and it sparks all kind of nostalgia and fun. It’s Monica and Rachel’s big day and Mr. Geller is recording the video. In high school Monica is an obese girl and Rachel is the one with a weird nose. When Joey watches the video he has the best reaction “Some girl ate Monica!”. But wait, that’s not it yet. Ross with his curly hair and a moustache looks like young Pablo Escobar.
The girls are excited and waiting for their date and Ross who has a crush on Rachel can’t seem to get enough of her. He is shy and nervous talking to her and more so in front of a camera. Monica’s date arrives on time and it looks like Rachel is left stranded. Ross’s dad convince him to go along with Rachel as she looks heartbroken.
Ross dressed in a suit, walking nervously, motivating himself & holding flowers walks down the stairs to surprise Rachel. However, Rachel’s date has arrived and we see them happily leaving the house. The camera pans on to Ross and he is left in tears.
5. “The One Where No One’s Ready” (Season 3, Episode 2) – This is one of my personal favorite episode from the series. It’s an important day for Ross, as he is the main speaker at an event for the museum. Although he is expected to arrive by 8:00 pm but the gang seems to have other issues before they get dressed and leave for this event.
Chandler gets into a childish argument with Joey over the chair and this leads up to both of them trying to out do each other. Chandler steals all of Joey’s underwear and to this Joey ends up wearing all of Chandlers clothes. In this chaos Phoebe, who is ready and dressed up, sadly ends up staining her outfit. Which means more delay.
Ross who is sharply dressed in a tuxedo right from the start, is patiently waiting and imploring his friends to get ready.
More chaos ensues when Monica arrives and inadvertently goes over a voice message from Richard. She starts sulking and gets into nostalgia. And Rachel, the diva, takes forever to find the perfect outfit. Meanwhile, poor Ross struggles to maintain his composure amidst the escalating madness, resulting in a comedic tour de force of frenzied antics.
4. “The One with the Rumor” (Season 8, Episode 9) – Though I’ve seen multiple guest appearance from Hollywood’s biggest stars in Friends but none seem to beat this Thanksgiving dinner episode. Monica invites Will, an old school friend of her and Ross over a Thanksgiving dinner. And Will is played by the spectacular Brad Pitt! The first time when I watched this episode I was blown away by Brad’s guest appearance.
Monica is busy preparing the dinner and she is already annoyed with individual food request by Joey & Ross. Finally her OCD kicks in and she “happily” agrees to their request. While Chandler and Phoebe are busy watching a game, the doorbell rings and here walks Will.
At the dinner table it’s revealed that Will had a major resentment towards Rachel during high school and Ross was the co-founder of “I hate Rachel Club”. This revelation leads to an never ending argument between Ross, Rachel
and Will. In this war of words, all high school secrets come out and the rest of the gang enjoys every bit of this drama. Meanwhile, Joey discovers the joy of eating an entire turkey by himself, leading to comedic consequences for his waistline.
3. “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” (Season 5, Episode 14) – Since Joey figured the secret of Monica and Chandler’s relationship, he finds it hard to keep this classified. But no more! In this episode each member of the gang gets to know about the iconic love affair and this leads to some of the best comedic moments in the show.
Over an answering machine Rachel hears a saucy message from Monica addressing Mr. Bing and she is shocked. She immediately walks up to Joey and tries to figure out if he knows about the affair. Initially Joey disagrees and acts all tough but in few seconds they both realize the truth.
Phoebe too finds about the affair in a bizarre way, but she takes the secret a step farther. With the help of Rachel and Joey, Phoebe ends up seducing Chandler in an attempt to confess about his relationship with Monica. Obviously Chandler gets nervous and awkward with the seducing and he confesses his love to Monica in front of Phoebe.
Ross is the last one who gets to know about his sister’s affair. Through the window of an apartment he encounters Chandler and Monica making out. He gets outraged and confronts them but when he finds that they are serious about the relationship, his expression changes and he is all happy. But that’s not it yet, Ross gets mad again when he finds that the gang knew about this and nobody told him. In the end when Joey says “What do you say we clear out of here and let these two lovebirds get back down to business”, Ross has a best reaction to it.
2. “The One Where Ross Got High” (Season 6, Episode 9) – Mr. and Mrs. Geller visit Monica for a Thanksgiving dinner. Clearly they’ve no clue about Chandler & Monica’s affair or the fact that they are living together. What makes this scenario more fascinating is the fact that Gellers don’t like Chandler.
Rachel who hasn’t cooked ever in her life, has made trifle for dessert but she inadvertently mixes two recipes. Of course it’s awful but Ross who loves Rachel, can’t seem to tell her the truth. As Chandler is trying to impress the Gellers he finds that the reason they dislike him is because Ross was caught smoking pot in college and he blamed it on Chandler.
Ross is scared about ruining his image in front of his parents and he is trying to avoid the confession. Finally Monica steps in and tells the truth about Ross smoking pot in college, this leads to a cascade of confessions by Ross and Monica and the Geller’s are left petrified. Meanwhile, Rachel’s disastrous attempt to cook a traditional English trifle results in a culinary catastrophe that leaves everyone gagging with laughter.
1. “The Last One” (Season 10, Episodes 17 & 18) – In the final episodes the gang is drifting apart and everyone is moving on with their lives. Phoebe and Mike are married, Monica and Chandler have had twins and they are about to move to Westchester. Rachel, takes up the job in Paris and she is ready to leave. Ross is unhappy with Rachel’s departure and Joey is heartbroken for loosing his best friends.
In the last few episodes I think even though Joey’s story doesn’t have a perfect ending. But to me he has the most notable scenes and moments in the entire series. And I can never forget his iconic line “How you doin?” In the final moments of the show, the apartment is empty, bags are packed and the gang gathers one last time at Monica and Chandler’s apartment before embarking on new chapters in their lives. As they bid farewell to the iconic purple apartment and reflect on their shared memories, everyone gets teary eyed.
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