10 Best ‘Friends’ Episodes, Ranked
Friends is one of the most beloved sitcoms ever made. Premiering in 1994, the show went on to entertain for 10 seasons, leaving it with an impressive 236 episodes under its belt. Of those episodes, it’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite, but some do stand out more than others, whether it be for the jokes or the memorable plot line.
From “The One With the Embryos” to “The One Where Everybody Finds Out,” the best episodes of Friends capture what made it such an iconic series. These showcased the unbeatable chemistry between the cast and the beloved stories that blended humor and heart to depict the ups and downs of adulthood. So here’s our list of the 10 best Friends episodes, ranked from least great to legendary.
10
“The One Where Paul’s the Man”
Season 6, Episode 22 (2000)
Friends had some pretty notable guest stars during its run, but the most memorable of them all was none other than Bruce Willis, who played Paul Stevens, the father of Ross’s (David Schwimmer) much younger girlfriend, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden). He pops up a few times during Season 6, but his best turn is in “The One Where Paul’s The Man”, in which he and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) show up at the same cabin that Elizabeth and Ross are staying at for the weekend, creating an awkward situation for all involved.
The highlight of the episode is when Ross is hiding out in the bedroom and catches Paul dancing and giving himself a pep talk in the mirror, telling himself that he’s a “love machine.”
9
“The One with the Morning After”
Season 3, Episode 16 (1997)
“The One With The Morning After” saw Friends divert from its usual comedy-only formula and up the drama, as Rachel learns that Ross slept with another woman the night after she declares they’re on a break. Whether you agree they were on a break or not, this is still a tough episode to watch as Ross and Rachel’s relationship, that the show spent so long building up to, disintegrates right in front of our eyes.
Luckily, the rest of the characters bring some of the humor back into the episode as they’re all locked in Monica’s (Courteney Cox) bedroom. We see Monica and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) attempting to wax their own legs with hilariously painful results, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) declaring he needs a new walk, and Chandler (Matthew Perry) being his usual sarcastic self.
8
“The One with the Prom Video”
Season 2, Episode 14 (1996)
“The One With The Prom Video” shows us a home video of Monica and Rachel’s prom night, and is a standout episode for a multitude of reasons. Not only is it our first glimpse into the pasts of the characters (a trend that would eventually become much more common as the show went on), but it was also the episode that really started off the Ross and Rachel phenomenon.
In the home video, we learn that Rachel was stood up by her prom date, and in an effort to save the night for her, Ross suits up and plans to take her. Only, her date shows up at the last minute, leaving a heartbroken Ross to watch as an oblivious Rachel gets whisked away for the night. Neither Monica, nor Rachel, knew Ross did this, and the gesture touches Rachel so much that she kisses Ross.
7
“The One Where No One’s Ready”
Season 3, Episode 2 (1996)
This early episode of Season 3 is one of the most beloved and memorable Friends episodes. “The One Where No One’s Ready” follows the gang as they take their sweet time getting ready for an important event Ross has invited them all to, making Ross increasingly anxious and flustered.
It’s a bottle episode, meaning the entire episode takes place in Monica and Rachel’s apartment. It’s a little frustrating at times, as the group doesn’t seem to have any sense of time management despite Ross’s stress that this is an important night for him, but it’s also strangely endearing and is filled with funny moments. The most memorable being Joey and Chandler having a petty argument, and in retaliation for it, Joey putting on every piece of clothing Chandler owns, remarking, “Could I BE wearing any more clothes?”
6
“The One After the Superbowl”
Season 2, Episodes 12 & 13 (1996)
This two-parter is the most-watched episode of the sitcom, due to it airing directly after the 1996 Super Bowl, hence the episode title being “The One After the Superbowl.” It’s chock-full of celebrity cameos, and each of them has their own subplot with a Friends character.
Julia Roberts guest stars as a makeup artist on the movie set Marcel the monkey is starring in, and she just so happens to be a classmate of Chandler’s from their elementary school days. Monica and Rachel meet Jean-Claude Van Damme and fight over who gets to date him. And in perhaps the best storyline, Brooke Shields stars as a fan of Joey’s, whom he ends up dating, until he realizes that she truly believes he is Dr. Drake Ramoray and can’t separate the show from reality. “The One After the Superbowl” is an episode that truly has everything.
Season 3, Episode 9 (1996)
Some of Friends’ most popular episodes were its Thanksgiving episodes, and “The One with the Football” was the episode that really kicked this off. While the show had done two other Thanksgiving episodes previously, neither was quite as charming or memorable as “The One with the Football.”
The gang decides to play a friendly game of football, but Ross and Monica reveal they haven’t played the game since they were kids, since they would get too competitive over a family trophy, and it led to Monica breaking Ross’s nose. But when Monica reveals she still has the trophy, they decide to go ahead with it and fight once and for all for the Geller Cup. It’s just a fun episode of watching the friends play football together and inevitably grow more and more competitive with it.
4
“The One with the Jellyfish”
Season 4, Episode 1 (1997)
The finale of Season 3 sent the gang to Montauk, where Phoebe was set on finding her mother’s high school best friend in hopes of learning where her father is. But it’s the conclusion of that episode, the Season 4 opener “The One with the Jellyfish,” that is the true winner of the two-parter. This is the episode where Rachel writes Ross an 18-page (front and back!) letter detailing the ways he hurt her and how he can make it up to her if they decide to reestablish their relationship.
Only he falls asleep mid-way through reading it, and accidentally agrees to take all the blame for the problems in their relationship, which he is not keen to do. The highlight of the episode, though, is when Chandler, Joey, and Monica are at the beach and she is stung by a jellyfish, and Joey says that she’ll have to pee on it to take away the sting. They tell the story in high-stakes dramatic fashion, with Joey proudly admitting he was the one who stood up for Monica, and that he would do the same for any one of his friends if they needed him to.
3
“The One Where Ross Got High”
Season 6, Episode 9 (1999)
“The One Where Ross Got High” is the best of the Thanksgiving episodes, and it’s also one of the most memorable episodes of the whole series. Monica and Chandler plan to tell Monica’s parents about them moving in together, the issue is that her parents are not overly fond of Chandler, which Ross reveals is because he lied and told his parents that, as a teenager, he got caught smoking marijuana and told his parents Chandler gave it to him.
Meanwhile, Rachel attempts to make Thanksgiving dessert, and thanks to a stuck page in the cookbook, accidentally puts beef in the trifle. The highlight of the episode is when everybody shouts out their secrets and realizations. With Ross calling out Monica for breaking the porch swing, Phoebe confessing her love for Jacques Cousteau, and Rachel learning too late that she wasn’t supposed to put beef in the trifle.
2
“The One Where Everybody Finds Out”
Season 5, Episode 14 (1999)
Season 5 is the season where Monica and Chandler begin their relationship—a storyline that changed the series for the better. But for the first half of the season they keep their relationship a secret from their friends, and it’s only Joey who knows about it after he catches on.
“The One Where Everybody Finds Out” is exactly what the title suggests, and sees the rest of the group discover Monica and Chandler’s secret relationship. But instead of outright telling them that they know, they decide to play a trick on them for keeping it from them, and try to have Phoebe seduce Chandler until he cracks and admits he’s in love with Monica. It’s filled with so many great moments, from Phoebe and Rachel distracting Ross from seeing Monica and Chandler in the window, to the iconic “They don’t know that we know they know we know,” and of course, Monica and Chandler’s confirmation of their relationship.
1
“The One with the Embryos”
Season 4, Episode 12 (1998)
There is no other option that could top this list other than “The One With The Embryos”—it’s simply too good. The main plot of the episode is Phoebe getting IVF in hopes of being a surrogate for her brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and his wife Alice (Debra Jo Rupp). It’s a successful transplant, and we later learn that she’s pregnant with triplets. But the true standout storyline of this episode isn’t actually the one it gets its namesake from. After the chick grows into a rooster and starts crowing early in the morning, Rachel and Monica grow frustrated and tell Chandler and Joey they have to get rid of both the rooster and the duck.
This turns into a bet during a game of who knows their friends best, and the boys agree to it only by giving their own counter bet: If they win, they get Monica and Rachel’s apartment. Monica agrees on both her and Rachel’s behalf due to her competitive nature, and though they’re doing good at first, they stumble on the question “What is Chandler’s job?”, with Rachel shouting out “He’s a transpondster!” It’s a fun episode, and we also get to learn a bit more about the character through the silly game, while the friends engage in a high-stakes bet. It’s so well done.
