Friends is my personal favorite show ever. I truly don’t think I could ever get bored of it. While I like to watch it year-round, I love to rewatch my favorite holiday episodes when the holiday season rolls around. And when I say “holiday,” I mean from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Here are my top Friends holiday-themed episodes for getting into the holiday spirit.
10. “The One with the Inappropriate Sister”- Season 5, episode 10
This episode is probably the least holiday-themed, as the only real holiday references are the scenes of Phoebe “working” at one of the Santa’s donation boxes. The title of the episode comes from Rachel dating a guy who was strangely close to his sister, which was entertaining enough. But the main reason I loved this episode was because it was during the time when Monica and Chandler were hiding their relationship, which always makes for good humor.
9. “The One with All the Candy”- Season 7, episode 9
This one was most holiday-themed because of Monica’s candy making, which is the funniest part of the episode. The other plot lines in this episode weren’t too interesting: Phoebe learns how to ride a bike and Rachel keeps flirting with her attractive assistant. Overall, Monica’s prevalence in this episode is what kept it entertaining.
8. “The One with the Creepy Holiday Card” – Season 8, episode 11
In my opinion, David Schwimmer’s acting talent shines most when he’s nervous and flustered. That happens many times in this episode because Mona, Ross’ girlfriend at the time, wants to send out a holiday card from the two of them to all their friends and family. Ross is dealing with the fact that Rachel is pregnant and the fact that Mona REALLY wants to step up their relationship.
7. “The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie” – Season 4, episode 10
The title of this episode is actually the least interesting plotline. Ross meets a girl who lives hours away from NYC and attempts to make the commute to see her often. Chandler tries to find Rachel a date, which leads to him setting her up with an interesting bunch of men. In the spirit of the holiday season, Monica hires Joey as a waiter at her restaurant to make more money, but also to get her unruly staff to respect her more.
6. “The One where Ross got High”- Season 6, episode 9
This was an iconic Thanksgiving episode, where Chandler spends the entire episode trying to get Monica’s parents to like him, only to discover that the reason they didn’t like him was because they thought he smoked weed with Ross in college when instead Ross was smoking solo. In other events, Ross and Joey spend the entire episode trying to leave dinner early to meet up with Joey’s roommate’s dancer friends, and Rachel tries (and fails) to make a classic English trifle for dessert.
5. “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister” -Season 9, episode 8
In another hysterical Thanksgiving episode, Rachel’s sister, Amy (Christina Applegate), basically shows up to Rachel’s door, essentially inviting herself to Thanksgiving dinner. In typical Amy fashion, she insults everyone in attendance, including baby Emma! Joey adds another Thanksgiving twist by recruiting Phoebe to help him come up with a lie explaining why he missed appearing on a float in the Macy’s parade with his Days of Our Lives castmates.
4. “The One with the Rumor” -Season 8, episode 9
Although (heartbreaking as this is) Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are no longer together, this episode was filmed while they were married, which makes it so much cuter. Another classic Thanksgiving episode, Brad Pitt plays a formerly fat friend of Monica and Ross’ from high school who happened to hate Rachel. When he arrives at the table, he brings up memories of rumors they started about Rachel, and even a not-so-kind club that he and Ross started.
3. “The One with the Routine”- Season 6, episode 10
This is one of my all-time favorite episodes, because it’s such a random topic but it is so funny. It’s centered around New Year’s Eve, which some people might not say is a holiday, but to me, it represents the end of the holiday season. Joey tries to kiss his roommate, Janine (Elle Macpherson), and Monica and Ross fulfill their childhood dreams of being backup dancers on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
2. “The One with All the Resolutions”- Season 5 episode 11
This is a hidden gem of an episode, in my opinion. Every member of the gang comes up with a New Year’s resolution and tries really hard to keep them. The highlights are: Ross tries to do something “adventurous” (which leads to him wearing leather pants to a date), and Rachel tries to stop gossiping, which proves difficult when she learns a huge secret.
1.“The One with All the Football” – Season 3, episode 9
I only watch this episode once a year, and always on Thanksgiving. This is my all-time favorite Thanksgiving/holiday episode, so I savor it for the one holiday it applies to. In my eyes, this represents the reason why people love the show so much: because of the bond between all the characters. This bond is so prevalent in this episode, when they just play touch-football and somehow make it ridiculously funny.
I hope these episodes help get you in the holiday spirit. If you’re still struggling to get there, there are plenty of other holiday-themed episodes that should get you ready to hang up ALL the Christmas lights! Happy watching :)
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