It’s finally that time of year again, with everyone stringing up their holiday lights and decorating their trees. But for collegiettes like us (aka with no houses to decorate), how are we supposed to get into the Christmas spirit? Nine times out of ten, it’s by watching Netflix or any show for their Christmas specials, and some of the best of these come from the iconic sitcom, Friends.
Friends is one of those shows that you can watch over and over and truly never get bored, because almost all of the episodes have their moments that you can’t help but laugh at every time – and this includes the Christmas episodes. Just as Thanksgiving had it’s time, now’s the time for the Friends Christmas specials, and here they are, ranked just for you:
9. “The One with Christmas in Tulsa” (Season Nine)
I love Monica and Chandler. They’re the quintessential picture of relationship goals for me, but for some reason, this episode doesn’t seem as festive as the others. With the group split up for the majority of the episode, it doesn’t feel like the other Christmas specials, even though (spoiler alert) Chandler comes back to New York in the end.
8. “The One with the Inappropriate Sister” (Season Five)
This episode has barely any Christmas cheer in it. Although Monica and Chandler are secretly dating in this season and their antics are fun to watch, there isn’t a lot of holiday-celebrating going on. Phoebe volunteering for charity is the closest you’ll get to Christmas in this episode,
7. “The One with the Girl From Poughkeepsie” (Season Four)
This episode follows Ross as he has to make the decision of whether or not he wants to continue dating a girl who lives all the way in Poughkeepsie. Meanwhile,
Phoebe tries to write a Christmas song to honor her friends, which is probably one of the highlights from this episode. This episode is worth a shot if you enjoy both of these characters’ shenanigans.
6. “The One with the Monkey” (Season One)
This one’s a bit lower on my list only because it’s a sad episode. Phoebe is in love with David, a man that she quickly fell for, and all is going well until he tells her that he has to move to Minsk for a research project. Of course we know Phoebe finds love later on in the show with Mike (aka Paul Rudd.)
5. “The One with the Creepy Holiday Card” (Season Eight)
Oh, Mona. You were never going to survive this friend group. In this episode, she decides to send out a Christmas card from her and Ross as a couple, and Ross (being Ross) ends up needing to have a serious talk about their relationship.
4. “The One Where Rachel Quits” (Season Three)
This episode is so funny. Rachel ends up quitting her job due to some bad advice from Chandler and Joey, and she’s thrown into a whirlwind of problems. Phoebe is sad for Christmas trees when she finds out that all of the trees go into the chopper, Ross ends up accidentally breaking a Girl Scout’s leg and has to become a Girl Scout to sell cookies for her, and Monica surprises Phoebe with dead Christmas trees in the apartment despite her clean-freak attitude – it’s a whole lot of everything in one, and so funny to watch.
3. “The One with Phoebe’s Dad” (Season Two)
This episode is nice because it gives a lot of background to Phoebe’s character. We don’t know much about this charming but weird girl, except that she had a pretty interesting childhood. Through this, we finally learn that she’s trying to track down her long-lost father, but ultimately decides that she’s not ready for it. This episode is a nice one about the importance of family.
2. “The One with the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” (Season Six)
Although this technically isn’t a Christmas episode, it’s still hilarious. It’s all about watching Ross and Monica’s dance moves while trying to get seen on TV.
Meanwhile, Rachel, Phoebe and Chandler are all stressing about what to get Monica for Christmas and end up ransacking her apartment to find out what she got them.
1. “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” Season (Seven)
This episode is famous, and for good reason. Not only is it hilarious, but it also shows some hard truths about the holidays as well. Ross wants to introduce his son to the holiday of Hanukkah, but can’t find anything else to rival Santa Claus, leading him to become the Holiday Armadillo.
The episode brings to light how Hanukkah isn’t as prioritized as much as Christmas, so it has a much deeper meaning than other episodes. Not only is this a funny episode that’ll have you laughing (c’mon, a holiday armadillo?), but it also teaches an important lesson.
Happy holiday-watching, collegiettes!