FRIENDS: Which Thanksgiving Episodes Were Our Favorites?

Broken pacts, tons of food (like that trifle… with meat!), secrets revealed, fights galore and more? Must be a FRIENDS Thanksgiving.

Yes, in its ten year run, FRIENDS put on quite a show for the holidays, but nothing got quite the attention of their annual Thanksgiving debacle.

To celebrate turkey day, I rewatched all nine FRIENDS Thanksgiving episodes (I don’t count “The One with the List” because they didn’t actually have a Thanksgiving meal) and made my case for the best five.

Which ones made the cut? Check it out…

5. “The One with Chandler in a Box” (season 4) – Why it was amazing: After Chandler kissed Joey’s girlfriend, Joey refused to forgive him — unless he spent Thanksgiving in a box. Not the worst punishment for the Thanksgiving-hating Chandler. It meant that he had the pleasure of missing out on the Ross-Rachel post-breakup awkwardness (after Ross found out Rachel had a habit of returning gifts) and the ickyness of Monica inviting Timothy (played by a pre-ALIAS Michael Vartan), the son of her ex-boyfriend, Richard. But despite the awkward and the icky, the episode had some genuinely sweet moments, like Rachel showing Ross the box of keepsakes from their relationship which she had saved. Also, Joey letting Chandler out of the box to go pursue Kathy when he realized how much the two cared for each other. Plus, we can’t forget Monica in an eye patch!

4. “The One with All the Thanksgivings” (season 5) – Why it was amazing: Going to be completely honest and say Phoebe’s war era Thanksgivings were my least favorite part of this episode, but the rest of the flashbacks were amazing. How could you not love seeing Monica and Chandler’s first meeting, where Fat Monica’s instant attraction to a college-aged Chandler was pretty much ignored by him — I mean, the guy loved her mac and cheese, told her she should be a chef and she agreed and went on to do just that. It’s cool though, because she got her revenge the following year when she showed up to the holiday meal considerably thinner and while attempting to seduce him, dropped a knife and cut off his toe. Whoops! Plus, retelling the story of how Joey stuck his head in a turkey prompted Monica to pull a similar stunt in an attempt to apologize to Chandler. Apparently, a girl with a bird on her head brings something out in Chandler, because he told Monica that he loved her for the first time.

3. “The One with the Rumor” (season 8 ) – Why it was amazing: Um, Brad Pitt. No, not just because he’s Mr. Movie Star and not even because he was married at the time to Jennifer Aniston (Rachel). Rather, because Pitt’s character, Will, fit in perfectly as a former high school classmate of Ross, Monica and Rachel with some secret info that shed light onto their high school days. Ross was apparently a part of an “I Hate Rachel” club back then and helped to spread a vicious rumor that she had both male and female reproductive organs? Just the right time to reveal such a thing since she was pregnant with his kid that Thanksgiving. Of course, Ross also learned that Rachel blabbed about his tryst with the older school librarian. Pitt had fantastic chemistry with the entire cast, something that made the blow ups even more delicious. Plus, Phoebe continuously fawning over Will and Joey’s determination to keep his promise of finishing the turkey served as icing on the cake.

2. “The One with the Football” (season 3) – Why it was amazing: The Monica and Ross brother-sister relationship was at its best (and worst) in this episode, as the two duked it out in football for possession of a long-coveted trophy (a troll doll nailed to a 2×4). Both were equally competitive and they brought out the worst in their teammates. When they realized at the end of the game that the football was still live because Rachel had never been tagged, neither Ross nor Monica was willing to let go and admit defeat, even if it meant missing Thanksgiving dinner. Meanwhile, Chandler and Joey had their own disagreement over which one of them had dibs a hot Dutch girl liked more. She chose Chandler — the Netherlands are not the make-believe place where Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are from, thank you very much, Joe — but his taunting led her to change her mind and choose no one.

1. “The One Where Ross Got High” (season 6) – Why it was amazing: It’s legitimately hard to even know where to begin with this episode. It’s one of the greatest in FRIENDS history, between Chandler trying so hard to impress Ross and Monica’s parents — whose long-running dislike of Chandler had kept Monica from telling them about the relationship — Rachel’s excitement over making the dessert — despite not realizing the cookbook pages were stuck together leading her to concoct some sort of hybrid dish which combined meats and sweets! Of course, there was also Phoebe’s creepy dream-induced crush on Mr. Geller, Joey’s desperation to leave so he could spend the day with some hot dancers and Ross’s inability to admit that he got high in college — something he had blamed on Chandler. It all led to a blow up of revealed secrets and one of my favorite television scenes, ever:

 

Think I’m crazy? Did I leave your favorite episode off the list? Vote in the poll below and share your own favorite FRIENDS Thanksgiving memories in the comment section!

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