Like many others, Friends is one of my ultimate comfort TV shows. No matter my mood, I can always put it on and find myself feeling at ease. One of the more well-known traditions of Friends is their recurring Thanksgiving episode. In their ten seasons, they put out nine classic episodes surrounding the November holiday. While no episode is perfect, they are each incredibly entertaining, and invoke feelings of nostalgia and amusement. If you’re looking for something other than NFL football or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to watch this November, here is my personal ranking of every Friends Thanksgiving episode.Â
- “The One With Rachel’s Other Sister” (Season 9, Episode 8)
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This is an episode that many people may relate to as it centers around familial fighting. Rachel’s sister, Amy, comes to visit, and incorrectly assumes that she would get custody of Rachel’s daughter if both Rachel and Ross were to die. Rather, Monica and Chandler would actually get custody of the baby. This sparks a huge fight which is actually quite comical; however, this episode falls in last place in my ranking of Thanksgiving episodes as the arguing is frankly not my favorite plot line.
- “The One Where Underdog Gets Away” (Season 1, Episode 9)
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The first of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes, “The One Where Underdog Gets Away,” is the prime example of when Thanksgiving plans don’t go as they’re supposed to. When everyone’s plans fall apart and they decide to spend the holiday together, they learn that the Underdog balloon has escaped the Thanksgiving Day Parade. They go out to the roof to see it, get locked out of the apartment, and end up eating grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner as the Thanksgiving meal burned up in the apartment. The episode is an important moment for the friend’s bond, and is really the start of their Thanksgiving celebrations together as a group.Â
- “The One with Chandler in a Box” (Season 4, Episode 8)
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This is an episode where Thanksgiving almost feels like a side plot; it is not exactly the primary focus of the episode. Instead, Joey and Chandler’s friendship is the center of the plot as Joey is still mad at Chandler for kissing his girlfriend; Chandler agrees to spend Thanksgiving inside a box in an attempt to prove his remorse. After a long night in the box, and quite a bit of classic Chandler Bing humor, Joey is satisfied with Chandler’s efforts and forgives him. At the same time, Monica is on a date with the son of her ex-boyfriend; spoiler alert, it doesn’t work out. Overall, it is a hilarious yet very weird Thanksgiving episode.
- “The One with the Late Thanksgiving” (Season 10, Episode 8)
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The final Friends Thanksgiving episode is filled with ups and downs for the friends. After Monica expresses her disdain at the idea of hosting Thanksgiving again, Phoebe and the others practically beg her to host again. She agrees, and Chandler helps her prepare the feast. While dinner is being cooked, Rachel and Phoebe take Rachel’s daughter to a beauty pageant, and Ross and Joey go to a hockey game. They all end up being late to Monica and Chandler’s Thanksgiving dinner. Monica is justifiably angry and locks them all out; the rest of the episode follows the four tardy friends and their pleas to be let inside (where the feast is). The episode ends on a happy note, as Chandler and Monica find out that they were selected to be adoptive parents. It’s a bittersweet ending as it lays the groundwork for the friends going their separate ways, which is why it is number six on my list.
- “The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs” (Season 7, Episode 8)
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We have now entered the top 5!! This episode is high on my list because it feels like a very relatable Thanksgiving. There are lots of trivial, low-stakes things happening that are just quite amusing. In this episode, Chandler reveals that he doesn’t like dogs, which absolutely appalls the friends. Coincidently, Phoebe has been hiding a dog in Chandler and Monica’s apartment for several days. There is a lot of back and forth, but Chandler eventually comes around and lets the dog stay as he sees how much it means to Phoebe. Additionally, after bragging about being able to list all 50 states, the friends challenge Ross to do it before dinner. Long story short, he struggles and fails after spending all night on the list; this storyline with Ross never fails to crack me up.
- “The One with the Football” (Season 3, Episode 9)
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When people think of Friends Thanksgiving episodes, this one tends to come to mind. It consists of an iconic game of tag football played by the friends on Thanksgiving day. As you can imagine, the game is filled with hilarious moments, and emphasizes the extremely competitive nature of Monica. In addition, the episode really highlights the sibling rivalry between Ross and Monica, which is incredibly entertaining to watch.
- “The One with the Rumor” (Season 8, Episode 9)
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We have made it to my top three episodes; these three are really a toss up as I truly love them all. “The One with the Rumor” is a classic Friends episode guest starring Brad Pitt. He plays a friend of Monica’s from high school, and he joins the friends for Thanksgiving without knowing that Rachel would be there. It is revealed that he and Ross hated Rachel in high school, so much so that they made a “I Hate Rachel Green” club. After the shock wears off and jabs are exchanged, the friends can eventually laugh about it. At the same time, Joey insists that he can eat an entire turkey on his own and does so wearing maternity pants, which is an extremely amusing subplot to the episode.
- “The One Where Ross Got High” (Season 6, Episode 9)
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“The One Where Ross Got High” is probably one of my favorite Friends episodes of all time, period. There is so much going on in this episode, and it is all hilarious. Rachel makes a trifle for Thanksgiving but unknowingly combines two recipes, causing the trifle to contain classic sweet ingredients as well as sauteed beef. Ross and Monica’s parents join the friends for dinner, and they end up learning quite a lot about the lives of their children. This includes the fact that it was Ross who smoked marijuana in college, not Chandler (who he blamed it on). We even see Phoebe briefly experience a crush on Monica’s dad. All in all, it is a timeless episode that makes me laugh every time I watch it.
- “The One with All the Thanksgivings” (Season 5, Episode 8)
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Last but not least is “The One with All the Thanksgivings,” an episode revolving around Thanksgiving flashbacks. The friends basically reminisce about past Thanksgivings, sharing humiliating (and hysterical) stories about their past experiences on the holiday. We hear about Monica accidentally cutting Chandler’s toe off and Joey getting his head stuck in a turkey. In the present day, we even get to see Monica’s head in a turkey, along with the first “I love you” between her and Chandler. It is an episode full of iconic moments and a surplus of Friends lore, which is why it sits at the top of my list.