My (subjective) Ranking of all Friends Thanksgiving Episodes

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I couldn’t get around to watching the only real Thanksgiving movie (Planes Trains and Automobiles) this year, but I did get a chance to re-watch a lot of Friends. One thing that’s nice about every season of the classic sitcom is that there is always an episode that happens around Thanksgiving. Seeing our merry band get together at the holiday table to enjoy a great meal is awesome to see. So for this year I figured I would go off-brand a little and talk about the GOAT of sitcoms and rank the 10 Friends episodes based around Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

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10. The One With Rachel’s Other Sister (Season 9)

What a suprise? One of the last seasons has the worst Thanksgiving episode! Who would’ve thought that the bloated seasons of a sitcom would have bad episodes? Alright enough rhetorical questions. I really don’t care for this episode. Seeing Rachel’s grown-up sister be a spoiled brat is not all that interesting to me. Christina Applegate has a very aggressive acting style that does not work with the easy flow that the cast had worked up at this point. The side quests involving Joey forgetting about his need to be at the Days of Our Lives float and realizing he can’t lie very well seems to fly in the face of the fact that he’s an actor. There just is not a lot of fun to this episode and whatever other B-plots there are did not stick out in my mind as I can’t even remember them. That’s why it gets last place.

9. The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs (Season 7)

Completely forgettable. I barely even remembered why Chandler did not like dogs and that he faked his allergy to them when I started writing this post. On the whole, the episode feels incredibly contrived and stupid as a concept. Also bringing Tag into the fold as a love interest for Rachel was always lame in my opinion. The age gap and her being his boss is something that never sat right with me. The only unforgettable thing from the episode: the states game! Seriously it is really hard to name all 50 states in less than 6 minutes. I usually came up between 8-10 short when I have tried.

8. The One With the Late Thanksgiving (Season 10)

It may have been the last but it was not the worst. But I see this as one of the worse episodes just because of how “meh” it is to me. People are forgetful about coming over for dinner. Joey, Ross, Rachel, and Phoebe are late for dinner, but it never feels like they’ll actually get kept out of the dinner. I like that Monica actually gave Chandler something to do in the kitchen but I wish that could have been more of a focus other than the pagents and hockey games the rest of the gang went to. This is the Turkey of Thanksgiving Episodes. It’s fine, but it’s a little too dry.

7. The One Where Underdog Got Away (Season 1)

Honestly other than knowing that this the gang’s first Thanksgiving together, I remembered very little from this episode. Like the Late Thanksgiving, it is pretty unremarkable in and of itself. There are some fun elements like Joey being the model for an STD Awareness campaign and Chandler’s avulsion to the holiday meal. But nothing ever fully gels here. I give them a benefit out of doubt, this was their first Thanksgiving episode.

6. The One With The List (Season 2)

Some backstory on this one, Ross and Rachel just shared their first kiss here, but Ross is dating Julie, a fellow palentologist. So he makes a list of pro’s and con’s for why he would date either of them. I’m putting it on the bottom of the list for a few reasons. Mostly, it just feels like filler before R&R can call it official. It takes a while for them to finally get together so any tacked on waiting feels like when the Disneyland ride breaks down right when you’re about to get on it. On the smaller side the actual Thanksgiving meal never happens on screen itself, keeping the whole cast from being together a lot. Monica’s side act of being tasked with creating “mocolate” deserts and recipes for Thanksgiving is lame aside from the appearance of Michael McKean (Chuck always knew what’s up). The only fun part is the very end when Ross tries to win Rachel over again by a radio request that then gets shot down by the emcee when Rachel calls into the station and tells them what happens. The disembodied voice on the radio calling out Ross for his actions is pretty funny.

5. The One With All the Thanksgivings (Season 5)

As far as flashback/clip episodes go, this one is pretty good (it’ll never reach Community levels, but that’s a tall order). While I am not fan of Fat Monica because the jokes come across as lazy, it does give us a reference point for why Monica did lose all the weight she did. Plus we get to see more time with favorite character in the show, Mr. Geller! Seriously the dude is non-stop comedy gold. Every time he is in an episode I am incredibly excited. But back to this episode. The hospital toe-chopping visit seems a little gratuitous, but I’m good with letting them try some zany stuff every now and then.

4. The One With the Rumor (Season 8)

Now we are getting into the good stuff (like the cornbread casserole or the mashed potatoes)!! With Brad Pitt showing up as the second-best Friends guest role ever, this episode gives him plenty to work with him. Pitting him against Rachel made for some irony as Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were married at the time. That kind of rumor he and Ross about Rachel told would not have flown as a joke nowadays but the reactions to it are still great. Really we are here for the star power of this episode.

3. The One Where Ross Got High (Season 6)

I am giving this episode the Bronze medal just for THIS SCENE. The amount of comedy and how it all escalates is awesome. Just the sheet domino affect of the whole thing makes this episode. On a realistic side this episode really captured just how nerve-racking it is to be the host when you are bringing over your significant other’s parents for a holiday meal for the first time. I love my in-laws but I still get nervous when I see them. Rachel’s terrible dish and everyone’s responses to it and lies about how they did or didn’t eat are hilarious. And once again…we get more screen time from Mr. Geller! Always a win when that happens!

2. The One With Chandler In a Box (Season 4)

Finally the Thanksgiving episode with little food but some actual tension between Joey and Chandler, the two best buds of the group! Say what you want about Mondler and Roschel, I am far more concerned with these two when there is an issue at hand. So when Joey tells Chandler he has to spend Thanksgiving in box to win back his friendship after Chandler steals Joey’s girlfriend Kathy, you have my attention. The comedy is there too with Monica bringing over Richard’s son for the dinner and everyone knowing how bad of an idea that is. Joey forgiving Chandler and letting him go after Kathy (even though Chandler will be with Monica by the end of this season), it is one of the nicest things to see on the screen between these characters. (Small tangent: CAN WE ADDRESS JUST HOW ABSOLUTELY NUTS IT IS THAT CHANDLER STOLE A GIRL FROM JOEY?? THAT’S LIKE IF A JUNIOR COLLEGE SOCCER PLAYER PICKED MESSI’S POCKET, TRUCKED HIM, AND THEN SCORED ON HIM!!)

And finally, the best Friends Thanksgiving episode is:

The One With the Football (Season 3)

So fun! And everyone has something going on in this episode. Ross and Monica are competing over the football game, and both are playing to win. Phoebe is learning to enjoy America’s favorite sport. Rachel is just trying to prove her worth on the field as a player. And Chandler and Joey both want the same Dutch spectator to pick them in their battle of “who will get her number?” I would not have expected the soundstage formula to work with a game like football, but most of the action is caught on camera. So we get to actually feel like a seventh friend just watching the game. I am very thankful for this episode. Shoot it might be my favorite Friends episode in general.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Until I see another one.