Friends: The 25 All-Time Best Episodes, Ranked!

For a decade, Friends put the “must-see” in must-see TV. The pop culture landscape, not just of the ’90s but also today, would look very different if it weren’t for Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey. 

They made coffee houses cool. They wore the best clothes, lived in the coolest apartments, told the funniest jokes, and we all wanted to hang out with them.

To commemorate the debut of one of television’s most popular TV shows, we’ve ranked the top 25 episodes. We couldn’t BE any happier for you to read it.

25. “The One with George Stephanopoulos” (Season 1 Episode 4)

Friends Season 1 Episode 4, “The One with George Stephanopoulos,” is revealing in more ways than one. Ross reminisces with Chandler and Joey about his first time with ex-wife Carol, and the girls have an old-fashioned slumber party which includes some harmless stalking of a handsome politico.

It’s the first time the show begins to explore how the guys interact with each other minus the girls and vice versa. George Stephanopoulos doesn’t hold up as a peep-worthy heartthrob, but the object of the women’s shared obsession is less important than seeing the characters begin to bond onscreen.

24. “The One with All the Wedding Dresses” (Season 4 Episode 20)

The gang has wedding fever as Ross becomes the first one to walk down the aisle (even though it’s for the second time) on Friends  Season 4 Episode 20, “The One with All the Wedding Dresses.” We feel for Rachel as she tries to put on a brave face (we’re also incredulous that she and Ross may not ever be on again). But we can’t help but cringe when she goes stage 5 clinger on brand new boyfriend Josh.

Phoebe: I hate my regular clothes, now, you know? It’s like I look down and-and I know this isn’t going to be the most special day of my life.

Guys may think it’s nuts for grown single women to sit around in wedding dresses, but us gals know sometimes you just want to feel like a princess, and why should we have to wait around for Mr. Right? Right?

23. “The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry” (Season 6 Episode 14)

On Friends Season 6 Episode 14’s, “The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry, “Reese Witherspoon nails it as Rachel’s spoiled sister, Jill, who manages to send Rachel into a tailspin by attempting to seduce Ross. Phoebe is mistaken for a porn star, and Monica fears Chandler may be “dead inside” when he admits he doesn’t cry.

It’s a lot to unpack in one episode, but the episode’s MVP is Lisa Kudrow who plays Phoebe as well as her evil twin Ursula, who to her sister’s dismay, is starring in such fictitious erotic classics as Buffay the Vampire Layer. 

While Jill may not be very bright, she can decipher Rachel’s almost series’ long girl code that even if she doesn’t want Ross, nobody else can have him either.

Even after being apart for two seasons, and Ross having married Emily, the two agree that when it comes to romance, the door remains open. Could it BE any more obvious?

22. “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister” (Season 9 Episode 8)

Friends Season 9 Episode 8, “The One with Rachel’s Other Sister,” is another Thanksgiving-themed episode to make the cut. This is in large part because of Christina Applegate’s stellar turn as Rachel’s rude and completely self-involved sister, Amy.

Applegate is a comedic actress, so she fits in perfectly with the rest of the cast, avoiding the stiffness that sometimes plagues other guest stars (Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme).

Things take an oddly macabre turn when Amy assumes she’ll become Emma’s guardian if Rachel and Ross die. Sibling rivalry kicks into high gear. While Rachel and Amy are shaving years off their emotional ages, we see a new and very paternal side of Chandler. This illustrates that as the show goes on, our favorite friends are growing up.

Less worried about her friends’ theoretical demise is Monica, whose main concern is the safety and well-being of her wedding china. Let’s just say someone or something meets a gruesome end, and it isn’t anyone at the table.

21. “The One with the Lottery” (Season 9 Episode 18)

Group hangs comprise some of our favorite episodes. We always know there’s going to be a myriad of seemingly insignificant things going on that all contribute in their way to one cohesive storyline. Friends Season 9 Episode 10, “The One with the Lottery,” is a perfect example.

As Chandler waits for news about a new job, and Ross and Rachel hone their parenting skills, Monica is consumed with the task at hand — always the one to take things to the extreme and competitive to her very core. 

Monica: Please, if I win the lottery, you guys are not gonna leave me. Someone gave me a basket of mini muffins last week, and I couldn’t get rid of you for three days.

To counterbalance her intensity which would come off far worse if it weren’t so over the top, the entire group — minus Phoebe — becomes consumed with greed. They squabble about the money they’re never going to win.

One of Friends‘ enduring legacies is those times when there’s the promise of something bigger, but characters and viewers alike are so wrapped up in the moment, it doesn’t matter if that thing never happens. 

20. “The One with the Cop” (Season 5 Episode 16)

Friends Season 5 Episode 16, “The One with the Cop,” is very Ross-centric, and it highlights some of his most annoying qualities in the cleverest ways. Not to mention viewers learn he and Rachel had sex 298 times.

The real takeaway from this episode is the word “pivot” which Ross uses ad nauseam as a means to get a sofa to his walk-up when he’s too cheap to pay for delivery. It doesn’t help his only volunteers are Rachel and Chandler. This moving furniture scene is such a classic that fans can get T-shirts with “Pivot!” emblazoned across the chest. 

19.”The One with the Jellyfish” (Season 4 Episode 1)

On Friends Season 4 Episode 1, “The One with the Jellyfish,” Ross and Rachel end their romance … again. But unlike the heart-wrenching breakup on Season 3, this time around it’s played for laughs, and it works.

The phrase “We were on a break!” will always remain an integral phrase is Friends‘ extensive lexicon. The Rachel-Ross saga is put on the back burner for the foreseeable future, and “that, my friend, is what they call closure.”

18. “The One with the Rumor” (Season 8 Episode 9)

A ton of A-Listers make guest appearances on Friends throughout 10 seasons, but none is bigger than Brad Pitt who spends Thanksgiving with the gang on Friends Season 8 Episode 9, “The One with the Rumor.” Off-screen, he and then-wife Aniston were America’s favorite celebrity couple, so it makes sense the hit series would capitalize off the duo’s combined fan base.

Pitt plays Monica and Ross’ formerly fat high school friend Will Colbert. Pitt’s good looks are written into his storyline but take a backseat to him and Ross’ low ranking in their school’s social hierarchy.

It’s a testament to the show’s writers that they manage to make Brad Pitt believable as an outcast. Not that it matters since we’d all watch Brad Pitt do just about anything for 20 minutes.

Even popular girl Rachel didn’t escape the drudgery of her glory days completely unscathed thanks to the Machiavellian antics of the I Hate Rachel Green Club. 

17. “The One with the Football” (Season 3 Episode 9)

Holiday episodes are guaranteed winners, and Friends Season 3 Episode 9 “The One with the Football,” should be part of any fan’s Thanksgiving traditions. The episode takes everybody out of the apartment and to a local park for a friendly game of touch football. The focus isn’t on the turkey, but on the unchecked sibling rivalry between Ross and Monica.

“The One with the Football” is the first, last, and only time viewers see the Geller Cup — a hideous prize coveted by both brother and sister who both prove to be sore losers and ungracious winners.

The holiday tends to bring out the worst in people in one way or another. It’s just much funnier to watch holiday-related dysfunction play out on TV than to experience it firsthand.

16. “The One Where No One’s Ready” (Season 3 Episode 2)

On Friends Season 3 Episode 2, “The One Where No One’s Ready,” inane moments are strung together, forging an episode of poorly controlled chaos. Ross struggles to get the gang dressed and out the door, but everyone is distracted by their mini-dramas.

Nothing of long-term significance happens, but the episode remains memorable thanks to Joey and Chandler’s ridiculous bickering over a chair, Monica’s obsession with ex-boyfriend Richard’s answering machine, and the use of the word “commando” to describe going without underwear (the show popularized the saying, but it dates back decades earlier).

15. “The One Where They All Turn Thirty” (Season 7 Episode 14)

Friends Season 7 Episode 14, “The One Where They All Turn Thirty,” is a tribute to each character and the unique ways in which they handle exiting their ’20s.

Ross has a mini mid-life crisis, Joey mourns .. loudly, Monica becomes “Drunk Monica” (far more fun than the sober version), Phoebe appreciates the smaller things in life, and Chandler is largely overlooked.

The focus is primarily on Rachel who faces a real dilemma about her biological clock. For Gen Xers, the characters’ birthday blues are/were particularly relatable, but everyone has trouble saying goodbye to the last decade in your life when it’s okay to still be figuring it all out. 

14. “The One with the Embryos” (Season 4 Episode 12)

It starts with a guessing game and ends with Monica and Rachel moving out of their fantastic rent-controlled apartment. Friends Season 4 Episode 12, “The One with the Embryos,” has Monica and Rachel competing against Chandler and Joey to determine which duo knows the other best.

Frank Jr.: My sister’s gonna have my baby!

This episode reveals intricately constructed personality characteristics and habits of four of the leads formerly unbeknownst to fans. By this time, the cast’s off-screen rapport is well documented, and this enhances the realism of their onscreen bond.

Ross’ gift for being a buzzkill comes in handy, and very few episodes showcase Monica’s competitive nature more adeptly than “The One with the Embryos.”

13. “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” (Season 5 Episode 14)

Given just how tight-knit the group is, and how many close calls Monica and Chandler manage to avoid, it’s nothing short of miraculous their secret romance isn’t put on blast much sooner. 

On Friends Season 5 Episode 14, “The One Where Everybody Finds Out,” a game of chicken between the newish-couple, and Rachel, Phoebe, and reluctant go-between Joey to see who caves first leads to an epic Friends‘ moment: commitment-phobe Chandler admitting he’s in love with Monica. 

As if that isn’t a big enough reveal, Ross finally comes face to face with Ugly Naked Guy, and fans get to catch just a glimpse of the hairy-backed mystery man. 

12. “The One with the Videotape” (Season 8 Episode 4)

It takes several episodes to unravel the mystery of which lucky guy is the father of Rachel’s baby. Then it’s just a matter of how. Well, anyone with a basic knowledge of human reproduction knows how, but their friends (and fans alike) still want all the dirty deets regarding their hookup on Friends Season 8 Episode 4, “The One with the Videotape.”

Joey: You got to tell the girl before you tape her. Such a rookie mistake.

One of Friends‘ greatest unresolved mysteries remains what exactly happens during that backpacking trip through Europe that acts as the ultimate aphrodisiac? Subplots that initially seem unrelated to the big reveal of who came onto who wind up cleverly woven into the fabric of the main storyline. 

Taping yourself having done the deed doesn’t ever appear to be a good idea unless you need to provide proof as to whether or not you have ever begged for sex.

11. “The One at the Beach” (Season 3 Episode 25)

After a season of breaks and breaking up, another Friends finale ends with Ross, Rachel, and one big question mark. Another bombshell drops as Phoebe learns her birth mom is alive and well on Friends Season 3 Episode 25, “The One at the Beach.”

The real fun to be had is watching our favorite friends make the most of a bad vacay, and Chandler trying to convince Monica he’s dateable, something she finds laughable. When the episode first aired, most fans likely didn’t feel these two would have a relationship that wasn’t strictly platonic. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe we couldn’t sense of their chemistry.

Fans remain preoccupied with the Rachel and Ross drama, so a Monica-Chandler hookup wouldn’t receive the attention it deserves.

10. “The One with the Morning After” (Season 3 Episode 16)

Friends Season 3 Episode 16, “The One with the Morning After,” is a testament to how the series can add just enough froth to keep more serious storylines from becoming too dark and bitter (how is that for a coffee metaphor?). 

Ross cheats, he lies and behaves in a completely un-Ross like fashion, leading to a make it or break it decision when it comes to him and Rachel’s relationship. This hardly sounds like sitcom fodder, but thanks to the antics of Joey, Phoebe, Monica, and Chandler all locked in the bedroom, there’s still fun to be had.

A great series like Friends explores subjects like infidelity, death, suicide, infertility, and divorce, showing viewers humor can be found in the least likely places.  

9. “The Last One: Part 1” (Season 10 Episode 17)

For a show as beloved as Friends, it can be a monumental and often thankless task to try to please everyone when it ends. Friends Season 10 Episode 17, “The Last One: Part 1,” gets off to a good start.

Nobody is left out, not even the long-suffering Gunther. Even the chick and duck’s disappearance is explained. 

There are inevitable changes like Monica and Chandler becoming parents to twins. But there’s the comfort of the familiar: Joey remains adorably clueless, Phoebe reliably weird, and Ross and Rachel still can’t get their act together.

But those two new Bings and an apartment full of boxes are reminders the next chapter, “The One Where They All Move On,” is one each fan will have to write in their heads.

8. “The Last One: Part 2” (Season 10 Episode 18)

On Friends Season 10 Episode 18, “The Last One: Part 2, ” Ross’ last-minute grand romantic gesture at the airport isn’t exactly inspired, but the Season 1 finale ends in an airport, so we’ll chalk it up to things coming full circle.

As fond as Ross is of marriage, there are no rings or proposals. The two just promise to give it a shot.

Rachel: Okay, should we get some coffee?

As everybody leaves a key on the counter, they are bidding a final goodbye to the place they each called home at some point in time. The final shot panning the empty apartment isn’t for the cast or the crew, it’s for us, the fans; a last glance at a place we too consider our home.  

7. “The One Where Rachel Finds Out” (Season 1 Episode 24)

Ross’ feelings for Rachel are Friends Season 1’s worst kept secret — from everyone except Rachel. It’s indisputable that one of the reasons the series enjoyed such a meteoric rise in popularity was because of the promise of a Ross-Rachel romance. 

So what better way to keep fans tuned in and avoid a sophomore slump than to have Rachel find out Ross is in love with her just as Ross heads off to China on Friends Season 1 Episode 24, “The One Where Rachel Finds Out?”

The entire episode unravels organically as Rachel tries to process the pros and cons of taking Ross out of the friendzone only to have all her doubts become moot when he finds romance elsewhere. 

After 23 episodes of Rachel being Ross’ dream girl, the tables are turned, and Ross becomes a hot commodity and geeky sex symbol going into Season 2.

6. “The One in Vegas: Part 2” (Season 5 Episode 24)

Friends Season 5 Episode 24, “The One in Vegas: Part 2,” is why the gang doesn’t travel together too often. Sin City proves to be just that: a modern-day Gomorrah full of identical hand twins, lurkers, fully-stocked minibars, gambling, and quickie wedding chapels.

Friends loves to throw a good wedding (four seasons end with weddings), so it shouldn’t come as a shock that somebody’s tying the knot. We’re just led to think it will be lovebirds Monica and Chandler, instead of Rachel and twice-married Ross whose ink is barely dry on his second divorce. 

The episode is just silly fun as everybody splinters off to embark on their own misadventures. We love knowing at some point, they’ll all be back together at their favorite coffee house, joking about “that time in Vegas.” Sadly for Ross and Rachel, some things that happen in Vegas don’t stay there.

5. “The One with Ross’s Wedding: Part 2” (Season 4 Episode 24)

Two of the series most shocking moments make Friends Season 4 Episode 24, “The One with Ross’s Wedding: Part 2,” one of the show’s best season finales. Fans know there’s no conceivable way Ross will marry Emily. The final Hail Mary is Rachel’s last-minute arrival.

She winds up proving just how much she loves Ross by not telling him minutes before the nuptials. Just as our tears begin to dry, we get another reprieve when Ross is the one who sabotages his big day.

Even with the Ross-Emily-Rachel love triangle, the biggest OMG reveal is Monica and Chandler’s hookup. This is one nobody sees coming. Just like the twosome, fans aren’t entirely sure how to feel about it the morning after, but it could be the start of something pretty darn good.

4. “The One with the Proposal: Part 2” (Season 6 Episode 25)

There isn’t one thing not to love about Friends Season 6 Episode 25, “The One with the Proposal: Part 2.” It takes a village, but thanks to a little help from their friends, these two long-time losers in love finally get a happy ending (not the dirty kind).

Monica: You wanted it to be a surprise.

If we choose to discount Ross popping the question to Emily (which we do), this is the first proposal in six seasons and given the revolving door of love interests, it’s a long time to wait. But the candles, the tears, and a quip-free Chandler make it all worth it. 

3. “The One with Chandler and Monica’s Wedding: Part 2” (Season 7 Episode 24)

There’s no shortage of drama in the hours leading up to Monica and Chandler’s trip down the aisle on Friends Season 7 Episode 24, “The One with Chandler and Monica’s Wedding: Part 2.”

Chandler: You look beautiful. Is this new?

Monica: Not now. 

There’s a runaway groom, Joey’s last-minute arrival, and a baby on the way. The nuptials are far from picture-perfect, but they perfectly personify Monica, Chandler, and all of their nearest and dearest.

How do you top all of that? You knock up the maid of honor and make her face the last thing fans see before waiting three long months for a new season. 

2. “The One Where Ross Finds Out” (Season 2 Episode 7)

There’s no arguing that the will they or won’t they dynamic between Ross and Rachel is what drives Friends early on. This is why fans only have to wait for Friends Season 2 Episode 7, “The One Where Ross Finds Out,” for the twosome to take things to the next level: at least taking them temporarily out of romance purgatory.

Viewers can relate to drunk dialing and feeling their hearts drop in the aftermath once the liquid courage wears off.

This episode contains so many iconic moments: Rachel’s ill-advised quest for “closure,” her feeble attempt to prevent Ross from learning the truth, or a first kiss that still rates as one of the all-time best in the history of television. 

1. “The One with the Prom Video” (Season 2 Episode 14)

Friends Season 2 Episode 14, “The One with the Prom Video,” is an embarrassment of riches. Not only do Ross and Rachel finally solidify their standing as TV’s “It Couple,” but the episode also features the series’ first flashback. Fans get to see a zaftig Monica, Rachel’s original nose, and Ross’ unflattering afro. 

Joey: Some girl ate Monica.

Monica: Shut up. The camera adds 10 pounds.

Chandler: So how many cameras are actually on you?

The flashback reinforces things fans already know but does it in creative and surprising ways. An extra twist is that, like viewers, Joey and Chandler are seeing the events unfold in the video for the first time.

—

Did we miss your favorite episode of Friends? Share your thoughts on our ranking in the comments below!

 Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!