12 Most Rewatchable Episodes Of Friends

Some of the most rewatchable episodes of "Friends" earn the honor simply because they're impeccable. Indeed, six of the episodes on this list are also in the top 30 best "Friends" episodes ever, according to IMDb. There are other factors to consider when trying to find the best episodes of "Friends" for a rewatch, however. 

The most revisited episodes are often ones that follow a plot that involves every main character. They may have one or more exciting guest appearances, and sometimes they're a diversion from the series' regular format. With a sitcom, you also want to find episodes dense with good jokes.

"Friends" changed the course of television forever, and it's one of the most important sitcoms that's ever aired. It's not perfect — there are a lot of homophobic jokes, far too many flashbacks that utilize fat suits, and a worrying lack of diversity. That said, when viewed with an understanding of these flaws, it can still be enjoyed as a nostalgic beacon of its time. There are a lot of jokes (a lot) that are as sharp and funny as they were when they aired, and each main character on "Friends" has an interesting journey of growth from young adulthood into middle age. 

"The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant" isn't an obvious pick for a list of fun "Friends" episodes, but it is actually a significant slice of life for the gang. Talking about money makes people uncomfortable, but when a group of friends are all trying to make a living in Manhattan via vastly different career pursuits, it's not an easy topic to avoid. Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) only make enough money to get by, while Chandler (Matthew Perry), Ross (David Schwimmer), and Monica (Courteney Cox) all have lucrative careers. The latter three frequently seek to spend their extra capital, and this makes things hard for Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey.

The episode not only explores the way that finances can put strain on a friend group, but also the ways that loving, genuine friendship means supporting each other even through hard times. We see this best at the end of the episode when Monica suddenly loses her job. 

The episode also serves as a novel reminder of Hootie and the Blowfish's heyday, and it provides one of Chandler's most despicable schemes to attract the attention of a woman. It ends with a flourish in one of "Friends'" funniest ever unscripted moments when Joey trips over his couch to answer a steamy voicemail.

It's a big deal when a show airs a new episode immediately following the Super Bowl. It's a sign that the series has reached an undeniable level of popularity. It's also a chance for that show to get a little ambitious. The two-part "Friends" episode that followed Super Bowl XXX in 1996 is a pristine '90s time capsule thanks to its six guest stars (most of whom were at their career apex at the time). 

The first half of the show finds Phoebe exploring a fun flirtation with an admirer (Chris Isaaks) who books her to sing for kids at the library, Joey developing a toxic relationship with an unhinged fan (Brooke Shields) who is too beautiful to reject, and Ross discovering that his old pet monkey, Marcel, has become a movie star. 

When the gang visits Marcel's New York City film set, Chandler runs into an old schoolmate, Suzy (Julia Roberts) who aggressively pursues him, while Monica and Rachel find themselves fighting over a date with Jean-Claude Van Damme (who plays himself). It's fun to watch for all of the episode's cameos, and audiences can thank Matthew Perry for convincing the always-delightful Julia Roberts to guest star as the sexy, vengeful Suzy. It's a bit painful to see Monica and Rachel tear up each other's pristine 1990's fashion pieces, but their childish fight over Van Damme is another great highlight.

"The One Where Ross and Rachel ... You Know" fires on all cylinders. The titular plot follows Ross and Rachel as they attempt to consummate their brand-new relationship, and their giddiness is contagious. At this point in the show, their relationship has been put off by many different (frustrating) factors, and it's a relief to see them finally get together. Plus, they ultimately have a first and second date that feel tender, intimate, and significant, without sacrificing the crucial funny factor that all sitcoms require. 

This episode also marks the first appearance of fan-favorite Richard Burke (Tom Selleck), a close friend of Monica's parents who hires her and Phoebe to cater a party shortly following his recent divorce. Sparks fly with Monica and, by the end of the episode, the two are an item. 

The best comedic relief in the episode comes from Joey and Chandler's sub-plot, wherein Joey has purchased cushy recliners for them. The two immediately embark on a sitting marathon, complete with a new TV and takeout. The latter comes to them by way of Monica and Rachel, much to the girls' annoyance.

Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) is easily one of the best and funniest secondary characters on "Friends." His likes? Melting stuff. His dislikes? Stuff that doesn't melt. Fans get to learn these facts (and more) about Phoebe's recently discovered younger brother in "The One with Frank Jr." when Frank visits her for some quality time. 

Frank is a teenage boy, and Phoebe frequently flounders in her attempts to bond with him, given their very different lives. Ribisi plays Frank as a pervy, weird little brother, and absolutely nails the comedic potential in their dynamic. "The One with Frank Jr." is one of the funniest episodes of Season 3, and not just because of Ribisi.

Chandler and Joey's back-and-forth is frequently delightful, especially when Joey's boundless, simplistic optimism runs up against Chandler's pained cynicism. In this episode, Joey decides to build an enormous entertainment center, much to Chandler's inconvenience, and this leads to some of the best line deliveries in the show. In addition, a fun little C-plot finds Ross obsessing over his five celebrity hall passes, a.k.a. the people he's allowed to sexually pursue should the opportunity ever arise while he's in a committed relationship. 

There are several episodes throughout the 10 seasons of "Friends" that include flashbacks and alternate realities, but "The One with the Flashback" is the first and best. It's exciting to see what all the main characters were up to about a year before the series' pilot, and the premise is juicy: the flashback is prompted when Chandler's girlfriend, Janice (Maggie Wheeler), asks if any of them have ever almost hooked up. 

Boy have they! Most potential pairings are explored throughout the episode, in which Chandler is looking for a new roommate (he ends up choosing a handsome Italian actor named Joey). Monica thinks Joey is cute (a little callback to the series' creators' original intention for Joey and Monica to couple up), and is unaware that her roommate, Phoebe, is in the process of moving out. Phoebe needs to live in a land where she can spill!

Obviously, Rachel's induction into the group is the inciting incident for the series pilot, so they include her in the flashback as a coincidental visitor to the bar below the gang's apartments. She's just gotten engaged to Barry and is still a full-on Long Island rich girl, but she does contemplate one more night of passion with an anonymous lover. By the end of the episode, the bar is about to close for good (soon be converted into Central Perk), Joey has moved in with Chandler, Phoebe has told Monica she's moving out, and Ross has discovered that Carol, his wife, is in love with her gym friend Susan.

If there's one episode that stands above all the others in this list, it is "The One with the Embryos." The best things about "Friends" is, of course, how incredibly close the friends are. This show inspired many dreams of close-knit friend groups making their way together as a chosen family in a big city, and every episode that focuses on the affection between the main characters is a delight. In "The One with the Embryos," Joey and Chandler bet that they know more about their across-the-hall neighbors, Rachel and Monica, than Rachel and Monica know about them. This inspires Ross to use all of his skills to present a big quiz challenge to both pairs of roommates. 

Ross' game leads to some of the funniest scenes in all of "Friends," and offers tons of new lore to viewers. Chandler's TV Guide is addressed every month to Ms. Chanandler Bong, Monica has 11 categories of towels in her linen closet (including fancy, guest, and fancy guest), and Rachel's actual favorite movie is "Weekend at Bernie's." In the end, the girls lose, and because of Monica's competitive impulsiveness, they lose their apartment as well. 

It's very fun to see the girls and guys switch apartments for a while — it offers a good change of pace in the midst of Ross and Rachel's relationship drama in Season 4. Plus, at the end of this episode, Phoebe discovers that her brother and his wife's insemination has worked, and she will be able to serve as their surrogate.

The two-part episode "The One with Ross's Wedding" is probably the most memorable in the whole series, not to mention a peak of the show's humor, popularity, and narrative heft. Like "The One After the Super Bowl," these episodes offer enough exciting cameos to make a good drinking game, and all of them are particular to Britain. These include appearances from billionaire Richard Branson; Sarah Ferguson, the (former) Duchess of York; and actor Hugh Laurie, among many others. But even setting aside all of the British Easter Eggs, the story is pivotal for all of the main characters. Well, maybe not as pivotal for Joey, but he does get quite homesick. 

Most of the gang (sans Phoebe, who is too pregnant to fly, and Rachel, who can't bear to see Ross marry another woman) are in London for Ross's wedding to Emily (Helen Baxendale). Rachel ultimately decides to fly to London at the last minute and tell Ross she loves him. 

After that, it is revealed to audiences (in a "Friends" twist that stands head and shoulders above the rest) that Monica and Chandler hooked up the night before the wedding. That's enough excitement itself, but the two-parter still ends with one of the most shocking television cliffhangers ever when Ross says Rachel's name at the altar instead of Emily's. 

Every Thanksgiving episode of "Friends" feels special, but Season 6's "The One Where Ross Got High" is the most intricate and well-executed. At this point in the show, Rachel is living with Phoebe, and Chandler and Monica have just started living together as a couple. Joey has a new roommate named Janine (Elle Macpherson) with whom both he and Ross are enamored. 

The whole gang gathers at Monica's for turkey, and this year, Monica and Ross's parents Jack and Judy Geller (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles) are also coming for dinner. While Joey and Ross attempt to leave early for the chance to party with Janine and her dancer friends, Monica tries to make Chandler more appealing to her parents, and Rachel worries over her dessert dish.

Despite that everyone has different motivations during the episode, they all get involved in each other's corner of the story, and the plot culminates in a loud, post-dinner confessional. Monica, who is fed up with Ross' cowardice, discloses to her parents that Ross is the one who was smoking weed the day they visited his dorm room, not Chandler, as Ross told them at the time. This is the reason the Gellers have disliked Chandler for so long, so it's a big reveal. 

The rest of the confessions range in relevance (Rachel realizes she shouldn't have put ground beef in her English trifle and Phoebe announces her love for Jacques Cousteau), but the whole moment is a perfect holiday climax.

"The One with Unagi" captures a rare moment in time for the cast of "Friends." Monica and Chandler have just moved in and are not yet engaged, and Rachel and Phoebe are closer than ever because they've also moved in together. Ross is at his funniest when he's condescending, and he spends "The One with Unagi" attempting to instill the importance of constant awareness in Phoebe and Rachel when they tell him they've been taking self-defense classes. Ross refers to this as unagi, but that just makes Rachel hungry for sushi (unagi is Japanese for 'eel,' and has nothing to do with meditation). 

This episode also features a funny little couple story for Monica and Chandler, who had to put off their Valentine's Day celebration due to Monica's work schedule. Their antics involve sock puppets, mixtapes, and a special, mood-killing serenade recorded by Chandler's annoying ex-girlfriend. Joey proves the biggest fool in the episode, though, when he recruits another actor who vaguely looks like him to get paid for a study on identical twins.

Despite its popularity, "Friends" is a show with a lot of big plot holes and a wishy-washy relationship with continuity. None of the main characters have a consistent birthday. The time of year is different whenever one of them has a birthday episode on any given season, and it's not really clear how old they all are in relation to each other. 

This is perhaps the reason Season 7 features an episode that mashes together stories from each of their 30th birthdays in "The One Where they All Turn 30." Thanks to solid attempts from the hair and makeup department to make each character look different in each story, the show is able to side-step scrutiny over exact birthdays or birth years, and viewers get to sit back and enjoy a compilation of the gang's reactions to turning 30.

Rachel is largely accepted as the youngest of the group, so it's her birthday that marks the present day when the episode begins. Joey and Chandler's birthdays are throwaway jokes, but everyone else gets a shining, neurotic moment of 30-something anxiety. Ross buys a ridiculous convertible, Monica gets drunk and ruins her own fancy surprise party, and Phoebe discovers that she's actually a year older than she thought. The episode teaches us that turning 30 is emotionally complicated,  but easily bearable when you have good friends by your side.

At the start of Season 8, the gang finds out that Rachel and Ross are having a baby together. After they get over their shock, they are curious to find out how the two hooked up despite not having dated for years. The six of them can speak frankly about such a juicy intra-group situation, and this is probably the reason that Rachel ultimately decides to let everyone view the video tape of the moments leading up to her child's conception. Only close friends could count on each other to provide honest feedback about who came onto whom! 

Ross never intended to record their night together, but Rachel interrupted him while he was practicing the art of seduction with a camera. Back when Ross and Rachel hooked up, Ross was dealing with a months-long dry spell, and Joey gifted him with a romantic story guaranteed to facilitate a sensual moment. Ross is obnoxious a lot of the time, and he typically deserves to be put in his place, but he earns victory at the end of this episode when it becomes clear to the gang that Rachel is, in fact, the one who came on to him. 

One of Ross' best monologues is delivered in "The One with Phoebe's Birthday Dinner," one of a few "Friends" episodes focused on the gang's dysfunction. Rachel is having a hard time leaving baby Emma for the first time, even though she and Ross promised to attend Phoebe's birthday dinner. 

To make matters worse, they accidentally step outside the apartment and let the door lock, with Emma alone inside. Ross monologues his frustration with Rachel with an imaginary, nightmare scenario involving Emma, a running sink, and an eagle. Only "Friends" super-fans might know that David Schwimmer directed this fantastic episode.

Monica and Chandler are also fighting, albeit about married couple issues rather than new baby problems, and all four are late to Phoebe's dinner. No matter how old they get, these friends simply cannot avoid cutting it close to the wire. 

Phoebe is happy at the end of the episode (no thanks to her friends), and so are each of the bickering couples, because they get to end the night early. Joey is alone in the restaurant by the time the servers bring out six dinners, and he digs in to eat all of it — rightly informing them (and us) that they are about to see something special.