"Friends" on Thanksgiving

I originally posted this two years ago, but I think of it every year and wanted to share it again.  Rachel also loves Friends - maybe that's why we're friends (insert gag here).

There were many reasons to love "Friends" and this week I'm thankful that they always had a terrific Thanksgiving episode. I like it when a TV show acknowledges that it doesn't live in a vacuum and realizes that it exists on Thursday nights and Thanksgiving is always a Thursday, and the producers at "Friends" always made unique Thanksgiving shows. Most series do a Christmas/holiday episode of some sort, but with the current schedule of episodes, Christmas shows often appear the first week of December with no new episodes until well after the holidays.  Without further ado, here are the reasons I'm thankful Friends was an awesome show. 

Season 1 - "The One Where Underdog Gets Away" This episode brings all the friendless Friends together when they're supposed to be celebrating elsewhere. They pretend that Wonderdog escaped from the Macy's parade and ends up down in the Village near their apartments, getting locked out and missing dinner. Not the best, but a classic example of Friends.

Season 2 - I don't know why, but there's no Thanksgiving episode this season.

Season 3 - "The One with the Football" None of the Friends are dressed well throughout this episode, and it always bothers me. They decide to play football in the park, it becomes really competitive and dirty tricks abound. Joey and Chandler fight over a hot girl, but as they learn, most girls don't want to be told who they get to go out with. The episode ends with Monica and Ross still in the park holding onto the football waiting to see who wins The Gellar Cup.

Season 4 - "The One with Chandler in a Box" This is one of the all time best episodes of Friends. Joey won't forgive Chandler for kissing his girlfriend Cathy. To make up for it, Chandler spends Thanksgiving Day in a box. Monica gets ice in her eye and goes to see the eye doctor - Richard's son (hot Michael Vartan) who she invites to Thanksgiving Dinner. The whole thing becomes kinda weird, particularly with Chandler sticking his fingers out of the hole in the box, but it's got one of the best lines ever from Monica yelling at the others for judging her crush on Richard's son:

"Fine! Judge all you want to but, [points to Ross] married a lesbian, [points to Rachel] left a man at the altar, [points to Phoebe] fell in love with a gay ice dancer, [points to Joey] threw a girl's wooden leg in a fire, [points to the box Chandler's in] live in a box!"

Season 5 - "The One with Thanksgiving Flashbacks" All the Friends flashback to Thanksgivings they remember. The show always did this well, with Monica in a fat suit, Rachel with her old nose, Ross and Chandler's 80s hair. They flash back to the 2 Thanksgivings when Ross brought Chandler home from college. The first year he calls Monica fat behind her back, so the next year she's back to her normal size. She says she hates him, which parallels to their real time affair, deciding they love each other. There's a great moment when Joey has the turkey on his head.

Season 6 - "The One where Ross Got High" This is another of my all time favorites. The Gellars come over for Christmas and Rachel makes trifle but accidentally adds beef with peas and onions. Phoebe dreams about Jack Gellar fighting Jacques Cousteau. And Ross and Monica out each other on all the secrets of their childhood: porn, broken porch swing, pot smoking. They find out they've been blaming Chandler for lots of things which is why the Gellar parents have always hated him. When they find out the truth, they thank Chandler for watching out for their kids. Joey comments on Rachel's trifle: "What's not to like, Jam:good, Custard: Good, Beef: Gooo-od"

Season 7 - "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs" This episode didn't really fit into their Thanksgiving canon. Phoebe has a dog she's been hiding in the guest room even though Chandler hates them and says he's deathly allergic. Not too much goes on beyond Rachel flirting with Tag and he finds out she likes him.

Season 8 - "The One with the Rumor" This was when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were still married. Pitt guest starred as a friend of Ross' from high school who used to be really fat. Rachel spends most of the episode trying to figure out who he was and flirting. But he and Ross had a club in high school called the We Hate Rachel Greene club. Rachel is pissed when she finds out considering she is pregnant and having a kid with Ross. Pitt applauds Ross for knocking up Rachel. It's a really funny episode with lots of Thanksgiving cooking.

Season 9 - "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" Christina Applegate shows up for Thanksgiving and spouts her narcissistic opinions on how to raise Rachel and Ross' new baby Emma. She assumes she'd get to raise Emma if Ross or Rachel die, but they've already planned to ask Monica and Chandler. This causes all kinds of discussions about why certain people would or would not be good parents.

Season 10 - "The One with the Late Thanksgiving" Monica reluctantly agrees to cook Thanksgiving dinner again, but Ross and Joey go to a hockey game, and Phoebe and Rachel enter Emma in a beautiful baby contest so everyone's late. They spend a lot of time talking to Monica and Chandler through the door with the chain on, floating heads. Joey of course gets his head stuck. It's a really funny classic Friends episode of fighting, but no one being really upset. Great finale to the Thanksgiving series.

TV Meme: Day 24

Day 24 - Best quote

This was probably the easiest for me.  I quote Friends more than almost anyone I know, but this particular quote really separates the fans from the watchers.  

Joey:  The big question is, does he like you. Because if he doesn't like you this is all a moo point.

Rachel (pauses, looks puzzled): A moo point?

Joey: Yeah, It's like a cow's opinion.  It just doesn't matter.  It's moo.

TV Meme: Day 20

Day 20 - Favorite kiss

 

There are lots and lots of characters that kiss.  Lots of shows set up a Ross/Rachel dynamic that ultimately ends up with some version of will they/won't they, which usually ends with the kiss.  Some are disappointing (this season Booth and Bones' kiss didn't work out, very disappointing).  Usually the bigger the build up, the less exciting it actually is.  I know I've talked about Friends a lot, but it's definitely the one that fits the bill here.  When Rachel finally finds out that Ross had a crush on her forever, she decides she likes him too, but they can't make it work out.  However, later, when she sees how he was willing to take her to the prom when her date showed up late, she rushes over and kisses him.  That's my favorite kiss.

 

TV Meme: Day 19

Day 19 - Best t.v show cast

Sometimes a cast comes together and they're made up of amazing actors (Brothers & Sisters) but sometimes the cast comes together can creates a show, wins awards, and ultimately become a famous cast (Six Feet Under).  My favorite cast was one of the latter.  I vaguely remember Courtney Cox having been in a movie or maybe just the Bruce Springsteen video before we saw her on Friends, but ultimately the cast came together and became really famous for being a Friend.  New shows advertise a Friends reunion whenever two or more appear together (Lisa Kudrow guest starred on Cougar Town with Cox).  

All six of them are in every single episode, which is unusual for an ensemble, but I think it's par of what made them awesome.  

'Friends' on Thanksgiving

There were many reasons to love "Friends" and this week I'm thankful that they always had a terrific Thanksgiving episode. I like it when a TV show acknowledges that it doesn't live in a vacuum and realizes that it exists on Thursday nights and Thanksgiving is always a Thursday, and the producers at "Friends" always made unique Thanksgiving shows ("Boston Legal" is another show that acknowledges it knows it's a TV show from time to time). Most series do a Christmas/holiday episode of some sort, but with the current schedule of episodes, Christmas shows often appear the first week of December with no new episodes until well after the holidays.

Season 1 - "The One Where Underdog Gets Away" This episode brings all the friendless Friends together when they're supposed to be celebrating elsewhere. They pretend that Wonderdog escaped from the Macy's parade and ends up down in the Village near their apartments, getting locked out and missing dinner. Not the best, but a classic.

Season 2 - I don't know why, but there's no Thanksgiving episode this season.

Season 3 - "The One with the Football" None of the Friends are dressed well throughout this episode, and it always bothers me. They decide to play football in the park, it becomes really competitive and dirty tricks abound. Joey and Chandler fight over a hot girl, but as they learn, most girls don't want to be told who they get to go out with. The episode ends with Monica and Ross still in the park holding onto the football waiting to see who wins The Gellar Cup.

Season 4 - "The One with Chandler in a Box" This is one of the all time best episodes of Friends. Joey won't forgive Chandler for kissing his girlfriend Cathy. To make up for it, Chandler spends Thanksgiving Day in a box. Monica gets ice in her eye and goes to see the eye doctor - Richard's son (hot Michael Vartan) who she invites to Thanksgiving Dinner. The whole thing becomes kinda weird, particularly with Chandler sticking his fingers out of the hole in the box, but it's got one of the best lines ever from Monica yelling at the others for judging her crush on Richard's son:

"Fine! Judge all you want to but, [points to Ross] married a lesbian, [points to Rachel] left a man at the altar, [points to Phoebe] fell in love with a gay ice dancer, [points to Joey] threw a girl's wooden leg in a fire, [points to the box Chandler's in] live in a box!"

Season 5 - "The One with Thanksgiving Flashbacks" All the Friends flashback to Thanksgivings they remember. The show always did this well, with Monica in a fat suit, Rachel with her old nose, Ross and Chandler's 80s hair. They flash back to the 2 Thanksgivings when Ross brought Chandler home from college. The first year he calls Monica fat behind her back, so the next year she's back to her normal size. She says she hates him, which parallels to their real time affair, deciding they love each other. There's a great moment when Joey has the turkey on his head.

Season 6 - "The One where Ross Got High" This is another of my all time favorites. The Gellars come over for Christmas and Rachel makes trifle but accidentally adds beef with peas and onions. Phoebe dreams about Jack Gellar fighting Jacques Cousteau. And Ross and Monica out each other on all the secrets of their childhood: porn, broken porch swing, pot smoking. They find out they've been blaming Chandler for lots of things which is why the Gellar parents have always hated him. When they find out the truth, they thank Chandler for watching out for their kids. Joey comments on Rachel's trifle: "What's not to like, Jam:good, Custard: Good, Beef: Gooo-od"

Season 7 - "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs" This episode didn't really fit into their Thanksgiving canon. Phoebe has a dog she's been hiding in the guest room even though Chandler hates them and says he's deathly allergic. Not too much goes on beyond Rachel flirting with Tag and he finds out she likes him.

Season 8 - "The One with the Rumor" This was when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were still married. Pitt guest starred as a friend of Ross' from high school who used to be really fat. Rachel spends most of the episode trying to figure out who he was and flirting. But he and Ross had a club in high school called the We Hate Rachel Greene club. Rachel is pissed when she finds out considering she is pregnant and having a kid with Ross. Pitt applauds Ross for knocking up Rachel. It's a really funny episode with lots of Thanksgiving cooking.

Season 9 - "The One with Rachel's Other Sister" Christina Applegate shows up for Thanksgiving and spouts her narcissistic opinions on how to raise Rachel and Ross' new baby Emma. She assumes she'd get to raise Emma if Ross or Rachel die, but they've already planned to ask Monica and Chandler. This causes all kinds of discussions about why certain people would or would not be good parents.

Season 10 - "The One with the Late Thanksgiving" Monica reluctantly agrees to cook Thanksgiving dinner again, but Ross and Joey go to a hockey game, and Phoebe and Rachel enter Emma in a beautiful baby contest so everyone's late. They spend a lot of time talking to Monica and Chandler through the door with the chain on, floating heads. Joey of course gets his head stuck. It's a really funny classic Friends episode of fighting, but no one being really upset. Great finale to the Thanksgiving series.

Blog Chain Mail...

I know I usually post about movies, and I will as I've just seen a double feature of "The Women" and "Burn After Reading", but as The Nerdy Fashionista tagged me, and I'm very susceptible to this stuff, I'll just do it.

1. Where were you 10 years ago? I was gearing up to start my sophomore year of college. I don't think I'd even left yet to start the fall semester, we had such a late starting school. Comes from having finals after Christmas.

2. What's on your to-do list today? Well, my already done list included "The Women" and "Burn After Reading" so I've pretty much accomplished all I intended.

3. What if you were a billionaire? I'd probably be really tired from working so hard to escape the authorities after stealing the money. However, if I still had energy to spend my billions, I'd definitely buy back my grandparents house (no sad story, they just don't live there anymore and I love the house). I'd install an amazing movie theater in my house to watch every movie I'd own on DVD. Oh, I'd probably give lots of it away to good charities since I've become pretty good on living on meager incomes.

4. Name 5 places that you have lived?

-Potsdam, NY
-Gamboa, Panama
-Nanyuki, Kenya
-Brooklyn, NY
-New York, NY

5. What are 3 bad habits that you have?

- Interrupting when people talk
-Buying ingredients for recipes I never make
-Always letting someone else do the dishes

6. What kind of snack do you like?
This time of year it's definitely candy corn...lots of it.


Next person tagged is Cat at Catherine and Paul

10 Best "Friends"

It's been a while since new Friends went off the air, but thanks to the wonder of re-runs it might never be gone. Being snowed in today, I watched a few of my favorite episodes and thought I'd share them. There's very little in Season 1 or Season 9 that ranks high, but both seasons do a good job to set up the others. Here are my favorites:

10. Season 5, Episode 24: The One in Vegas: Part 2
The whole group has arrived in Vegas to see Joey. Rachel has ink drawn on her face and refuses to leave the hotel room, so she and Ross get drunk, and they draw on Ross's face too. They get REALLY drunk, and leave the room to get married. Monica and Chandler think they should get married, but are stopped when Ross and Rachel come out of the chapel.
"Hello, Mrs. Ross. Hell-ooo Mr. Rachel"

9. Season 7, Episode 10: The One with the Holiday Armadillo
Ross wants to introduce Ben to Chanukah, but all the Santa costumes are rented, so he arrives dressed as the Holiday Armadillo. Joey arrives as Superman, and finally Chandler is Santa. They all sit down to discuss Chanukah.
"Can I talk to Superman and the Holiday Armadillo over here? Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

8. Season 8, Episode 4: The One with the Videotape
Ross and Rachel tell the friends about the night they were together when she got pregnant. Ross tells that he has a tape from that night and proves that Rachel hit on him, with lines she got from Joey.
"I went backpacking through Europe..."

7. Season 10, Episode 12: The One with Phoebe's Wedding
Monica plans Phoebe's wedding, which all falls apart when NYC is snowed in. Joey marries Phoebe and Mike, and Chandler gets to walk her down the aisle. It's just a pretty episode where everyone fights about how to do everything (best man, etc.)
"Joey, Chappy's heart rate has slowed way down" - as Mike's dog dies in the cold.

6. Season 2, Episode 7: The One Where Ross Finds Out
Rachel claims to be over Ross, but goes on a date and gets really drunk Rachel then calls Ross and leaves him a message saying she is over him. Of course it works out and they kiss for the first time.
"When were you, when were you...under me?"

5. Season 8, Episode 13: The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath
Considering baby names, parents to be Ross and Rachel had no word in common except 'veto!'. Chandler was unable to understand why Monica loves taking an elaborate bath, but falls for them and keeps stealing hers (but with his boat). They all end up in the bathroom with Chandler when Rachel and Ross find out they're going to have a baby girl.
"Little baby Ruth"

4. Season 4, Episode 8: The One with Chandler in a Box
Joey won't forgive Chandler for kissing his girlfriend Cathy. To make up for it, Chandler spends Thanksgiving Day in a box. Monica gets ice in her eye and goes to see the eye doctor - Richard's son (hot Michael Vartan) who she invites to Thanksgiving Dinner.
"Fine! Judge all you want to but, [points to Ross] married a lesbian, [points to Rachel] left a man at the altar, [points to Phoebe] fell in love with a gay ice dancer, [points to Joey] threw a girl's wooden leg in a fire, [points to the box Chandler's in] live in a box!"

3. Season 6, Episode 9: The One Where Ross Got High
The Gellars come over for Christmas and Rachel makes trifle but accidentally adds beef with peas and onions. Phoebe dreams about Jack Gellar fighting Jacques Cousteau. And Ross and Monica out each other on all the secrets of their childhood.
"What's not to like, Jam:good, Custard: Good, Beef: Gooo-od"

2. Season 3, Episode 2: The One Where No One's Ready
Ross becomes very frustrated with his friends when they fail to be ready on time for a speech that he is giving at the museum. Joey and Chandler fight over the chair and end up putting on all kinds of each other clothes.
"You hide my underwear, I'm wearing everything you own"

1. Season 4, Episode 12: The One with the Embryos OR the one where they play a game to win the apartment.
Phoebe is being impregnated with her brother and his wife's embryos. She chats with them in one of the cutest scenes from friends. But the best part of the episode is the game Rachel and Monica play against Joey and Chandler to prove who knows who better. Ross makes up the questions and Joey and Chandler win the apartment. I LOVE this episode.
"That's Miss Chanandeler Bong"