Friends' Creators Have Two Types Of Favorite Episodes

Every episode of "Friends" acted as a portal to a comforting alternate reality, one where the characters always ate breakfast together and rent in New York was actually affordable. And as anyone who has ever watched the show has their favorite episodes, so too do the series' creators.

Marta Kauffman and David Crane spoke with Glamour back in 2016 and revealed their own personal favorite episodes from the long-running NBC series, which went off the air back in 2004 but has remained ubiquitous ever since. Kauffman, who told the outlet picking favorite episodes was like trying to pick a favorite child, said she had a soft spot for any episode that featured someone giving birth. "I think that must be a mother thing," she said. "Friends" certainly had its fair share of births, from Lisa Kudrow's Phoebe acting as a surrogate for her brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and his wife Alice (Debra Jo Rupp) to Jennifer Aniston's Rachel delivering her and Ross' (David Schwimmer) baby, Emma. The show's tenth and final season also featured the birth of Chandler (the late Matthew Perry) and Monica's (Courteney Cox) baby via their own surrogate, Erica (Anna Faris).

When Kauffman spoke with Vulture in 2020, she made a definitive choice, pointing to Season 4's "The One With the Embryos" as her ultimate "Friends" episode. "That, for me, really says it all," she said. Co-written by Jill Condon and Amy Toomin, it saw Rachel and Monica face off against Chandler and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) in a game of trivia that resulted in the boys winning the girls' apartment. Meanwhile, Phoebe announced her pregnancy after a successful embryo implant. "It had heart, it was funny, it was emotional," Kauffman explained. "That, for me, is one of the iconic episodes." Crane, however, preferred a different type of episode.

Asked by Glamour about his favorite "Friends" installment, co-creator David Crane highlighted the Thanksgiving episodes. "For some reason, everyone just stepped up," he explained. "I mean, the one with Brad Pitt and the one with the flashback... those have a special place in my heart."

It makes sense that Crane would choose the holiday-themed episodes as his faves, since they contained some major "Friends" moments. Season 5's "The One with All the Thanksgivings," written by Gregory S. Malins, saw the gang reminiscing about Thanksgivings past, specifically their worst ever experiences of the holiday. During the episode, we learn the Monica accidentally cut off Chandler's toe, leading him to storm out. She then dons the Thanksgiving turkey and dances to cheer him up in a classic scene that ends with Chandler admitting he loves her. Like "The One with the Embryos," "The One with All the Thanksgivings" had both heart and humor, making it a standout and propelling it to the top of TVLine's own list of the best "Friends" Thanksgiving episodes.

Season 8, episode 9, "The One With the Rumor," saw Jennifer Aniston's then-husband Brad Pitt join the group for Thanksgiving as Will Colbert, an old school friend of Monica and Ross' who harbors a grudge against Rachel for bullying him. Though the titular rumor is one aspect of the series that hasn't aged all that well — Will revealed that he and Ross told people in high school that Rachel was born with both male and female reproductive parts — Pitt was one of the show's biggest guest stars. The episode is memorable for his presence alone ... and for Joey eating an entire turkey by himself while wearing Phoebe's maternity clothes.