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'Friends' comes to Netflix Jan. 1; here are our top 10 episodes

 
“The One With All the Thanksgivings,” with Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) is one of the best Thanksgiving Friends episodes.
“The One With All the Thanksgivings,” with Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) is one of the best Thanksgiving Friends episodes.
Published Dec. 24, 2014

If you have eyes and a television, you know about a little show called Friends, the NBC Must-See-TV-era megahit that turned 20 years old this year to the chagrin of aging Gen-Xers everywhere.

Santa must be a fan, too, because all 10 glorious seasons of Friends are finally coming to Netflix, one week from today. Sure, the show is on TV all the time courtesy of reruns, but now you'll be able to pick and choose which episodes you want to watch. (Also, it's a major and necessary life development for those of us without cable.) To get you started, here are my top 10 Friends episodes, in no particular order, because ranking them seems more difficult than trying to decide whether Ross and Rachel really were on a break.

The One With The Prom Video, season 2, episode 14

The first of Friends' epic flashbacks, this time to Monica and Rachel's senior prom night, combines with the moment when Ross and Rachel finally get together to make for one heck of an episode. Rachel still has her real nose, Courtney Cox dons Monica's fat suit for the first time, and Ross has a mustache and unfortunate afro. When Rachel's prom date is late, Ross gets ready to take her, before her date actually shows up. "See?" Phoebe says, "He's her lobster!"

The One Where No One's Ready, season 3, episode 2

Friends at its revolving-door-farce best, with the entire thing set in Monica's apartment as the gang gets ready to attend a function at the museum where Ross works. But really, this one's on here for the moment when Joey barges in, wearing everything Chandler owns because Chandler hid his underwear, in retaliation for an argument over a chair. "Could I be wearing any more clothes?"

The One With The Morning After, season 3, episode 16

This episode shows the expert control Friends had over its tone (snarky yet sweet) and characters. It's the one where Ross and Rachel finally break up, and the final scene, when the two realize what's happening, is a real punch to the gut. But there's levity in the scenes with the other four, who are forced to wait the long fight out in Monica's bedroom, desperately eavesdropping and finding questionable things to eat (hair removal wax!).

The One With The Embryos, season 4, episode 12

Don't recognize the name? Friends fans definitely know this one, in which the gang competes in a trivia game to see who knows more about each other, boys versus girls. Ross is a delirious delight as the host, taking the whole thing way too seriously. The stakes get higher with each round, until Joey and Chandler win Monica and Rachel's apartment. Highlights of the game include no one knowing what Chandler does for a living and the name of Joey's imaginary friend (Maurice, duh).

The One Where Everybody Finds Out, season 5, episode 14

Earlier in the season, Chandler accidentally kisses Monica goodbye in front of the group, and in an attempt to hide their new, London-born relationship, he proceeds to kiss everyone and blame it on weird European tradition. When Phoebe and Rachel find out what's really going on in this episode, Phoebe and Chandler out-flirt each other to get the other to reveal the truth. (Monica: "You go back out there, and you seduce her till she cracks!") The early Monica-Chandler relationship, and especially their attempts to cover it up, are some of the most classic of the Friends cahoots.

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Thanksgiving episodes

Okay, time to cheat, because I just can't choose from these classic Friends Thanksgivings. The One With All The Thanksgivings (Season 5, Episode 8) may be the best, studded with hilarious flashbacks ranging from Phoebe's old-timey war "memories" to Chandler's childhood trauma. But then there's Season 6's "The One Where Ross Got High," in which Rachel tries to make that dessert trifle and accidentally combines recipes for trifle and shepherd's pie. (In the immortal words of Joey: "What's not to like? Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Gooood.") And Season 8's "The One with the Rumor" welcomes guest star Brad Pitt (married to Jennifer Aniston at the time) as a formerly fat high school friend of Monica's who, in an amusing meta twist, hated Rachel.

The One On The Last Night, season 6, episode 6

This one's great for the way it focuses on the show's most central duos: Monica and Rachel, and Chandler and Joey. Monica and Chandler, by now a serious couple, are officially moving in together, which means they have to say goodbye to living with their respective BFFs. The way each pair handles it is so classically them, from the way Monica and Rachel bicker before falling into each other's arms ("I have to live with a BOY!"), to the way Chandler tries to trick Joey into accepting his money by creating a fake game called Cups.

The One With The Proposal, season 6 episodes 24 and 25

Like Season 3's "The One With The Morning After," this is Friends getting all poignant and mushy, with the very memorable last scene of Monica and Chandler both on their knees after Monica surprises Chandler by proposing. Beautifully written, directed and acted, and a perfect example of why we got so invested in the lives of these sitcom characters.

The One with All the Cheesecakes, season 7, episode 11

Rachel and Chandler get to spend some quality time together, and the results are as delicious as the cheesecake. Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry are a revelation together, ping-ponging off each other's expert comedic timing. The cherry on top of this episode? The final scene, in which Joey finds the pair eating their fallen cheesecake off the floor, surveys the scene, then, after a beat, pulls out a fork. "Alright, what are we having?"

The Last One, season 10, episode 17 and 18

Call me a softie, but it's tough to watch this series finale, and that last scene in Monica's empty apartment, and how they all leave their keys on the counter, and the way Jennifer Aniston breaks down and tries to hide her tears, and how Chandler asks where they should go get coffee, and not get emotional.