Alongside other classic comedies like Seinfeld and The Office, Friends is one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time and an essential staple in television history. Throughout the show’s ten-season run, Friends became a global phenomenon known for its lovable cast and iconic storylines that have yet to be surpassed by any other sitcom.
But what is it that made the show so funny? Friends features high-quality comedic writing, but certain episodes would be nothing without the incredibly talented cast. There are specific episodes, such as “The One with the Embryos” and “The One with the Jellyfish,” that are simply the cream of the crop. Looking at Friends and its various seasons, it is a joy to mark these twelve episodes as the absolute funniest of them all.
17 “The One with the Nap Partners”
Season 7, Episode 6 (2000)
Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer as Joey and Ross, sleeping on a couch together in FriendsImage via NBC
It is no secret that, as an adult, naps are so much more meaningful than they were as a child. This is seen in full force when Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross (David Schwimmer) fall asleep while watching a movie and accidentally end up taking a nap together. The true hilarity of it all is when they realize that they genuinely enjoyed it but are too embarrassed to admit it.
While Joey and Ross are learning the comfort of being nap time buddies, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) battle it out to see who will earn the coveted position of Monica’s (Courteney Cox) maid of honor and foolishly decide to leave the choice in the hands of the guys. Featuring the comedic Friends characters at their goofiest, Joey’s neverending attempts to get Ross to nap with him and Phoebe’s pretend maid-of-honor speech are just a few reasons why this is one of the funniest episodes.
16 “The One Where Paul’s the Man”
Season 6, Episode 22 (2000)
Paul (Bruce Willis) dancing in front of a mirror while Ross (David Schwimmer) hides under the bed in FriendsImage via NBC
In this wonderfully hilarious episode, Paul (Bruce Willis) goes as far as to threaten Ross to stop dating his daughter, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden) — who is also one of Ross’s students — which he, of course, doesn’t abide by. While the scenario is not all that humorous in and of itself, it’s the way that Willis delivers his lines and Schwimmer’s reactions that make this such a gut-busting episode.
Before Wills was an action star, he made a career for himself as a comedic actor, and this episode is a perfect reminder of his roots. His timing and delivery of his lines are not just great handling of the writer’s great work. No, it is an amazing presentation by a truly phenomenal actor who deserves more recognition for his comedic talents. Seeing Willis in rare comedic form plus the banter between him and Schwimmer are what make this one of the funniest Friends episodes.
15 “The One With Ross’s Tan”
Season 10, Episode 3 (2003)
Ross preparing to get a spray tan in ‘Friends’. Image via NBC
“The One With Ross’s Tan” has funny moments in every subplot. It all begins when Ross notices how tan Monica looks despite her not having been on vacation recently. When she reveals she got a spray tan he decides to book one for himself, only for things to drastically go wrong, and for him to get sprayed entirely on one side, leaving his front his desired golden color and his back starkly (and hilariously) pale in contrast. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Monica’s old roommate Amanda (Jennifer Coolidge) comes into town and the girls are forced to sit through a painful catch-up with her despite her only wanting to talk about herself. Also, Rachel and Joey have their first date, which goes well until they get home and things start getting hot and heavy. Suddenly, Joey, the ultimate playboy, can’t unhook Rachel’s bra, and she ends up kneeing him in the groin. It’s painfully awkward but it provides plenty of laughs.
While Ross’s tanning nightmare is the most memorable part of the episode, and certainly the highlight, the rest of the episode is no slouch either. Jennifer Coolidge is always hilarious in anything she’s in, and here she’s sporting a cheekily bad British accent despite Monica pointing out that she’s from Yonkers. It’s also funny to see Joey and Rachel try and fail to take their relationship to the next level. You want to see it go well for them but things just go so terribly wrong every single time it’s hard not to laugh. It’s such a solid episode, especially for a later season, as the show was beginning to dwindle down. – Samantha Graves
14 “The One With Chandler In a Box”
Season 4, Episode 8 (1997)
Chandler sticking a finger out of a hole in a box as his friends look from afar in ‘Friends’. Image via NBC
After Joey learns that Chandler and Kathy (Paget Brewster) kissed he refuses to forgive him, and decides to sentence his friend to five years of the silent treatment. Obviously, this is extreme and Ross talks him out of it, but just as he’s going to go talk to Chandler he catches the pair kissing again. Chandler says he’ll do anything to earn Joey’s forgiveness, so what does Joey suggest? That Chandler spend six hours in a box, the same amount of time Joey spent locked inside the entertainment center the time he and Chandler’s apartment was robbed.
Friends Thanksgiving episodes are iconic, and “The One With Chandler In a Box” is no exception. Chandler, being Chandler, makes a series of hilarious jokes while locked inside the box, like knocking on the box and tricking everyone into thinking someone’s at the door, and saying things like “You can’t tell but I’m trying to break the tension by mooning you guys.” We all know Chandler is arguably the funniest Friends character, but this episode was a true testament to Matthew Perry’s skills as a comedian, because even though he’s locked inside a box the entire episode he still manages to deliver non-stop hilarity. – Samantha Graves
13 “The One with the Football”
Season 3, Episode 9 (1996)
Monica and Phoebe holding Rachel’s legs as she hangs off of Joey’s back to slow him down during a game of football in ‘Friends’. Image via NBC
“The One With The Football” is a fan-favorite episode among Friends fans and for good reason. On Thanksgiving day the gang watches a football game, which evolves into them deciding to play their own game of football, where they’ll compete for the coveted “Geller Cup.” It’s a trophy that Monica and Ross used to compete for as kids, but they would get so competitive over it that at one point Monica actually broke Ross’s nose! With teams being Monica, Joey, and Phoebe, against Ross, Chandler, and Rachel, hilarity ensues.
“The One With The Football” is mainly a filler episode as there’s no plot besides the football game, and we really just watch as the gang plays football against one another. Some highlights include Chandler and Ross excluding Rachel from plays because they think she’s bad at football, an eventual switch to a “Battle of the Sexes” style football game, Joey and Chandler vying for the attention of the same woman, and of course, Monica and Ross fighting over who will win the game and take home the “Geller Cup” once and for all. – Samantha Graves
12 “The One Where Ross Is Fine”
Season 10, Episode 2 (2003)
Ross (David Schwimmer) standing in a doorway, saying he’s fine, in FriendsImage via NBC
Even though Ross says that he’s fine with their relationship, the newest couple on Friends, Joey and Rachel, become anxious at the thought that Ross might actually have an issue with them being together. After a horrifically awkward double date with him and Charlie (Aisha Tyler), Ross ultimately admits it still hurts him but gives Joey his blessing to continue dating Rachel.
Along with the silly antics of Ross’ drunken double date, viewers see the wonderfully funny Frank Buffay Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) walk Phoebe through his struggles with his triplets. As any parent knows, new baby exhaustion is real, and it makes you say and do wildly ridiculous things – fans see this fully through this relatable Friends episode!
11 “The One with All the Resolutions”
Season 5, Episode 11 (1999)
Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) looking at each other intensely, while Rachel clasps her hands together on FriendsImage via NBC
With a New Year ahead of them, all the Friends decide to make and stay committed to their resolutions. Joey wants to learn to play the guitar, Phoebe wants to become a pilot, and Ross decides to try new things each day. Monica, who wants to take more pictures of the group, suggests that Rachel should give up gossiping, and everyone bets Chandler (Matthew Perry) that he can’t go a whole week without making fun of them.
The most hilarious moment of this episode comes from an underrated scene when Ross decides to buy leather pants to wear on a date. When the pants cause him to overheat, he decides to get some relief in the bathroom, but as he tries to pull them back up, he can’t get them to budge. A phone call to Joey and a combination of baby powder, lotion, and a bunch of physical comedy make this a truly marvelous (and hysterical) episode.
10 “The One With the Stoned Guy”
Season 1, Episode 15 (1995)
Phoebe, Steve, Rachel, and Monica standing in Monica’s apartment in ‘Friends’. Image via NBC
Phoebe scores Monica an interview with a Chef, which excites Monica as she believes this will be the break she’s been looking for. She enlists the help of Phoebe to come make “yummy noises” while they eat, and Rachel to serve the food. Monica makes a delicious meal, but the Chef is unfortunately too stoned to notice and would rather eat Mac and Cheese, taco shells, and gummy bears, and really anything else he can get his hands on.
With Jon Lovitz playing the stoned Chef it’s no surprise that the episode is chock-full of laughs. One of the highlights being when Monica tells him she’ll be serving onion tartlets, to which he repeats “tartlets… tartlets… tartlets… word has lost all meaning.” Also, when he and Monica fight over a bag of Gummy Bears and send them flying, to which he exclaims “Bears overboard!” And proceeds to throw Sugar O’s at them so they can save themselves. It’s a hilarious episode that honestly isn’t long enough for how funny it is, and considering the show was still finding its footing at this point, “The One With The Stoned Guy” is a stand-out episode. – Samantha Graves
9 “The One with Unagi”
Season 6, Episode 17 (2000)
Ross (David Schwimmer) holding his fingers to his head, explaining Unagi on FriendsImage via NBC
When Rachel and Phoebe take self-defense classes, Ross tries to convince him that he’s a master of Unagi, which according to him, means the state of total awareness. Meanwhile, Joey hires an actor to play his identical twin, so he can join a paid medical study, and Chandler panics when he forgets to make Monica a Valentine’s Day gift and accidentally gives her a mixed tape made by his ex-girlfriend, Janice (Maggie Wheeler).
Ross failing to surprise attack Phoebe and Rachel and Joey’s new twin are just some of the sidesplitting moments from this episode. According to Friends: The Reunion, “fake Joey” is played by Louis Mandylor, who had originally auditioned for the role of Joey and actually made it to the final round of casting. This redeeming moment of Mandylor and Ross being chased by women whom he mistook for Rachel and Phoebe qualifies this as one of the funniest Friends episodes.
8 “The One Where They All Turn Thirty”
Season 7, Episode 14 (2001)
Matthew Perry as Chandler, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, David Schwimmer as Ross, Courteney Cox as Monica, and Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe standing around Matt LeBlanc as Joey for his 30th birthday in FriendsImage via NBC
When everyone arrives to celebrate Rachel’s 30th birthday on Friends, she’s far from overjoyed about the milestone (presents don’t even help!) In an attempt to cheer her up, everyone shares their experience of turning the big 3-0, which some take better than others. From Phoebe learning that she missed her 30th birthday to Ross buying a sports car, the episode never fails to deliver laugh after laugh.
As Rachel tries to figure out her life’s plan, everyone shares their less-than-practical birthdays, which, in true Friends fashion, are uniquely tailored to each character. There are several notable moments in this episode, but the variety of scenarios and Joey’s relatable funny quotes while pleading with God to let the others grow old instead of him make this a vitally funny Friends episode. – Andrea Ciriaco
7 “The One With the Cop”
Season 5, Episode 16 (1999)
Rachel, Chandler, and Ross from ‘Friends’ carrying a couch up a flight of stairs. Image via NBC
In “The One With the Cop” Joey wonders if he has a crush on Monica, Ross buys a new couch, and Phoebe finds a police badge at Central Perk. On paper, it doesn’t sound like all that groundbreaking of an episode, let alone one of the funniest, but it’s the Ross plot that lands it on this list. He decides to go couch shopping for his brand-new apartment but refuses to pay the pricey delivery fee as it costs nearly as much as the couch itself. He instead enlists the help of Rachel to help him get the couch up multiple flights of stairs and into his apartment, and when that fails, they bring in Chandler for an extra set of hands. But the issue is that the stairs form a sort of L-shape, making it impossible for them to get the couch up the stairs properly, and resulting in one of the show’s most iconic lines: “PIVOT!”
While the other side-plots of the episode are good, nothing tops the scenes of Ross, Chandler, and Rachel attempting to get the couch up to Ross’s apartment, and his constant shouts of “PIVOT!” Not to mention, Chandler’s rebuttal of “Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” In his classic Chandler snark. It’s become an iconic Friends scene for a reason. – Samantha Graves
6 “The One Where Ross Got High”
Season 6, Episode 9 (1999)
Jack and Judy Geller (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles) sitting with Ross (David Schwimmer), Chandler (Matthew Perry), and Monica (Courteney Cox) in FriendsImage via NBC
In another fantastic Thanksgiving episode from Friends, Monica and Ross’ parents (Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles) are coming over for the holiday and Monica has the uncomfortable task of telling Chandler that her parents hate him. As Chandler tries to figure out why the Gellers dislike him, Ross reveals that while home for summer during college, his parents caught him smoking marijuana and, in a panic, he blamed it on Chandler.
Everything comes to a head when Ross and Monica engage in a shouting match that involves them tattling on each other like typical siblings would do at the age of seven. While Monica and Ross are the main source of laughter, the most memorable moment of the episode is Rachel’s half-English trifle and half-Shepherd’s Pie dessert, which no one likes, well, except for Joey, of course.
5 “The One with the Jellyfish”
Season 4, Episode 1 (1997)
Joey (Matt LeBlanc) playing in the sand while Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) sit on the beach and watch on FriendsImage via NBC
While still on their mini vacation in Montauk, Joey, Monica, and Chandler spend the day together at the beach. The day starts like any other, but when Monica gets stung by a jellyfish, the trio has to resort to a rather gross level to ease her pain that haunts them all the way back to the city.
It isn’t so much the actual moment of Monica getting stung that’s hilarious, but when the three friends finally agree to tell the others about what happened. Monica setting the dramatic tone like a hard-boiled detective from a classic film noir and Chandler shrieking in horror are just a few reasons why this reigns as one of the funniest Friends episodes.
4 “The One with the Rumor”
Season 8, Episode 9 (2001)
Will Colbert (Brad Pitt) looking angrily at Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) while Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) watches on FriendsImage via NBC
In another one of the show’s Thanksgiving episodes, Season 8, episode 9, “The One With the Rumor,” Monica runs into an old friend of hers and Ross from high school, Will (Brad Pitt), and invites him over for Thanksgiving dinner. Will explains how he used to be a lot heavier in high school and went through a serious glow-up, but the beauty of Pitt’s character is that he absolutely hates Rachel, who used to make fun of him.
It’s no secret that Pitt’s guest appearance is one of the show’s best cameos, but aside from it being, well, Brad Pitt, his character despising his real-life wife at the time, Aniston, is what makes this one of the funniest Friends episodes. The scenario is heightened to hilarious levels as Rachel fails to remember Will and soon learns that he and Ross started an “I Hate Rachel Club,” putting Ross in a rather awkward situation.
3 “The One Where No One’s Ready”
Season 3, Episode 2 (1996)
Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) wearing a green dress with her arms outstretched in the Friends episode “The One Where No One’s Ready”Image via NBC
In this sidesplitting bottle episode of Friends, Ross is trying to get everyone ready for an event at the museum and there is zero cooperation. Chaos ensues as the clock continues to tick, with Chandler and Joey starting a ridiculous argument and engaging in a series of pranks, and Rachel struggling to find the perfect outfit for the occasion.
The episode’s most memorable moment, though, is without a doubt when Joey comes in wearing every single item of Chandler’s clothing, exclaiming, in his best Chandler impression — “Could I be wearing any more clothes?!” It should have been called, “The One When Joey Wears All of Chandler’s Clothes” because that is the greatest takeaway from this entire episode.
2 “The One Where Everybody Finds Out”
Season 5, Episode 14 (1999)
Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) hugging while Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) looks at them and smiles on FriendsImage via NBC
While the first time declaring love for each other is usually reserved for a special moment, Season 5, episode 14 of Friends, entitled “The One Where Everybody Finds Out,” takes the cake. When Ross, Rachel, and Phoebe are looking at Ugly Naked Guy’s apartment, Phoebe sees Monica and Chandler fooling around from the window and finally learns that they have secretly been seeing each other.
Instead of telling them that they know, Rachel and Phoebe devise a plan to seduce Chandler and get him to admit that he’s been seeing Monica. Friends embraces the running gag of “they know we know, but they don’t know that we know,” and the episode ensues in a series of hilarious (and slightly awkward) moments, such as Joey revealing Chandler’s secret fear of bras, solidifying this as one of the funniest episodes.
1 “The One With the Embryos”
Season 4, Episode 12 (1998)
Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), and Monica (Courteney Cox) sit on a couch and looking up eagerly on FriendsImage via NBC
When Chandler and Joey think they know Monica and Rachel better than the duo knows them, they decide to settle the issue with a game of trivia. With Ross serving as “game master,” each team has to answer specific questions about each other, and when the competition heats up, the stakes are raised and ends with the boys winning the girls’ apartment.
In 2018, TV Guide ranked Season 4, episode 12, “The One with the Embryos,” as the series’ best overall episode. Between the random trivia questions created by Ross and the dramatically intense, but comical, battle of the sexes, it’s easy to see why this episode reigns as not only one of the best but also the funniest Friends episode of all time. – Andrea Ciriaco
