Summary

• Friends Christmas episodes are rewatchable and provide festive laughs and touching moments with the beloved characters.
• The gang spends the holiday season together, allowing viewers to see their growth and dynamic changes over the years.
• Each episode balances wacky holiday hijinks with heartfelt storylines, making for a perfect blend of humor and heart.

The Friends Christmas episodes provide festive holiday laughs and touching moments that can be returned to each year to celebrate with the sitcom's beloved characters. Many sitcoms are known for their annual Christmas episodes and Friends is one show that truly embraced the holiday season feeling. Part of the show's appeal is that the six central characters — Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe — are so entertaining and charming that viewers feel like they are spending time with old friends. This also means that the Friends Christmas episodes are some of the most rewatchable holiday sitcom specials ever.

While not every season of the show featured a Christmas episode, Friends offers more than most sitcoms. The gang spends the holiday season together year after year, which also gives viewers a chance to see them grow as characters throughout the series. Relationships come and go, there are many changes in their dynamic, but throughout it all the Friends gang always finds ways to have hilarious Christmas misadventures together.

Where To Watch Friends

The One With Phoebe's Dad

Season 2, Episode 9

Friends has always succeeded in combining humor and heart. The Christmas episodes are a great example of that, especially in the series' first attempt at some holiday storytelling. The main emotional storyline in the season 1 Friends Christmas episode involves Phoebe learning that her father is alive and deciding to go out to meet him, joined by Joey and Chandler for emotional support. Meanwhile, Rachel and Monica's Christmas party turns tropical when their furnace breaks and makes the apartment unseasonably warm.

The mix of wacky holiday hijinks and Phoebe's touching attempts to discover more about her family make for a nice balance. There are also some stand-out hilarious moments in the episode, especially in the final season in which Chandler and Joey present the gang with the Christmas presents they had to get at a gas station.

The One Where Rachel Quits

Season 3, Episode 10

This Friends Christmas episode from season 3 might focus more on the big moment for Rachel as she finally quits her job at Central Perk, but the real fun is in the festive subplot. When Joey gets a job selling Christmas trees, Phoebe is appalled that he has had a hand in chopping down innocent trees in their prime. Things only get worse when she visits him at work and discovers what happens to the trees that don't get sold.

Overall, it is a charming and funny episode with the Christmas tree storyline making great use of Phoebe's charming eccentricities. It also wraps up in a heartwarming way as Joey and Monica adopt all the unwanted trees and decorate the apartment with them.

The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie

Season 4, Episode 10

This Friends Christmas episode features some classic sitcom material as the characters deal with mini-crises in terms of their work and their love life. Ross finds himself dating a girl from out of town and struggling with the commute to see her. Meanwhile, Chandler sets Monica up with a guy from work but makes a mess of things by saying the wrong thing. Finally, Monica hires Joey as a waiter at her work for the sole purpose of firing him to gain respect from her staff.

The episode has some great moments, like Joey refusing to go along with Monica's plans after seeing the tips he gets and Ross ending up in Canada. There isn't much in the way of holiday storytelling, but Phoebe does provide a bit of cheer with her memorable holiday song.

The One With The Inappropriate Sister

Season 5, Episode 10

This is another Friends Christmas episode that is a little light on the holiday feeling. However, that might be a good thing, as all the storylines are overshadowed by one of the stranger concepts in the show. Rachel finds her relationship with Danny becoming awkward when she finds that he is unusually close with his sister. There is also a funny subplot with Ross helping Joey write a script, but his demanding schedule takes the fun out of it.

Once again, it is up to Phoebe to provide the only real Christmas content in the episode. Her storyline sees her volunteering for a holiday charity but begins to take an aggressive approach when people mistreat her collection bin.

The One With The Holiday Armadillo

Season 7, Episode 10

Regarded by many fans as the best Friends holiday episode, the story is actually more focused on Hanukkah than Christmas — although it's most remembered for introducing Ross's new seasonal character, the Holiday Armadillo. Ross attempts to get his son Ben excited about the Jewish holiday and decides to dress up as Santa to explain the fun of Hanukkah. Unfortunately, all he is able to find is an armadillo costume, which leads to a lot of hilarious explanations.

There is also a funny subplot of Phoebe attempting to get Rachel to move back in with her by getting Joey increasingly annoying Christmas presents. Both storylines are terrific, but seeing Ross struggle to make the "holiday armadillo" work, while also being joined by some unexpected friends, makes for one of the funniest scenes in the series.

The One With Ross's Step Forward

Season 8, Episode 11

The season 8 Friends Christmas episode is the beginning of the much controversial storyline of Joey developing feelings for Rachel, but it also has a lot of fun elements outside of that, including Ross making a mess of a Christmas tradition. When his girlfriend Mona suggests that they should send out a Christmas card together, it freaks him out, sending him spiraling out of control as he tries to find the right level of commitment he is ready for.

Also, when Monica refuses to spend an evening with Chandler's obnoxious boss, Chandler is forced to lie about breaking up with her, leading to a bachelor's night on the town. Though it might not bring the Christmas spirit as well as other episodes, there are big laughs and wacky moments that make it a solid Friends episode on its own.

The One With Christmas In Tulsa

Season 9, Episode 10

The final Friends Christmas episode is, unfortunately, a clip show instead of being a brand-new holiday story. The framing device for the flashbacks is that Chandler is forced to spend Christmas away from Monica and his friends as he is working in Tulsa in his new position. This gets him reminiscing about past holiday fun with his loved ones as well as his relationship with Monica. While seeing these old Friends moments is fun, clip show episodes often feel skippable when binge-watching an older show. Still, the episode does feature a big moment for Chandler in the end, as he quits his job and starts his new career path.

• 

  Friends

  Cast:

  Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer

  Release Date:

  1994-09-22

  Seasons:

  10

  Genres:

  Comedy, Drama, Sitcom

  Writers:

  David Crane, Marta Kauffman

  Story By:

  Marta Kauffman

  Network:

  NBC

  Franchise(s):

  Friends

  Directors:

  David Crane, Marta Kauffman

  Showrunner:

  Marta Kauffman

  Season List:

  Friends - Season 1, Friends - Season 2, Friends - Season 3, Friends - Season 4, Friends - Season 5, Friends - Season 6, Friends - Season 7, Friends - Season 8, Friends - Season 9, Friends - Season 10