After ten amazing years, Friends concludes one of the most successful sitcom runs of all time as the number-one comedy for the sixth season in a row, as the series finale marks the most-watched entertainment broadcast in nearly six years with an estimate of 65.9 million total viewers watching at least part of the episode and an overall average of 52.5 million viewers. Now I know that there are only ten seasons to list from, but bear with me. The following is a list counting down the not-so-good to the best. Along with each season comes a small bloopers edit for your viewing pleasure.
When it began, Season Nine was going to be the final season of Friends but it soon became apparent that NBC didn’t want to bid a fond farewell to Friends just yet. Season nine followed Rachel through her early days of motherhood, while sorting out her personal life right from the opening episode. One of season nine’s most winning episodes was “The One With the Male Nanny” which featured a hilariously sensitive turn by Freddie Prinze, Jr. Paul Rudd turned up as a last minute blind date for Phoebe and soon became a fixture. Overall a good season, but logistically it failed when it came to the raw punchlines that Friends was so accustomed to nailing.
This was the season where Friends went through maturation. Not just for the characters, but the show itself. Monica and Chandler grow more and more into a serious relationship. Many guest stars made their way onto the Friends set, including Reese Witherspoon, Ralph Lauren, and Bruce Willis. Still the emotional high point was the inspired season finale “The One with the Proposal -Parts One and Two”.
In this season Ross and Rachel broke up in “The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break,” while the show kept things together rather well. Friends was now an established hit-and the best episodes of the third season, including “The One With the Princess Leia Fantasy,” “The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break,” “The One With The Flashback,” and “The One at the Beach,”- show why. This season explored emotional issues and can fairly easily be summed up into five words: we were on a break.
Everybody loves a wedding, right? First and foremost, Season Seven was a long drive to the altar for Monica and Chandler. The season opener found the gang reacting to news of the impending nuptials, with Phoebe pitching to provide the wedding music and Rachel acting out. Throughout the season, wedding bells rang, thanks in large part to the planning of control freak Monica. Assorted wedding issues were hashed out in episodes like “The One With Rachel’s Book,” and “The One With The Engagement Pictures.” But hey, who can blame Monica? Who doesn’t like to plan their own TV wedding?
In the fall of 2003, the time had come for Friends to face its not so long goodbye. And inevitably, the need for some sort of comedic closure shaped an abbreviated season that consisted of only 18 new episodes. As Season Ten unfolded, our gang of six wasn’t exactly breaking up, but rather moving on with their lives in various ways. Monica and Chandler continued on their long and emotional path to parenthood and, yes, a home in the suburbs. Ross and Rachel were busy bringing up Emma and at times reconsidering their long and famously complicated relationship. Phoebe actually got married to her shockingly stable significant other, Mike, and settled down. And finally, of course, Joey was busy, well, being Joey.
In the beginning there was a runaway bride. By the end of the first season, Friends was a runaway smash. In between, the show enjoyed what can only be described as a dream season, both on-screen and off. While bringing to life some of the most classic Friends episodes ever.
It was the best of seasons, it was the worst of seasons. The second coming of Friends saw numerous strong episodes, but also the show’s first reckoning with what shall now be known as The Backlash. Season Two featured the further adventures of Ross and Rachel, the tragic death of Mr Heckles, the shocking revelation of Chandler’s third nipple, the comeback of Tom Selleck as Monica’s older new squeeze, the rise and fall of Joey’s soap opera stud Dr. Drake Ramoray, the lesbian wedding, Phoebe singing “Smelly Cat”, as well as the greatest prom video in the history of Western civilization.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find a season five gag reel.
Early in Season Five, Friends arrived in television’s biggest winning circle with its 100th episode. In television, reaching one hundred episodes means that a show now has enough of a backlog to provide many, many years of profitable syndicated fun. For Friends, “The One Hundredth” episode also marked another significant passage when Phoebe gave birth to the triplets she had been carrying for her half-brother and his wife since Season Four. “Hi, I’m Phoebe Buffay, and I have babies coming out of me,” the multiple mother-to-be offered by way of a hospital introduction.
What can one say about a season of Friends that starts with “The One With the Jellyfish”-in which Chandler pees on Monica to relieve the sting of the title sea creature-and ends with “The One With Ross’s Wedding-Part One and Two” in which it’s famously revealed that the same pair of friends have been under the covers together in the Motherland? Well, you can say this: Season Four is definitely one of the Friends’ greatest ever.
At their best, sitcoms gave people a place to go once a week where they can laugh and forget about their troubles for 22 minutes or so. Perhaps that helps explain why Season Eight of Friends-which began in the wake of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001-turned out to be arguably the show’s finest hour. In Season Eight, Friends seemed infused with a renewed sense of purpose and viewers took note as ratings increased. “I think Friends was like comfort food for people at that time,” says Producer Marta Kauffman. “And I was really honored to be comfort food. We weren’t dealing with the larger issues. We were just doing comedy, and I think people wanted to laugh more than they wanted to see all the images over and over and over again of the Towers coming down. After a time, people really were ready to laugh, needed to laugh again. That was just a special season, a strong season. It’s hard to look at all your children and wonder which one is strongest, but I really did love Season Eight.”
For all the good work in Season Eight, Friends would finally win its first Best Comedy Emmy-a long delayed honor considering the show’s overall quality and massive popularity success.
Contributor: flamiejamie
slick: if you liked seinfeld because of subltety and creativity then you have to get arrested development. even just thinking about it now, i am laughing.
danohh: that was brilliant. a very special episode, lol.
mom424: glad to see there is another fan of AD. who is your favorite character?
he was sttniig at the bar or in a booth or at a table in one scene. That should make watching even more fun. Like Where’s Waldo!
I have an idea for a list!
Top 10 Numbers, one through ten!
Nancy, I didn’t rlaely know of Hugh Laurie before House but I can see why you’ve been a long-time fan. Kailana, it’s sarcastic, snarky humour and I love it!
I’m total Friend fan and I have to say almost all of the Friends seasons are great and are almost to no comparison although slightly to the finale, the episode’s quality dwindle slightly.
Great list. Friends is one of my favorite shows and I never get tired of watching it.
I was very upset when they ended it. I really think they could have kept going great for a lot more years.
OoOoOoOo i love friends and i agree with this list!
I didn’t know about season 8′s affect in the wake of 9/11. Good to know there was even more to Friends than one liners.
Its funny cause when Friends first came out I didnt like it, guess I just didnt understand the humor(was a freshman in high school). As I got older I fell in love with it. I wish they would do a reunion or something.
seinfeld was soooo much better and friends to me was always just a show where they tried to copy seinfeld
I guess I will be the first to say on this list that I was never a fan of Friends. I respect those who loved it but I thought it was terrible especially measured up against the like of The Simpsons…
Don’t like friends that much, actually, my favorite sitcom
is Married With Children, that’s funny as hell!
who ever wrote this is a really cocky friends fan to think that friends was making that much of an impact on people after 9/11. i’m sure some people were but still don’t say that friends had a sense of purpose to help those victims thats very ignorant
Fave episode was when they had the ‘game show’ contest and ended up switching apartments.
Q: Whats Joey’s favorite food
A: Sandwiches!
james2434523 – Where the heck did you read that Friends had that much of an ‘impact’ or ‘sense of purpose?’ Don’t put your words in the author’s mouth. Yes, we should never forget 9/11 or pretend it didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean we should stop living – I know I needed a laugh during that time.
Good list!
i…haaate….friends… i really hate friends. To an extreme level.
I think my va-jay jay is crying.
Don’t like this list, in simple terms. I for one don’t care which of the ‘Friends’ seasons was the best, if I’m going to watch them, I’ll watch them in order, from 1-10
i always thought friends was in the shadow of seinfeld. in my opinion the much smarter, funnier show. until of course, i watched arrested development, the best sit-com of all time.
lol, on the video for season six there is a scroll running at the bottom at the beginning saying who ripped the copy off of the DVD and posted it online. it then says “all rights reserved to the owner of the DVD”.
i wonder what the production company thinks about that?
DiscHuker; I’m still watching Arrested Development, much hilarity, best comedy on tv. Friends was never my fave either, although I didn’t lose interest till about season 3. I liked Seinfeld and the first couple seasons of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” too.
Oh and I forgot to mention Fernwood 2 Night and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Way to funny, these I didn’t miss, you young un’s should try to catch them on cable, some of the classic stations carry them.
I think it would have been better to do a top 10 episodes, instead of seasons.
My favorite season was the one w/ the Soup Nazi who shot J.R. because he was trying to *****ually moleste Arnold on a very special episode.
I hated Friends. It was and still is a bane of my existence, what with the near constant reruns on the single digit channels. It just wasn’t that funny. I’ll concede a smarmy cleverness, but the few episodes that I happened to watch (look folks, at least I gave it a chance) failed to impress me, and I was more annoyed with Lisa Kudrow that I was entertained by the show. As an aside, I think Lisa Kudrow is one of the least funny, least talented actresses on TV.
I used to hate Seinfeld too, until I happened to give that show a chance as well. It was a much more subtle and creative brand of comedy, and the strength of the main characters is what made it the best show on TV. As opposed to Friends, where only about half the cast was able (I’ll leave it to you to figure out which half).
IMO, the best comedy show on TV nowadays is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I’ve heard great things about Arrested Development, but haven’t gotten a chance to catch an episode yet.
Friends was an awesome show… I agree with perun99.. Top 10 Friends episodes will be awesome, best episode for me was “The one with Chandler in a box”… “you guys cant tell, but im trying to break the tension by mooning you guys… ROFLMAO
also maybe a top 10 Scrubs episodes???
I can’t believe people take formulaic sitcoms this seriously.
I have never watched this show… and after watching these, i STILL don’t get the appeal.
I love love love Friends, one of my favorite shows. I also love AD as people have mentioned…
SlickWilly: I also love It’s Always Sunny!!!
Charlie: Where’s your brother dude?
Liam: We just stepped out of the shower. He’ll be down in a minute.
Charlie: Alright li–listen, you guys can’t go… did you just say we?
Liam: What?
Charlie: Did you just say WE just stepped out of the shower?
Liam: …I said “he”.
I must’ve been deprived or saved, one of the two. I have never seen a Friends episode.
Mitchsn-
That is my favoriate episode too!
Q: What is the name on Chandler’s T.V Guide?
A: Chinandler Bong
DisHuker- My favorite character was a magician named GOB. On that note I used to love friends to I started watching shows like Curb, Always Sunny and Arrested Development. After such classic humor other sitcoms don’t do it for me like they used to.
gay
i love friends…..handy: definitely deprived.
yay! i loved watching these gag reels, laughed my a*** off!! good list, tho top 10 episodes would be better.
I just don’t get Friends at all. I mean, I admit, it’s funny, but it’s all the same formula.
Comment made.
Sarcastic response.
Response to saracasm.
Another sarcastic response.
Rinse and repeat.
All I know is that some of my friends who around 9-10 years younger than me essentially joke like Friends’ characters.
This is the first list I really don’t appreciate.
I absolutely LOVE friends, that little box with all the seasons has been eye-ing me for a while now
I like this list, although I would have season 4 as the first place (maybe cuz I dont live in the States, it didnt cause that impact in me), and I would have season 5 in the 9th place.. all that Emily-Ross thing really stressed me :p, on the other hand Monica and Chandler made some of those episodes really hillarious
Friends was a wonderful show and I wish it was still on. I loved watching the gag reels they were very funny and brought back a lot of good memories.
I never liked Friends and dont really care about this list.
i gotta say i’m very happy to see fellow fans of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. that show cracks my ***** up all the time. anyone know when it comes back?
this list seems like a good idea, but i never watched Friends
do the SEINFELD seasons in order.
They should do a spin off where Joey abandons his failed acting career and moves in with Monica and Chandler in their country home to be a part-time nanny to their kids. The rest of the gang could pop in from time to time.
I want money when this happens.
Disc; I like Buster, inept loser par excellence, and of course everything Jeffrey Tambor does is hilarious. The mother is funny as hell too. Great cast.
I never liked this show. Seinfeld>Friends.
I was really into this during the 99-00 season, whichever it is. The season after the writing just fell into the toilet and I haven’t watched any episode since. Eck.
Long time Listverse fan, first time caller–this is probably one of the worst lists ever on the site. Ranking the top ten seasons of Friends out of the ten season they had? Really?
This site thrives on intuitive, interesting, thought-inspiring and debate-inducing lists that exponentially grows a very loyal fanbase. This list is closer to what little Betsy McGee’s would have on her blog.
Can we at least counter with, say, the top ten Seinfeld taglines: “Shrinkage; Anti-Dentite; Serenity Now;” etc and move on?
Good luck in the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Obama. You have my support. Clinton doesn’t stand a chance.
What are you guys trying to achieve by making such lists? I like this site because it almost seems to expand intellect. This? This is just abysmal. JFrater, this is what happens when someone other than yourself starts writing lists.
obviously you either LOVE or HATE this show. for the HATERS…just mind your manners. blasting LV for one list is so lame. take issue w/ any list you like but do not damn the site for it. geesh….
and yeah, it was JUST a TV show. and no, i was not a fan. could’ve cared less.
what i do love is Listverse. so back the ***** off haters!
grrrr….
I think top 10 Friends episodes would have made more sense.
Havin’ a bad day Cyn? I get the point, but you are usually more reticent.
I unfortunately lost my taste for this show when my Ex-G/f bought all 10 seasons and made me watch them straight through (as in all 10 seasons straight) over the course of 5 days……..twice in a row. Yes, 10 seasons, and then the same 10 seasons, all over again. It makes me twitch when I think about it….
Good list, though I’m not the hugest Friends fan, I preferred Seinfeld.
That and during it’s later seasons, Friends was on at the same time as wrestling!
RE: The Marxist Obama (The govt. can cure all your ills Obama) Post #44
Thank you ‘comrade’ for arousing the term “anti-dentite” from my subconscious!
Who was the guy who played the dentist who turned around in church?
Jerry was in church and sees his dentist, says something…and the guy turns around and says…”go to hell, you anti-dentite bastard”
HAHAHA!
“Festivus” for the proletariat comrade Obama!
I guess I’m the first to say I feel very lukewarmly towards Friends. I put them in my “rerunned, long-standing sitcoms that I can watch if I’m bored”, along with Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Growing Pains.
I agree with Cyn, though. You don’t stop going to a restaurant because one of the new cooks screwed up your steak, do you?
No you don’t Cedestra,
You eat half of it, then send it back and get a new one.
Obviously this list still managaed to turn up a bit of debate. Not ListVerse’s most shining moment but for fans of the show, it is a fond look back.
Could this list BE anymore more unnecessary?
you all realize that Friends was a stolen, watered down version of the award-winning British TV comedy “Singles”, right?
Most popular American sitcoms (and some game shows) are taken from British TV. They just change the title, plop them in NY, LA or the Midwest, and cut out all the *****ual references (American viewers can’t handle them).
This has been happening for decades. I guess the British really did win the war.
Simons: Ok I LOVE friends but what a freak!! Who watches a tv show like that? I think I can see why she is your ex…
49. Mom424
i may be a ‘maid’ more than a ‘code monkey’ for LV but i do know more of what goes into keeping this site running than the average lister. so it does pain me a great deal when people say nasty things about the site. i have no issues w/ taking a list to task. or a submitter. or a fellow commenter. most listers are quite capable of either defending themselves or speaking their mind. but to talk trash about LV? well, i’ve been seeing it too much or maybe its just built up over time but some of the comments lately just *****ed me off. so i vented. i am as entitled to voice my opinion here as anyone else. and no, i do not speak for J. i never do. he is quite capable. very much capable. of speaking for himself. and he has truly the patience of a saint when it comes to what goes on here. and yeah, i do know him better than most listers. even from across the pond. eh…i know people are gonna be nasty. say stupid things. mostly though…listers are some of the most intelligent and literate commenters i’ve ever seen. so yeah, i need to focus on the good and not the bad. still…every once in a while…i’ll have had enough and will post a novella like this.
so ya just gotta deal w/ it. 