No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way

Friends is, far and away, my favorite TV show of all time. I started watching it during the summer after its first season (back when networks reran shows in the summer) and it was appointment viewing for the next decade. I never missed an episode, I bought VHS tapes of "Best of Friends", then I bought every complete season on DVD as they became available, before the series was even finished. Those DVDs have been the best entertainment dollars I've ever spent, having watched them repeatedly, a season never too far from my DVD player. I'm so excited that Netflix just got all ten seasons, because now I'll have the show wherever I go, on my TV, tablet, and phone! It's always a good time for an episode of Friends, a pick-me-up when I'm feeling down or an added joy when I'm feeling up. The amazing thing about this show is its staying power--it was wonderful and funny from beginning to end for ten years, something that most shows cannot claim. It's also still funny. I've watched some of those episodes a dozen or more times, and I still laugh like it's the first time. 

Come with me through the jump and I'll share with you ten of my favorite Friends moments. Not a top ten, I could never pick only ten out of hundreds.

The One With the Proposal

I've told you that I love love, and it's not just in my literature--I love love in pretty much all forms of entertainment. Okay, and real life. And I love Chandler and Monica's relationship, and I am such a sucker for great proposals so it's no wonder that this is the episode I have watched more than any other. The whole thing is just delightful, ending with my favorite song, Wonderful Tonight.

The One Where No One's Ready


Possibly the most classic Friends episode, "The One Where No One's Ready" showcases all of our favorite characters' best and worst traits and there are a plethora of great moments to choose from, but Joey wearing all of Chandler's clothes as part of childish disagreement is one hilarious reason why we love this show so much.

The One With Ross's New Girlfriend

Friends not only keeps me endlessly amused, it changed the way I talk, adding phrases to my vocabulary and jokes that only Friends fans would get, such as shouting, "I know!" Monica-style from time to time. It also aided my already ingrained sarcasm, and this one from Rachel, after Ross returned from China with a girlfriend, is one that I've been heard to utter on occasion. 




The One With the Embryos

The quiz game that Ross writes for Monica and Rachel vs. Joey and Chandler is a great episode with such tight writing and perfect comedic timing. Still a superb episode after all these years.



The One With Phoebe's Uterus


I still can't figure out what Monica's seven erogenous zones are, but that scene cracks me up, every single time. And I can't manage to say "seven" without Monica flashing through my mind, usually followed by, "oooh toes!"


The One With Ross's Sandwich

While the show was running I didn't realize what a spoiled brat Ross was, but in the past couple of years I have. He's pretty awful, actually. So now I mostly love to laugh at Ross and his shrill ridiculousness. It's hilarious even if I wouldn't want to know him in real life. Losing his shit over a sandwich is pretty damned hilarious.




The One With The Cop

Another bratty Ross moment that makes me laugh until my belly hurts is the whole scenario with Ross buying a couch, balking at the delivery fee, finding himself unable to get it up the stairs to his apartment. The "pivot!" shout is classic, and I love the saleslady offering "store credit in the amount of four dollars." So funny!





The One Where Everybody Finds Out


Another Friends reference that I use on a fairly regular basis is Phoebe's reaction when she sees Chandler and Monica through the window of Ross's new apartment.







The One With Princess Consuela

This scene makes me laugh harder than any other sitcom sequence I've ever seen. The writing, the delivery, it's just absolutely hysterical. 








The Last One


Friends is the show by which I measure all other sitcoms, and the finale was as perfect as the ten year run of the show. All of the loose ends are tied up and everyone gets a happy ending. For me, that's how sitcoms are supposed to end. All of the trials and tribulations were worth it for our beloved characters to get an ending they deserve. Real life doesn't often turn out that way, so I want my comedy to. And Friends did. Perfectly.


There is no way a list of favorite Friends moments could ever contain all of the fantastic moments. Hilarity, melancholy, joy, silliness, heartbreak, and love. Friends had it all, and we could write a dozen of these lists and still not get to everything. I guess I'll have to watch the series again, just to be sure I haven't missed anything great.


Are you a Friends fan, Saucy Reader? Did I include your favorite moment? What would you put on your list?

Comments

  1. I love your post! I love Friends so much! Still watch episodes whenever I manage to stay awake very late. (we have the show reruns on T.V. in the wee hours.) I can watch the last episode of this show repeatedly. So true about the staying power of the show.

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  2. My top favorite moments would include all the Thanksgiving episodes and "they don't know we know they know we know."

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    Replies
    1. I ALMOST included they don't know we know they know (couldn't if I wanted to!)! There are SO MANY great moments.

      Oh man, the Thanksgiving eps! "More bandages!" And Brad Pitt with the Rachel hair flip! Fabulous, just fabulous!

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