10 criminally underrated episodes of Friends

friends It is one of the most popular TV series ever. Nowadays, the show might feel dated, with its loud laugh track, ’90s pop culture references, and some jokes and storylines that might seem backward by modern standards. But no one can deny the effect friends has captured an entire generation of audiences and nearly every sitcom that appeared in the 2000s.

over the course of ten seasons, friends It tells the story of a group of six people in their twenties and thirties who live next to (and often on top of) each other in New York. The success of the show relied heavily on the chemistry of the lead cast and the sharp wit of the writing team who managed to create a cascading effect of jokes packed into the 21-minute format. Let’s take a look at some episodes friends Who deserves a lot more love than they get.

10 “An episode with all the cheesecake.”

When you think of the most famous couples in friends, you think of Ross and Rachel and Joey and Chandler and Chandler and Monica and Phoebe and… anyway. Two main characters that had the least amount of overlap were Rachel and Chandler. The two became friends because of their mutual classmates, but their personalities clashed too much to form a stable one-on-one pairing.

Related: Friends: The best moments of Joey and Chandler’s romance, ranked

At one point the show actually managed to use their difference in personalities to funny effect in Season 7, Episode 11. After Chandler steals a stray cheesecake in the building’s lobby, Rachel wants to return the cake to its rightful owner. But the sweet treat proves too much for Rachel. She and Chandler become unwilling partners in crime, stealing cake together, until the same cake becomes a source of friction and ends their budding friendship.

9 “The one where Joey loses his insurance.”

Joey Tribbiani has always been the most infallible member of the main group of friends. For most of the first few seasons of the show, Joey took the “faltering” part of being a struggling actor in a very serious way. As a result, he is always out of cash, needs to borrow money from Chandler, and in season 6, episode 4, Joey also loses his health insurance.

Fortunately, Joey has a hernia at the same time, but cannot go to the hospital due to lack of insurance. This provides the show with one of the most hilarious examples of physical comedy, with Joey having to wallow in deep pain, trying to stop a hernia from overburdening him, and having to scream out loud from time to time. We also get an equally hilarious b-plot regarding Ross putting on an implausible British accent to impress the students in his new class.

8 “The Ross Tan Ring”

As it used to be the trend in sitcoms, friends I tried all sorts of romantic pairings between its main characters to see what sticks. One such experience was met with resounding negativity by fans, and even cast members, when Joey and Rachel tried to become a couple. After a rocky road to confessing their feelings for each other, the duo finally went on their first official date in Season 10, Episode 3.

Despite the dubious feeling that you’re seeing something that shouldn’t be, the big date between Rachel and Joey is full of funny moments. Because the duo also feels uncomfortable about the whole thing, which causes them to overcompensate in funny ways. From Joey struggling to get Rachel’s bra off, to accidentally kneading it in his family’s jewelry, to Joey slapping Rachel whenever he gets close. The whole thing is like watching a rom-com train wreck in slow motion.

7 “The One Where Joey Speaks French”

As new seasons friends The main characters are beginning to become more extreme versions of their most famous traits. Joey started out on the series as a somewhat dim-witted but still street-smart person. By the end of the series, Joey has become almost childlike in terms of intelligence. The character hardly had any credit, but one of the funnier ways the writers used it to dig into Joy’s newfound stupidity was in Season 10, Episode 13. Phoebe decides to help Joy learn French to get a job, which is a rehashing of a similar premise from an earlier episode where She tries to teach him to play the guitar.

Unfortunately, Joey can’t seem to understand that the confident chatter coming out of his mouth isn’t even French-like. Part of you wonders when Joey became Homer Simpson’s levels of cartoon idiot, but the other part can’t help but laugh at Phoebe’s growing frustration with Joey’s complete inability to say a single word in French. In the hilarious B plot, we also see Chandler worrying whether his future adopted child might be the son of a man who killed his father with a shovel.

6 “Fake Monica Ring”

In many ways, Monica Geller was the center of the world friends. She had strong connections with most of the main characters, her home was the hangout for the entire gang, and her love life was a source of recurring comedy and drama on the show. But other aspects of Monica’s private life are not explored much. This is what makes Season 1, Episode 21 all the more special.

Monica discovers that her legal identity has been stolen. Deciding to confront the impostor in person, she ends up meeting someone who lives the kind of colorful life Monica could only dream of. Thanks to her interactions with Faux Monica, the real Monica gets a new appreciation for her life, and decides to try being a more adventurous person. The episode is one of the best examples of friends Being more than just a comedy show as it deals with themes related to trying to find yourself and forge your own path in your youth.

5 “The one where Rachel smokes”

Much of the central narrative of friends You deal with Rachel Green as she puts her privileged life behind her and learns to stand on her own two feet. This is explored in some detail in Season 5, Episode 18. Rachel becomes part of a fashion company where she longs to make a good impression on her boss.

In keeping with this wish, Rachel pretends to be a smoker, so she can drop in on the ground floor for all the important decisions that are made during her smoke break at work. Try some hilarious attempts by Rachel to look like a seasoned smoker and Chandler gets jealous of her ability to smoke. Also, we get some well-crafted comedy b-plots regarding Joey competing with Ben for a role in a commercial, and Monica and Phoebe waging a war over hosting duties for a party.

4 “The one for whom no one is ready”

Modern audiences are spoiled with television and streaming programs with big budgets that can afford to shoot in multiple interesting locations. but friends She often manages to weave her magic in without ever letting go of a single set. On the face of it, the second episode of Season 3 might seem underwhelming because it’s based entirely on Ross wanting to take his friends to a big event she hosted in his honor, while the others weren’t ready on time.

Related: The Greatest Bottle Episodes in Television HistoryThis simple premise is turned into comedy gold thanks to the chemistry between the entire cast and how they manage to make all the infighting and brawling seem funny. You also get an appreciation of how great David Schwimmer is always as Ross at playing the straight guy on set, who manages to pull off some great comedic chops just through the exasperation he expresses regarding the other characters’ thoughtless behavior.

3 “The One with the Nap Partners”

On the face of it, Joey and Ross seem like polar opposites, one a serious intellectual and the other a charming geek. But when the two have adventures together, they quickly come down to each other’s levels in the funniest ways. Case in point, episode six of season seven, where Bruce and Joey end up taking a nap together.

At first, the two feel shy about their close bonding experience. But they also have to grudgingly admit that they love napping with each other. So the two decided to continue napping together in shameful secrecy. Meanwhile, Rachel and Phoebe hit it off to see who will be Monica’s maid of honor, while Monica herself wrestles with the fear that Chandler might leave her if she gains weight after marriage.

2 “The episode where Ross grew up”

One of the most underrated relationships in friends It is the bro bond between Monica and Ross. Sure, the two love each other deeply now, but their childhoods were filled with fighting and squabbling about everything, and sometimes those old feelings spill over into adulthood with even more ridiculous results. Like the time Monica’s parents came to her apartment for dinner in the ninth episode of season six.

Monica wants to tell her parents about Chandler being her boyfriend. But first Ross has to clear the air about a past mistake she made that he blamed on Chandler in front of his parents. When Ross drags his feet over the reveal, Monica spills the beans herself. This leads to one of the funniest sequences in the show’s history, as Ross and Monica try to outdo each other in divulging embarrassing secrets about the other to their bewildered parents, and then their friends also begin to join in.

1 “birth ring”

Season 8, Episode 20 is one of the rare times that the male cast members are almost completely separated from the females for the duration of an episode. When Rachel’s baby shower is planned, Monica forgets to invite her mom until the last minute. This forces Monica into overly apologetic mode, practically groveling in front of Rachel’s mom during the party while Rachel and Phoebe try to take over the fort.

Meanwhile, Joey needs help auditioning for a new game show, so he asks Ross and Chandler to pretend to be rivals to help him understand the rules. We get an always-hilarious glimpse into Ross’ competitive side as he almost immediately begins to take his fake game manner seriously, while Chandler slowly sinks into the game’s confusing yet intense world under Joey’s far from competent hosting style.