Terrifyingly, it's the Friends‘ 25th anniversary on Sunday. It's been a full quarter of a century since we met the gang in Central Perk, and that felt worthy of a little walk down memory lane. We asked the GamesRadar team what their favorite Friends moments were, and watched with glee as they struggled to decide. Think we got it wrong? Let us know, preferably in the form of a Phoebe Buffet-esque song.
This is the latest in a series of big questions we'll be interrogating our writers with, so share your answers and suggestions for topics with us on Twitter.
The Moistmaker
This video by Binging with Babish represents the entirety of my Friends knowledge, but while I may know absolutely nothing else about the show, I've got nothing but respect for anything that features such a beautiful, horrible sandwich. Leftover turkey sandwiches are the best part of Thanksgiving, and the triple-decker monstrosity seen in Friends and recreated on Binging with Babish is an all-timer. It's like a whole Thanksgiving meal rolled up into a frankly irresponsibly large package. Will I ever attempt to make a Moistmaker sandwich of my own? Absolutely not. Is the Moistmaker enough to convince me to watch Friends? Also no. But do I appreciate it wholeheartedly? Hell yes. Austin Wood
The One with “Paper, snow, a ghost!”
Apart from probably having STDs up the wazoo, Joey is great and easily the best thing on the show. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. He’s never better than in his hilarious (and mercifully short) stint as a celebrity contestant on game show Pyramid. Tasked with helping Joey guess the word ‘Cream,’ his partner on the show wisely says “You put this in your coffee.” Easy, right? But he hasn’t met Joey – who immediately unravels into a stream of nonsensical answers, culminating in the rapid-fire rundown of things that are white, but definitely not cream. It’s massively silly but always puts a smile on my face every time I see it. Bradley Russell
Ross is making fajitas
I think we can all agree, Ross is the worst. He dates his student, resents his girlfriend for having a career and he doesn't like ice cream.
That being said, I've always thought Ross is the funniest character, and so my favorite moment serves as a compromise. During the later season of Friends, when they were starting to run out of storylines for those silly old Friends, Joey and Rachel start dating. Ross, despite being in a relationship with Aisha Tyler, is not taking the news well. He deals with this by getting drunk and inviting them all over for Mexican food. Queue my favorite Friends moment, as it contains both Ross having a bad time, and him breaking into a drunken monologue about what the letters of 'LOVE' stand for (the O stands for 'Oh Wow,' in case you were wondering.)
The entire scene is Ross at his best (and worst) and I love it. Ellen Causey
The one where Ross warned me away from leather trousers
I don't know that I have a favorite Friends moment. I've watched every episode countless times, but it isn't necessarily something that I have actively absorbed. It did, however, teach me an important lesson, one we could all do with remembering from time to time. You probably don't know me all that well, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I have a bit of a Jim Morrison complex. Barely a month goes by where I don't consider buying a pair of leather trousers. Honestly, I really do think I could pull them off. But the truth is – as Ross once so famously demonstrated – the real difficulty isn't in pulling them off, but getting them back on again after. Josh West
The one where Bruce Willis breaks the space-time continuum
I've never seen an entire episode of Friends myself but, from the bits and pieces I have gleaned over the internet, I've learnt that Bruce Willis plays a character in the show despite one of "the friends" (I assume that's what they call themselves) explicitly acknowledging the existence of Die Hard. That's a paradox that simply cannot hold together the fabric of reality, so I have to assume a future episode explores the metaphysical consequences of such an anomaly, automatically making it my favorite Friends moment by default. I'm picturing Ross and Rachel getting killed by their "darkest timeline" doppelgängers, Joey melting into non-existence after watching Unbreakable in the cinema next to Bruce Willis' character and realizing the truth, and a twisted, atonal subversion of the show's famous opening credits, featuring off-beat clapping and culminating with the title card "C.H.U.M.S." Am I close? Alex Avard
Pivot!
Having just recently moved, I truly understand the trials and tribulations of getting furniture up a narrow set of stairs. The classic "pivot" scene with Ross, Chandler, and Rachel never failed to make me laugh as a kid, but now I can personally relate to it as well. You know how it goes. You think buying a new desk or chair is the best idea you've ever had. But then when you find yourself struggling to get a big box around an awkward corner - with no friends to help you - you begin to seriously question your choices. At least I didn't end up having to return anything afterwards. Oh, and Chandler telling Ross to shut up is a big plus. Heather Wald
The One Where Joey is Absolutely 100% Right
Friends is comfort food for a lot of us. It's the TV equivalent of a warm, fuzzy hug, the sort of show you can put on in the background if you need a bit of comforting white noise (yes, I'm absolutely one of those people). However, there's one scene I can't ever ignore regardless of what I'm doing. That's because it speaks to me on a deeply primal, meaningful level. And it's this: Joey doesn't share food. I don't care who you are or what you've done - you're not getting my fries, crisps, sweets, or snacks. Benjamin Abbott
The one where it's Miss Chanandler Bong
The best moment in the entire series of Friends is Chandler Bing correcting Ross at their weird inter-group trivia night: "Actually, it's Miss Chanandler Bong." I've forgotten everything else that happens in that episode - it's all melted away to leave behind that one, perfect line. The ridiculous name. The obvious pride that Chandler feels in having his and Joey's TV Guide delivered to said ridiculous name. Did he intentionally give a nonsensical version of his own name as a joke? Did somebody at TV Guide write down his details wrong and he loved the result too much to correct it? Who knows! And the fact that they're even talking about having about having a TV Guide delivered instantly dates the entire thing, cementing it deep in the nostalgia center of my brain. All I need to do is think about Matthew Perry saying "Miss Chanandler Bong" and I start giggling. Connor Sheridan
The bloopers
A curveball perhaps, but if you've ever come across the Friends gag reels on YouTube then I'm sure you'll agree. The show has plenty of excellent episodes and moments, many of which are memorable but all sort of blur into the monolith of 'hundreds of episodes' worth of content'. But there was something about the blooper reels which were just utterly joyous. Some are just downright funny corpsing (giving up and laughing) moments; some are ridiculous sabotage; some are just genuine 'regular' mistakes that turn out hilarious, but all of them provide a fun window into a bunch of pals just goofing around. It's particularly fun seeing them as people beyond the veneer of their characters' and what they were like on a more 'human' level. Scenes like the trifle eating, the ping pong games, the Ross and Joey naptime, and many more have arguably better outtakes than the finished scene, and watching them sometimes feels like your laughing with the people making the show rather than at them like normal. Trust me, go down that YouTube rabbit hole. Just for a laugh. Rob Dwiar
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