I don’t have many Thanksgiving traditions when it comes to television and movies. However, once in a while, I try to rewatch all the Friends Thanksgiving episodes or at least my favorite ones. I began my rewatch a little early this year following the news of Matthew Perry’s death. I wanted to rewatch my favorite Chandler episodes and that includes a few of the Thanksgiving ones. Most of them are very distinct but I noticed that my two favorite ones have a lot in common.
My favorite Friends Thanksgiving episode is “The One with All the Thanksgivings,” because it is a very funny episode that’s important to Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler's relationship. My second favorite is “The One with the Rumor,” because Brad Pitt is hilarious in it. I never connected these episodes, but when recently rewatching them, I noticed a few similarities.
Let me explain.
Warning spoilers ahead for the Friends episodes “The One with the Rumor” and “The One with All the Thanksgivings.”
Each Episode Revolves Around Past Events
“The One with All the Thanksgivings” revolves around Monica and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) telling the story of Monica’s worst Thanksgiving. First, she recalls the Thanksgiving when Chandler called her fat. However, that’s not her true worst Thanksgiving. It’s the one where she removed his toe after a failed attempt to seduce and embarrass him. Definitely not a great moment in their relationship timeline.
“The One with the Rumor” also focuses on the past, in a sort of demons of the past coming back to haunt way. Will (Brad Pitt) spends Thanksgiving with Monica, Chandler, Rachel, Ross (David Schwimmer), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc). Will is a high school friend of Ross and Monica. He hates Rachel because of his experience with her in high school.
Both episodes use events of the past as starting points for the episodes. “The One with All the Thanksgivings” uses flashbacks to tell the story of Chandler’s cruelty and Monica’s accidental cruelty. “The One with the Rumor” doesn’t use flashbacks but you can imagine teen Ross and Will sitting in their room, probably with some kind of Rachel burn book.
Some of the best Friends episodes use the past to heighten the issues of each member of the group, so it makes sense that two of the funniest Thanksgiving ones would use this concept as well.
Joey Has A Memorable Moment With A Turkey In These Episodes
Tribbianis don’t have many skills, but they know how to eat. Therefore, of course, Joey is shocked and disappointed when Monica tries to not cook a turkey during “The One with the Rumor.” He struggles but finishes it, and he proves that turkeys are always needed when he is around.
This isn’t Joey’s funniest encounter with the famous poultry. That moment happens in “The One with All the Thanksgivings.” A few years before the events of this episode, Joey puts a huge turkey on his head to scare Chandler. He then gets stuck in it. This later leads to him scaring Chandler. Then Monica wears a turkey on her head to cheer up Chandler, and she accidentally scares Joey.
Joey has plenty of funny moments with food. The one where he famously eats his date’s meal, and says “I’m not even sorry,” may be the most famous Joey-and-food moment. However, the turkey on his head remains one of my favorites. It’s so ridiculous but true to Joey. Monica with the turkey on her head scene has become the more famous turkey head scene from “The One with All the Thanksgivings,” but it couldn’t exist without Joey.
Joey struggling to eat a 19-pound turkey isn’t an iconic and hilarious moment, but it’s still very entertaining. Additionally, the scene at the end where he asks for a slice of pie makes the whole gag worth it.
There Is Some Form Of Weight Loss Transformation
Some Friends cast members may not care that some things didn’t age well but there are a lot of things that aged very badly. This includes the show’s obsession with weight loss. Throughout the series, Monica is often fat-shamed. She’s painted as a loser during that time in her life.
“The One with All the Thanksgivings” furthers this narrative. It also sort of makes it okay that Chandler hurt her feelings by calling her fat. Her disfiguring him comes off as worse. Additionally, overhearing Chandler be mean about her forces her weight loss journey.
Friends seems to dislike fat people, or at least sees them as a joke. This is demonstrated again with Will in “The One with the Rumor.” He also experienced a major weight loss and now has a seemingly perfect life, a vast difference from his high school days. For comedic purposes, both these Thanksgiving episodes center on weight loss. First, it’s Monica’s and then Will’s weight loss.
Their lives are better because they lose weight. However, both deal with cruelty and being outcasts because of their sizes.
These Thanksgiving Episodes Showcase The Friends Doing Harmful Things To One Another
“The One with the Rumor” and “The One with All the Thanksgivings” don’t showcase Ross, Rachel, Chandler, and Monica in the best light… at least their younger selves. They all engage in acts of cruelty for no real reason except because they are not great people as teens and early adults. Ross turns his love of Rachel into a spiteful club.
He then starts a rumor that could have damaged her reputation. She then tells the whole school about him kissing one of their teachers. Chandler calls Monica fat and acts disgusted by her. Monica’s attempt at revenge ends with him losing a toe.
Because Friends is a comedy, we can’t take their bad behavior too seriously. However, if it wasn’t a comedy, yikes.
The Episodes End With (Sort of) Romantic Revelations
Friends had a lot of great romantic moments. “The One with All the Thanksgivings” has an unexpected one when Chandler accidentally tells Monica that he loves her. He later tells her for the first time again in the episodes where everyone finds out about their relationship.
Rachel and Ross don’t have a big declaration like this in “The One with the Rumor,” but they resolve their issues for their unborn child. It’s a small moment in their otherwise complicated relationship, but it’s its own version of a romantic moment. Forgiving each other for the sake of their child is a grand gesture for these sometimes petty exes.
These two Friends Thanksgiving episodes have some similarities that make them fun episodes to pair during a Friends rewatch. However, they’re different enough to enjoy as their own thing. Their similarities may also inspire you to change the order of your own Friends Thanksgiving episodes marathon.
