Friends – Christmas-Themed Episodes

Friends returned to Christmas nearly every season — nine episodes in all — from Ross's improvised Holiday Armadillo to Monica's runaway homemade-candy operation. All nine stream in the U.S. on Max, the show's exclusive home. Ratings are each episode's IMDb user score.

One streaming note: Friends left Netflix in the U.S. back in 2020, so Max is the correct home for all of these now.

Episode Synopsis

The One with the Monkey (Season 1, Episode 10) — really more of a New Year's Eve episode than a Christmas one, but it's the one that started the tradition and it's the show's first holiday-season entry. Ross, feeling lonely, adopts a capuchin monkey named Marcel to keep him company. The six friends make a pact not to bring dates to their New Year's Eve get-together, and naturally every one of them ends up breaking it in one way or another. It aired December 15, 1994.

The One with Phoebe's Dad (Season 2, Episode 9) — Phoebe finally tracks down the address of her long-absent biological father and has to decide whether to reach out before the holiday. Meanwhile, Monica and Rachel try to save money by giving cookies instead of cash tips to the paperboy, mailman, and building superintendent, and get petty revenge in return. Joey and Chandler, for their part, hand out regifted "found" items as Christmas presents.

The One Where Rachel Quits (Season 3, Episode 10) — fed up with being reprimanded at Central Perk, Rachel impulsively quits her waitressing job on Christmas Eve. Ross accidentally injures a Girl Scout and ends up having to sell her cookies for her to make up for it, while Joey takes a job selling Christmas trees on a lot, only for Phoebe to be horrified when she learns what happens to the ones that don't sell.

The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie (Season 4, Episode 10) — Monica, newly promoted to head chef, is being hazed by her kitchen staff and hires Joey specifically so she can fire him in front of everyone to establish authority. Chandler tries to set Rachel up with a co-worker for the holidays, and Ross can't decide between two women, including one he meets on a train who happens to live in Poughkeepsie.

The One with the Inappropriate Sister (Season 5, Episode 10) — Rachel starts having doubts about her new boyfriend Danny after noticing his relationship with his sister is a little too close for comfort. Meanwhile, a bored Ross meddles in Joey and Chandler's lives after Joey decides to write and star in his own play, and Phoebe takes a job collecting charitable donations for the holidays, with predictably chaotic results.

The One with the Routine (Season 6, Episode 10) — Joey's roommate Janine gets invited to dance on a taping of a New Year's Eve TV special and brings Joey, Ross, and Monica along. Ross and Monica, over-eager to get camera time, resurrect an embarrassing dance routine from their childhood to earn a spot on the platform. Back at the apartment, Rachel, Phoebe, and Chandler snoop around trying to find the Christmas presents Monica has hidden for them.

The One with All the Candy (Season 7, Episode 9) — Monica starts making homemade Christmas candy for the neighbors in her building as a way to finally get to know them, but the plan backfires when the demand becomes overwhelming and people start lining up at her door. Chandler steps in to help field the crowd, and on a sweeter note, Ross gives Phoebe a bike after learning she never had one as a kid.

The One with the Holiday Armadillo (Season 7, Episode 10) — Ross wants to teach his son Ben about their Jewish heritage during the holidays, but with no Santa suits left to rent this close to Christmas, he improvises with a giant armadillo costume, inventing "Santa's Tex-Mex friend" to hold Ben's attention. Chandler crashes the moment dressed as Santa, and Joey shows up as Superman, and the three of them end up telling Ben about Hanukkah together. A side plot follows Phoebe trying to sabotage Rachel and Joey's living arrangement so Rachel will move back in with her.

The One with Ross's Step Forward (Season 8, Episode 11) — Ross panics when his new girlfriend Mona wants to send out a joint holiday card, treating it as a much bigger relationship step than he's ready for. Rachel, several months pregnant, finds her hormones making her attracted to nearly every man she encounters, including Joey, leading to an awkward moment between them. Chandler, meanwhile, tries to dodge an obligatory dinner with his recently divorced boss.

The One with Christmas in Tulsa (Season 9, Episode 10) — largely a clip show built around flashbacks to earlier holiday episodes. In the present-day storyline, Chandler is stuck working in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over Christmas, and a friendly female coworker's attention toward him makes Monica uneasy back home. It aired December 12, 2002.