The 25 best 'Friends' episodes of all time – from unagi to the prom video and Ross's tan

In honour of the show turning 25, we will call this list 'the one with all the best episodes'

'The One With Joey's New Brain' (season 7, episode 15): Joey's 'Days of Our Lives' character, Dr Drake Ramoray, comes out of a coma and gets a new brain. But the real winner in this episode is Ross, who tries to learn the bagpipes to play as a surprise at Monica and Chandler’s wedding. Go back and watch the final scene, when Ross is performing for the group, and watch the actors try, and fail at times, to keep a straight face. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Cop' (s5, e16): The name might not conjure up a particular memory of this episode, but one line will: “Pivot!” Ross is decorating his new apartment, and ropes in Rachel to go furniture shopping with him. After buying a new sofa, he learns the delivery cost is almost as much as the couch itself, and in typical Ross style, he refuses to pay it. The result is Rachel and Chandler trying to navigate three flights of stairs with the sofa, while Ross repeatedly yells at them to “pivot, pivot, PIVOT”. The sofa ends up in two parts, with Ross accepting $4 store credit after trying to return it. Courtesy Netflix

'The One with the Race Car Bed' (s3, e7): Phoebe doesn't pay attention when Monica's new bed is delivered to the apartment, and thus, the chef ends up with a piece of furniture more apt for a five-year-old. Ross also struggles to bond with Rachel's father, while Joey sabotages an acting student going for the same role as him. A classic episode in which each no individual storyline is a weak link. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With the Morning After' (s3, e16): This episode beautifully balances the gags with emotional drama. On the one hand, your heart breaks for Rachel as she finds out that Ross cheated on her (technically not though as he argues they were "on a break"), as he tries to win her back … while the whole time, the rest of the gang is locked in the bedroom playing with painful body wax that Monica ordered off a television commercial. Heartbreaking yet funny, this episode takes you through a range of emotions. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where They Say Goodbye' (s10, e17 and s10, e18): It’s a TV moment we will never forget. They are all in Monica and Chandler’s apartment (fun fact: each one of the gang lived in that apartment at one stage) at the end. They are moving out, and moving on. The tears are there for the storyline, but they’re there for the closing of a chapter' too. Sobs. We will always be there for 'Friends'. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With Two Parts: Part 2' (s1, e17): A good cameo doesn't always guarantee a great episode, but it did work when George Clooney and Noah Wyle played doctors Mitchell and Rosen, who treat Rachel in hospital when she hurts her ankle. She doesn't have medical insurance, so commits fraud by registering herself under Monica's name for treatment. So when Monica and Rachel land a date with a doctor each, they have to go by each other's name, causing much confusion and hilarity. In a further moment of meta brilliance, at the time the episode aired, Clooney and Wyle starred in hit hospital drama, 'ER'. Courtesy Netflix

The One With A Blackout (s1, e7): An early great. When the city is plunged into darkness, Chandler gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with model Jill Goodacre. She offers him gum, he is incredibly awkward; it's Chandler at his most lovable best. It is also possible that it was this episode that coined the term 'friend zone', as Joey references Ross being stuck in it with Rachel, but we all know he eventually breaks out of that. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where Everyone Finds Out' (s5, p14): Perhaps one of the funniest episodes in the entire series, Phoebe finds out that Monica and Chandler are secretly dating and, in attempt to get them to confess it, she hatches a secret plan with Rachel, which Monica and Chandler figure out. The tricks they play to one up the other – “they don’t know that we know that they know” – with Ross oblivious to the entire situation and Joey stuck in the midst of it all, will leave you in splits. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With Unagi' (s6, e17): Another episode that has penetrated common rhetoric is this episode, when Ross is trying to test his female friends on their self-defence skills. In the process he is, of course, shown up and mislabels the state of total awareness that he has spent many a year practising in karate as "unagi", which is actually is the Japanese word for freshwater eel. However, Unagi is now defined as "a state of total awareness" by Urban Dictionary, so perhaps he was correct all along? Courtesy Netflix

'The One In Barbados Part 1 and 2' (s10, e17 and s10, e18): We're merging these two together, because the trip to Barbados is one big bonanza and it was technically just a double-length episode. We have Monica's giant hair ("it's the humidity!"), the most competitive table tennis game of all time courtesy of Mike (played by Paul Rudd), and then Phoebe's ex-boyfriend David shows up, leaving him and Mike both vying for her heart. All of that goes down while Ross is keynote speaker at a paleontology convention in paradise. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where Eddie Won’t Go' (s2, e19): Following Joey's stint in an apartment of his own, Chandler finds a new roommate, Eddie. In this episode we see normal service resume, as Joey loses his high-flying job, and Chandler tries to kick Eddie out after he discovers he has been watching him sleep. He eventually does get Eddie out, however, and a debt-ridden Joey moves back in. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With Monica and Chandler's Wedding Part 2' (s7, e24): There's a lot to love in this episode, from the Bing-Geller union, to Chandler hitting the dancefloor in slippery shoes (there goes all those wasted dance lessons). The most tear-jerking moment, perhaps, comes when Rachel gives away to the viewers that she's expecting a baby – but the "with who" quandary becomes a puzzle for the gang to figure out in season eight. It was a twist that few saw coming, after a trail was laid suggesting it was Monica who was in the family way. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress' (s7, e17): This is the one where Joey shows everyone how to perfect the art of eating peanut butter (clue: no cutlery is needed). Matt Le Blanc’s facial expressions are incredible. Back then it would have been an instant hit on the web, gif gold and meme-tastic, and thanks to Netflix, that moment has now had its moment in the digital limelight. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With the Dollhouse' (s3, e20): When Monica inherits a dollhouse but won't play nicely with others, Phoebe makes her own, much to Monica's chaotic dismay. Plus, Chandler goes on a disastrous date with Rachel's boss and we learn that he can't end a date without saying, "Let's do that again sometime", even if he really doesn't want to. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With Ross's Tan' (s10, e3): When it comes to physical comedy, this episode has one of the series' highlights – as well as a cautionary tale about the perils of spray tanning. Ross, inspired by Monica's bronzed glow, stops by a booth for a similar effect but, after misunderstanding the instructions, ends up with a very tanned front, and very pale back. Such a simple premise, but so, so effective. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With Ross's Sandwich' (s5, e9): Ross's anger issues are scrutinised in this much-loved episode, when his Thanksgiving leftovers are eaten by a colleague and then tossed in the bin. Anyone who has ever worked in an office will relate to the fridge politics Ross faces, although hopefully we all handle things with a more calm temperament. Meanwhile, this episode dates back to a time when Monica and Chandler are trying to keep their romance under wraps, but are starting to get sloppy, when Monica leaves a razor where she shouldn't and Phoebe finds Chandler's underwear at Monica and Rachel's house. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where No One's Ready' (s3, e2): Ross is bringing the gang to a black-tie museum function but, alas, getting them all out the door takes up the entire episode. Rachel can't decide what to wear, Monica hacks her ex-boyfriend's answering machine (the very of existence of which highlights how old this episode is), and Joey wears all of Chandler's clothes. Everyone will be able to recognise their getting-ready style in one of the friends and, in our honest opinion, Jennifer Aniston's hair was at its peak in this episode. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Embryos' (s4, e12): In this episode, Monica and Rachel wager their apartment in a quiz game with Chandler and Joey, and ultimately have to move across the hall into the guys’ apartment. We learn so much about the gang; Joey’s imaginary friend was Maurice The Space Cowboy, Rachel’s favourite film is 'Weekend at Bernie’s' and a transponster is definitely not a job, certainly not Chandler’s. Meanwhile, Phoebe is undergoing IVF to carry her brother’s baby, which is a significant storyline in and of itself. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Rumour' (s8, e9): The Thanksgiving episodes are usually standouts in a 'Friends' series, but the episode starring Brad Pitt, who was married to Jennifer Aniston at the time, stands head and shoulders above the rest. Pitt stars as a character called Will Colbert, who has had a long-held hatred for Rachel since she bullied him at high school. It transpires in the episode that, along with Ross, he started the ‘I Hate Rachel club’, and watching him mouth "I hate you" over the table and comfort eat carbs (after he had carefully dieted to lose weight for a decade) is comedy gold. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With the Proposal, Part 2' (s6, e25): This is an emotional rollercoaster for anyone invested in Monica and Chandler’s relationship which, let’s face it, we all were. Will they, won’t they get engaged? Naturally, they ultimately do but not before Monica’s moustachioed ex, Richard, rears his handsome head, which ruins Chandler’s original proposal plans. In the end, it is our clean-freak heroine who goes down on one knee in a lilac apartment filled with candles, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Jellyfish' (s4, e1): After an acrimonious break-up, Ross and Rachel reunited at the end of season three – but it appears to be no happily ever after. In this episode Rachel pens a lengthy letter to Ross ("18 pages, front and back!"), which he lies about reading. The pithy exchange in which he owns up to falling asleep while reading it, remains one of the best of the entire show. "I just feel bad about all that sleep you're going to miss, wishing you were with me," bites Rachel. "Don't you worry about me falling asleep, I still have your letter," Ross retorts. Classic. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Prom Video' (s2, e14): In this part-flashback episode, Monica and Ross's parents unearth a home video from the night of Rachel and Monica's prom. The moment when a teenage and mustachioed Ross steps in to chaperone Rachel, after she appears to be jilted by her date, only for her to breeze past him on her way out the door with tardy boyfriend Chip, still leaves a pang in our hearts. Luckily, discovering the moment on tape for the first time, a decade later, melts Rachel's present-day sangfroid for Ross, resulting in the pair rekindling their relationship. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where Ross Is Fine' (s10, e2): Except Ross is not fine. He walks in to see his off-again-on-again love Rachel kissing his best friend Joey, and in an attempt to hide his true feelings, he overcompensates by being extremely enthusiastic about the situation, inviting the new couple over for a dinner party. He spends much of the episode speaking in squeaky high-pitched tones, giving impromptu speeches and doing Mexican dances. It’s Ross at his dorky best, tinged with a relatable sadness. Courtesy Netflix

'The One Where The Stripper Cries' (s10, e11): Phoebe is getting married, and Monica and Rachel throw her an elegant bachelorette party involving tea and cake. Phoebe, however, wants a stripper, and is convinced the whole thing is just a decoy. Panicked, Monica and Rachel find a last-minute booking, who turns out to be anything but your typical stripper. With a brilliant guest appearance from Danny DeVito, there are tears, tantrums and dollar bills everywhere. Courtesy Netflix

'The One With The Routine' (s6, e10): Ross and Monica regress to their extremely uncool teenage selves after Joey’s roommate Janine gets them a spot dancing on 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve,' something they dreamed of as kids. The siblings are desperate to make it as dancers on the podium so their parents will see them on TV, and resort to pulling out their childhood dance routine in order to get the producers’ attention. It’s the kind of episode where you spend the whole time laughing at them, not with them, and it’s genius. Courtesy Netflix

The popular American television series Friends is turning 25 next month.

The series ran for 10 seasons, making its debut on September 22, 1994, and wrapping its final episode up on May 6, 2004.

It also made stars out of its main cast that featured Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.

But Friends was more than just a TV show; it was also a pop culture phenomenon. Hairstyles were dubbed "The Rachel", "how you doin'?" became a global catchphrase and every now and then someone might bust out a song about a "smelly cat".

If, however, you are one of those whose never seen an episode, the idea of watching the series in its entirety – all 236 episode – might seem daunting. After all, one company in Utah is even offering to pay one lucky fan $1,000 (Dh3,670) to watch 25 hours (or 60 episodes) of the show and live-tweet the entire experience.

Rather than make you re-watch every episode, we're instead offering some help for those who are interested in celebrating the show's 25th anniversary, and instead break down our picks for the 25 best episodes to watch again.

Scroll through the gallery above to see what are, in our opinion, the best Friends episodes of all time.