The Lounge List: Top 10 Seasons of Friends

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"Hey Scott, long time reader from the Netcop/Wrestleline days (although EVERYONE puts that). Thought that since everyone is into top 10 lists these days, you’d be interested in doing a different one. In your humble (ha) opinion, how would you rank Friends by season? Believe it or not, I’m even requesting this opinion without the compensation of a plug of the shameless variety."

Hmm, a tough but fair question.

1.  Season Three.  They escape the sophomore jinx and blast into pop culture history.  Ross and Rachel are happily together for most of the season until they have the biggest and ugliest breakup in recorded history but give the world the catchphrase for the 90s in the process.  You also get Going Commando, the Princess Leia Gold Bikini, psychotic Ben Stiller, the introduction of Frank Jr., and Tom Selleck actually clicking with the cast as Richard.  Available at Amazon.com

2.  Season Four.  Ross gets happy again with Emily (although it wouldn’t last long), Chandler is in a box, the guys and girls switch apartments…there’s just not a lot of weak points here.  Oh, and Chandler bangs Monica in London, baby.  Available at Amazon.com

3.  Season Two.  Definitely the one that has the highest highs and lowest lows, which is why it’s only third.  As great as the second half of the season becomes (the Eddie storyline alone comprises my favorite story arc of the entire show), by the midway point they were clearly getting burned out by all the attention and junk like the Super Bowl show was the result.  Not to mention the maudlin death of Mr. Heckles.  However, it does have the Prom Video episode, which ranks with the funniest Friends episodes ever, and a lot of the classic moments that people remember the show for are contained here as well. Available at Amazon.com

4.  Season Five.  Weaker but still intriguing thanks to the hidden romance of Monica and Chandler carrying the show and keeping it interesting for newer viewers.  Emily becomes a crazed harpie and Ross changes personalities as a result, but The One Where Everybody Finds Out is such a piece of work that it brings up the rest of the season as a result.  Available at Amazon.com

5.  Season One.  Where it all begins, obviously.  They take a little while to really find their way (and their hairstyles) but the slow build of Ross and Rachel and classic bits like Joey accidentally becoming a herpes model and Rachel’s uber-hotness peak at the end of the season provide enough highlights to still watch these in syndication.  Available at Amazon.com

6.  Season Six.  Beaten to death in syndication, we’ve still got The One Where Ross Gets High ("It tastes like feet!") which sets the bar for Thanksgiving episodes pretty high, the alternate universe episode that people either love or hate, and Bruce Willis in a role that again people either love or hate.  But everyone hated his daughter.  And no cliffhanger, as Monica and Chandler live happily ever after. Available at Amazon.com

7.  Season Eight.  This was supposed to the final year for the show, and it ended up being the one that finally won the Emmy, but it got extended for another two years thanks to 9/11 and the ratings resurgence that came with people looking for entertainment to brighten up their lives again.  Rachel’s pregnancy and strange almost-romance with Joey dominate here, and Brad Pitt has a really good moment as the leader of the I Hate Rachel Club.  Available at Amazon.com

8.  Season Seven.   This would be the jumping the shark season for the show, with super-sized episodes and stunt-casting as the producers panic in the face of Survivor killing them in the ratings.  Still some funny stuff, like the Holiday Armadillo Ross & Joey napping together, but the London flashback episode kills Chandler’s manhood even further and the wedding episode feels like a 30 minute show stretched into a 60-minute one.  Available at Amazon.com

9.  Season Ten.  It can’t be the worst one because the final episode is at least fabulous and Ross being decidedly NOT fine with Rachel & Joey as a couple is a highlight.  The rest is pretty middling stuff, however, and the wedding of Phoebe & Mike is too little, too late.  Available at Amazon.com

10.  Season Nine.  By far the worst, as Rachel’s baby gets featured or forgotten as the storyline requires, Joey dates a Nobel prize winning scientist and we’re supposed to believe it, and Chandler accidentally moves to Tulsa and watches shark porn.  This should have been the end for the show (actually, season 8 should have been, if we’re being honest about it) and it actually hurt the legacy of what they had built up that it was allowed to be dragged down like it was.  Available at Amazon.com