Decades after the first episode of Friends premiered in 1994, the iconic NBC sitcom is still ingrained in popular culture and remains among the most celebrated TV shows. And since Friends started streaming on Netflix in 2015, younger generations are now discovering what fans fell in love with years ago. We’re counting down to the 15th anniversary of the series finale, which aired on May 6, 2004, by celebrating the show’s characters, influence and best sports moments.
To celebrate Friends and the anniversary of the series finale, which is Monday, we ranked the six friends and the best sports moments, highlighted the athletes who learned English with the help of reruns, broke down each friend’s best episode, wrote the hardest quiz we could think of and chatted with Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman about the show’s lasting impact.
And to conclude Friends Week, we ranked the 25 best guest stars. There were, of course, way more guest stars than that, but we narrowed our list down to the most memorable performances.
And if you’re saying “OH. MY. GOD. WHERE IS JANICE?!?!” there’s a reason for that. We decided recurring characters throughout multiple seasons or who appeared in a large number of episodes were not considered guest stars. So that excludes people like Maggie Wheeler, who played Janice in 19 episodes, Paul Rudd, who played Mike in 18 episodes, Tom Selleck, who played Richard in 10 episodes, and James Michael Tyler, who played Gunther in 148 episodes. It just didn’t seem fair to compare these actors and their characters to those who appeared in only a handful of episodes or, in many cases, just one.
So here is the definitive ranking of the top-25 Friends guest stars.
25. Gabrielle Union
Season 7, episode 17: The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress
Gabrielle Union plays a woman named Kristen Lang, and she ends up agreeing to go out with both Joey and Ross. Now, based on Kristen’s opening interactions with both guys, she absolutely should have bailed on Ross and stuck with Joey, but we’re not holding that against her. When Joey crashes Kristen’s date with Ross, Union is fantastic in this super awkward scene, as her character puts up with their childish antics before ultimately bailing on both friends. — Michelle Martinelli
24. Hugh Laurie
Season 4, episode 24: The One with Ross’ Wedding Part 2
Did you remember that the House actor called out Rachel for breaking up Ross’s wedding? He was so good and although he was ultimately wrong that “no good could come of this,” his attitude toward her was high comedy, right up to the moment he said it was clear Ross and Rachel were “on a break.” — Charles Curtis
23. Danny DeVito
Season 10, episode 11: The One Where the Stripper Cries
Not our favorite episode — Monica and Rachel don’t realize Phoebe wants a stripper at her bachelorette party, so they find one out of a phone book — but Danny DeVito is great while the girls help usher his character into retirement. He also does a much better job of staying in character, while Lisa Kudrow struggles to keep a straight face. — MM
22. Anna Faris
Season 10, episode 9: The One with the Birth Mother (first appearance)
She played the birth mother of the twins Monica and Chandler would eventually adopt, and Faris played her ditzy, sweet and extremely funny. — CC
21. Sean Penn
Season 8, episode 6: The One with the Halloween Party (first appearance)
He played Eric, who was dating Ursula — that’s Phoebe’s twin sister — and it turns super weird when he breaks up with her to date Phoebe … and then ends up sleeping with Ursula again when the twin tricks him. Penn is suprisingly goofy and seeing him dressed like the solar system for Monica’s Halloween party reminded us he was once Jeff Spicoli. — CC
20. Leah Remini
Season 1, episode 23: The One with the Birth
We listed this as one of the best Friends sports moments, so of course we had to list it here. And I have a soft spot for the King of Queens star because she was also on Saved By the Bell for a run as Stacey Carosi, the daughter of the Malibu Sands owner, and she’s great in that too. — CC
19. Winona Ryder
Season 7, episode 20: The One with Rachel’s Big Kiss
“Ray Ray Green!!” That’s the start of Ryder’s turn as Rachel’s former sorority sister at the center of this episode, in which Melissa claims she doesn’t remember that memorable night in college and then does a complete 180 to reveal she hasn’t stopped thinking about Rachel since then. — CC
18. Jon Favreau
Season 3, episode 18: The One with the Hypnosis Tape (first appearance)
In a handful of episodes in the third season, Jon Favreau plays Pete Becker, a millionaire who eventually convinces Monica to go out with him. He’s charming with self-deprecating jokes, and he took her to Rome for their first date. But then it turns out he’s missing a few marbles and wants to be the Ultimate Fighting Champion — and this was back when UFC was young and its rules were beyond minimal. But his short six-episode story arc with Monica is excellent. — MM
17. Jeff Goldblum
Season 9, episode 15: The One with the Mugging
Really, it’s Joey needing to use the bathroom that’s the star turn here. But you have to love Goldblum as director Leonard Hayes, buying in to Joey being a good actor. — CC
16. Brad Pitt
Season 8, episode 9: The One with the Rumor
He plays Ross’ friend Will from high school who joins them for Thanksgiving dinner one year. Judging purely off of Pitt’s performance, he’s great in this episode. However, the story is problematic with the rumor that Ross and Will say they started about Rachel in high school. In FTW’s interview with creator Marta Kauffman, she acknowledged the insensitivity of the plot and put it among the storylines she’d change if she could do it again today.
“I might have not done the hermaphrodite stuff today if I had that to do over in the one with Brad Pitt,” Kauffman said. — MM
15. Jennifer Coolidge
Season 10, episode 3: The One with Ross’s Tan
She plays a friend of Monica and Phoebe named Amanda Buffamonteezi, and the story, though not the main plot in this episode, is pretty bad. She was always annoying to them but moved to England and adopted a fake accent. However, the story aside, Coolidge is hilarious. — MM
14. Alec Baldwin
Season 8, episode 17: The One with the Tea Leaves (first appearance)
In two episodes, he plays Phoebe’s love interest who seems fine at first but turns out to be obnoxiously excited about literally everything. He’s excessively enthusiastic — he calls the Long Island Expressway “a concrete miracle,” as Monica points out — but Baldwin plays this part so well that you have to admire his performance. — MM
13. Elle Macpherson
Season 6, episode 7: The One Where Phoebe Runs (first appearance)
I give so much credit to Macpherson, who isn’t one of the big-name actors on this list. But she more than held her own when the model guest-starred as Janine, Joey’s roommate-turned-girlfriend. Just watch her reaction to his “How you doin’?” and to Ross blathering on about humans as computers. — CC
12. Denise Richards
Season 7, episode 19: The One with Ross and Monica’s Cousin
The storyline involving Monica and Ross’s cousin Cassie is, well, SUPER awkward — Ross talks himself into thinking that his own family member wants to kiss him — but the hair toss set to Barry White is one of the better recurring jokes on the sitcom. — CC
11. Susan Sarandon
Season 7, episode 15: The One with Joey’s New Brain
This was Joey’s best episode, and it helps to have a near top-10 appearance from the Oscar winner that runs the gamut from comedy to romance to the tragedy of losing her job on Days of Our Lives. — CC
10. Reese Witherspoon
Season 6, episode 13: The One with Rachel’s Sister (first appearance)
As Rachel’s spoiled younger sister Jill who gets cut off by their father after she buys a boat for a friend, Reese Witherspoon is phenomenal in her two-episode role. While trying (and failing) to learn the value of a dollar, she also teases Rachel about Ross being too “bookish,” and by defending Ross, Rachel actually convinces Jill to go out with her ex-boyfriend. And when Rachel sways Ross against the idea, Jill’s vindictive side comes out, and she tries to seduce Ross anyway.
Witherspoon brilliantly emphasizes Jill’s traits of being annoying yet cute and clever but naive. Her performance is sharp and hilarious, and no one could have played this part as perfectly as she did. — MM
9. Aisha Tyler
Season 9, episode 20: The One with the Soap Opera Party (first appearance)
It only took them nine seasons to introduce a female character and a woman of color who’s not only smarter than the rest of the group (especially Ross) but also praised for it. But Aisha Tyler as paleontologist Charlie Wheeler is funny and delightful. She first falls for Joey but realizes she has more in common with Ross, obviously. She’s still too good and too smart for Ross, but her character offers a phenomenally awkward comedic edge for her nine-episode arc. — MM
8. Brooke Shields
Season 2, episode 12: The One After the Superbowl Part 1
The most-watched episode of the whole series is watered down a bit by several guest stars and cheesy plots, but, as Joey’s stalker, Brooke Shields is marvelous. She genuinely believes Dr. Drake Ramoray is a real person and not a character on Days of Our Lives. And the only way to convince her it’s all fake is for the friends to bring the soap opera to life in Joey and Chandler’s living room so Joey can break up with her. — MM
7. Bruce Willis
Season 6, episode 21: The One Where Ross Meets Elizabeth’s Dad (first appearance)
It could seem like this was a casting mistake — Bruce Willis? In Friends? But it wasn’t. He was the perfect foil for Ross, who keeps making error after error with Elizabeth, the student who he’s dating. Willis — as Elizabeth’s dad Paul — ends up dating Rachel, which escalates an already funny situation. And then Willis dances to Love Machine. Brilliant. — CC
6. George Clooney and Noah Wyle
Season 1, episode 17: The One with Two Parts Part 2
Stunt casting because the pair was also on NBC’s ER? Sure. But they were memorable as they try to figure out why Rachel and Monica — who switched names so Rachel can use Monica’s health insurance — are acting so weird. “God bless the chickpea.” — CC
5. Christina Applegate
Season 9, episode 8: The One with Rachel’s Other Sister (first appearance)
Self-absorbed in a totally different way from Rachel’s other sister Jill (see No. 10), Christina Applegate is fabulous as Amy. She’s cold, rude, insensitive, oblivious and hysterically mean at points, and she only seems to identify the friends by their worst or most vulnerable characteristics. But the character turns you off so much you like her, and Applegate’s performance in her two episodes is outstanding. — MM
4. Isabella Rossellini
Season 3, episode 5: The One with Frank Jr.
I argued so hard to have this make the top five. The group figures out their lists of celebrities with whom they’d be allowed to cheat on their significant others. Ross moves Rossellini off his list, and guess who just happens to show up at Central Perk? It’s SO GOOD. — CC
3. Robin Williams and Billy Crystal
Season 3, episode 24: The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion
They’re only in the opening scene of this episode, but it’s so spectacular, so hilarious and so exceptionally memorable that it speaks for itself. — MM
2. Hank Azaria
Season 1, episode 10: The One with the Monkey (first appearance)
Introduced early on as Phoebe’s love interest, Hank Azaria plays David, a scientist who appears on the show in five episodes between the first and ninth seasons. He’s sweet and endearing and seems like a perfect match for Phoebe — aside from living in Minsk for several years. Even when he comes back in the ninth season and tries to propose to Phoebe, you want to root for him. But, in one of the more realistic scenarios in this show, you realize he also missed his chance, and Phoebe was meant to be with Mike (Paul Rudd). It’s heartbreaking, but Azaria also plays the character at the butt of jokes quite well. — MM
1. Julia Roberts
Season 2, episode 13: The One After the Superbowl Part 2
I admit there might be some bias here because, well, she’s Julia Roberts. But she’s the engine that drives the Super Bowl ep and takes it to another level when her character Suzie goes out with Chandler after he pulled off an awful prank on her when they went to grade school together. The big punchline is an all-timer: She pulls off an epic revenge prank and leaves him in the men’s room at a restaurant wearing nothing but women’s underwear. And it wouldn’t have been half as good if anyone else was cast. Roberts’ lines as she leaves the bathroom with Chandler’s clothes prove why she’s considered one of the greats. — CC
