15 TV episodes we’ll never get tired of watching

Friends, “The One Where No One’s Ready”

Let’s start our list with one of the most beloved, classic sitcoms of our generation, Friends. There are so many amazing episodes throughout the show’s 10 seasons that we could watch over and over, but there are definitely some that take the cake.

“The One Where No One’s Ready” is what they call a “bottle” episode, because the entire thing takes place in one setting — Monica and Rachel’s apartment — and it occurs in real-time, with only three speaking roles apart from the main cast. It was originally meant as a way to save money on production costs. The episode revolves around the group of friends getting ready to go to a function for Ross’ work, and nobody is ready on time.

Ross is more manic and stressed than he usually is, which says a lot, as he rushes his friends to finish getting ready. Joey and Chandler are fighting over a seat in the living room, Phoebe spills hummus on her gown, Rachel can’t decide what to wear, and Monica hears a phone message from her ex-boyfriend Richard and can’t figure out if it’s old or not.

Instead of getting ready, Monica calls Richard back to see if the message was new, and leaves a message that she insists is “breezy” (except she says “I’m breezy!” in the message). She hacks into his machine to delete it, but then hears a message from a mystery woman.

Is this a new girlfriend? Or wait, was that his daughter? She calls the daughter just to hear her voice, and sure enough, it’s her, but then the daughter chastises Monica for what she did. It doesn’t end well, because Monica ends up accidentally changing the outgoing message on Richard’s machine, and let’s just say it includes the phrase “Maybe I’m on my period or something.”

Rachel, on the other hand, doesn’t take too kindly to her boyfriend Ross yelling at her in front of everyone, so she goes and puts on her sweats, and sits down to catch up on her correspondence instead. Phoebe finds a giant Christmas bow to wear over her stain, and Joey and Chandler finally get ready.

With minutes to spare, Ross finally herds all the friends, including Rachel who he vehemently apologizes to, downstairs to get in the taxis that he has waiting for them. The fact that this episode includes only the core cast and takes place only in the apartment, yet still was so successful proves what great writing and great actors can do.