Friends: 25 Greatest Episodes
6. The One With The Rumour (S8E9)
The Episode
Aka The One With Brad Pitt. Monica and Ross' old friend comes to visit for Thanksgiving, reigniting some old wounds with Rachel.
Why It's Great
The presence of Brad Pitt does dominate conversation about this episode, and it's understandable. He's a huge star, and was perhaps bigger then, and he and Jennifer Aniston were one of the real Hollywood power couples of the time. Seeing them riff on that with Will's burning hatred of Rachel adds to the fun of this episode, and Pitt is extremely game.
There is, however, so much more to this episode than him. Caught up in the I-Hate-Rachel plot, Ross, Monica, and of course Rachel herself all get some brilliant moments of interplay that call back to their long history together. Phoebe shines there too by wanting to join in, as well as her and Chandler pretending to watch football.
Joey, meanwhile, gets some purely solo excellence by doing what he does best: eating. Taking on an entire turkey is a challenge Joey Tribbiani was born for. It's supremely funny, well-acted, and gave us the term 'meat sweats'.