The One with All the Thanksgivings

In the episode, the main characters spend Thanksgiving at Monica's (Courteney Cox) apartment and begin telling stories about their worst Thanksgivings: Chandler (Matthew Perry) learning of his parents' divorce, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) losing arms in past lives and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) having his head stuck in a turkey.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) reveals Monica's worst Thanksgiving—accidentally cutting off Chandler's toe after he called her "fat" in their first encounter.

It guest-stars Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles as Jack and Judy Geller, with a cameo appearance by Morgan Fairchild as Nora Tyler Bing.

A flashback approach was incorporated as the producers realized the audience responded well to it, despite concern the episode might be confused for a clip show.

The episode earned Debra McGuire a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series.

Ross's (David Schwimmer) complaint that his divorce and eviction means he is having the worst Thanksgiving ever prompts the others to tell their stories.

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) then tells a story from a past life when she was an American Civil War nurse in 1862 and lost an arm, though Ross objects, with the demand of only tales of present lives.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) says she knows Monica's (Courteney Cox) worst Thanksgiving, but Phoebe interrupts with a story about the time Joey (Matt LeBlanc) had a turkey stuck on his head in 1992.

A tag scene shows another of Phoebe's past life memories as she serves in a World War I field hospital in 1915 and again loses an arm.

The producers knew from past recordings that the audience responded well to seeing "the Friends as they were" and decided to incorporate a flashback episode into a Thanksgiving special.

"[6] According to Kauffman, certain scenes filmed in the apartment were shot in advance because "it was all over the place"; the cast were tired and full and their energy levels were low.

The set for the Geller house was used previously in "The One Where Joey Moves Out", for Jack's birthday party and in the season seven episode "The One Where Rosita Dies", when Ross and Monica visit their parent's garage.

[6] A special rubber and foam turkey was created for Joey and Monica to place on their heads for sanitary and insurance reasons.

[4] The inspiration for Phoebe's character spurting blood was Dan Aykroyd's Julia Child sketch on Saturday Night Live.

[4] It brought together the past of Monica being rejected by Chandler, then Chandler in a way being rejected by Monica and then coming back to their relationship in the future that we are all rooting for.In its original airing, the show finished second in ratings for the week of November 16–22, 1998, with a Nielsen rating of 16.0, equivalent to approximately 15.5 million households.

[7] The episode premiered in the United Kingdom on Sky1 on February 25, 1999 and reached 1.88 million viewers which made it the most watched show that week.

[8] Entertainment Weekly rated the episode "B+" and called the "pre-nose job" Rachel and "Fat Monica" great sight gags.