Friends Marathon: Top 30 episodes

So it's been my goal to finally find the answer to the age old question, "What is YOUR favorite episode of Friends?" There are so many...I never know. It's been one of my goals this year to watch all 10 seasons, keep track of the best, and then continue to eliminate until I have a top 10, and hopefully in order. The first round is finally complete, with the final 30 listed below. In order to qualify for the top 30 the ENTIRE episode had to be good, with each character featured somehow. It was a tough cut, but I tried to stay consistent with that.
To come up with the top 20 I used the following grading scale:
Are all characters involved well in the storyline?
How does this episode stand alone?
Relevance to the main plot of Friends
How many funny lines?
Overall liking of the episode.
If it did well in all 5 categories, it got 5 stars. The episodes with the lowest amount of stars will be eliminated, and the highest will make the top 20. I still need to figure out a tougher grading scale for the next round. It's trickier than I thought. I have several already with 5 stars. Here are the results for the top 30.
Season 1
****1/2 The One with Two Parts Rachel sprains her ankle taking down the Christmas lights; Monika and Rachel run into Noah Wyle and George Clooney who are doctors. Joey dates Ursula, the girls from Mad About You make a short cameo. Ross takes a Lamaze class with Suzanne and Carol, and also freaks out about becoming a father. Chandler has to fire the cute girl at work.
***The One with All the Poker This one has a lot of funny one-liners. The girls are mad because the guys always play poker without them and convince them to let them play.
***The One where Rachel Finds Out Joey is part of a fertility study and can't move things further with his girlfriend. Ross goes to China. Rachel has a birthday and lets it slip that Ross loves her.
Season 2
*****The One where Ross Finds Out Monica helps Chandler lose weight. Phoebe's boyfriend won't sleep with her. Ross tries to get a cat with Julie. Rachel has a date, get's drunk and leaves Ross a message saying that she's over him. Ross and Rachel have their first kiss.
*****The One with the Prom Video Joey buys Chandler a bracelet. Monica has to ask her parents for money. Everyone watches the video from when they got ready for the prom (which is the first flashback episode). Ross and Rachel officially get together after the video.
Season 3
*****The One where No One's Ready Joey sits in Chandler's chair. Chandler then hides Joey's underwear so Joey puts on all of Chandler's clothes. Monica get's a message from Richard and can't figure out if it's old or new. Ross is in a hurry to leave and is freaking out that no one is ready.
***1/2 The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel Joey has the milk infomercial--Phoebe pretends to be Joey's agent. Ben plays with a Barbie and Ross hates it. Chandler goes over-committed and scares Janice--Rachel and Monica console Chandler now that he's on "their side of the tunnel".
****1/2 The One at the Beach Chandler tries to convince Monica to be her "backup." Phoebe wants to go to the beach to see her mom's friend to try and find her father. Joey gets everybody to play strip poker. Rachel and Ross are really flirty, but Bonnie ends up coming up after work and Rachel is really jealous.
Season 4
*****The One with the Jellyfish Phoebe is really Phoebe's mom; Rachel writes Ross an 18 page letter and they get back together, then break up. Monica gets stung by a jellyfish.
*****The One with the Embryos Phoebe gets Frank & Alice's embryos emplanted. Ross makes up a game between Rachel & Monica and Joey and Chandler to see who knows each other better. The girls end up losing the apartment.
****The One with All the Haste Monica and Rachel try to bribe Chandler and Joey with Knicks tickets to get their apartment back. They end up switching apartments while they're at the game and then kiss for 1 minute to keep it. Ross and Emily get engaged.
***The One with All the Wedding Dresses A snoring Joey is keeping Chandler awake, forcing Chandler to take him to a sleep clinic. Ross asks Monica to pick up Emily's wedding dress for him, and Monica decides to try it on for a bit.
Season 5
****1/2 The One with All the Kissing Ross continues to try and mend his marriage to Emily. When Chandler accidentally kisses Monica in front of everyone before leaving for work, he tries to recover by kissing everyone. Phoebe starts getting irritated by everyone's London stories. She ends up going into labor at the end of the episode. Rachel wants to tell Ross that she still loves him.
**1/2 The One with the Inappropriate Sister Ross makes Joey write a play. Chandler & Joey make up the game "fireball." Phoebe collects for the Salvation army. Rachel's date is very flirty with his sister and it makes Rachel uncomfortable.
****The One with All the Resolutions As 1999 approaches, the group all make resolutions, most of which will require a lot of willpower to accomplish. Rachel vows to stop gossiping, a resolution that is put to the test when she learns about Monica and Chandler's relationship. Ross gets stuck in the leather pants. Phoebe teaches Joey to play the guitar. Chandler isn't allowed to make fun of his friends and it's really hard for him.
*****The One where Everybody Finds Out Ross tries to get ugly naked guy's apartment, Phoebe finds out about Monica and Chandler and tries to mess with them and seduce Chandler to get them to admit it.
****1/2 The One with Ross's Sandwich Joey has to keep covering for Monika and Chandler. "I'm Joey...I'm discusting." Phoebe takes a class and brings Rachel who doesn't read the book. Someone eats Ross's sandwich at work.
*****The One In Vegas Chandler decides the only way to mend his friendship with Joey is to fly out to Vegas and visit him. Phoebe is determined not to be left out on another adventure, so everyone winds up going. Monica runs into Richard at lunch and Chandler finds out and they have a fight. Rachel and Ross come a day late and Ross thinks her naked time in her apartment is for him, this ends up starting a prank war on the plane. Joey finds his hand twin. Monica and Chandler decide to elope in Vegas but Rachel and Ross beat them there.
Season 6
*****The One when Ross Got High Monica's parents come for Thanksgiving, when Chandler learns that they don't like him and don't know he and Monica are dating or living together. Phoebe has a dream about Jack Gellar and has a huge crush on him. Joey and Ross are trying to hurry through dinner so they can hang out with Janine and her dancer friends. Rachel makes her trifle with beef.
***1/2 The One with the Routine Joey is beginning to like Janine more. She gets an invitation to dance on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and invites Joey, Monica and Ross to join her. Monica and Ross are a little too happy about this, as it gives them a chance to finally use their "routine." While Monica is at the taping, Rachel, Phoebe and Chandler search for their Christmas presents.
****1/2 The One that Could Have Been Barry and Mindy's impending divorce prompts the gang to fantasize about what their lives might be like if they'd all taken different courses. Ross is still married to Carol, and Rachel is married to Barry, but fawning over famous soap star Joey Tribbiani. Monica is still fat and dating a doctor. Chandler is an aspiring writer and Phoebe is a Wall Street shark for Merrill Lynch. Carol and Ross decide to have a threesome to spice up their marriage. Rachel goes to Joey's and kisses him. Chandler and Monica have sex and end up together anyway. Susan meets Carol. Rachel catches Barry cheating.
*****The One with the Proposal Rachel takes Joey and Phoebe to her benefit. Phoebe gets really drunk and Joey buys a boat. Ross breaks up with Elizabeth. To make his eventual proposal a surprise, Chandler begins his campaign to convince Monica he never wants to get married. Richard shows up at Monica's restaurant and tells her he still loves her, leading Monica struggling with what she wants for her future. Joey hangs out in his new Captain's outfit. Phoebe has two backups and Rachel wants one of them. Chandler and Monica finally get engaged.
Season 7
***1/2 The One with the Engagement Picture While taking an engagement picture for himself and Monica, Chandler cannot make anything but a weird face. Rachel enlists Joey to take Tag out for a night on the town. Joey ends up teaching him his "ways" and now Tag keeps picking up chicks. Phoebe and Ross date a couple in the middle of a divorce.
****1/2 The One with the Nap Partners Rachel and Phoebe compete to be Monica's maid-of-honor. Joey and Ross find themselves in awkward positions after a nap. Monica insists that Chandler apologize to an ex-girlfriend for dumping her because of a weight gain.
****The One with the Truth About London Monica reveals the truth about her visit to Chandler's room while the group was in London. Meanwhile, Joey gets ordained as a minister through the Internet so he can officiate the wedding. Rachel teaches Ben a couple pranks while babysitting him.
Season 8
*****The One with the Rumor Monica invites an old friend from high school over for Thanksgiving dinner, unaware that Will started a "We Hate Rachel" club with Ross. (Will is Brad Pitt) Joey tries to eat an entire turkey by himself, and ends up having to change into Phoebe's maternity pants. Chandler and Phoebe pretend to watch football to avoid helping in the kitchen.
****The One where Joey Dates Rachel Phoebe gets Monica and Chandler a Ms. Pacman arcade game for a wedding present, which leads to some heavy competition between Monica, Phoebe, and, surprisingly, Chandler. Ross gets to teach an important class because of a retiring professor, but doesn't have enough time to get there. Joey takes Rachel to dinner on a pretend date to make her feel better since she can't have a normal relationship due to her pregnancy.
Season 9
****The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song Ross makes Emma laugh by singing Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back." Joey and Chandler, viewing Richard's old apartment, discover what they think is a tape of Richard having sex with Monica. Phoebe goes to dinner with Mike and his parents, where they encourage him to date somebody else. Mike admits that he loves Phoebe.
Season 10
****1/2 The One After Joey & Rachel Kiss Monica, Chandler and Phoebe discover that they can eavesdrop on Ross & Charlie and Joey & Rachel through the walls of the hotel. Both new couples decide to wait before proceeding with their relationships, until the men can talk to each other. Ross tells Joey on the plane ride back to New York, but Joey can't quite yet. Later, Ross walks in on Joey and Rachel kissing. Monica combats her poofy hair by getting corn rows put in, and Phoebe discovers that Mike has a girlfriend.
*****The One with Princess Consuela Monica and Chandler visit their house, which is in escrow, where Joey is comforted about losing his friends by the 8-year-old girl who presently lives there. Phoebe learns that she can change her name to whatever she wants, which turns out to be Princess Consuela Bananahammock. After Mike changes his name to Crap Bag, she decides to just be Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Ross gets tenure at his job. Rachel's boss is sitting next to her at an interview, and she loses her job. However, she runs into her old friend Mark, who offers her a job in Paris.