‘Friends’ Was the Classic Thanksgiving Sitcom … So Why Did Chandler Hate the Holiday?

Remind Staff November 28, 11:00 am

FRIENDS, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, 'The One With The Late Thanksgiving', (Season 10, epis. #226), 1994-2004, — © Warner Bros. / Courtesy: Everett Collection

Friends celebrated Thanksgiving like no other show — the series dished up a Turkey Day episode each year of its 10-season run. But considering the show was synonymous with Thanksgiving, why did Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry‘s beloved goofball Friends character, hate the holiday?

If you’re saying, “Wait, does Chandler hate Thanksgiving?” here’s the evidence: In Season 5, Episode 8 of Friends, “The One With All the Thanksgivings,” which aired in 1998, Chandler refers to himself as “king of a bad Thanksgiving” and reveals that he has always hated the holiday because that is when his parents told him they were getting divorced.

But is there more to it? In the show’s main plot, the six now-beloved New Yorkers are so full from their holiday dinner they sit around their apartment reminiscing and sharing stories of previous Thanksgivings. Somehow, everyone’s Thanksgiving memories seem to involve something terrible happening to Chandler.

First, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) shares the one where Joey (Matt LeBlanc) gets a turkey stuck on his head after placing it there to scare Chandler.

FRIENDS, (from left): Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, 'The One With All The Thanksgivings', (Season 5, ep. 508, aired Nov. 19, 1998), 1994-2004.

Warner Bros. Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

Then there’s the one where Monica (Courteney Cox), still in high school, first meets Chandler after Ross (David Schwimmer) brings him over for their family Thanksgiving dinner, and she overhears him calling her fat.

This is followed by a story where Chandler ends up in the ER due to a kitchen knife mishap, caused by Monica’s failed attempts at seduction, when she was trying to trick him into getting naked so she could lock him out of the house without his clothes as revenge.

Even as a kid, Chandler is already a Thanksgiving hater: In the flashbacks, Ross tells his parents Chandler won’t eat any food relating to Thanksgiving.

FRIENDS, from left, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, 'The One with All the Thanksgivings,' (Season 5, aired November 19, 1998), 1994-2004.

Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

But is Chandler’s Thanksgiving hatred healed by the end of the episode? After all, he’s no longer refusing Thanksgiving food; he’s stuffed like everyone else. The idea seems to be that his friendships with Ross and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and the rest have served to heal his past trauma over the holiday.

And when Chandler gets angry hearing the true story of his knife injury, Monica ends up trying to smooth things over with him by putting a raw turkey on her own head and doing a funny dance. This ends up causing Chandler to laugh and accidentally tell her he loves her for the first time. Basically, all is forgiven. So maybe, by the end, Chandler has found a way to like the holiday after all.