“The One with the Late Thanksgiving”

Friends season 10, episode 8
Original air date: November 20, 2003

Monica and Chandler decide not to host Thanksgiving for everyone this year, because of stress with their jobs and adoption. Everyone's up in arms about what they'll do until Phoebe, in a shameless manipulation, tells Monica it's just as well — last year's Thanksgiving wasn't that great anyway. Now in competition with herself, Monica demands the opportunity to top last Thanksgiving.

Monica asks Phoebe and Rachel to pick up pies for the meal, but on their way there, Phoebe pushes Rachel into entering Emma in a baby beauty pageant. Rachel resists, but when she learns there's a $1000 prize, she acquiesces. They put Emma in Joey's Cabbage Patch doll's cowgirl outfit, slap some makeup on her, and then run late when Emma's group isn't called by 3:00. They stick around, though, after Phoebe hears one of the judges say that none of the babies holds a candle to Emma.

Joey and Ross aren't faring any better, though. They try to talk Chandler into going to the Rangers game, but he says there's no way that they can make it to the game and be back for dinner at 4:00. Ross and Joey pretend to agree, but go to the game anyway, of course getting stuck when the game is tied right near the end.

All four of them end up in the hallway outside Chandler and Monica's apartment, forty-five minutes late for dinner. When Monica sees them arguing in the hallway, she locks them out from dinner. Rachel tries her old key to get in, but they can't get past the chain. Joey tries a little stare-eyes action to get Monica and Chandler to forgive them, but it's not working. Monica's ready to forgive them, until she finds out that Phoebe and Rachel didn't pick up the pies. Plus, Joey's head gets stuck in the door, and all the turkey grease they dump on it won't unstick him. Joey finally breaks through the door, crashing into the food and sending it flying. Fortunately, Monica's distracted by a phone call from the adoption agency: a pregnant lady in Ohio has chosen Chandler and Monica to be her adoptive couple.