I Ranked the 6 friends from worst to best

 

Friends is my all-time favorite TV show. I’ve watched each episode at least twice—maybe more—and my thoughts on it keep changing. Sometimes I think Rachel should have stayed on the plane. Other times it doesn’t. About once a month, I imagine what the show would be like if Joey and Rachel were together, and I don’t hate it. Oh, and I kept asking over and over if I thought Ross was attractive.

But one thing I’m pretty sure of is where I rank my six friends. To be clear, this ranking is not based on humor, looks, screen time, or some other shallow metric. It’s just based on each character’s goodness – which character has the least problems, is the most loyal, and is the best… well, man. Over the course of the show’s ten seasons, we’ve seen the best and worst of Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, and Ross: their good qualities and their bad qualities, their strengths and weaknesses. But when you do the math, some friends’ good-to-bad ratio will be much better than others.

 

Most of my colleagues and I agree with the rankings below. Let me preface this by saying that I love all my friends in different ways; there are just some people who will be there for you more than others. Let me explain.

6. Ross (David Schwimmer)

I think we can all agree that Ross is the worst. He’s definitely one of the funniest characters on the show, but as a person, he’s just… a menace? He panics when his son, Ben, wants to play with Barbie dolls; criticizes Sandy, the male nanny, just because he is a boy; uncomfortably possessive of Rachel in Mark’s time (and beyond); and think wearing leather pants on a date is a good idea. Okay, that’s really funny, but the rest of what I listed still stands. Ross and his dinosaurs and rigid gender constructs can stay in 1994, thank you very much.

5. Chandler (Matthew Perry)

Chandler may very well be the funniest friend, but that doesn’t get his bad behavior off the hook. From his homophobic attitude toward his father to the time he dissed Monica, a lot of the things he did were inexcusable. It’s true that he’s a good, thoughtful friend when he wants to be, but those sweet moments are overshadowed by the times he makes bad situations even worse with sarcasm. Tomorrow is not the right time.

4. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston)

Rachel is my favorite friend. Even still, I have to rank her low on this list. She’s not quite as terrible as Ross and Chandler — no one is — but she’s a bit withdrawn and manipulates her friends into the craziest schemes. (Remember all the Joshua episodes?) She also felt embarrassed when seen with sweet Phoebe at the park when they decided to start jogging. Unforgivable!

3. Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow)
Phoebe may be rude and quick to anger, but she is very kind to her friends and family. Remember when she carried three children for her brother? Triple! That alone would have earned her a spot in the top three, but Phoebe’s kindness went far beyond that. She is unapologetic about who she is—please see the run I mentioned earlier and “Smelly Cat”—and is, in many ways, the glue that holds it all together. Need I remind you that it was Phoebe who brought Monica and Rachel back together in season six when they had their biggest fight ever. “Do you remember Rollerblades? Oh!”

2. Monica (Courteney Cox)

Monica is a bit polarizing among my colleagues. Her detractors say she is controlling, neurotic, and a know-it-all — but in my opinion, none of those qualities qualify as “bad.” She’s type A, but someone has to manage these idiots, right? Monica is an incredibly loyal friend—she lets Rachel move in with her even though they haven’t spoken in years—loves being a host, and will make Thanksgiving special even when you can’t come home home. Despite her competitive energy, she seems strangely calm. Because she is always there.

1. Joey (Matt LeBlanc)

But no one is there for his friends more than Joey Tribbiani. As my colleague Jenny so accurately said: “Joey is pure, the righteous among sinners.” Sure, that Joey-Rachel romance plot might be ill-advised, but there’s no one more kind, trustworthy, and loyal than this guy. He ate all of Rachel’s disgusting Thanksgiving snacks; take dancing lessons with the director so Monica and Rachel can keep their apartment; and even stopped eating meat because vegetarian Phoebe craved meat when she was pregnant