Before Friends Leaves Netflix Forever, Enjoy These New Year’s Episodes One Last Time

As we bid farewell to 2019, we’re also saying goodbye to Friends on Netflix. When the clock strikes midnight, the beloved sitcom will disappear from the streaming service, so get cozy and binge-watch Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Ross (David Schwimmer), and every iconic Friends celebrity cameo while you still can — and make sure you watch three New Year’s episodes to get into the season.

The first Friends New Year’s episode, “The One with the Monkey,” aired in December 1994, during the show’s very first season. The episode rang in 1995 for the New York City clan. The pals decide to host a New Year’s party, but no one is allowed to bring any dates. It goes exactly how you think it does. And it turns out Ross is the one with the monkey — his new pet monkey named Marcel, and naturally, hijinks ensue. 

The next time that Friends celebrates New Year’s is 1999. In the episode, the group is winding down after partying like it’s, well, 1999. They think about how they want to spend the last year before the new millennium. Rachel resolves to quit gossiping, Monica takes up photography as a hobby, and Ross wants to undertake new daily experiences. The episode ends with the revelation that Monica and Chandler are secretly dating.

Finally, Friends rings in the year 2000 with all the silliness, low-rise jeans, and one-liner quips that can fit into 30 minutes. In “The One with the Routine,” the group is invited to a taping of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which devolves into hilarious dance routines. Monica and Ross slay the dance floor, but the joke’s on them when it’s aired on the blooper reel.

Saying goodbye to Friends on Netflix will be rough, I know. But 2020 may bring us the Friends content we all want and need — a Friends reunion special is coming to HBO Max, and while there’s no official release date, here’s hoping it arrives before the next decade.