Over its ten year and 236 episode run, Friends welcomed many famous people to Central Perk. Do you remember Julia Roberts playing Susie Underpants? Or how about Freddie Prinze Jr. as Emma’s manny? Here are a list of some of the more memorable appearances from each season. Since there have been so many stars to make an appearance on the comedy, the top 3 from each season are included.
Season 1:
George Clooney and Noah Wyle – Friends was not the only popular show on NBC to debut in 1994. ER was another smash hit for the peacock channel. Clooney and Wylie played doctors on “The One With Two Parts: Part 1” and “The One With Two Parts: Part 2.” They go on a double date with Monica and Rachel, who try to hide the fact they have switched identities to cover up Rachel not having health insurance.
Leah Remini – Remini played a bit part on the episode, “The One With the Birth.” While Carol was in labor with Ross’ son, Joey met Lydia (Remini) a single woman who is also having a baby. The two connect over basketball, but in the end Lydia’s boyfriend shows up and Joey leaves her room upset.
Hank Azaria – Azaria made five appearance on Friends as Phoebe’s love interest David. The first time we meet the scientist is in the episode, “The One With the Monkey.” David must break up with Phoebe on New Year’s Eve as he was just given the chance to do a scientific study in Minsk.
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Season 2:
Tom Selleck – Selleck appears in 10 episodes as Dr. Richard Burke. His debut episode was, “The One Where Ross and Rachel … You Know.” Monica caters a party at Richard’s apartment. The two have not seen each other in years and are quickly drawn to one another. The two date for the remainder of season 2 and break things off in the season 2 finale. Richard does pop back up from time to time and his last appearance is in the season 6 finale when Chandler proposes to Monica.
Julia Roberts – Roberts played a elementary school classmate of Chandler in the episode, “The One After the Super Bowl: Part 2.” The two reconnect on the set of Marcel’s movie, where Susie is a makeup artist. On a date at a restaurant, Susie coaxes Chandler into going into the restroom to have some fun. She takes all of his clothes and leaves him in the stall with only women’s panties on to get back at him for a prank he pulled on her while in school.
Brooke Shields – Shields made her appearance as Erika in the episode, “The One After the Super Bowl: Part 1.” She is a stalker of Joey’s and thinks that he really is Dr. Drake Ramoray. In order to get rid of her for good, Ross informs Erika that Joey is really Hans Ramoray pretending to be Drake in order to meet women. The girls claim he did the same thing to them and throw glasses of water in his face in true Soap Opera style.
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Season 3:
Billy Crystal and Robin Williams – Crystal and Williams played Tim and Tomas in the episode, “The One With the Ultimate Fighting Champion.” Central Perk is crowded and the gang must share the couch with these two guys. Tomas is suspecting his wife is cheating on him and Tim admits he is the one she is sleeping with. This appearance was not in the original episode, but Crystal and Williams were on a nearby set and the writers approached them about the cameo that was mostly ad libbed.
David Arquette – Arquette and Cox met on the set of Scream and were later married. While the couple were dating, Arquette made a guest appearance on the episode, “The One With the Jam” as Malcolm, a stalker of Ursula’s. He mistakes Phoebe for Ursula, so Phoebe tries to help him kick the habit of being a stalker without success.
Ben Stiller – Before Stiller and Jennifer Aniston appeared together in Along Came Polly, Stiller popped up on Friends as Tommy in, “The One With the Screamer.” Rachel takes Tommy as her date to Joey’s play where he freaks out on an older couple sitting in the wrong seats. Ross is the only one to witness this and spends the remainder of the episode trying to prove Tommy is bad news. The gang finally sees the real Tommy when he begins yelling at the chick and duck.
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Season 4:
Michael Vartan: Before making a name for himself on Alias, Michael Vartan starred in the episode, “The One With Chandler in a Box.” It is Thanksgiving and Monica has an eye injury. She is leery of going because she does not want to see Richard. Lucky for Monica, Richard is out of town but his son Tim (Vartan) is the on-call doctor. She invites him to dinner and the two share an awkward kiss on the balcony.
Hugh Laurie: When Rachel makes her way to London in, “The One With Ross’ Wedding: Part 2”, she is sitting by a man who is less than thrilled to be listening to her antics. That man is Laurie, who does offer some advice to Rachel, who still tries to stop Ross’ wedding. She ends up having second doubts and Ross ends up screwing things up when he says Rachel’s name during his vows.
Sherri Shepherd: Joey takes a job as a tour guide at the museum Ross works at in “The One With Phoebe’s Uterus.” He befriends Rhonda (Shepherd) after Ross refuses to sit with him at lunch. After a speech about being able to sit wherever you want, Ross and Joey end up eating lunch together and Rhonda admits that she has implants.
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Season 5:
Michael Rappaport – Rapport has most recently been seen on the drama Justified, but he also guested on four episodes of Friends, the first being, “The One With the Cop.” Rappaport played Gary, a cop that began to date Phoebe. Things were going great until Gary shot a bird and Phoebe kicked him to the curb.
Giovanni Ribisi and Debra Jo Rupp – Ribisi and Rupp first appeared in season 4. The arc of their storyline came to an end when Phoebe gave birth to their triplets in “The One Hundredth.” This would be Rupp’s final appearance as she was committed to That 70’s Show. Ribisi would appear one final time in the season 10 episode, “The One Where Ross is Fine.”
Soleil Moon Frye – Punky Brewster appeared in the episode, “The One With the Girl Who Hits Joey,” as Kate. She is the one who is playfully hitting Joey, but is actually hurting him. She ends up hitting Rachel, who in turn kicks her in the leg.
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Season 6:
Reese Witherspoon – Season 6 would be the first time we met one of Rachel’s sisters. Witherspoon played Jill in, “The One With Rachel’s Sister” and “The One Where Chandler Can’t Cry.” She came to the city to learn how to be more independent like her sister, while also trying to score with Ross.
Bruce Willis – Willis lost a bet with Matthew Perry and had to appear on the sitcom for three episodes as Paul. In the first episode, “The One Where Ross Meets Elizabeth’s Dad,” Ross tries to impress his girlfriend’s father. He never does truly win him over. Paul briefly dates Rachel, but once she gets him to show emotion he never stops crying.
Elle MacPherson – Joey needed to find a roommate after Chandler decided to move in with Monica. He ended up finding Janine (MacPherson) in the episode, “The One Where Phoebe Runs,” a dancer in need of a place to live. The two eventually end up dating, but break things off after Joey finds out she can’t stand Monica and Chandler.
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Season 7:
Susan Sarandon – Sarandon played Jessica Lockhart in the episode, “The One With Joey’s New Brain.” Lockhart was being fired from Days of Our Lives and to be replaced by Joey as Dr. Drake Ramoray. Jessica shows Joey how to act like her character since he would be getting a brain transplant from her. Sarandon’s daughter also was in this episode.
Kathleen Turner – It has been revealed early on in the series that Chandler’s dad had become a woman, so the creators needed to find a woman who had a raspy enough voice for it to be believable she once was a man. They found Turner who first appeared as Charles Bing in, “The One With Chandler’s Dad.”
Winona Ryder – On the episode, “The One With Rachel’s Big Kiss,” Rachel admitted to kissing her sorority sister Melissa (Ryder) back in college. She bumps into her and the two go out to dinner. Melissa denies the kiss ever happened until Rachel lays one right on her before she leaves. Melissa then admits she has always remembered the kiss and then gets a little too clingy.
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Season 8:
Brad Pitt – Once upon a time, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were a happy couple. During that time, he guest-starred as Will on the episode, “The One With the Rumor.” Will was friends with Ross in high school and they had spread a rumor that Rachel had had both female and male body parts. Like Monica, Will used to be fat.
Alec Baldwin – Baldwin played Parker in two episodes. He bumps into Monica and Phoebe at the dry cleaners in, “The One With the Tea Leaves,” and is Phoebe’s date in “The One in Massapequa.” Phoebe quickly dumps him after she learns that he does not get mad about anything.
Sean Penn – Another famous love interest for Phoebe was Eric, who was played by Sean Penn in two episodes. His first appearance was in, “The One With the Halloween Party.” This relationship ends quickly when Phoebe learns Eric mistakenly slept with Ursula.
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Season 9:
Paul Rudd – Rudd made his first of 18 appearance as Mike in the episode, “The One With the Pediatrician.” Joey forgot to set up Phoebe with one of his friends and finds Mike at the coffee house. Things between Mike and Phoebe worked out well. The two tie the knot in season 10.
Freddie Prinze Jr. – As I mentioned earlier, FPJ played Emma’s manny Sandy in the episode, “The One With the Male Nanny.” Ross is not too thrilled with Emma being taken care of by a male nanny. He is eventually replaced by Molly (Melissa George). This was the 200th episode of Friends.
Christina Applegate – Three seasons after Witherspoon appeared as Jill, Applegate played Rachel’s other sister Amy in the episode, “The One With Rachel’s Other Sister.” Applegate would win an Emmy for her performance and will also appear in the final season episode, “The One Where Rachel’s Sister Babysits.”
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Season 10:
Anna Faris – After Matthew Perry saw Faris’ performance in Lost in Translation, he wanted her to star on the final season of Friends. Faris played Erica, the birth mother to the twins that Monica and Chandler would adopt after the find out they cannot have their own. Faris’ first appearance is in, “The One With the Birth Mother.”
Danny Devito – Phoebe wants a stripper for her Bachelorette party in “The One Where the Stripper Cries,” so at the last minute Monica and Rachel find Roy. Of course, the ladies are turned off by his appearance. Roy notices this and becomes upset. The girls talk him into retiring, but not before he gives them one last show.
Ellen Pompeo – Pompeo became a household name after having starred on Grey’s Anatomy for the last 10 seasons. Pompeo also appeared in, “The One Where the Stripper Cries.” She played Missy, a girl that went to college with Chandler and Ross. They both had a crush on her and vowed to never do anything about it. Chandler broke the deal and Missy reveals to Ross that her and Chandler used to make out. A lot.
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