Top 10 Times Joey & Phoebe Were Agents of Chaos on Friends

“The One With The Cake”
Your best friends’ daughter only turns one once, so what’s the perfect gift? Another stuffed animal? A heartfelt song? Or are you just banking on the fact that a one-year-old won’t remember any of it anyway? Luckily, Joey has his acting skills to fall back on. Normally, his acting is about on par with Phoebe’s music, but this time, he brings his A-game, leaving the other guests all misty-eyed. Phoebe, on the other hand, has prepared a song, but cracking this audience proves tougher than finding words that rhyme with “Emma.” So, she tries taking a leaf out of Joey’s book. In the end, both acts ensure Emma’s first birthday is anything but forgettable.

“The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”
After Phoebe births her brother’s triplets, Joey decides it’s time to put some good into the universe, too. This starts a debate about whether there’s really such a thing as a totally selfless good deed. Determined her nieces and nephew won’t grow up in a world where “Joey is right,” Phoebe goes to great lengths to counter his argument. Does the fact that he’s on TV (well, a TV set) stop her from updating him on her progress? Nope. Meanwhile, Joey proves his point by doing everything he can to get screen time. In the end, irony ties it all together as Phoebe all but concedes, and Joey finally gets his spotlight moment.

“The One in Vegas: Part 2”
In this episode, Phoebe and Joey are both off stirring up their separate chaos. She’s locked in an intense showdown with a ‘lurker,’ while he believes he’s struck gold with a million-dollar idea. Of course, no one else shares Joey’s vision—except Phoebe. Well, it does take that kind of dedication to land a spot in the thumb of a hand-shaped home. Ever the supportive friend, Phoebe—sorry, Regina Phalange—uses her business savvy to try and win over Joey’s identical hand twin. Because really, who doesn’t need a friend who champions your most ridiculous ideas? Unfortunately, security intervenes before they can seal the deal, and Joey gets thrown out for good measure.

“The One with the Metaphorical Tunnel”
When it comes to Joey’s career, Phoebe is nothing if not supportive. So when her little misstep costs him an audition, she steps up to fix it—and it turns out she’s better at the job than his actual agent. Phoebe really enjoys the role until Joey asks her to get him a few more jobs. Then the rejections start coming through, and suddenly, it’s not so much fun to be the bearer of bad news. While Joey tries to convince her that he appreciates her honesty, there’s also only so much of this emotional wreckage his ego can take. And hey, since when did a little sugar-coating hurt anyone, anyway?

“The One Where Rachel Tells…”
If there’s one thing every “Friends” fan knows, it’s that the gang loves hanging out in the purple apartment. But with Monica and Chandler off on their honeymoon, they tell a little white lie to keep the chaos out while they’re gone. Desperate to get in—Phoebe for her guitar and Joey for Monica’s food—they report a gas leak. What they didn’t anticipate is that in an emergency, there isn’t exactly much time to search for the right key. One tiny lie spirals into full-blown property damage. And how do they cover that up? By reverting back to their original lie… and topping it off with a little more property destruction.

“The One With The Fake Party”
Anyone who’s been pregnant knows cravings can hit you in unexpected ways. For Phoebe, the surprise was realizing she wanted meat—and she’s a vegetarian! Her love of animals takes a backseat when pregnancy hormones take the wheel, and soon Chandler finds himself unwittingly sharing his sandwich with her. Joey, ever the enabler, tells her that if she’s ditching her principles, she might as well go whole hog. Phoebe’s stomach might be happy, but at what cost? Joey strikes a deal to make her feel less guilty, swearing he won’t eat meat until the babies arrive. Later, he can only watch on hopelessly as Phoebe curates a meat feast like it’s an art project.

“The One With the Race Car Bed”
As we’ve seen already, Phoebe is one of Joey’s biggest cheerleaders. So when the part of “Nick the Boxer” comes up on a soap, she goes full hands-on to help him prepare—maybe a little too hands-on. After throwing punches that could’ve secured her the role instead, she tries to help Joey with the injury she caused. While Phoebe’s focused on his busted face and Joey’s doing his best not to bleed everywhere, they completely miss a new vehicle of chaos rolling through the front door. Left to handle the fallout, Phoebe tries to make the best of it. Still, when push comes to shove, if Joey hadn’t left his nose open, none of this would’ve happened.

“The One Where Joey Speaks French”
Joey’s no stranger to embellishing his resume. Thankfully, while he might not actually have many of the skills listed, he knows someone who does. Still, nothing tops the unhinged teacher-student dynamic when Phoebe tries to teach Joey French. Watching her frustration grow as Joey fails to get past the first line is pure comedy gold. We may not have gotten As in our high school French, but even we could handle “Je M’appelle.” Joey, though, is such a lost cause that Phoebe has to bail before she completely loses it. Still, gold star to her for not totally abandoning him, and hey, he doesn’t need to know the whole truth, right?

“The One With Rachel's Other Sister”
Given what we’ve seen so far, it’s almost a miracle Joey ever landed an acting gig—and from what we’re about to see, it’s even more surprising he’s managed to keep one as long as he did. In this episode, Joey realizes he was meant to be on a Thanksgiving Day float and now needs a good lie to explain why he wasn’t there. Once again, it’s Phoebe to the rescue! Raccoons tend to have starring roles in Joey’s lies, which surprisingly makes them somewhat transparent. So Phoebe spends the episode fine-tuning Joey’s storytelling skills. What can we say? Some of the best lies just need a raccoon to give them some more pizzazz.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

& He Couldn’t Have Chosen a Better Scene-Mate!

You Need This Level of Connection to Unleash That Much Chaos

We Don’t Know What’s More Chaotic, the Fact That She Accepts or That He Later Takes It Back

Joseph Francis Tribbiani Takes Revenge & Challenges Phoebe’s Loyalty

Are Your Friends Even Trying to Set You Up If They Don’t Peruse Coffee Shops & Yell out Random Names?

“The One with the Blind Dates”
No one can say Phoebe and Joey aren’t committed to their friends’ love lives. In season nine, they decide Ross and Rachel are a perfect match and concoct a plan to get them back together. Phoebe finds possibly the world’s worst date for Rachel, while Joey completely misunderstands the assignment—but they make it work. Their plan even includes an evil laugh because every good scheme needs one. Ross gets stood up, and Rachel has a night from hell. Meanwhile, Joey and Phoebe feel pretty smug about it all. But as they spy on Ross and Rachel, they realize their friends are onto them—and well, there’s only one thing left to do now!



Which Joey & Phoebe moment did you find the most chaotic? Let us know in the comments.