For a comedy as universal as "Friends," every fan has an episode (or 12) that they'd call among the best of the series. Here are our top 20 "Friends" episodes, ordered by season. We begin with the pilot, "The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate." It wasn't perfect, but it did start a 10-year phenomenon when it aired on September 22, 1994. For that honor alone, it makes it onto our list. 
"The One with the Blackout:" Among the season 1 episodes, this one is a favorite. When there's a power outage in NYC, all the "Friends" except for Chandler gather at Monica and Rachel's apartment. Chandler, meanwhile is stuck in an ATM vestibule having a flirtation fail with model-of-the-hour Jill Goodacre. "Gum would be perfection!" 
"The One with all the Poker:" Any episode that combined all of the "Friends" and a guys vs. girls faceoff was bound for greatness. But underneath the humor in this season 1 episode was a larger story unfolding of Ross' feelings for Rachel. 
"The One Where Ross Finds Out:" After spending so much time watching a lovelorn Ross hold feelings for Rachel in the first season, the second season of "Friends" flipped that scenario on its head. Finally, in episode 7 of season 2, Ross learns that Rachel feels the same way, leading to "the kiss." 
"The One with the Prom Video:" In season 2, Monica and Rachel's old prom video is dug up and played for the group, showing just how long Ross has been swooning over Rachel. He got a kiss in the end, and we got '80s flashbacks. Win for everybody! 
"The One Where No One's Ready:" When Ross has a work event and everyone else is distracted, bellyaching shenanigans ensue. The MVP of the episode is Matt LeBlanc's Joey, who retaliates at Matthew Perry's Chandler with a hilarious visual stunt when they get into a fight over a chair. "Look at me! I'm Chandler! Could I be wearing any more clothes?" 
"The One with the Football:" "Friends" Thanksgiving episodes are always among the best of the series, and this season 3 episode is a standout. As proven in season 1, anytime you get this competitive group together and introduce a game, you're going to get classic moments. 
"The One with Chandler in a Box:" The Thanksgiving episode in season 4 was another winner thanks to a Joey-Chandler spat. To repair their friendship, Joey sentences Chandler to six hours in a box. The sight gag was excellent, but Chandler cracking wise from inside the box brought the episode to a timeless level of funny. And it gave us Monica's awesome defense for being interested in the son of an old flame. 
"The One with the Embryos:" This season 4 episode is just as well known by its unofficial name, "the one with the quiz." While Phoebe's hoping a fertility procedure works so she can carry her half-brother's kids (yes, real plot), the rest of the "Friends" set up an elaborate trivia game to see who knows each other the best. The price of this game? Monica and Rachel's apartment. 
"The One with all the Thanksgivings:" A strong "Friends" episode for Thanksgiving was a tradition by season 5, and that year's installment didn't disappoint. Nothing makes a great comedy episode like flashbacks of past holiday dinners gone wrong -- like the time Joey got a turkey stuck on his head. 
"The One Where Everybody Finds Out:" A running gag in season 5 was the secret relationship between Monica and Chandler. One person was let in on it at a time, and in this episode the cat was let fully out of the bag with hilarious consequences. In the words of Phoebe, "they don't know that we know that they know we know." 
"The One Where Ross Can't Flirt:" David Schwimmer had some incredible moments as the romantically frustrated Ross Geller in season 5 ("The One with Ross's Sandwich" is another classic episode.) In this installment, he insists on proving he can flirt with the woman delivering pizzas -- and just continues to dig himself into a deeper hole. Bonus points for Joey's debut in a "Law & Order" episode. 
"The One Where Ross Got High:" The secrets came tumbling out in this season 6 episode, when the Geller parents come over for Thanksgiving dinner. Ross owns up to getting high in college; Rachel realizes she made a beef trifle; Chandler and Monica's cover is blown; and Phoebe blurts out her love for Jacques Cousteau. Fantastic timing all around. 
"The One that Could Have Been, Parts 1 and 2:" Where would our favorite "Friends" have ended up if they'd taken different paths? We find out in this comical two-part episode in season 6. 
"The One with the Proposal, Parts 1 and 2:" So we're cheating by including two-parters, but the relationship between BFFs Chandler and Monica was just as enjoyable as Ross and Rachel's, which usually got more attention. (A dynamic that led to our next favorite episode.) In season 6, these two decided to get married with a sweet proposal that Monica initiates and Chandler concludes. 
"The One with Monica's Thunder:" Season 7 starts off with a familiar scene: Rachel and Ross sharing a kiss once again. It's too much for Monica, who's upset that a Rachel-and-Ross reunion would outshine the news of her engagement. All is forgiven in the end after a frank talk between Rachel and Monica, reminding the audience that underneath the laughs "Friends" at its heart is a story of these evolving bonds and relationships. 
"The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding, Part 2:" Season 7 as a whole had some gems -- the holiday armadillo; the one with Rachel's book and the one with all the cheesecakes, just to name a few -- but we'll cherry pick the season finale. Monica and Chandler make it to become Mr. and Mrs. Bing, but there was also the tease to Rachel's pregnancy in season 8. 
"The One with the Videotape:" In season 8, after the group finally learns that it's Ross that Rachel's having a baby with, the lingering question was who came on to whom. That answer is solved with a videotape that Ross accidentally made of himself and Rachel getting intimate and which gave us the great reveal of Rachel using "the Europe story" on Ross. 
"The One with the Rumor:" Jennifer Aniston's then-husband Brad Pitt showed up for some fun in season 8. Pitt played an old friend of Ross' who couldn't stand Rachel in high school, leading to the reveal of a crude rumor the two started about Rachel. 
"The Last One, Part 2:" After several sessions on Central Perk's orange couch, this group of "Friends" said goodbye on May 6, 2004. They do it in classic "Friends" style with one last "will they or won't they?" moment between Ross and Rachel (a moment that was greatly aided by Phoebe's quick thinking regarding a plane's "left phalange"). As they exited Monica's apartment for the last time, they decided to grab a coffee. Cue Chandler asking with perfect timing, "Sure -- where?"
- "Friends" celebrates its 20th anniversary on September 22
- The sitcom remains popular even after its conclusion in 2004
- Part of its charm is its comfortable familiarity
(CNN) -- If it hasn't been your day -- or even your year -- you can still count on a select group of "Friends" to make you smile.
The NBC sitcom -- which starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow as a group of six friends in New York City -- is just as popular in 2014 as it was when it premiered on September 22, 1994.
Turn on the TV any day of the week, and you're likely to bump into a "Friends" rerun. On channels like TBS and Nickelodeon, episodes of the sitcom are scheduled with such regularity it's as though it never left the air 10 years after its run ended.
Don't mistake that prevalence for perfection. "Friends" did have what some viewers considered to be glaring flaws, most notably the show's lack of diversity. But thanks to the chemistry of the cast and the relatable storylines, catching an episode of "Friends" often feels like dropping by an old buddy's living room.
From Monica Geller's purple apartment, to the foosball table in Joey and Chandler's place across the hall, to the orange couch in the crew's coffee house of choice, the hallmark of "Friends" was in its comfortable familiarity.
Warner Bros. understood that well, as the studio (which, like TBS, shares a parent company with CNN), paired with Eight O'Clock Coffee to host a pop-up replica of the infamous "Friends" coffee bar, Central Perk, in New York the weekend preceding "Friends" 20th anniversary on September 22.
As "Friends" actor James Michael Tyler, who played Gunther the barista, told CNN at the event, Warner Bros. had essentially made "a 'Friends' museum," although the replica was "considerably bigger than the set."
"The set was built on a forced perspective, so on TV it looks a lot bigger than it actually was. It was pretty narrow and you had to kind of squeeze to get around some of the tables in the back," Tyler said.
The actor, a natural brunette who dyed his hair its more familiar platinum shade for the occasion, recalled how difficult it was filming that last Central Perk scene.
It was "tough to shoot in two ways," Tyler said. "As the character Gunther, it was like his closure ... And on the other level, it was sad because this is the last time I'm going to be Gunther and I'm going to be acting with these wonderful people that I've known for 10 years ... we became a family."
As hard as it was to say goodbye to those co-stars, it was hard to say goodbye to that set, too. According to Tyler, it was torn down after the finale was taped.
"They didn't destroy it, but they dismantled it right after that scene while we were still shooting in front of a live audience!" Tyler revealed. "I said my lines... and it was rip, rip, rip -- boom walls, couches being moved out that had been there for 10 years, and I'm like 'No, that's my home!'"
The actor did get to keep an item from the set, however: "The wardrobe department allowed me to keep the tie that Gunther wore in the very last scene," Tyler said. "And I took it to the wrap party that we had for the final episode and the entire cast signed it with Sharpies. I still have it; I'm not getting rid of it."
In honor of the series' 20th anniversary, we've counted off 20 of our favorite classic episodes from "Friends" 10-season run in the slideshow above. As with any "best of" list there's bound to be disagreements -- tell us your own top "Friends" episodes in the comments.
CNN's Joan Yeam contributed to this report.
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