I could go easy on myself and just pick one of the plenty of shitty episodes from Seasons Nine and Ten and then call it a day. But I was actually thinking, are they really that bad? I mean, that answer is obviously yes (there are a handful that I enjoy, I do admit), but I still watch them. There are only a few episodes of Friends that I skip, and do you know what they all have in common?

They’re clip episodes.

I hate clip episodes. To me, it’s the laziest of lazy writing. There are other ways to show that someone is reminiscing or that characters have pasts with each other. I mean, we’ve watched the show – we have already seen this shit. Come up with material, please.

We didn’t get any of these until Season Four’s “The One with the Invitation,” where they replay the history between Ross and Rachel, and thankfully, we don’t see one again until Season Six’s “The One with Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.” Unfortunately, every subsequent season has one clip episode in it: “The One with the Vows” (S7), “The One with Joey’s Interview” (S8), “The One with the Christmas in Tulsa” (S9), and “The One Where Chandler Gets Caught” (S10).

And yes, sure, it’s very difficult to create new material each week, and every now and again, you’re going to create a stinker. But at least you’re not just recycling your work into something subpar, and each clip episode is just that: well below what the writers should have felt was good enough to air on Must-See TV.

Art Credit: ThingLink