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Friends

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: January 15, 1998

PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: Friends, “The One With The Embryos” (Season 4, Episode 12) [Watch on Netflix].

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Real talk: it’s pretty not bad when you’re a TV show that can fire off a random January episode outside of sweeps and have it turn out to be one of the greatest sitcom episodes of all time. NBD, it’s just that “The One With The Embryos” is one of the most creative, hilarious, and sneakily heartfelt half-hours we’ve ever seen on television. And it all started because Joey and Chandler knew Rachel would have scotch tape in her grocery bag.

The concept of “The One With The Embryos” — not one of Friends‘ better titles, since the embryo subplot is not at all what people remember about this episode — is so much fun because we can so eagerly put ourselves in place of Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Chandler. Game shows are fun, winning is fun, and sticking it to your friends is fun. And the questions were just a playground for the Friends writers to come up with as many jokes as possible in a short window. It’s so hard to pick a favorite line; probably “transpondster,” but also for some reason, Joey’s favorite food being “sandwiches” kills me reliably.

And while Phoebe’s subplot with her embryo implantation doesn’t compare to the lightning round, that’s not to say it’s insignificant. Lisa Kudrow once again proves her abilities with unexpected sweetness and a little sadness. It’s actually the perfect counterpoint to the more manic game-show stuff.

The whole thing is just a delight, and a great example of why Friends deserves to be thought of among our best comedies.

[You can watch “The One With The Embryos” on Netflix.]