227.The One with the Late Thanksgiving

Season:10 Episode:8 First Aired:11/20/2003 Prod Code:176259

Guide
After Monica announces that she's not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, Phoebe talks her back into it. Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey are all late to the dinner, thanks to a baby beauty contest and a Rangers game, so Monica and Chandler lock them out. The gang is united again when Monica gets a phone call informing her that a pregnant girl from Ohio has selected her to adopt her unborn baby.

Summary
As usual, Monica plans to cook this year's Thanksgiving dinner — and, just like every year, her friends find some way to screw it up.
First, there's Phoebe, who persuades Rachel to enter Emma in a baby beauty contest. At first Rach thinks it's tacky, but once Phoebe tells her about the $1,000 prize, she changes her mind. To their delight, Emma wins first place.
Ross and Joey head to a Rangers game that morning and arrive an hour late to Thanksgiving dinner. They meet up with Phoebe and Rachel in the hallway and, upon realizing how angry Monica will be about her cold turkey, try to figure out what to do. Just before they reach for the doorknob, Monica slides a note beneath it. She refuses to let them into the apartment, and she's mighty mad.
The quick-thinking friends use Rachel's old key to open the lock, then poke their heads beneath the chain on the door. While Monica goes to answer the phone, a pitying Chandler lets them in. It doesn't take five seconds before Joey topples the table full of food.
He's made a total mess, but Monica says she doesn't care. She just got off the phone with the adoption agency, and they've found a baby for the couple. Everyone hugs, and, like every year, it's a happy thanksgiving after all!