Why Did Chandler Bing Hate Thanksgiving So Much?

While fans across the world were thankful to Friends for getting them through some tough times, the show did its best to honor the Thanksgiving spirit. The beloved sitcom chose to celebrate Thanksgiving on the show for almost every season.

The festival made its way into the lives of the gang of friends living in New York City as Monica prepared restaurant-like dinner while the others helped at times and made things worse on other occasions.

Notably, Chandler Bing used to sit out on those celebrations, citing numerous reasons throughout the show’s run. He did not like the festival or anything else related to the day. Here’s why.

Chandler Bing hated Thanksgiving

The special holiday episodes in American sitcoms were a mainstay back in the day. Not only did they help the show remain relevant but also captured the interest of the masses as they reveled in the spirit of the celebration with their favorite television characters.

However, while Monica, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey chose to have a delicious meal and celebrate Thanksgiving in Friends, Chandler Bing wanted to sit out and not partake in the festival.

This was because his parents had told him on Thanksgiving that they have decided to get divorced, many years ago. That incident had left him scarred. Chandler continued to associate the day with the grief of losing his family’s togetherness. His mother capped the occasion by telling Chandler that his father “would rather sleep with the houseboy” than her. This changed the way he perceived his parents and also altered his relationship with them drastically.

Thus, he wished to not celebrate Thanksgiving. He believed the day never brought any happiness for him and only caused him more pain. Since then, all his family dinners on Thanksgiving have been marked with unpleasant experiences, including the same houseboy asking him if he wants more turkey.

Chandler Bing got the tip of his toe cut on Thanksgiving

Another occasion that led him to dislike the day was when he went to Ross’s home for the festival and met his family. That was the first time he met Monica, Ross’s little sister. Chandler’s mean comment about Monica being fat urges the latter to lose weight and get in shape. When Chandler and Ross return for the festival the following year, Chandler is awestruck by how great Monica looks.

In an effort to get back at Chandler for calling her fat, Monica tries to seduce him. However, that goes horribly wrong as she ends up dropping a knife on his foot, cutting off the tip of his toe. This is yet another incident that proves Thanksgiving brings nothing but bad luck to Chandler. While his friends try to get him to join in the holiday spirit, he refuses to do so and only eats chicken instead of turkey on the day. Or perhaps an entire bag of funyuns if he’s feeling snacky.

One Thanksgiving Changed it all for Chandler Bing

Though fans believed he would always be grumpy and sad on Thanksgiving, there was one such momentous year that changed it all for Chandler. The man who never thought he would settle down and have a family marries the love of his life and leaves the fear of commitment in the past.

After Chandler and Monica get married, they embark on a life full of joys and celebrations. However, when they learn they can’t have kids, it leaves them devastated. They choose to try other options including surrogacy and adoption.

In the Thanksgiving episode of season 9 of Friends, we see Chandler and Monica finally receive the great news that a mother has picked them to be parents to her kid. Chandler and Monica are overjoyed to receive this news and thank their stars. Thus, this day goes from being a horrible one to a festival that gives Chandler everything he wants in life.

You can watch all Thanksgiving episodes from Friends streaming on Netflix.