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You HAD to Be There

- By Mariel Turner

THE MOMENT: Is That... an Armadillo? Friends Offered Up a New Holiday Hero 25 Years Ago

Friends already had a rep for standout Thanksgiving episodes when the hit show pivoted — to Hanukkah. And nothing says Festival of Lights like an armored mammal! On Dec. 14, 2000, NBC aired “The One With the Holiday Armadillo,” a quirky crowd-pleaser about Ross (David Schwimmer) trying to teach Christmas-loving son Ben (Cole Sprouse) about Hanukkah. But Ben holds tight to Santa, so Ross seeks out the classic red-and-white suit... and ends up with an armadillo costume. “It is maybe Friends’ craziest episode,” writer Greg Malins tells Us.

WHO WAS INVOLVED

Schwimmer and Sprouse were joined, of course, by the sitcom’s beloved cast: Jennifer Aniston as Rachel, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe, Matthew Perry as Chandler, Courteney Cox as Monica and Matt LeBlanc as Joey. “Everybody was game,” Malins says. “If you told [David], ‘Oh, you’re going to be dressed as an armadillo in that Christmas episode,’ David would just be like, ‘Oh, man, that sounds great.’”