The One with the Embryos

"The One with the Embryos" is the twelfth episode of Friends' fourth season. It first aired on the NBC network in the United States on January 15, 1998. In the episode, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) agrees to be the surrogate mother for her brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi) and his older wife Alice Knight (Debra Jo Rupp). Meanwhile, a display by Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) of how well they know Monica (Courteney Cox) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) by guessing the items in their shopping bag leads to a large-scale bet on a quiz, for which Ross (David Schwimmer) acts as the gamemaster.

The episode was directed by Kevin S. Bright and co-written by Jill Condon and Amy Toomin. The idea for Kudrow's character Phoebe becoming a surrogate mother coincided with the actress' real-time pregnancy. The producers wanted to find a way to use the pregnancy in a narrative for the fourth season and designated the task to the writers. Ribisi and Rupp reprised their recurring roles of Frank Jr. and Alice respectively which was initially difficult as both had filming commitments.

In its original broadcast on NBC, "The One with the Embryos" acquired a 17.3 Nielsen rating, finishing the week ranked fourth. The episode received critical acclaim, is generally considered one of the best of the entire series, and is a favorite amongst the cast members and producers. In 2009, "The One with the Embryos" was ranked #21 on TV Guide's list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time."