21 Years Ago, Chandler Bing Almost Spent Christmas With Selma Blair

There’s no better way of getting into the holiday spirit than revisiting a classic Friends Christmas episode. There were eleven yuletide specials throughout the beloved sitcom’s 10-season run, and the flashback episode “The One With Christmas In Tulsa” stands out as a festive favorite.

Originally airing more than two decades ago on Dec. 12, 2002, the Season 9 episode sees Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) jet off to spend the holidays in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he must work over Christmas and New Year’s or he’ll be fired.

Monica, Ross, Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey are sad to see Chandler go, and his colleagues in Tulsa aren’t happy either — especially upon discovering that their promised holiday bonus is actually a donation made in their name to the New York City Ballet.

“This sucks, being here sucks, this work sucks!” Chandler declares, before reminiscing on some of his past Christmas festivities.

It’s here when viewers are gifted a string of clips from previous Friends holiday classics, including “The One Where Rachel Quits” and “The One with the Holiday Armadillo.”

Selma Blair Steals The Show

Chandler decides to send his staff home to enjoy Christmas with their families. However, his co-worker, regional vice president Wendy (Selma Blair), decides to stay behind and keep him company.

Despite her brief role in between the episode’s festive flashbacks, Blair makes quite the impression during the holiday special, in which her character attempts to seduce Chandler while the pair are alone at the Tulsa office.

After calling to check in on her husband, Monica becomes suspicious of Chandler and Wendy after discovering her former title of runner-up Miss Oklahoma. “Do you think it’s snowing in Tulsa where my husband’s having sex on a copier machine,” she jokes.

To the surprise of Monica and the rest of the Friends gang, Chandler returns home just in time for Christmas after resisting Wendy’s advances, revealing that he decided to quit his “stupid job.”

The End Of An Era

“The One With The Christmas In Tulsa” became the eleventh and final holiday special of the NBC sitcom, and was also the show’s last-ever flashback episode.

The episode also remains a festive staple for many Friends fans who rediscover the holiday special each year. “I always love the Friends Christmas episode in Tulsa,” one fan confessed on X (formerly Twitter. “It’s Selma Blair at her finest.”

“My future husband better curve women like Chandler curved his co-worker when he spent Christmas in Tulsa,” another joked.