in spaces they 'shouldn't' be in," according to Bright. Reception In its original airing, "The One with the Embryos" finished fourth in ratings for the week of January 12–January 18, 1998, with a Nielsen rating of 17.3, equivalent to approximately 16.8 million viewing households. It was the fourth highest-rated show on NBC that week, following ER, Seinfeld and Veronica's Closet–all of which aired on the network's Thursday night Must See TV lineup. "The One with the Embryos" was Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc's favorite episode of the series. Cox liked the episode because she enjoys playing Monica at her most competitive, while LeBlanc spoke fondly of the pace of the episode and the information about the characters that came out. He identified scenes that featured just the six core cast as the best, "because you don't have to introduce a character—you don't have to lay any pipeline—you just get right to the funny". On the DVD audio commentary for the episode, Marta Kauffman cited the episode being "so much fun to do" and enjoyed the writing process. The scene involving Phoebe talking to the embryos was Kevin S. Bright's favorite in the show's history because of Kudrow's ability to "draw you into the scene ... even though it's only her talking to the dish". David Crane highlights how the episode explores generosity; doing a selfless act which pays off when Phoebe gives birth in "The One Hundredth". Bright moreover felt the trivia contest was the catalyst that rejuvenated the entire fourth season and "put Friends in a different place". In a 2001 review, Entertainment Weekly rated the episode A+, stating that "Thanks to the trivia contest alone, Embryos is quite possibly Friends' finest moment". The article singles out Rachel's line "He's a transpon—transpondster!" (in response to the question "What is Chandler Bing's job?") as the best line of the episode. The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends called it a "sure-fire contender for the best episode of all time ... not one to be missed under any circumstances". In 2004, Tara Ariano of MSNBC.com wrote that the character trivia is "revealed in a manner completely organic to the plot. Beautifully written and acted, 'The One With The Embryos' encapsulates the whole series in a single episode". The episode was ranked #21 on TV Guides list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time". In a 2018