 " The One with All the Thanksgivings " was written by Gregory S. Malins and directed by Kevin S. Bright . It is the fifth Thanksgiving special in the Friends series . The producers knew from past recordings that the audience responded well to seeing " the Friends as they were " and decided to incorporate a flashback episode into a Thanksgiving special . Show creator David Crane considered the Thanksgiving @-@ themed episode as the " hallmark show " in each season . Marta Kauffman added dialogue centering on six characters being together in a room made the holiday special work . When discussing story ideas , the writers decided to create " a bunch of little pieces " , until someone suggested " what if it 's the worst Thanksgivings ? " , later used as the hook . Working on a flashback meant the episode needed " to have meaning " as the story continues in the present . It was difficult to keep the characters , particularly Chandler , spontaneously mad for something that happened " years ago " . The comedic content was bigger than usual , because Phoebe 's arm was blown off and Joey 's head stuck in a turkey . 
