Our take
Best remembered for under a minute of television, and rightly so: two siblings performing a dance from their teens with deadly seriousness is one of the series' great comic set pieces. Around it, a sweet will-they story for Joey and a present-hunting caper at home keep the Christmas spirit going. It is a New Year's taping on paper, but it has become a Christmas favourite.
What happens
Joey's new flatmate, Janine, is booked as a dancer on a pre-recorded New Year's Eve television special and invites Joey, Monica and Ross along to the taping, weeks before the real night. Joey has fallen for Janine and plans to kiss her at the fake midnight. Monica and Ross are desperate to get on camera, but only chosen dancers are allowed on the raised platform, so they revive the dance routine they rehearsed as teenagers and perform it for the floor manager. Their overcommitted moves win them a place on the platform, while Joey misses his chance for a midnight kiss. Back at the apartment, Rachel and Phoebe are hunting for the Christmas presents Monica has hidden, so they can match what she has spent on them, and they drag a reluctant Chandler into the search. Their hunt turns up more of the apartment than anyone expected. When everyone gets home, Janine gives Joey the kiss he had been waiting for.
Can the kids watch it?
One of the cleanest episodes: the BBFC passed the broadcast cut at U, so it suits the whole family.