The Friday movies and shows in order begin with the 1995 comedy Friday, which introduces Craig Jones and his friend Smokey as they spend an eventful day in South Central Los Angeles dealing with unemployment, neighborhood bully Deebo, drug dealer Big Worm, and a growing collection of personal problems. Next Friday continues Craig’s story after Deebo escapes from prison, sending him to Rancho Cucamonga to stay with his cousin Day-Day and Uncle Elroy. Friday After Next keeps Craig and Day-Day together, this time following their efforts to recover stolen rent money after a thief disguised as Santa Claus robs their apartment. For first-time viewers, release order is the recommended Friday watch order because it introduces the characters, recurring relationships, and changing settings in the sequence audiences originally experienced them.
The franchise later expanded into television with Friday: The Animated Series, an eight-episode MTV2 spin-off that returns to Craig, Smokey, Willie Jones, Deebo, and other familiar neighborhood characters through animation. Although the show draws directly from the movie franchise, it works more as an animated extension of the Friday concept than as an essential bridge between specific films. The long-developed Last Friday is planned as another feature-film continuation, bringing Craig and Day-Day back decades after their earlier adventures. Watching the Friday movies and shows in order by release date therefore provides the simplest path through the franchise, moving from the original Craig-and-Smokey story into the Day-Day sequels, the animated spin-off, and the eventual movie revival. Because the television series does not establish a precise alternate placement that improves the overall story, there is little reason to reorganize the franchise into a different timeline for a first viewing.
Release Order
Watching the Friday movies and shows in release order follows the franchise as it naturally expands from Craig and Smokey’s original neighborhood adventure into Craig’s later stories with Day-Day and eventually the animated television spin-off. This order preserves character introductions, recurring jokes, family relationships, and the gradual widening of the Friday world without forcing the animated series into an uncertain point in the movie timeline. It also keeps the eventual Last Friday continuation at the end, where it belongs as the newest chapter. The qualifying Friday movies and shows below are arranged from oldest to newest by their original release.
Chronological Order
There is no meaningful alternate chronological order that improves on release order for the Friday franchise. The three released movies already progress forward through Craig’s life, while Friday: The Animated Series reuses familiar characters and situations without establishing a precise timeline position that needs to interrupt the movie sequence. Last Friday is being developed as a later continuation rather than a prequel. Because the animated spin-off works more as an extension of the franchise than a clearly dated chapter between two films, release order also functions as the most practical timeline order for the Friday movies and shows.
