Do you remember in the good ol' days when you could turn on E4 of Channel 4 and find an episode of Friends? In fact it was probably only 2 years ago, but it seems like a lot longer. Nowadays you turn on E4 and you are confronted with The Big Bang Theory (TBBT). There have been six series of TBBT and yet I only ever see the same 10 episodes OVER and OVER again! Before I continue, TBBT is about 4 geeks/nerds who are very clever and have a hot next door neighbour who they somehow befriend. It's a fast paced American studio comedy.
I was first introduced to TBBT last year. Being in a student house meant that E4 was always on. I tried really hard to avoid it at first (I was still grieving the loss of Friends) but the episodes I did see were quite enjoyable. Nevertheless I still snuck upstairs to watch my old trusty DVD's instead of trying the new meat. This year however it has been harder to ignore and actually I quite enjoyed it. The problem is I've been in this house since October and everyday we watch 2 hours of TBBT. If my maths is correct I've watched 140 hours of TBBT, but the same 10 hours are constantly repeated, so even though I've only seen 10 episodes, I've seen them 14 times. Now, if you know me, you know that I can watch a programme multiple time, and I do. But I watch programmes I enjoy multiple times. TBBT does make me laugh and it is good, but I find the characters a little too far removed. Penny, the hot next door neighbour would not under circumstances hang out with Leonard and co. Secondly, they are all just far too weird and flawed. For me a comedy is funny because I can relate to it. I can't relate to TBBT. Anyway, the reason I wanted to blog about this, is because I finally gave up. I could not spend another evening watching Pointless (great show) followed by TBBT, followed by The One Show (sometimes great show). I was going to bring back Friends. I found my box set, picked a number and boom, Friends was back on my screen again.
I must confess I was a little disappointed. Not because it wasn't great anymore, but for years I would watch Friends over and over again and never get bored, but I had forgotten that towards the end I did get a little bit bored because I knew every episode far too well. Yesterday when I watched The One After Vegas I still knew every word and I was bored. I was going to give up, but this morning whilst eating my breakfast I decided to try again. I went back to season 4 and watched The One with Ross' Wedding. I knew that I would enjoy at least some of this because my most favourite women Jennifer Saunders has a brilliant cameo in it. I was wrong however... I enjoyed all of it! I was transported back to a world of Ross and Rachel and breaks and Chandler and Monica and Friends.
There are definitely some episodes that I have seen far too much, but the rest are just pure genius. Someone on twitter sent around the fact that this year Ben would be 18, Phoebes brothers triplets would be 14, Emma would be 11 and Monica and Chandler's twins would be 9. It's been over 10 years since the first episode of Friends and yet people still refer to it. Miranda and Gary from the BBC's Miranda are being dubbed as the new Ross and Rachel. How I met your Mother is blatantly trying to copy the format. Although none of these shows will EVER match up to Friends' greatness, how amazing is it that Friends was so good that everyone wants a bit of their success.
Do what I did. Turn of TBBT, turn off Pointless and go and reminisce something truly wonderful. Go and watch Friends. I think you all will be pleasantly surprised by how much you remember and how much you've missed it.
I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes.
Ross: Whatcha doing?
Chandler: Making chocolate milk, d'you want some?
Ross: No thanks, I'm 29.
What's your favourite Friends quote?
Katie :)
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