Friends Like Us

Who, in a world with satellite television, does not know F.R.I.E.N.D.S?

More importantly, who does not like them? I know I did, still do in fact :O) - even if Star World is over doing it a tad bit. Makes you wonder if they don't have ANY other sitcom they could air but this one. And trust me, there are some brilliant ones out there.

When hubby comes home from work, the norm is to sit together with a cup of chai and watch the funnies on Star World. It usually coincides with the double episode of FRIENDS every evening, which we sit through just to watch what ever comes after. Today though, they played the last episode of Season 10 followed by the first episode of Season 1!!! I was hit with nostalgia as I travelled back in time to the nineties! I still remember the day in high school when all we could talk about was the previous night's episode when the Friends gang watches the prom night video (when Ross was supposed to take Rachel because her date ditched her). As a teen, we could all relate to it and found it terribly romantic. Today, I still can't say if that was my favourite episode when compared to Monica's proposal to Chandler, or Phoebe's street wedding to Mike! There are a million lovable episodes inbetween, from "Smelly Cat" to when Rachel discovers she's pregnant but at the end of the day there's something for everyone! Of course back then it only played once a week and not every day. We loved it - not just because it was "our time" but because it gave us hope in our teen years, that we would be okay no matter what, if we had friends like that. That hope has not diminished. Of course, in reality, a teen wouldn't have ANYTHING in common with a working twenty-something - the values were different, the responsibilities were different, and you paid your own rent! But one thing we can relate to is the 90's fashion!

When I saw Season 1 today, I was simply blown away by how natural and innocent Rachel looked with her wavy hair, Joey with a mushroom cut and Phoebe in pigtails!!! The clothes were baggy - open checked shirts with a t-shirt inside, spaghetti strap dresses, denim shirts, dungarees, pallazzo pants, waist coats, high-back sneakers and HIGH RISE jeans - I still feel my "six pack" is a result of the transition to low waisters!!! I missed my youth (and the flat tummy) more than ever...

Compare that with the fashion and sophistication of Season 10 with the perfectly ironed hair - their transition was so smooth!


Rachel working for Ralph Lauren TOTALLY justified her awesome wardrobe - though personally, Phoebe's style was the only one I could relate to - she combined hippy and elegance with such panache! The three women are still as thin as they were ten years ago, but the men have packed on the distinguished pounds and all of them have lines of maturity etched into their faces. When I look at pictures of me ten years ago, there isn't MUCH of a difference (except that my weight has shifted from one area to another) - which made me realise it's the 30s that will truly define that transition from youth to adult and I better enjoy them before they fly by! When I asked a friend to watch P.S. I Love You all she could say was how "awful" Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) looked. Give her a break! You are comparing Lisa Kudrow today to Phoebe from ten years ago!!!

There are loads of trivia, bloopers, extras, quizzes and interviews you could get on them on the Internet today. In fact, the bloopers show you just how much fun they had working together. Every one plays a Friends quiz, if anything to convince themselves that they're still with it. When college kids today state that Friends is their favourite TV show, I wonder if it is because it's now become a cult following or because they genuinely like what they see. Then I realise it doesn't matter. Plenty of other brilliant sitcoms have emerged since Friends but few are what Indian censor boards would consider appropriate. In Friends, sex is portrayed as an extremely casual affair - but laced with such good humour that one cannot find any vulgarity in it. Phoebe's madness, Chandler's quick wit, Ross's sarcasm, Monica's cleanliness quirks, Joey's innocence and Rachel's comic timing bring joy to our lives that's beyond compare. THIS makes us laugh, and we'll take what we get, even if it's ten years too late.

I'm not sure I can call this a tribute cos then it would be quite a sad one - there is just too much to say in one post and it sure wouldn't be any different from what millions of others feel. But it sure is a wonderful feeling when a TV show can take you back in time, to a time you can relate to with fond memories. The most heart-wrenching moment was the final episode. I cannot imagine there being a greater television phenomenon than them :o(


P.S.: If you're wondering about my title - that was the original title of Friends :O)