I am a declared TV addict; everyone that knows me knows that. I have never tried to hide that fact; in fact I am proud to love the TV shows I do. However, there are only a handful of shows that I could watch over and over again and never really get tired of... FRIENDS came into my life during it's third season. The date is not very specific for me because at the time I followed it on TV in Brazil and they were always late comparing to The US. Those six characters became part of my life so fast that I didn;t even have a chance to fight it (not I wanted to); little did I know that they would be forever in my heart.
I have all the seasons and I have seen each episode at least 15 times. When it aired back in Brazil, I used to watch it at it's regular time and on both it's rerun times. I never got tired of it and I don't think I ever will. Even nowadays, whenever I see it on I have to watch it.
I have to admit, watching FRIEND's reruns induces two possible reactions in me. One, I laugh like it's the first time I am watching that episode, even though I know all the punch lines And Two, I don't nearly laugh as much, but I get a certain comfortable feeling in seeing those characters that it simply puts a smile on my face.
Some people like to say that the show lost its luster on it's later seasons. I don't agree with that at all. I have to say that my least favorite season is number 8, I don't really like the whole Joey-loves-Rachel thing, but the season does have some great episodes; such as: "The one with the rumor" where Brad Pitt pays a visit. However, I do believe that the 10th season is one of my favorites with Joey learning French and not sharing food, Ross dressing up as a girl and getting all worked up about Mark (AGAIN!), and Phoebe changing her name to "Princess Consuela Banana hammock" to her dear husband “Crap Bag”... Classic episodes!!
Fans were divided at the finale, some hated and some loved it. I personally loved it, I thought it was a perfect ending and it still makes me cry whenever I watch it... It was the saddest goodbye I ever had with a TV show... FRIENDS will always be in my heart...
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FRIENDS:
- After the Cheesecake episode in season 7, I became so obsessed with finding a cheesecake just like in the show that I nearly drove my dad mad :P (I found it years later and HATED IT... lol)
- I used to show episodes in class and use the show as a teaching tool. One day I showed the Gag Reel from season 7 and got complains from classrooms on the floor beneath me because the laughs were too loud. (BEST GAG REEL EVER)
- At on the school's I taught, I was known as the "FRIENDS Encyclopedia". That's because whenever any of the other teachers wanted an episode with certain vocabularies or Verb Tense to use in the classroom I could always name the best episode and it's season.
- To this day everyday situations still take me back to a specific episode. I always see myself saying: "remember that episode of FRIENDS where..."
- I have this poster on my wall:
Click HERE to watch a montage shown on the last clip episode before the finale. The editing is amazing, with the images working perfectly with the great song "Walk on - U2". I just cried watching it... ENJOY...
