853 Chronicles: Tim and Eric and Little Pete
As they transitioned from college students to young professionals, a bunch of friends lived together at 853 N 26th Street. These are their stories.
Brunch is, of course, what binds young, city-dwelling, millennials together. An inexpensive diner brunch with almost no wait-time and a plethora of food? That was what bound the residents of 853 together.
After a night out, as housemates began to slowly roll out of bed and into communal spaces, we would often consider going to brunch. This isn’t unique to our group, of course, but with 7 people living in one house, and others often visiting, it was hardly difficult to gather up enough people to make a real event of it.
Fortunately, we were just down the street from Little Pete’s in Fairmount. This wasn’t the iconic Center City location of Little Pete’s, the one that just recently closed down, but it was the same owner, same food and had a similar atmosphere. We sometimes ventured out to a fancier brunch at some of the other Fairmount restaurants, and we sometimes traveled to different neighborhoods, but for the most part we took advantage of what Little Pete had to offer. For just about $10 you could get eggs, home fries, toast, a side of breakfast meat, and a coffee, an absolute steal.
In these weekend morning situations, especially after a late night, there’s a certain lunacy that takes over. You’re not quite completely awake, you’re soaking in the feeling of the weekend, and you’re stuffing your face with delicious breakfast food. In your relaxed state, everything seems funnier, and the discussion topics are usually ridiculous.
Around this time, the house had also gotten deep into watching Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! While it was a popular Adult Swim show for many years, we mainly benefitted from the fact that almost all of it, at one point or another, was available on demand.
If you’re unfamiliar with the show, here’s a clip to introduce you. Stick around to the end for the full effect.
Not sure what to think? Here’s one more.
We spent many nights and weekends watching this show. Its episodes were only 11 minutes long and full of short skits, recurring characters, and semi-coherent storylines. It was a regular occurrence to watch several in a row for no reason other than to laugh at how ridiculous the whole thing was or find new inside jokes we could be a part of.
The absurdist humor of Tim and Eric, combined with the state of mind these weekend mornings put us in, resulted in brunches where you would laugh so hard you would cry and, really, almost throw up. We would quote things back to one another, imagine those around us were characters in the show, and try to figure out just what Paul Rudd’s job was in that sketch.
Of course, after brunch, we’d head home and watch Tim and Eric. The circle of life continued and we had more inside jokes to tell each other, and more inspiration to develop our own brand of strange humor.
Since we no longer live in the same house, much of the experience those mornings provided has been lost to time. Still, we keep up with the work of Tim and Eric, and sometimes even get the chance to dive back into watching old episodes together. When Tim and Eric announced a 10-year anniversary show set for this summer, we knew we had to go.
Not everyone is able to come, but for those who are it’ll be quite the reminder of the times we used to be able to enjoy with such regularity. As often happens with a movie or TV show you’ve watched too many times to count, some of the language and mannerisms the show exhibits have become a staple of our own humor and conversation style. Just today I said “Now Tayne I can get into!” in response to an idea I liked at work. They didn’t get the reference, I didn’t think they would, but it was sort of just a natural way of speaking. I’m sure we’ll find several gems like that, things we do that we don’t even realize came from the show.
We often think of mornings out and times spent sitting and watching TV as wasted, but I don’t think that’s the case. Spending downtime together, relaxing and laughing at the same stupid thing, does wonders for your relationships. The strange combination of Tim and Eric and Little Pete was a beautiful part of 853.
