No one knows this about me…but I am obsessed with F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Let’s face it everyone has a TV series that they’re obsessed about and cannot stop watching no matter how many times you deactivate Netflix. Even when you try to be normal and attempt to start a new series, you always somehow find yourself exiting to escape back to your guilty pleasure. Have you ever felt that warm sensation when you’re all snuggled up in bed and hear the comforting theme song, where everything in the world is finally right again. No? Has this never happened to you? Are you one of those inspirational people who never watch TV and try to enrich your brain through physical activities and reading books? Well aren’t you lucky since no matter how hard I try to be that person, I just never succeed.
“How many times have you watched this episode?” “Do you never get sick of Friends?” “How are you still laughing at the jokes when you have watched it a billion times?” These are the constant worrying questions I have faced from the few that know about my obsession. I have probably watched each episode of ‘Friends’ at least more than 20 times and the count is only going up. It is mostly my housemates who have had to bear the brunt of my obsession, as they have had to put up with the constant tune of the ‘Friends’ theme song or the recordings of the audience laughing. Fortunately for me they have learnt to accept it and even stop to join me to watch ‘Friends’.
How did this fanatic obsession start? Is the question you probably want to ask me next. This dates back to the good old days of high school, you know when we were carefree teenagers and your biggest problem was probably an ugly red spot on your nose or the fact that you had to sit next to the most annoying boy in RE. After, what I then believed was a stressful day; coming home in the evening and switching on E4, the channel was invaded from back to back episodes of ‘Friends’. On this particular day, when I switched on E4 it was in the middle of “The One With The Baby on the Bus” where Joey and Chandler accidentally leave baby Ben on the bus. Yes, it may not have been a pivotal episode but I think that is the reason I was hooked. I did not need to know what had happened before to follow what was going on. It was just 100% humour without over-exaggerating any scenes to create forced humour. You may think no one would ever forget a baby on the bus but come on we’ve all been there, I don’t know about you but my phone is my baby and I’ve been pretty close to having a heart attack from leaving it. No exaggeration of course.
What is there not to be hooked on? Monica’s obsessive behaviour, Rachel’s diva moments, Phoebe’s weird outbursts, Ross’s unfair dish of life, Chandler’s sarcastic comments and Joey’s dopey action which makes you crave for them to be real? Their friendship that is filled with love and this amazing platonic chemistry (before couples were formed) that pretty much everyone desire in their lives? These are only to name a few, but the main reason that makes me love the show is that they are the ultimate friendship goals. No matter what it is, say relationships, family issues or even fights amongst them, the way they resolve it teaches you something. I know that I am making it sound so mushy and soppy right now but that’s the brilliant part, it is exactly the opposite! Yes there are some cheesy moments, but as it is filled with brilliant humour you just laugh and laugh without thinking about it sentimentally.
All these small things that I have listed and the many, many things that I have not said are probably the reason why I love the show so much. I was introduced to ‘Friends’ at a time where I was an untroubled young teenager and all my petty problems that I faced at school, all evaporated once I sat down in front of my 50-inch. Of course, now that I am an adult I have real problems, which only makes ‘Friends’ even more relatable. The stresses of finding the ideal job, relationship problems and disappointing parents are just a few that I can list, yes adulthood is fun! However as soon as I start ‘Friends’, on my now 13 inch laptop screen, I find myself comforted and I can enjoy a few blissful hours where all my problems cease to exist. As soon as the theme song starts playing, I am once again that carefree teenager laughing in tears oblivious of the creeping adulthood and how relatable ‘Friends’ is going to get.
