When I was in Chicago, one of roommates’ face was glued to laptop screen 90% of his time in the room, with earphones hanging from each ear only to find their way to the port in the laptop. All we could hear was a loud laughter occasionally. I checked with my other roommates if he was mad without realizing that I would be looked at in the same way after a year. The only difference is, we didn’t know what he was watching but my new roommates knew I was watching my favourite sitcom of all time “F-R-I-E-N-D-S” for the first time.
Starting point to improve English was what this sitcom was recommended for by many, not sure why they didn’t disclose the number of smiles it could bring on my face. Obscuring the fun part of the sitcom and stressing only on the language improvement didn’t push me enough to click the play button for quite some time. Finally, I did it. The first 5 episodes of season 1 were watched at snail pace but the snail got transformed to a cheetah from 6th episode. A straight line with two points, START and END is the usual pattern for movies or sitcoms. When it comes to the bonding between me and FRIENDS the pattern is circular, “Start-End-Start-End….”. After 15 years, the revolutions around the circle covering all the 236 episodes are at around 25 times and still counting.
Those numbers make the appreciation I have towards the writers and directors obvious. Two other things which share the top place along with the writing and direction are, the way Chandler puts out the sarcastic remarks and Ross’ acting prowess. I love those two characters which proved the acting brilliance of Mathew Perry and David Schwimmer. I am sure many hands will be raised in my favour if I question any Friends fan about the validity of that opinion.
Dil Chahta Hai or Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or RockOn, the content of these movies revolves around friendship. Apart from Farhan Akthar, who is part of all the three movies in some capacity, there is one more common point. Silence shadowed the friendship between two friends in the group due to reasons such as ego, love or misunderstanding. But forgiveness makes way to egos and misunderstandings in this F-R-I-E-N-D-S to ensure that there is no place for uncomfortable silences. The episodes where Chandler crosses the line with Cathey and Joey works in museum are the best examples.
“Pivot”, “Hey it’s Porsche”, “My boots are eating my fingers, one at a time”, and “I love Gladis”. It’s OK to smile while reading these phrases. We all know how stupid these decisions and opinions are. But that doesn’t occur to us whatever the number of times we listen to those dialogues. We are not machines to take decisions based on algorithms. We are humans, we have emotions. Sometimes intelligence and analytical skills sit back and relax to let the emotions take the control. Things are bound to be illogical; let us focus only on the funnier side, is what the directors decided on.
When in trouble or confusion, talk to your friends. Any confusion about career, love life or family, we are here to help you. Every character reached out to the other at some point to share their confusions. The best part is, the other one cared to listen and do whatever they could. Joey spoke to Chandler when he had crush on Rachel, even though he is bad at advice😊. Phoebe spoke to all the five before deciding on carrying the triplets and Chandler spoke to Monica and Rachel during his breakup with Cathey.
Ross has three failed marriages, Joey struggles for 8 season to make his mark in acting and Phoebe had a very horrible childhood. None of these hindered their path in becoming a professor, nominating for the best actor and standing on her feet. Struggling pasts are part and parcel of life, that is what the lines in the title song mean, “Your job is a joke, and you are broke”. Every character has their share of tough times, but they bounced back. And, as the title song says, “I’ll be there for you”, they all were there for each other when they needed them.
The images of the people portrayed the lead characters in their grey hairs is difficult to digest. Seeing the person who portrayed my favourite character, Chandler Mureal Bing, out of shape due to his addiction to drugs was not easy to take. And the vacuum created in the FRIENDS poster with all the lead characters after his death is difficult to digest. Many web series and many sitcoms were released and will be released. Some of them will be the talk of the town from time to time but as far as I am concerned none of those can push F-R-I-E-N-D-S from the top place.
