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First off, I want to point out that I am writing this before seeing the finale of Friends on Thursday. I have read a little bit from spoilers on the internet, but really haven't learned anything that you wouldn't guess or could tell from the trailers that have been shown thus far.
Friends is probably my favorite sitcom of all time. It's not my favorite TV show, but I think I can safely say that it's my favorite sitcom. I didn't start watching it from the start...I don't think I started watching it until college, or maybe a little bit before that. You can criticize the show all you want, and most criticisms are true. It doesn't exactly shine forth the best morals in the world, although by today's TV standards it's actually pretty tame. The idea of the six of them being able to afford the lifestyles they live in the apartments that they have in New York is pretty unrealistic. The shown has pretty much avoided most any touchy or controversial issue. At times, it seemed like more of a soap opera than a sitcom.
But these criticisms that people give it are exactly why I think it's a great show. TV shows don't always have to be realistic. They don't always have to tackle the big issues and make statements. It's a comedy. It's supposed to be funny, and that's it.
I remember that my parents didn't want me watching the show when it first came on...in the ten years that it's been on, the rest of TV has gotten raunchier, and it's no longer cutting edge as far as "bad" humor. Honestly, I don't even notice it anymore...I guess our culture has made us used to that type of thing. But then think about all of the funniest moments from the show...almost none of them had to do with crude humor. Friends has never depended on one-liners for the bulk of its comedy like so many other shows do now. The comedy comes from the characters themselves, and the situations they get into. Sure, there were plenty of classic one-liners, but that's not what the show was about. The show was about Joey's idiocy and womanizing, Phoebe's quirkiness, Monica's OCD, Ross's brainy weirdness, Chandler's humor and insecurity, and of course Rachel's becoming her own person.
So anyhow, now that I've defended the show, onto the finale. I think Ross and Rachel are going to end up together, although I'm not sure in what sense. I think they're going to end on a good note and realize that they're each other's lobster. I've heard humors that Ross proposes, but I guess we'll see. Let's face it, although there have been plenty of other important plots during the ten years the show has been on, it's really all been about Ross and Rachel. They both keep realizing their feelings for the other, but their timing has never been quite right. I think it's about time for them to get it right.
Some people will no doubt be frustrated with the ending. There were those that were rooting for Joey and Rachel to be together. I was not one of those. This isn't high school... anyway, some will probably say that the ending was predictable, and that after all of the problems Ross and Rachel have had, we're supposed to be okay with them all of a sudden being perfectly happen together?
My answer to that is YES. It's a SITCOM. Yes, there have been dramatic moments, but the show is supposed to make you laugh first and cry second. Should everything be wrapped up in a nice little package on the last episode? Of course it should! And it should do it all in a funny way. If Ross and Rachel were to not end up together, I'd feel like everything were sort of left hanging at the end. Like there was more to the story that I wouldn't ever get to see. Nobody wants that. We want a happy, good feeling. After all, we're the ones who will have to find something else to watch at 7 PM on Thursdays.
In a side note, unless Scrubs is moved back to Thursdays, I will be facing a weird situation. For the first time since childhood, I won't have anything on NBC on Thursday nights that I watch. I remember back in the day when it was Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, and Night Court right in a row...probably the greatest lineup of four consecutive shows ever. There's always been something to watch on NBC on Thursday nights, ever since then. I occasionally watch Will & Grace, and I used to watch ER back in college, but next season, there won't be any "Must See TV" for me. It's kind of weird. Sure, I'll probably watch Joey for the two months until it inevitably gets cancelled (nothing against Matt Leblanc...but I just don't see it working), but it won't be something I have to see.
I'm not expecting the Friends finale to be something I cry over. I'm pretty sure the hour-long clip show preceeding it will make me more emotional than the actual episode. I'll probably make fun of my wife when she tears up. But I must admit, I will feel at least a little bit like I'm losing some Friends. That probably sounds ridiculous, but it's sort of like the feeling I got around the time I graduated college. When you're leaving college, you know for a fact that there are numerous people in your life that you're never going to see again. Sure, you'll manage to keep up with some, and others you'll randomly run into at IHOP or at a future Homecoming game, but you still know that there are some people you'll never see again. Probably not any of your best, closest friends, but people you are used to seeing and spending time with.
That's exactly what's happening here. Oh well, I guess we'll always have reruns.
Have nice lives, everyone. Central Perk just won't be the same without you.