Have you ever
binge watched a series, lying on the couch for several days at a time, only
getting up for food, water, or to use the washroom? It’s not a completely
uncommon occurrence for us die hard TV lovers, especially since the start of
Netflix. I’m here to tell you not to be ashamed of it, but rather to embrace
it!
I had a
three-week Christmas holiday last school year. Can you guess how I spent it?
That’s right. Binge watching Sex and the City.
My sister had
just purchased the boxed set as a Christmas gift for herself. I had to admit I
was a bit skeptical about the show at first, especially after the first episode,
which didn’t meet the expectations I had for it.
Now, I don’t
know if it was watching the show with my sister, or that we were binge watching
it, or if it was the atmosphere of being cozy on the couch while it was minus
40 outside, but I grew to love the show.
I think the
aspect of the show that really got me hooked was that it is based around four
completely different women who fit together perfectly. I like the idea that
your friends can be your soul mates. It’s a very strange group dynamic, but it
works and I think this was one of the reasons Sex and the City was so popular –
it was diverse enough that many women could identify with one person or
another, with one situation or another. In fact, throughout the series I found
myself identifying with each of the characters as they made their way through
life.
In Sex and the
City the women take center stage - their relationship with each other
overpowers their relationships with men. It’s really just a good story about
friendship and overall I found the show to be well rounded and entertaining.
However, I never
would have found all of this out had I not succumbed to my sister’s
recommendation that we binge watch it.
So the moral of
the story for you, my readers, is to embrace binge watching, even if you’re
unsure about the show you’re about to watch. It just might lead you to discover
a new show to fall in love with!
Monday September
22, 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of the series premiere of
Friends. Even though I was not alive for the premiere, and was only ten years
old when the series finale aired, Friends is one of my all time favourite TV
shows.
Fans around the
world are celebrating their love of Friends in all sorts of ways. In New York,
Warner Bros and Eight O’Clock Coffee have set up a Central Perk pop-up, serving
up free coffee and allowing guests to sit on the same orange couch that appeared
in the show. Liz Borod
Wright writing for the Travel section of BBC’s website states that the
pop-up café is located in Soho and is about a mile east of the West Village,
where Central Perk is located in the show. She also states, “There will also be weekly in-store performances in homage
to Phoebe’s well-known “Smelly Cat” tune, in addition to frequent contests and
giveaways” during the café’s run until mid-October. The space has been
described as a mini-museum as it’s filled with memorabilia from the show.
For those of you
that have never seen an episode of Friends (is that even possible!), the show is
set in New York and centers around six friends trying to make their way in the
world. Deadline.com writer Nellie Andreeva states “NBC’s comedy Friends
premiered to 22 million viewers. In today’s multi-platform world, no new comedy
could even dream about a premiere audience of that size, half of that would
constitute a hit now.” In fact, Friends remains one of the most successful
sitcoms in TV history.
So, how did
Friends come to exist? Marta Kauffman and David Crane said in an interview
released on the season 10 bonus disc, that the idea for the show is loosely
based on a group of friends they had in their 20’s while living in New York.
Crane, in
speaking about casting, said the six people casted were the only six people who
nailed their respective auditions. He said, “What makes a great sitcom are
great comedians.” The cast first met at a table read and each stated in their
personal interviews that they felt like they just meshed together. They saw
exactly what Crane and Kauffman saw – they were the ones meant to play these
roles. To save money, they needed to stick to the sets they already had and so
Monica and Rachel’s apartment became the staple of the show. Kevin S. Bright, the
producer and sometimes director of the show, said, “The show was at its best
when the six of them were in a room together.” At least once every season they
shot an episode of just the six of them in the apartment.
The
reason I love the show so much is because it’s very relatable. Throughout its
ten year run, the show was able to really develop the six main characters and
viewers got to watch them stumble through a lot of life’s hardships. There’s
even a poster dedicated to all of the life lessons Friends has taught us.
As my
homage to the Friends 20th anniversary, I will share some of my
favourites.
1.Always say the right name at the altar.
·I
think this one is fairly self-explanatory. I’m pretty sure you don’t even have
to see the show to know how badly that turned out for Ross.
2.When
moving a couch upstairs, PIVOT!
·Definitely
one of Ross’s more memorable moments and a lesson in letting the movers do the
heavy lifting.
3.Never
bet your apartment in a game of “who knows who”.
·Even
if you’re confident you’re going to win, it’s not worth the risk to give up
something so valuable, especially when your apartment is as nice as Monica and
Rachel’s.
4.Always
double-check your measurements when building an entertainment unit.
·This
just makes good sense unless you want to end up with a lot of ripped suits like
Chandler.
5.Everybody
has a lobster.
·This
one might not make a lot of sense if you’re not familiar with Ross and Rachel’s
relationship, but it’s just something I believe in.
Reading those
over, you might think my favourite character is Ross. It’s not. I am a true
Chandler fan. I especially love him in seasons one through four when his
sarcastic humour is at its peak. Please feel free to comment on your favourite!
In the interview
on the bonus disc from season ten, Matthew Perry says, “You know when you put
on an episode of Friends you’re going to laugh. But the laughs still surprise
you, like oh, did he really just do that. And that’s been the magic of it.” I
think this quote describes exactly why I can re-watch the series over and over
and never get tired of it, and why Friends is so memorable for so many people.
There will never be another show like it.
I’d like to
leave you now with a clip from one of my all time favourite episodes.
Let me know what
your favourite episode is! I would love to read about it!
How do you like to unwind after a long day? With a book? With music? By taking a bubble bath?
If you chose none of the above and prefer to turn on your favourite TV show then I'm with you!
All day we think, we read, we learn, and we interact with the world around us. We constantly keep in touch with our friends and family and what's going on in their lives, so why not keep up with our favourite TV show characters as well.
I'm a pretty busy student and it can be hard to keep up with the shows I like to watch. TV is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. A habit that I don't think I'll ever be able to break. There are so many good shows out there, I'm pretty sure I haven't even broken the surface. While I wouldn't define myself as a binge watcher, consuming an entire series over the course of a weekend (although I worry I'm on the verge), I do try to keep up with a number of shows.
So, this is where my blog comes in. I'm hoping to use it to keep up to date on my favourite TV shows and to venture out and discover shows I've never seen before. I also want to keep you guys, my readers, up to date on any interesting TV related discussion topics, show related or otherwise.
Overall, I like the idea that spending an hour or so in front of the TV every week can now be considered research!
