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5/5/2004
The Friendless and the Mindless
 Tomorrow night NBC may see some of its highest ratings yet as once again, tissue sales should rise around the country as another pointless television show about silly white people bites the dust. That's right, it's the "Friends" season finale. I can imagine that since "Friends" shares some of the same viewers as the equally if not even more pointless show "Sex and the City" did, a huge percentage of the mindless American public has taken a big blow over the last four months with the cancellation of both these shows. For me, bidding adieu to "Friends" will be slightly more difficult than "Syphilis and the City" since I never watched the latter. Do realize that I am currently talking out of two sides of my mouth because I myself have indulged in an episode or twelve of "Friends". Blame it on my predominately white high school. I do. Normal, healthy, black people just do not watch "Friends". I think it deals with cultural relevance. I even have a favorite episode or two. The reality is, you can't engage me into a debate on how relevant "Friends" is to real life, because I know it's not. How on earth can six people manage to all maintain jobs, yet never go to work and spend most of their time hanging out in each other's apartments and a coffee shop? I'm sorry, but that behavior is just not a part of my culture. We're not just talking Tulsa, Oklahoma where rent is $300 a month. The setting of the show is New York City; where you need a broker to even get an apartment. Just how can these people afford $2500 rent when they never go to work? I think it's safe to say that all the "Friends" must have trust funds. Yep, that's it. They're just rich. Well, for $1,000,000 an episode, I'd be rich too.
There has been much talk, many articles written, and lots of theorizing around how the show "Friends" has impacted "the culture". Well, I'd say friends impacted the culture about the same way that "Seinfeld" did. It successfully showed the world that you can waste 30 minutes of your life doing and talking about absolutely nothing and manage to laugh at the same time. I think we are missing out on the days when television shows were actually worth something. The only hole that will be felt when "Friends" goes away will be in the wallets of NBC executives.
 One of the shows I miss most tremendously is the "Cosby Show". From the time that it began, I have been an avid watcher of the Cosby show. Yes, even at age three, I never missed an episode. In fact, when the show moved to Thursday nights, my family went to evening Bible study and I insisted they tape it in our absence. My family calls me the resident Cosby Show expert because I probably have every single episode memorized verbatim. Not only that, I can extract and analyze just about every truth and life lesson possible that can be learned from every episode and apply it to daily life. From my perspective this was one of the best shows of the last 20 years. It was a show that transcended culture. This was a show with staying power that did more than just make us laugh. I miss the days when sitcoms served a purpose in our society beyond entertainment.
posted by ambra at 5/5/2004 04:29:33 PM | link to this entry |
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