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ALL ABOUT FRIENDS
What I Learned Yesterday

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ALL ABOUT FRIENDS
What I Learned Yesterday - December 8th 2008
by Matthew Toffolo

I never got into the famous TV show until it was officially off the air, but it was always in my conscious mind and very hard to avoid in the pop-culture world I am always in. It was only when WILDsound's TV Reviewer Mitchell Bard called it one of the 10 best comedies in TV history is when I paid attention.

Mitchell is a guy I love talking to and respect his opinions. So when he said that, I was shocked he placed it with iconic shows like All in the Family, Seinfeld and Fraser.

And it really is a show that I did enjoy watching once I got into it as I do have to say it is well written and the actors all do a solid job of performing their roles and making us like them. But not one of the 6 characters would be someone I'd like to strike up an actual friendship with.

Yes, I'd probably date Pheobe for a bit, get Rachel to take me clothes shopping and have Monica cook me a few meals in exchange for them enjoying my looks and interesting conversation. Then after a few weeks we would move on with our lives.

The guys, I mean boys, are people I just wouldn't enjoy hanging around with. Especially Joey, who is someone who just doesn't take the whole actor profession very seriously. None of these guys have nothing in common with me and none of us have anything to learn from each other. I live in one world and they live in another.

Yesterday while I was watching Sunday football, a Friends marathon was on another channel. After my Bills started to blow it in the 3rd quarter, I got so upset I flipped to the marathon to see if Chandler and Ross could be my pals and console me. Perhaps one of Chandler's snarky comments would put a smile on my face.

I remember I was dating a girl back in 1999 and her mother being obsessed with the show. This was when they were still making new shows while also hitting the syndication market being on TV every hour of the day on one channel or another. The girl I was dating was the same age as the girls on the show, but it seemed the mom has a better relationship with Rachel then her own daughter.

The Friends were safe Friends. They would entertain you, while you didn't have to do much work. Kind of like a dog but without worrying about feeding them and depositing their poop.

I watched 4 episodes and it was all about Joey moving out of the apartment he was sharing with Chandler. Chandler was all sad for two hours because he didn't have his pal around. Joey ends up losing his acting gig and having to move back. Chandler is happy this has happened and so is Joey. They are back in comfortable land.

So the lesson I learned is that it's more important to not advance in your career and life and stay the same in comfort zone with your friends! Why improve when you got pals like them!

Is there something wrong with this? I looked around me and noticed that I was alone watching this and wondered perhaps that I'm too focused to get the best of myself, that I can't have friends like this gang!

I was lucky growing up in having a lot of friends. Most of them stayed in my hometown as I moved far away for school and then to Toronto now. I left a lot of people behind, including a woman I could of easily married.

Most of my friends understand why I never go back home and why they are really not in my life anymore. It's just that my current world and their current world don't mesh. I still have love for those guys, but I needed to do what I needed to do. And vice/versa. A lot people I've formed friendships with in Toronto have moved onwards to New York City and/or Los Angeles for their career. I get it. A good friend is someone who helps their friend improve in life and help stay fulfilled. And a lot of times that means that they won't be in your life because of that.

But the Friends gang are people that seem to not want any of that. And people loved them for it. It's one of the most popular TV shows in the history of television and it's still a ratings monster in the syndication world. People still can't get enough of the show.

What am I missing? Chandler should of been happy that Joey has moved on with his life. Not be a little baby and cheer when Joey loses his job so he has to come back. What kind of friend is he really?

Am I wrong in saying that friends is a fraud?