Realizations We Had Rewatching Friends on New Year's Day

Before 2015, the only programming I regularly watched on New Year’s Day was the Rose Parade, the best televised parade in America. Past childhood, when I was forced to wake from precious slumber by my parents, I’d usually rise early enough to catch just the end, mentally chastising myself for (despite the California-to-New York time difference) waking up too late yet again to see it in its entirety.

Not this year. This year, the Rose Parade had competition. The Rose Parade had every single episode of Friends, available to me (and you) on Netflix, to deal with.

I love Friends. (For a semi-complete recap of this story, click here.) I know its highs, I know its lows, and yet our relationship is one of the strongest and longest lasting in my life. Two years ago I thought I had discovered an episode I’d never seen and it shook me to my very core.

So after noon on New Year’s Day, I began. Because even when you’ve known someone for decades, the best relationships let you learn more, they let you grow and they let you realize things about the world you had never realized before.

1:00 pm Joey’s hair is SO long in the first episode.

That wine dude Monica sleeps with is pretty ’90s cute and very tall. Nice dimple. Good butt.

I take an lengthy break to go get “brunch” with some “real” friends, but soon, I’m back at it.

5:30 pm

Is Chandler wearing Adidas shell toe sneakers in season 8? Wow.

The premise of The One with the Videotape is so glorious and so improbable. “Two of our best friends accidentally filmed themselves having sex? Score!” “Yeah, let’s definitely watch that–in a group, no less–even though my brother is one of the people fucking!”

God that pretty subpar thesis paper I read during my BA seminar in college was right: this show really does have so many gay jokes.

Also the differences between men and women account for roughly 35% of the jokes. 45% are jokes that the friends make at the expense of each other, while the remaining 20% can be categorized as “miscellaneous.” Actually this might work better as a venn diagram.

Courteney Cox has really devastatingly beautiful eyes and I don’t even care about eyes.

6:10 pm

Aaron: Kate I’m six eps deep

Kate: I’m only on 3

I had to go to a brunch

Are you going from the beginning? I’m hopping around

Aaron: From the beginning

Highway to hell

Kate: It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll

7:20 pm

I think they kept the extra jokes in that they cut for time when the episodes aired in TV like they do in the DVDs. That’s good.

No DVD extras though. That’s bad.

8:15 pm

No matter what my sister says, I’m not Ross. Even my roommate agrees! “Ross is dopey and you’re alive and vibrant.”

9:30 pm

When Reese Witherspoon plays Rachel’s sister, is it an intentional homage to Rachel in episode one that she buys clothes to prove that she doesn’t need her parents with money from her dad, or just an accidentally repeated storyline?

Probably an homage.

Wow really dropped the ball over here with this camera work.

The Gellers are truly the best TV parents – though Jessica Day’s on New Girl are pretty good too.