It’s hard to bid ‘Friends’ farewell

  • Julie Muhlstein / Herald Columnist
  • Saturday, May 1, 2004 9:00pm
  • Local News

They’re no friends of mine, let’s get that out of the way. The NBC ratings juggernaut "Friends" isn’t must-see for me.

If I do catch an episode, those six sharp-looking but navel-gazing pals seem so whiny I want to shout, "Grow up!"

I’ll cop to being way out of step, having never seen even a minute of "Survivor." What I have seen is that millions of people, my college-age daughter among them, care about Ross and Rachel, Monica and Chandler, Phoebe and Joey.

Fans are so comfortable with these characters that the sofa at the Central Perk might as well be in a real coffeehouse.

After a 10-year run, the sitcom based on six close-knit young adults laughing, crying and coupling their way through life in New York ends Thursday. Starting at 8 p.m. on KING Channel 5, an hourlong episode will be followed at 9 p.m. by the series finale, also an hour.

At Edmonds Community College, it’s not hard to find viewers who know every episode. Hey, they can recite every line.

"The cool thing is you can go up to a girl and say, ‘How YOU doin’?’ and it works. Because of the show, it’s a great pickup line," said Eric Taylor, 18, doing an uncanny impression of funnyman Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani.

Taylor, who lives in Everett, was hanging out Thursday with pals of his own in the Triton Union Building student lounge.

At 32, Jet Tinsley is roughly the age of the sitcom characters. "I’ve watched ‘Friends’ since the beginning. So many of the shows make me laugh, I couldn’t pick a favorite," said the Lynnwood man, who is studying to be a teacher.

Tinsley predicts the NBC spinoff "Joey," with LeBlanc’s character taking his acting dream to Los Angeles, "is going to tank."

"The show works because of the six friends. You can’t take any of them out," Tinsley said.

Kris Stubbs, 20, likes the show’s "human connections."

"I didn’t care so much about the couples, but how they treated each other as friends just going through life," said Stubbs, of Everett.

Tinsley had fun conjuring up a fictional future. "I don’t think Ross and Rachel should end up together. If they do, it’s not going to last. I see them married in ‘05, divorced in ‘06, and remarried in ‘09, and having a kid each time. Through the years, Ross keeps saying, ‘We were on a break!’ " said Tinsley, recalling a punch line when Ross had strayed a few seasons ago.

"Phoebe, she’ll hit it big in the music business, the next Sheryl Crow," Tinsley said.

At that, 20-year-old Paul Tesi of Lynnwood chimed in, singing "Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat," the most memorable of Phoebe’s perfectly awful folk songs.

"Friends of mine, when I lived in Bremerton, used to call me Ross," said Tesi, calling himself "kind of goofy" like the hapless paleontology professor played by David Schwimmer.

Sondra Johnson of Everett said the show that’s been on half her life "has been my favorite since eighth grade."

"I’m a total Ross and Rachel fan. They have to get together, that’s how it’s supposed to be," said Johnson, 19, who will take Thursday off from work at Funtasia Family Fun Park to watch the last episode.

Alex Brayman’s favorite "Friends" was a prom flashback when Rachel and Monica were in high school. "Rachel’s date had bailed. Ross gets all dressed up to fill in, but then along comes some jock who sweeps her away," said Brayman, 20, of Lynnwood.

"That’s the mark of a great show, when you care about the characters," Tinsley said.

"Few people ever have friendships that long," said Stubbs, who said he’s maintained close ties with two brothers he knew as a boy. "My two friends and I did everything together, we still do."

Tinsley thinks the show struck a chord because it’s not often adult friends do everything together, sharing each others’ ups and downs.

"In real life, friends come in compartments. You have work friends, school friends, growing-up friends," he said. "At the age those characters are, keeping a friend that long is rarer than rare.

"Any friends who last that long, through your 20s and into your 30s, that’s worth celebrating."

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.

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