Ross & Rachel
All things are right in the world. Ross and Rachel ended up together. We always knew they would. Friends could end no other way. Friends couldn’t end any other way. The final episode left things just as they should be.
Still, I can’t feel a little bummed. Good television shows are dropping like flies. Almost half the shows I regularly watch won’t be coming back around for another run at my TV.
First, it was Ed, my favorite show of the last few years. While it isn’t entirely official, Stuckeyville looks like it will be an empty place from now on. It’s a shame, really. While it stuck around for four years, it never really grabbed a huge audience outside of the wife and I. By far, this is the show I will miss the most.
Then it was Sex in the City, one of my wife’s favorite shows. Both the wife and I were late arrivals to the City, at least in the sense of watching it on a regular basis. I’m normally in charge of the TV watching in our house but this was one show that turned the tables. The wife will miss Carrie more than I. After all, I have Deadwood to take its place.
And now, it’s Friends which, in my opinion, was one of the most consistently funny shows for its extended lifetime. An author over at the Slate used the term soapcom to describe it. That sounds about right to me. The soap style relationships and ongoing storyline is what I believe made the show special. It’s a model that I’m surprised hasn’t been copied more, or with at least more success. Scrubs is probably the closest thing to Friends on TV right now in that sense. It’s no coincidence that it’s one of my favorite shows. I only wish that NBC would give it Friend’s old time slot.
With Frasier closing up shop this year, I’m losing a fallback option and there really isn’t much left. Outside of HBO’s new content, not much has grabbed my interest. There’s only so much CSI I can watch. There’s only so much reality TV I can stand.
Don’t get me wrong. My TIVO is in no danger of drying up for content (I am, after all, 4 episodes behind in this season of 24). It’s just that the departure of so many shows leaves a gaping hole in the quality of my TV schedule, particularly in terms of staying power. I’m more than pleased with all the happy endings but I guess I’m a touch wistful about saying goodbye to old friends, particularly when I have to do it all at once.
