View From the Bushes

I was reading the latest Newsweek today, and their cover story was on the final season of "Friends." Leaving aside whether the end of a sitcom is worthy to be the subject of the cover of a newsmagazine, "Friends" has a special place in my heart. First, I do enjoy the show; it's been consistently funny for its entire run, the characters are great (I really like Joey and Phoebe), and it's intelligently written. But more than anything else, I like "Friends" because it brought the name "Ross" into the mainstream.

Before "Friends," it seemed like every time I gave someone my name, they would repeat it back to be as "Russ" or "Ron." The worst time was when I called up the most attractive girl at my high school and she thought my name was "Ron." I probably should have run with it. I graduated in a class of 584 -- there had to be someone named Ron who was better looking than I was. There was also the problem that as yet I had not perfected my now-legendary wit. At that point, my conversation mostly consisted of saying the worst possible thing at the worst possible time. There are many who would say that I am still in that stage.

Anyway, back to sitcoms. The other main thrust of the article was that "Friends" represented the end of the sitcom. I personally think that it happened a little earlier when "Andy Richter Controls the Universe" was cancelled. And though I would have liked to see Fox stick with it longer, they actually gave it a pretty good shot. It's actually all of you that I blame for the stillbirth of the greatest half hour on television. With that show's demise I recommend "Scrubs." If any of you out there saw what I call the "Underdog" episode, you know what I mean.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross