I heard the familiar theme song coming from the family room…then called out to my sixteen year old son with a quizzical, “Are you watching Friends?”
“Yeah,” he replied back, “It’s brand new on Netflix.”
Well…of course I knew that. I’d gotten the press release from Netflix #StreamTeam some time back and knew that one of these days I’d probably jump in and binge watch the entire 10 seasons to relive my twenties…but my son watching it? I’d never really thought about that.
So…I got up, walked into the room…and said “what show are you on?”
“Season 1 Episode 3,” he said then followed with “want to watch it with me?” Hell yeah, I thought as I sat on the couch and curled up to watch “The One With the Thumb.”
We continued and watched a few episodes before he headed off to practice and he was rather amazed I knew some of the lines as they were being said.
Later that evening, on my computer again with my daughter next to me watching her iPad, I said “whatcha’ watching”…to which she responded “Friends.”
FRIENDS? YOU TOO?
Seems like all the kids are watching.
LIKE…ALL OF THEM!
A few mornings later in the car, I’m driving my son and a few of his friends up to school, when one of the girls started talking about an episode and my son suddenly blurted out a “No spoilers! I’m not caught up to you guys yet”…then proceeded to put his hands over his ears saying LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA until their conversation was over in the back.
FRIENDS!
I’m getting quite a kick out of it. All the kids are watching…they’re discussing the episodes as if it’s the greatest show ever which makes sense…’cause it was the greatest show ever.
But…here’s the best part. As the mom of two teens who watch shows with blood and guts and killing and zombies and gross stuff…I’m hearing my kids laugh. Like…real honest to goodness laugh…OUT LOUD! Watching and laughing and getting a real charge out of the antics of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey…and Marcel the monkey. Real honest to goodness laughter that’s honestly, not something I’m used to hearing when my kids watch TV.
The downside of the show…HOLY SMOKES they have an awful lot of sex!
I kind of forgot about that!
Currently, Spiderman is around “The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies” and Bones is about a season ahead laughing about “The One with The Chick and the Duck” and I’m sort of bouncing back and forth between the two of them…depending on what I’m up to at the time and if I’ve a few minutes to watch.
It’s pretty awesome! They’re asking me questions…and I’m not answering for fear of spoiling it for them…and while I think they’re sort of missing out on a “weekly” show of friends where you talk with your own friends the next day about what happened and anticipate the next Thursday night to see how things unfold…and have to deal with end of season cliff-hangers and a whole summer before the season starts again…I’m still thrilled that they’re able to watch it all these years later…and get such a kick out of it.
And I’m thrilled that when Bones turns to me and says “I can’t believe that just happened” I can respond with things like…”They were on a Break!”
Friends…on Netflix…go watch it with your kids. It’s really kind of awesome!
Also, check out The Rembrandts acoustic performance of the Friends theme (and see if you can get the clap right)…that was filmed with Netflix as part of the release. It’s really rather fun!
Disclaimer: Curtains are Open is part of the Netflix #StreamTeam. I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with Netflix, however, all opinions are my own.