Sunday, 26 February 2017
Sunday, 22 January 2017
17 reasons Friends is the greatest TV show ever
22 years ago, on 22nd September 1994, Friends – aka the greatest TV show ever – graced our screens.
Friends is a bit like melted cheese; loved by all, it never gets old, and most importantly none of us can imagine what life would be like without it.
The show (as echoed in its theme tune) has always been there for us, and provided us with golden nuggets of life changing information such as the importance of Unagi.
Never change Friends, never change.
1. Theme tune = karaoke gold
Every episode brings another chance to bask in the greatness of the theme song. You sang along and you knew all of the words, but you never really understood what D.O.A meant.
(It means ‘dead-on-arrival’ by the way).
2. ‘How you doin?’
Ah, a classic chat up line was born thanks to everyone’s favourite Italian American hunk Joey Tribbiani. This is the best line to try when you aren’t sure if someone fancies you, because if you get rejected you can always play it off as a solid Joey impression. Phew.
3. We all have a type
Deciphering which Friend you are out of your own friendship circle has been the topic of many a fierce debate in the pub. You still maintain that just because you like to hoover your slippers once a week you are NOT the Monica. You think you’re a total babe and therefore obviously Rachel.
4. Oh the fashion <3
By fashion we don’t just mean the seriously cool 90s throwback outfits. Oh no, we mean highlights such as Ross’s leather trousers, Monica accessorising a turkey with novelty sunglasses, and obviously every single thing worn by pregnant Phoebe, especially the Santa pants.
5. The quotes
Not only were the jokes great, but sometimes the one liners were even greater. For example the following: PIVOT / We were on a BREAK/ Could I be wearing anymore clothes/ UNAGI/ My sandwich – are all still capable of making you cry with laughter.
6. Still relevant
Let us be thankful that Friends is still a good guide of how to live life now, even 22 years later. Thanks to Friends you know to steer clear of leather trousers, how to avoid a fake tan disaster, to never wear lingerie as outerwear when meeting your potential bae’s parents, and of course to never let a pimp spit in your mouth.
7. Addressed taboos
Which other show in the 90s openly discussed gay relationships, and female sexual satisfaction? Exactly. P.S we still want to know what Monica meant by number 7.
8. So many cameos
Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, George Clooney and Robin Williams (to name a few) all starred in Friends. You won’t see names like that popping up in EastEnders mate.
9. Apartment goals
We all know that Monica’s apartment could only belong to a 20-something-year-old if they were the child of a gazillionaire, but that hasn’t stopped us trying to copy it. Even if this meant you painted your bedroom door purple and glued a gold frame from Primark on to it. How chic.
10. Awkward parents galore
Ever thought that your parents were cringe-worthy? Friends quietly reassured you that your parents weren’t actually all bad. Seeing Monica witness her parents have sex a few inches away from her in a bathroom really made you realise that your dad’s dancing isn’t that bad.
11. They came to England
Not only did the episodes in England include Richard Branson and Fergie, but they also set the scene for the best Friends love story (no, not Ross and Rachel) because it’s the place where Monica and Chandler hooked up.
12. 20s struggles
Unlike TV shows nowadays, Friends never tried to gloss over the harsh realities of life in your 20s, when you have no idea what you are doing in life. Ever felt down because your co-worker doesn’t like you? It could be worse, your co-workers could lock you in the cooling fridge instead. Poor Monica.
13. Smelly Cat – ’nuff said
What smelly cat was fed is still one of life’s greatest mysteries. Also, a great karaoke song to suit all musical abilities.
14. They are geeky
From the Valentine’s bonfire, to Ross’s Science Boy comics, and Chandler’s incident with the Victoria’s Secret model during the power cut they all proved that they are just as awkward as us. Also, let’s not forget Ross and Monica’s special NYE dance.
15. The FEAR
Friends gave us possibly the best and worst career advice that anyone in their 20s can ever hear. It’s all about embracing the FEAR and throwing caution to the wind to get your dream job. If it worked for Rachael, then of course you too can quit your 9-5 and move to Vietnam if you want.
16. Relationship rules
Friends showcased an abundance of awkward relationship situations before Tinder was even invented. Accidentally being left out of a threesome, the murky lines of being on a break and let’s not forget the importance of not saying your ex’s name during your wedding vows.
17. Miss Chanandler Bong
Not only did this get discovered in the classic showdown when the girls lose their apartment, but probably the best nickname for Chandler. Could it be anymore funny?
Saturday, 21 January 2017
‘Friends’ Cast: Where Are They Now?
On September 22, 1994, Rachel, Monica, Ross, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe were introduced to America on the sitcom Friends, and it wasn’t long before the show became a TV hit and a hairstyle-inspiring cultural phenomenon. Fans could relate to their 20-something angst, dating ups and downs, and the idea that when all else fails friends “will be there for you" (to quote the show’s theme song.)
Friends lasted for 10 seasons (not to mention it’s eternal syndication) and a big part of its success was the chemistry of its tight-knit cast that stuck together onscreen and off. What happened when the "Friends" parted ways? Here's a look at their lives then and now...
Lisa Kudrow
After training with the comedy troupe The Groundlings, Lisa Kudrow landed a recurring role playing Ursula Buffay, an oddball waitress in Mad About You. This opened the door to playing Phoebe, Ursula’s equally oddball but much nicer twin sister/masseuse/really bad singer/songwriter on Friends. Cue Phoebe's horribly good song "Smelly Cat."
Life after Friends: Kudrow made a huge funny in the movie Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) with Mira Sorvino. In 2009, she reunited with Courteney Cox for an episode of Cougar Town where she played a nasty dermatologist. But it’s Web Therapy, the hilarious improv web series turned Showtime show produced, written by and starring Kudrow, that really launched her back into the spotlight. In November 2014, Kudrow also brought back Valerie Cherish, her washed-up sitcom character turned reality TV star, on HBO’s The Comeback. The show, co-created with Sex and the City’s Michael Patrick King, first aired in 2005 and its hilarious critique of reality TV became even more relevant in its second season, almost 10 years after its premiere. If that's not enough Kudrow for you, you can also see the busy star in a recurring role as Josie Marcus, an idealistic Montana congresswoman in Scandal, and behind the camera she’s one of the executive producers of the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are where celebs, like her, explore their family trees.
Jennifer Aniston:
Before Friends, Jennifer Aniston was offered a job on Saturday Night Live, but wound up turning the SNL gig down to play Rachel Green, the spoiled yet likable waitress with the great hair. Out of all of the Friends cast members, Aniston was the biggest tabloid target during the show's run because of her five-year marriage to Hollywood hottie and then rising star Brad Pitt. Aniston also made waves, actually layers, with “the Rachel,” a hairstyle that swept across America, a do Aniston would later call “a disaster” because “it wouldn’t die.”
Life after Friends: The TV star had movie success in the indie film The Good Girl (2002) and became a rom-com queen in films like Bruce Almighty (2003), The Break-Up (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Horrible Bosses (2011) and We're the Millers (2013). She also tapped into the sweet smell of success with two of her own celebrity fragrances launched in 2011 and 2014. And she found love again (maybe?): Aniston became engaged to actor Justin Theroux in August 2012, the same year she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Courteney Cox:
Cox started out as teen model (hello, Tiger Beat), but got some rock star face time in 1984 when Bruce Springsteen pulled her from the crowd in his music video “Dancing in the Dark.” She played some notable TV girlfriends – first Alex P. Keaton’s (Michael J. Fox) love interest on Family Ties for two seasons and later Jerry Seinfield’s gal pal in one episode of Seinfeld – before she was cast as Friends control freak foodie Monica Gellar.
Life after Friends: Off screen, Cox had a 5-plus-year relationship with actor Michael Keaton, which ended in 1995, the same year she met her future husband and co-star David Arquette on the set of their slasher hit Scream (1996). (The couple has a daughter Coco, whose godmother is none other than Cox’s BFF Jennifer Aniston.) After Friends, Cox returned to TV in 2009 as executive producer and star of Cougar Town, a sitcom about a divorcee and her 40-something friends. She became a real-life divorcee in 2011 when she and Arquette amicably split. But, like buddy Aniston, she found love again: In 2014, Cox announced her engagement to Irish alt rocker Johnny McDaid of the band Snow Patrol, whom she met through songsmith friend Ed Sheeran.
David Schwimmer:
Like his Friends castmates, David Schwimmer appeared in bit roles in TV shows like L.A. Law, The Wonder Years, and NYPD Blue before landing the role of sweet and geeky paleontologist Ross Gellar. The producers actually wrote the role for him, and he supposedly based Ross on Nicolas Cage’s character in the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married. While Ross and Rachel’s on-again-off-again-on-again romance fueled big time ratings, Schwimmer also got busy behind the camera, directing a bunch of episodes.
Life after Friends: After Friends, Schwimmer turned down the Will Smith role in Men In Black for a starring role in The Pallbearer (1996), followed by some more "meh" movies including Kissing a Fool (1998), Six Days Seven Nights (1998), and Picking Up the Pieces (2000), as well as lots of theater work and a TV stint in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hank’s HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). A favorite post-Friends role: he's the voice of Melman, the giraffe in Madagascar.
Matt LeBlanc:
Before Friends, LeBlanc’s big claim to fame was starring in a spin-off of Married. . .With Children called Top of the Heap (1991), which was on the air for only seven episodes. He landed the role of struggling actor Joey Tribbiani by playing it dumb for laughs in his audition. Like Aniston's "Rachel" haircut, LeBlanc stirred up a bit of a pop culture trend with Joey's favorite pickup line and much repeated TV catchphrase “How you doin’?"
Life after Friends: LeBlanc appeared in movies like Ed (1996), Lost in Space (1998), and Charlie's Angels (2000). But he earned bigger bragging rights as the only Friends cast member to get his own spin-off Joey, which followed his character out to L.A. to pursue his acting career. Joey aired for two seasons from 2004 to 2006, after which LeBlanc took a four-year hiatus from acting. In 2012, the now silver fox made a triumphant return to TV, playing himself in Episodes, the BBCTwo/Showtime series co-created by Friends creator David Crane, which earned LeBlanc a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
Matthew Perry:
Perry got his acting start as a teenager playing opposite River Phoenix in a little known film called A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988). He followed that with guest spots on shows like Empty Nest, Growing Pains and Beverly Hills 90210, before landing the role of sarcastic Chandler Bing. During the show’s run, Perry moonlighted in movies including Fools Rush In (1997) with Salma Hayek, Almost Heroes (1998) with Chris Farley, and The Whole Nine Yards (2000) with Bruce Willis. But off screen Perry struggled with addiction to both alcohol and prescription medications, leading to stays in and out of rehab.
Life after Friends: In the 2000s, Perry got sober and turned his Malibu beach home into Perry House, a sober living facility for men. He made guest appearances as associate White House counsel Joe Quincy on The West Wing, which earned him two Emmy nominations. He also guest starred on The Good Wife and played an older version of Zac Efron in the movie 17 Again (2009). Perry is producing, writing and starring in a TV remake of The Odd Couple, in which he plays slobby sports writer Oscar Madison.
Saturday, 14 January 2017
The Thief
Nights are my favorite. It’s the time I live to the fullest.
This was just another night and I was on my job as a professional theif juggling from one house to another, peeping through things and stealing the items which deem for me are worth for. As this was going on, I saw a house at the corner of a lonely street. Thinking this would be an easy job, I got into it looking for the things which are worth stealing for.
And then, I heard footsteps approaching and the shadow of that person growing bigger and bigger. It’s an old woman. Around 70s in age, stick in her hand for support with poor eye sight.
As she saw me, she said, “Son!!! You are finally home?? I have been waiting for ages for you” with tears dripping down from her eyes.
I had no choice other than to pretend to be her son. It was the only way not to get caught and also that she deserves the presence of a person whom she thinks as her son, atleast for one night.
As we sat through, she served food, asked about many things on how and where I was and how I was doing and how lonely it was for her in the house for this long time. It was a wonderful chatter which I too greatly cherished. As I was putting her to bed, she insisted me on not to leave and atleast stay for the night. I slept in the other room.
Few hours later, there is a continuous knocking and banging on the front door. I opened the door. It’s the Police. I guess one the neighbours must have seen me sneaking into the house.
I wanted to play safe, I mentioned that I am not a theif and my mother is upstairs sleeping. The police searched the place. There was no woman in the house, it was blank empty. I shouted on top of my lungs that my mother is in the house but they didn’t listen. They dragged me out and put me in a vehicle while the neighbours in the street were watching. This is the 3rd time I am being caught in last few months.
As the vehicle left, neighbours in the surrounding gathered by to talk about what has actually happened. One of the guys came ahead and said,
“It was a patient from nearby mental asylum, he suffers from schizophrenia and he ran from the asylum already 2 times itseems. Not sure what he was doing in the empty house. Good thing the ward boys from the asylum were able to trace him and took him back in that ambulance vehicle”.
Grandma in court
Lawyers should never ask a Grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial in Mississippi, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness to the stand... a grandmotherly, elderly woman. He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot, when you haven't got the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."
The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state... not to mention, he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him."
The defense attorney nearly died on the spot.
The judge asked both counselors to approached the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said... "If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair."
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