So no one told you life was gonna be this way...
Oh... My... God... I really, really cannot believe that this year marks twenty five years since the first episode of Friends was aired. That's right, the hit American sit-com about the lives of a close-knit gang of six New Yorkers first hit American screens on 22 September 1994. That's right - twenty five years ago!!!! My goodness where has the time gone? Since then, we've been glued to the antics of Joey, Rachel, Phoebe and co. And incidentally it's been over fifteen years since the last episode aired in May 1994.
I can't put into words how special Friends is to me. Some might even think that's weird. I mean it's a television sit-com. Who gets sentimental over a television sit-com? Well, I do! Friends brings back great memories of school days, teenage years, and family moments. Plus it's as funny as hell! What's there not to like?
I first started watching Friends when I was in my mid -teens. Thursday night was treat night, so after a hard night hitting the books (or pretending to!) as I studied for my A levels, I'd grab a ready meal and settle down in front of the telly to watch my fave show... Channel 4's Whose Line Is It Anyway?  But before Whose Line began, I'd manage to catch the last few minutes of a new American comedy. It wasn't long before I started taking my study breaks a little earlier on a Thursday night so I could watch this new American comedy from the beginning of each episode. It was really funny and thoroughly enjoyable... but even then I didn't realise just how huge it was going to become.
(Clockwise) Ross, Rachel, Joey, Monica, Chandler, and Phoebe
It wasn't long before the rest of my family got in on the act. By then Friends had gone from the near-enough graveyard slot to become prime time viewing on a Friday evening. So Friday evenings were spent with us gathered around the telly after dinner, laughing our heads off. Apart from me, my little brother was the biggest Friends fan in our house. We never missed an episode, and it in fact became known as 'our tradition.' And every Christmas, my brother would get a new Friends video (yes, it was videos back then) which he would practically watch on repeat. It wasn't long before we knew every bit of dialogue from the show - and used to quote the characters to the point where it both amused and annoyed our sisters.
Over the last twenty years, we've all lost count of how many times Friends has been repeated on the telly. But the thing is that it never gets old. Every time you tune in to each episode, you laugh like you've never heard the gags before - and I guess that's the beauty of the show. In all these years, I've only met three people who have said that they can't stand Friends. This admission has left me wondering... what on earth is wrong with them? Could they be any more sad???
So in honour of Friends' twenty fifth year, check out our post for a look at things closely associated with the show that made Friends so unique; this includes our favourite memories and things about the show that - without wanting to be dramatic - actually changed our lives and the way we live...
Photos from YouTube
Word Cloud by Angel Noire