FRIENDS Forever...

I am a declared TV addict; everyone that knows me knows that. I have never tried to hide that fact; in fact I am proud to love the TV shows I do. However, there are only a handful of shows that I could watch over and over again and never really get tired of...

FRIENDS came into my life during it's third season. The date is not very specific for me because at the time I followed it on TV in Brazil and they were always late comparing to The US. Those six characters became part of my life so fast that I didn;t even have a chance to fight it (not I wanted to); little did I know that they would be forever in my heart.

I have all the seasons and I have seen each episode at least 15 times. When it aired back in Brazil, I used to watch it at it's regular time and on both it's rerun times. I never got tired of it and I don't think I ever will. Even nowadays, whenever I see it on I have to watch it.

I have to admit, watching FRIEND's reruns induces two possible reactions in me. One, I laugh like it's the first time I am watching that episode, even though I know all the punch lines And Two, I don't nearly laugh as much, but I get a certain comfortable feeling in seeing those characters that it simply puts a smile on my face.

Some people like to say that the show lost its luster on it's later seasons. I don't agree with that at all. I have to say that my least favorite season is number 8, I don't really like the whole Joey-loves-Rachel thing, but the season does have some great episodes; such as: "The one with the rumor" where Brad Pitt pays a visit. However, I do believe that the 10th season is one of my favorites with Joey learning French and not sharing food, Ross dressing up as a girl and getting all worked up about Mark (AGAIN!), and Phoebe changing her name to "Princess Consuela Banana hammock" to her dear husband “Crap Bag”... Classic episodes!!

Fans were divided at the finale, some hated and some loved it. I personally loved it, I thought it was a perfect ending and it still makes me cry whenever I watch it... It was the saddest goodbye I ever had with a TV show... FRIENDS will always be in my heart...

MY RELATIONSHIP WITH FRIENDS:

- After the Cheesecake episode in season 7, I became so obsessed with finding a cheesecake just like in the show that I nearly drove my dad mad :P (I found it years later and HATED IT... lol)

- I used to show episodes in class and use the show as a teaching tool. One day I showed the Gag Reel from season 7 and got complains from classrooms on the floor beneath me because the laughs were too loud. (BEST GAG REEL EVER)

- At on the school's I taught, I was known as the "FRIENDS Encyclopedia". That's because whenever any of the other teachers wanted an episode with certain vocabularies or Verb Tense to use in the classroom I could always name the best episode and it's season.

- To this day everyday situations still take me back to a specific episode. I always see myself saying: "remember that episode of FRIENDS where..."

- I have this poster on my wall:

Click HERE to watch a montage shown on the last clip episode before the finale. The editing is amazing, with the images working perfectly with the great song "Walk on - U2". I just cried watching it... ENJOY...

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The perfect ending...

Through the years I have become addicted to a great amount of TV shows. That obsession caused me to have my "don't talk to me I'm watching..." moments.

However, a show that I was never too obsessed about was "Six Feet Under". I knew the characters, I saw a lot of episodes, but it was never a comitment for me to watch the show and I was never dying to see the next season.

It came as a surprised for me that "Six Feet Under" produced the best Series Finale EVER.

The show ended in 2005 and I remember catching the finale by accident on HBO Brazil the following year. A couple minutes ago the finale just aired on Channel 2 here in Israel and it made me cry AGAIN. I can't help but shed tears everytime I watch it. The combination of images and the song chosen to follow them is exquisite and incomparable.

The last scene follows each characters future until their deaths, cutting back and forth with Claire (the youngest of the main family) driving toward her uncertain future in NYC.

Seeing each characters future and how their demise arrived is heart wrenchingly beautiful. There are no loose threads and story lines. A true end for a great show.

The cast of the show was so talented that most of its actors are currently in great shows out there. Michael C. Hall (David) is Dexter, Frances Conroy is guest starring in Desperate Housewives, Rachel Griffiths is Sarah Walker on Brothers & Sisters and Peter Krause was starring in Dirty, Sexy Money.

The creator of Six Feet Under has also created the season hit True Blood, which finished its first season las week and has a second season guaranteed.

*if you've never seen the show, you'll probably not get the strength of the ending... Though you might still enjoy the song... which is:

Breathe me by Sia

Here's the video... Enjoy:

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Lala in TV Land - Episode 01

Welcome to the first installment of my TV column.

- Every week I am going to bring you my opinion on the best TV shows of the week. To organize things a bit, I will separate the shows into "Newbies" and "Oldies" in the order they aired during the week (The "Oldies" being the ones that are simply returning from previous seasons)...

ENJOY!

Newbies

True Blood is only getting better and better in my opinion. After a very weird premiere, I really thought I would hate it. However, every week the shoe keeps surprising me in a good way. Thanks to Allan Ball (creator of “Six feet under”) for presenting us with one of the best new shows on TV.

On this new episode we got to witness how Bill became a vampire on a very moving flashback. I loved seeing him win over the towns people during the historical meeting. And Jason will never change hehe.

Valentine premiered this week on the CW network. I was quite pleasantly surprised with the premise and the plot of the show.

It is a cute show that shows a family of “Gods” on mount Olympus that have to bring together soul mates. They have been having some problems with the concept of love, so they bring aboard a romance novelist to help them out. It was nice seeing some familiar faces.

After last week’s episode of 90210, I had decided to give up on it. This week was its last chance. This week’s episode changed that. It wasn’t an amazing episode, but it was definitely an improvement.

Of course, Annie is still annoying as hell. But Adriana’s and Naomi’s friendship/Drama was very nice. The new girl was fun, though the twist about her in the end was sort of stupid. I thought that finally a student was going to hook up with the hot teacher Ryan, damn it hehe. I just hope they get better; otherwise, I’m done with it.

Privileged is my favorite new CW show. Great writing and acting, which is more than I can say for a lot of shows out there. It is not a show that plans to change the world, but it does its job inn entertaining us.

This week episode showed us different kinds of friendship and sister/sister relationships. I love the shows sense of humor and I just hope it keeps it up. Only thing that bothers me, Three hot guys into Megan? That’s too much… lol.

The ex-list is only on its second episode and I already love love this show. The main actress does such an amazing job and her character is so sweet that you can’t help but fall in love with her.

Bella starts seeing another ex and it does not go well again. It’s sooooo obvious she belongs with her most recent ex and I am dying to see how they get there.

Oldies

I just love The Big Bang Theory and this new season has been very entertaining and soooo funny. Sheldon has been stealing the show from everybody else.

Watching Penny become addicted to an online game was hilarious and of course, when she was about to go on a virtual date with the nerdest (is that even a word? Hehe) of nerds she finally came to her senses lol.

My favorite comedy out there came back to its fourth season with a great episode. The second episode wasn’t the best and this week’s third ep wasn’t amazing, but it was definitely very funny.

I always say that Barney steals the show and that is so true. Neil Patrick Harris needs to get recognition for this amazing character soon. The episode took place mostly in New Jersey, where Stella lives. Big life changing decisions in the end of this episode, I just can’t wait to see how it pans out. Marshall proclaiming his love for New Jersey was awesome :)

Chuck came back this season better than ever. Finally Chuck stopped getting saved to do some saving in this episode. We can see the character's development so clearly. He is finally becoming an agent and that'sso cool. This show doesn't take itself too seriously and that is its secret weapon.

Two great guests on this episode, Melinda Clarck and John Larroquete. Both guests brought great things to the show and a lot of fun. Chuck and Sarah finally coming to terms with their feelings and then Bryce shows up in the end? Damn it, not a chance in hell I'm going to miss the next episode :)

I just love how whimsical Pushing Daisies is, its colours and photography are brilliant. Ned and Chuck are my favorite couple ever and sadly they can never be together :(

So sad to see Ned suffering with Chuck's moving out, but they find a way to cope and their new morning game is extremelly cute. Olive telling all her secrets to the pig was hilarious :)

Shows watched but not commented: Kath and Kim, Life on mars, Merlin, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, Heroes, The office and Ugly Betty.

MVP (Most Valuable Player): Chuck

To be Continued...

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