Flashback Friday: Friends Comes To Netflix

Happy New Year! Remember that one time when Friends started streaming on Netflix?

Yeah, I'm a comic book geek, movie buff and couch potato. One of the television shows I liked to watch was Smallville. I thought it was a pretty cool show. It was a show that had a little of everything. It's the story of two friends, Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, that end up becoming mortal enemies. It's a story about a guy, Clark, looking for love - with high school sweetheart Lana Lang - but can't really find it because he can't be honest and open and share his feelings, or, the one secret that he carries around with him every day. Another one of the layers is that it's an adoption story. That's the part I thought was pretty cool. It's about a dad doing every thing he can to be a good role model, raise and protect his son. It's also about a son growing up from being a boy to becoming a man. Fight bad guys, hormones and Kryptonite.

My son, Justin and I bonded over the show, believe it or not. He's not into comics or super-heroes, but there was something about the coming-of-age of Clark Kent that caught his attention and he was hooked. I'd like to think it was the adoption story, too. We sat and watched it together. He's watched it on his own, over and over again. We talked about the show and the characters and I tried to answer as many of his questions as I could.

And then one day, he discovered Friends on Netflix.

Last January 1st, all ten seasons of Friends were available to stream on Netflix. My wife and I were in heaven. When I say, "heaven", I actually sang it a little in my head. And when I typed "heaven", I "actually" had to use "air quotes" before I typed the words. Friends was one of those shows that my wife and I both liked. At the same time. We spent our anniversary celebrating the Friends finale, May 6th, 2004. So we started re-watching it from the beginning. And clapping at that one spot in the opening. Freaks the kids out every time.

Justin started laughing at the jokes, in the right places, too. What's scary is that he might actually understand the show. Sitcoms have changed quite a bit since I was a kid watching Gilligan's Island and Green Acres. Pretty soon, he started watching the show on his own. Since he's discovered it, he's managed to make his way through all 236 episodes. He still binge-watched Smallville, but now he has Friends on his plate, too. That's a pretty big step up from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Looking back, 2015 was pretty cool, enjoying Friends and sharing it with the kids. Do you have a favorite episode, or joke from the show? Do you quote the show in conversation? Share that in the comments.

Here's to 2016 being just as awesome!