The One with the Friends Reunion on HBO Max

Ah yes my friends the day has finally come. The Friends reunion, meant initially to celebrate the launch of a new streaming service, that was delays by COVID is finally here. Since I am a huge fan of the show, as if you couldn’t tell by my episode guide awhile back, I had to watch. It finally reunited all six cast members together! 

So I decided since I reviewed every episode and discussed other aspects of the series, it was only fitting to go over this special and discuss what worked, what didn’t work...and what I wish they had included. I know, it was almost two hours as it was!

The special was amazing….but not perfect. While it was a standard reunion that we’ve seen other shows a million times do it was also kind of a documentary too. So we kept going back and forth between the on set reunion of the cast and the literal reunion with the cast in front of an audience with behind the scenes segments mixed in. 

Reconsidering "The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century"

Happy New Year my friends! And it's time to discuss something that is long overdue. A year or two ago I mentioned New Year's episodes of sitcoms. And one which I hated so much I didn't even want to discuss it. The strange thing is, it's a favorite episode for many. Even if you weren't a fan of the series. It's easy to hate on something that is generally hated and praise something that is generally loved, but hating something that is generally loved is trickier. But let's take this one step at a time. What series am I discussing?

Designing Women premiered in 1986 and I have discussed before how many problems I had with this show. With it's preachy, superior attitude. One episode that pissed me off when I saw it 31 years ago is a prime example of this stuff. What episode was that?  

"The First Day of the Last Decade of the Entire Twentieth Century,"

You just know Linda Bloodworth Thomason thought there was something special about January 1, 1990. Ok, sure. i was 16 at the time and don't recall people caring that much, but maybe they did. This episode usually appeared on lists of the series very best episodes, and considering the contents it is hard to criticize without coming off heartless. Or worst. But I hated it when I saw it. By the way the episode really did air on that date.

Over the years I have been going over stuff I hated when I first saw them and reconsidering them, for better or for worst. it's only fair to do the same here. So what happens in his episode? Lets take it step by step. I should mention I watched this on Hulu which from the looks of it used the syndicated version, so it's possible I missed some key lines.

Five Memorable TV Phones

 Almost every show features characters talking on a phone at some point. And usually that's just what it is, a normal phone we used at the time. From The Brady Bunch using a rotary phone to Friends using cell phones, you can literally track the progress of telephone's by watching various TV shows.

However, some shoes think outside the box a little and get creative with their phones. They have their characters using phones which, at the time, were either impossible to imagine or maybe they did exist but good luck getting one. Here are five:

Get Smart

This show was a great sendup of spy movies and TV, with the great Don Adams in the lead role. He is best remembered as Inspector Gadget but he truly shined in this show too. And one thing everyone remembers about this series, is the shoe phone he used to call the chief. The fact that this phone worked at all is ridiculous, but we loved it. 

Santa Lore Explained By Movies/TV

Originally Santa Claus was just a cartoon used to sell Coca Cola products. But as he became more popular, his lore had to be fleshed out. First we had "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which gave us a lot, including his belly being like a bowl full of jelly. Then we as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which added things like the "he sees you when you're sleeping, knows when your awake". However, there are still lot of questions about how Santa operates. And over the years, movies have gone a long way to fill some of those gaps. 

Here ae five examples of what I mean.

"How Does Santa Deliver to the Whole World in One Night", Santa Claus:The Movie

This movie is basically an "origin" movie so it makes sense that it would explain some things. The one part I like is when Burgess Meredith's character, "Ancient Elf" I guess, explains that the time continuum breaks down when Santa is in his sleigh and "time moves with you". Meaning that Santa is moving super fast from our point of view. This is something that stuck, it gets mentioned in The Santa Clause and even the much more recent "The Santa Chronicles" used this.

My Favorite Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloons

 When the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1927, called a Christmas parade then, one of the features was a big Felix the Cat balloon. In the old days, the balloons would be released into the air at the end of the parade. Since the 80's the balloons have taken the form we know today, featuring all kinds of popular characters. Awhile back I mentioned a few reasons I love the parade and of course there was no way I could cover every balloon. And while I still can't mention them all, here are the ten best that I love to see every year.

And we'll overlook the disaster these balloons have caused over the years, let's just look back at the good stuff.

Underdog

What is it about this one that makes it so iconic? It seems like when any show wants to mention the balloon's it's either Woody or this one. Even though Underdog is hardly a massively popular characters. And yet shows from Friends to Will & Grace bring it up.

Five Actors Who Appeared in Two Shows at the Same Time

One common TV trend is when an actor or actress appears in two different shows that are on at the exact same time. Even more amazing when the two shows are on different networks. There are a ton of examples of this happening including Heather Locklear appearing on TJ Hooker and Dynasty to Armin Shmmerman doing double duty on Buffy and DS9 to more modern examples like Alison Brie appearing om Community and Mad Men at the same time. It can't be easy to be bouncing from studio to studio, not to mention character to character, but it's been done. 

Here are five examples of what I mean. And to be clear these aren't actors doing taking a break from their show to do a one time character as a guest star. These actors had multiple appearances on both shows as regulars.

Gail Edwards (Blossom/Full House)

I once read an article where Edwards talked about how crazy it was bouncing between studios. And in this case, networks. Saying she probably had the other shows script with her. On Blossom she played Sharon, who was Six's mother. And of course at the same time she was playing Vicky, Danny's long term love interest. 

Underrated Trek:Cost of Living (TNG)

 Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. TNG had a rough patch in season 5 where the episode were less than stellar. There was one that a lot point out is the worse. Then why do I kinda like it? This is...

It isn't easy for supporting characters to take over an episode and for the episode to actually work. This one tries...and almost works.