Countdown

Just Drop By - How Friends became palatable after the ironies of Seinfeld

If you thought I'd be writing today about Bush's speeches to the Arab world yesterday (Thomas Friedman's column on that general topic is great, by the way), or about the fact that American Idol has become a diva-fest (and rightly so, I've decided, after George's bland performance of "Cheek to Cheek" last night--though I'll miss him), you must not have been paying attention to me these last, oh, ten years. I woke up this morning dreading the fact that in a few hours, one of my favorite shows--a show I started watching before I could drive--will be over tonight.

Of course, I'm not the only one writing about this topic today.

The previews are, as usual, both promising and confusing--how can we see the door to the jetway close before Ross catches Rachel, but also see him talking to her in the airport and telling her not to get on the plane? And what of the scene, shown for weeks during teasers, where Rachel tells Ross she's sorry as she heads for the jetway door? Judging by these scenes, and the apparent chronology they would have to follow--Ross chases Rachel, tells her not to go, she says she's sorry, she walks away, the door closes--we're being led to believe that she gets on the plane for Paris, and once that jetway door closes, what can she do? Cry all the way to France?

With all this evidence, I'm left fearing the worst--an unhappy ending for Ross and Rachel's ten-year relationship--while believing that the show's creators would never close the story that way. In any case, my hopes for tonight:
* Monica and Chandler get to hold their baby before the end of the show. The look on her face--and his--would be priceless.
* Joey's move to L.A. is explained in advance of his spinoff show.
* Phoebe's husband, Mike (Paul Rudd) makes one last appearance on the show. His presence on the show during the ninth season kept it afloat when a lot of the plot was pretty serious stuff.
* Gunther makes one last appearance. If Janice can get a final moment in the sun, why not Gunther? He's been hanging around for ten years. (Which is pretty unbelievable, when you think about it--how many people work in one coffee shop for a decade?)
* Ross and Rachel end up together. I don't care if the show ends with a wedding, a kiss in a hotel in Paris, Rachel deciding to stay in New York--as long as the writers find a way to make it clear that these two have chosen one another, I'll be satisfied.