For those of you who aren’t familiar with the TV show, "Friends," here is a basic plot overview.
"Friends" takes place during the 90s in Manhattan and the main characters are six friends: Rachel Green, played by Jennifer Aniston, is a spoiled girl from Long Island who relies on her daddy’s credit card and she is on her own for the first time. Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox, is a chef who lives in her grandma’s old apartment; she is also very high-maintenance and Rachel’s best friend from high school. Phoebe Buffay, played by Lisa Kudrow, is a massage therapist. She used to be Monica’s old roommate, but she moved out because of her OCD expectations. She also had a very rough childhood; her mother killed herself and she was homeless.
Ross Geller, played by David Schwimmer, is a paleontologist. He is Monica’s older brother and he has a huge crush on Rachel. Chandler Bing, played by Matthew Perry, is in the field of statistical analysis and data reconfiguration. He is Ross’s best friend from college, and he is very sarcastic and awkward. And finally, Joey Tribbiani, played by Matt LeBlanc, is a struggling actor. He is Chandler’s roommate and he comes from a big Italian family with seven sisters.
So here’s how I became interested, which ultimately led to addicted, which ultimately led to fangirling, which ultimately led to binge-watching "Friends!" You can binge-watch a new TV show this way, too:
*goes to computer and demonstrates each step on the projection screen*
Step 1: Once your friend or family member tells you that: “You have to watch this TV show!” you find it on Netflix, Hulu, or if any of you guys want to be a #badass, you can do I what I do which is (hopefully Marist Security won’t hear this, but...) download it illegally (in whispered voice)!
Step 2: However you find this new TV series, you make yourself comfortable because you’re going to be hibernating for hours on end when you binge-watch. And the last thing that you want is to be uncomfortable.
So when I typically binge-watch "Friends," I am usually on my laptop with my headphones on in my bedroom or in my family room on my big, comfy couch (yes, that was pun-intended).
Outfit wise: I am typically still wearing my pajamas or I’m wearing leggings and a t-shirt with fuzzy socks!
Step 3: Eat good junk food. But not a lot of drinks because you don’t want to have too many bathroom breaks since that’s the point of hibernating. So you guys want to get a bag (or two) of your favorite junk food snack in a bag. What I typically have is a giant bag of Honey Wheat pretzels from Trader Joe’s and a giant bag of Utz butter popcorn. I have a salty tooth more than a sweet tooth, so that’s the type of food that I eat, but you guys can eat whatever you want as long as it has a lot of calories and it doesn’t get anything on your fingers…
Step 4: Use as much minimal light as possible because you guys want to view your laptop, iPad, tablet or TV screen clearly. What I do is turn off all of the lights surrounding my bright laptop screen and I leave one window open so when I’m done, I won’t be blinded by the outside world light.
Step 5: Plan out your days! All of you must plan out which season you’re going to watch on which day because binge-watching is not about watching one episode or two and calling it a day. NO! Binge-watching is all or nothing! You must watch one season (or if you want to feel really ambitious, watch the entire series) on one day and all of you have to plan accordingly. There shouldn’t be any major conflicts on the specific day that you choose to binge-watch.
For example, I typically binge-watch on snow days, hence why I also call binge-watching hibernating. So over break, I will be binge-watching "Friends" or even a new TV series such as, "Orange is the New Black."
Step 6: Have fun! You guys don’t necessarily have to be like me and binge-watch/hibernate alone all the time. You guys can be social and invite some friends over to binge-watch/hibernate with you!
Repeat this same process once you get no sleep and once you skip the majority of your classes because you need to catch up on your episodes.
