Episode 114

A while back, I was having a conversation with my boyfriend, and I said something which I think was quite witty (though I don't remember exactly what is was) and he asked me: "What's that from?" My everyday language revolves so much around quoting television shows that this person, who is supposed to always see the best in me, just assumes that everything I say -- especially when it's funny -- is a quote from someone on television.

A similar scenario -- but in the opposite direction -- unfolded shortly after that. I got a phone call from a friend who exclaimed, "Now I understand what you're saying all the time!" Despite this being a very ambiguous Joey Potter-ish lead in, I asked her what she meant, and she explained that she had finally watched a season or two of The Office and realized that nothing I said was original. Essentially, anything about me that was funny or interesting had been stolen from Michael Scott.

But I think we're all culprits. This same friend -- we'll call her Sarah -- cannot be involved in any situation without comparing it to or referring to a Friends episode. I have probably only seen about 10 or 15 episodes of Friends in my life (that is slowly being rectified) but I know, in detail, the plots of about 100 or more episodes. It's quite weird to turn on TBS, watch an episode of Friends, and say, "Oh, I know this episode," without having ever seen it.

Television seeps into our personalities in such a profound way that we're really able to make friends based on similar viewing interests. Feelings about a show can make or break a friendship. So that means, if you're really my friend, you're going to go watch all six seasons of Dawson's Creek. Right now.

*My apologies for slacking yesterday. I was so busy that I didn't even turn on the TV all day. It was tragic. If I'd known it would affect someone's mental health, I would have been more careful!