If you watched last week's "Friends" finale, despite the fact that you'd never (or rarely) watched the show, you probably felt let down. Or, perhaps, wondered what fans of the show saw in it.
However, those of you among the 51 million who tuned in and are longtime fans of the show probably felt pretty good as the final credits rolled. I certainly did.
Frankly, it's pretty much impossible for any episode of any show to live up to the hype that surrounds the farewell episode of any series as popular as "Friends" — hype that has been going on for more than a year. Remember, there were a lot of people disappointed by the exit "M*A*S*H" made. And the last call at "Cheers." And by seeing "Seinfeld" and his pals imprisoned.
None of those could match, say, the gang on "Mary Tyler Moore" singing "It's a long way to Tipperary." Or Dick Loudon waking up to discover that the eight seasons of "Newhart" had been a dream experienced by Bob Hartley of "Bob Newhart."
Neither did "Friends," but it was a funny, satisfying conclusion for people who really love those characters.
C'mon, we all knew that Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) were going to end up together. We wouldn't have been happy had it ended any other way. And creators/executive producers/writers Marta Kauffman and David Crane deserve a lot of credit for making it as surprising as it could have been by having Rachel say "no" at the airport only to have her say "yes" on the answering machine.
Plus, having Ross vow that they'd always stay together "unless we're on a break" was a hoot. (Although the non-"Friends" fan I watched the episode with had no clue why I was laughing so hard.)
The arrival of twins for Monica (Courteney Cox Arquette) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) was a nice surprise — and even had a semi-reasonable explanation because of the dim-witted birth mother. And not making the babies the focus of the episode was a wise choice.
Non-fans also didn't get the Chick Jr. and Duck Jr. references or the importance of the foosball table. But even watching for the first time they had to have a clue about the deeper-than-friendship relationship between Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Chandler.
And, as Chandler and Monica were heading off to the suburbs and leaving Joey behind, it was more than a bit symbolic that it was Monica who had no problem destroying the foosball table to free the trapped chick and duck.
And good for Crane and Kauffman for not using the "Friends" finale as a launching point for the "Joey" spinoff that debuts in the fall. There's still plenty of time for that.
What non-fans didn't get was that these were more than just "Friends." This was a family, as symbolized by all the characters leaving their keys behind in the apartment that had been a home (or a second home) to all of them for a decade.
A lot of us made "Friends" a part of our family, too. And we'll miss them.
I, for one, am grateful that Kauffman and Crane delivered on their promise to "make it feel like (the characters) were all going to be OK," as Kauffman said.
They'll be fine. And so will we as we watch the repeats over and over again for years and years to come.
Now, if "Joey" can just live up to our expectations. . . .
QUOTABLE: Ellen DeGeneres on why she loved "Friends":
"They're the best kind of friends to have. . . . You never have to help them move, you never have to give them a ride to the airport. They're low-maintenance friends to have. And they have a monkey."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com