I watched every episode of Friends from the pilot, which aired when I was in middle school. It ended the year I graduated college. It was fitting, like I grew up while watching the show, and now I was entering the real world (ha). I also grew up while watching How I Met Your Mother, in a different way.
Photo credit: Ron P. Jaffe/Fox © 2014 Fox Television
I was 22 when the first episode of How I Met Your Mother aired. I started watching mostly as a Neil Patrick Harris fan, but from the end of the first episode, when Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) said, "That, kids, is the true story of how I met your Aunt Robin," I was hooked. At first I wanted to know who the mother was, but that started to matter less and less and I grew attached to the characters and the method of storytelling. I loved the way the show played with time and brought back recurring jokes. But setting aside the conceit of the show, it was really about being in your '20s in New York City. When I was watching Friends, I got older watching the show, but it's not like I could relate to the characters. I wasn't experiencing what they were. With How I Met Your Mother, I was growing up with them. I related and continue to relate to so much about the show--Ted's struggle to meet someone, making bad decisions, staying out too late with friends, feeling nostalgic for the past. I still use the parameters established in "Subway Wars" to determine if I'm a real New Yorker. (I'm happy to say I'm not--I've never stolen a cab from someone, seen Woody Allen, or killed a cockroach with my bare hands.)Now that I've transitioned from my 20s to my 30s, I'm ready to say goodbye, and thanks to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, I have a lot of quotes to bring with me into the next phase of my life.
