That is brand new information!!

I have made it no secret that I love the television show Friends. I have a hidden talent where I can relate any real-life situation to something that happened on an episode of Friends. What can I say? I'm simply gifted.

I have several theories as to why Friends was so successful. The obvious being that it was a funny show. They had good writers and talented comedic actors that had a real chemistry with one another. But like I said, that's the obvious reason. I think there is an underlying reason as to why the show was so popular.

We want to live their lives. Not just because they live in New York and have fairly interesting careers. We want to live their lives because they have 6 intimate friendships. That is many more than most people in the United States can boast of. My Pastor, John Jackson, sent me an article yesterday about this very issue. It was disturbing reading. The study, published in the American Sociological Review, revealed that 25 % of Americans have no one to confide in. A quarter of our nation has no one to confide matters that are important to them. That's really sad. And lonely.

But also very telling. No wonder we love to watch Friends. Watching Friends is watching the relationships that many people long for. That a quarter of American's apparently lack completely. Who wouldn't want to have the kind of relationship where you can just walk in and out of each other's apartments? The kind of friendship where you can just hang out with someone and not have to entertain them?

At it's core, Friends was a show about relationships. And I believe that is ultimately why it was so successful.

But I still watch it because it is so darn funny...