Mum shares how she had to explain all things 90s when rewatching 'Friends' with her daugther

A mum shared how she is rewatching the popular TV show Friends with her 14-year-old daughter and has documented all of the words, people, and random things from the 90s she's had to explain to her.

Rebecca Makkai, (@rebeccamakkai) an author and creative director, took to Twitter where she said they are currently watching season two of the sitcom that is based in New York and follows the lives of six adults - Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross.

Given that the show ran for 10 seasons - from 1994 until 2004 - before Makkai's 14-year-old daughter was born, it's no surprise there are a few things that she may find puzzling.

So Makkai decided to list them all in an entertaining Twitter thread, and it's garnered a lot of attention.

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First up Makkai had to explain the fact photo of missing children were printed on milk cartons in order to gain public attention, this practice began in the 1980s but it became a thing of the past when the 21st century came around, - hence the confusion from her daughter.

Iconic guest appearances were also a key part of Friends, but Makkai had to inform her daughter who Dudley Moore, Joan Collins and Hank Azaria are.

Technology in the 90s certainly looked different compared to today, with characters using pagers to communicate which are now obsolete. Makkai even admitted she needed help from her husband to explain what pagers were, as well as the fact that "people used to memorize other people's phone numbers."

Let's not also forget that "you could call your own answering machine to get your messages."

There were also some words that the 14-year-old had never heard of before such as "kickback," where close friends get together at someone's house like a party but not a party, "great rack," to complement a certain body part and "closure" meaning the end of the relationship.

Over the 10 seasons there were a lot of different plotlines, and tropes but there was one that left Makkai scratching her head herself.

"Here's one I can't actually explain: Chandler's mother has sold over 100 million books. If we say that conservatively, she's made 2 dollars a book, she's worth 200mil. Chandler is an only child. She doesn't seem to have cut him off. And yet he makes Joey pay for a table he broke," she wrote.

Honestly, we're stumped with this one too.

One common TV trope used in the 80s and 90s Makkai had to also tell her daughter about was the "marrying someone you didn't love for a green card."

As her thread went viral, now with nearly 70,000 likes Makkai noted that some of the things she mentioned still exist today, "Young COVID teenagers just might not be super into hickeys or professional office culture?" she wrote.

Some people also brought up some of the more controversial aspects of the show that it probably would not have gotten away with had it been created today, and Makkai said she is also discussing these elements with her daughter as well.

"There are some great side convos going on about changing times, but re: the benefit of the doubt thing above, jfc yes of course we’re talking about the homophobia and fat-shaming and whitewashing and sexism," she tweeted.

Fans of the show have praised Makkai for her concise thread on all things Friends, and noted how old it made them feel too.

Many agree that Makkai's thread is an interesting look at how society and technology have evolved over the past 30 years.

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