THE makers of NBC’s “Friends” must be running out of ideas if a same-sex kiss is all they can come up with in the way of a promotable angle for tonight’s episode kicking off the May sweeps.
Remember when such a thing was considered shocking? Roseanne raised a ruckus when she kissed Mariel Hemingway in 1994. And Ellen DeGeneres got a much-needed boost in the ratings when she fell for Laura Dern in the coming-out episode of “Ellen” in 1997.
But a kiss between Jennifer Aniston and Winona Ryder? By now we’ve seen women kissing each other on everything from “Ally McBeal” to “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.”
For “Friends,” the idea seems not only old-hat, it smacks of desperation.
Not that I have any insight into how the kiss is handled in tonight’s episode. NBC didn’t make any preview tapes available, perhaps because critics would then find out there’s very little substance behind the network’s breathless promo spots beckoning you to tune in for the prurient possibility that Jennifer will lay a big, wet one on Winona.
But unless the storyline is handled with originality and finesse, the kiss could wind up being remembered as a “jump the shark” moment for “Friends.”
What is “jumping the shark”? As defined on the whimsical Web site jumptheshark.com, it is “a defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak – that instant that you know from now on, it’s all downhill.”
The phrase stems from one of those moments – the time in September 1977 when Fonzie agreed to jump with waterskis over a shark tank in an especially ludicrous episode of “Happy Days.”
According to “Happy Days” lore, it was all downhill from there (although the show persisted for seven more ridiculous seasons).
If you look up “Friends” on jumptheshark.com, you’ll find some “jump the shark” moments there already, although compared to some other shows, “Friends” gets off virtually unscathed.
Unfortunately, that could change tonight.
In case you’ve managed to miss NBC’s promos for tonight’s “Friends,” Ryder is guest-starring as a sorority sister with whom Rachel (Aniston) may have had a same-sex dalliance back when they were both in college.
If there is a kiss between the two, it is expected to occur at or near the episode’s conclusion, a manipulative ploy if there ever was one for forcing interested viewers to stay tuned for the entire show.
Once upon a time, “Friends” didn’t need such gimmicks to ensure viewership.
And, as if a same-sex kiss wasn’t enough, “Friends” concludes its seventh season May 17 with the planned wedding of Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox).
A TV wedding? Jumptheshark.com has an entire section devoted to those.