When I think about shows that I used to watch that really had an impact on me growing up, Felicity is one that ranks somewhere near the top. Premiering in 1998, Felicity was one of my favorite shows that I watched as a senior in high school and into college (Dawson’s Creek and Party of Five were two others).
When it first aired I was almost past the “Oh my god, I’m mortified”/Angela Chase stage of my life, but not quite. Felicity Porter provided an intelligent, genuine, soft-spoken, awkward-yet-beautiful protagonist through whom to live vicariously (I have never considered myself a Joey Potter, so that wasn’t in the running for “TV-me”). I always enjoy watching shows where I can imagine myself as the strong female lead, because somehow, despite all the embarrassments and screw-ups, she will always have the perfect thing to say. And her hair will look a lot better than mine.
Watching Felicity was a group event in my college dorm — well, for the girls, anyway — and our male friends would always groan loudly when it was Felicity night. One evening my then-boyfriend actually watched it with me. I was so excited; did this mean we were getting serious? Nope, he broke up with me that same night. It figures he’d use my favorite show to soften the blow. Starting with that breakup I had several “What would Felicity do?” moments throughout the course of my college career (and beyond).
Below I pay remembrance to the show by recounting its best aspects. Here are only some of the reasons why Felicity was great:
- J.J. Abrams. Before Alias, Lost, or Fringe, Abrams created Felicity. It wasn’t mysterious or supernatural, and there weren’t any alternate realities or identities, but it was still awesome. (Wait a minute! I’m sort of wrong about there not being any alternate realities. In the last season stuff got sort of weird, and Felicity explored the idea of what would have happened if she had chosen Noel over Ben all those years ago. It was a bit freaky to watch, like being inside an extended bad dream from which you can’t escape, and I’m assuming that’s what Abrams had in mind. But, in general, Felicity was a “normal” girl with “normal” problems.)
- New York City was like its own character in the series. I’m a born-and-bred New Yorker, but it was still special to see the subways, Dean and Deluca, and “The University of New York” (NYU) play a supporting role. And to this day, whenever I am dragging ass through the city with a crap-load of duffel bags, I think of the opening credits of Felicity because she made it seem so damn glamorous.
- The infamous hair drama. I love that Felicity cut off her hair to reinvent herself. I’m convinced she started this trend (although Robin Tunney did a more drastic version of this first in Empire Records). These days it seems so commonplace for TV personalities to go short (thanks to “makeover days” on shows like America’s Next Top Model and The Biggest Loser), but I still appreciate stuff like this. I don’t even remember the scene too specifically, just a bunch of curls floating down to the floor. In fact, you know what? I think I need to see that again.
- Jennifer Garner. I really like her, but even more I liked what she represented in the series. When she arrives as Noel’s surprise girlfriend in Season 1 (and stays with the gang during an extremely uncomfortable Thanksgiving episode), I felt excited and sad at the same time. Many people go through that transitional “Should I stay with the high school relationship even though we’re in different colleges, or should I pursue this new and different possibility here?” debate (well, at least I did). Jennifer Garner’s Hannah represented a past and an ambiguous present, but not really a future, and to me that marked the end of one stage in a young person’s life and the start of another.
- Freaking TAPE RECORDED messages. This is a great example of how this series remains stuck in a moment. Before Skype, Facebook, webcams, or any other modern social networks and/or communication devices, Felicity and Sally pushed a button and talked. That’s it. It was also a wonderfully seamless way for Felicity to narrate the episodes without sounding cheesy (so none of that dumb scripted stuff like on 16 and Pregnant). Plus the voice of Sally was played by Janeane Garofalo, who I have been in love with ever since she danced to “My Sharona” in the gas station in Reality Bites.
- Contrary to what some people might have thought of the series, Felicity was not just a fluff show. It dealt with several poignant issues throughout its four years on television. These include, but are not limited to: date rape, infidelity, plagiarism, cancer, divorce, opposing religious views in relationships, surviving a fire, gay marriage, and — perhaps the overarching theme of the show as a whole — choosing your own path despite what is expected of you.
What was your favorite Felicity moment?
P.S. – I definitely prefer the first opening theme with the black and white still shots (it plays in the video above), as opposed to “New Version of You,” which popped up in Season 3.
Photo Credit: dvdbox4u.com
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