'Netflix and chill' gets Funny or Die spin with Ed Asner and Doris Roberts

By Stephanie Topacio Long November 11, 2015

Even grandparents are catching onto the phrase “Netflix and chill,” at least in a new Funny or Die video. Starring Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Elf) and Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond), the video takes a look at what the older generation thinks of this supposed cultural phenomenon.

Asner and Roberts play Burt and Edna in the Funny or Die skit, an older couple willing to see what the Netflix and chill fuss is all about. It’s 8 p.m. when the video kicks off, so naturally, Edna’s ready for bed. Burt, however, has other plans, so he explains what he wants them to do. Never having heard the expression, Edna needs some background.

“It’s a new trend among young people where you get together with the one you love … and then you put on Netflix,” explains Burt. “One thing leads to another … and like that, you become intimate.”

After an amusing discussion over what to watch — including a witty “Columbone” pun and a phone call to a girl we assume is their college-aged granddaughter for viewing suggestions — they end up watching Narcos. It’s not exactly the moodsetter we’d recommend, but nonetheless, the two get comfortable on the couch.

And that’s where Edna points out something very important: “Netflix and chill feels so familiar, Burt.” She goes on to note that they’ve been watching movies and snuggling since 1963. “Is Netflix and chill really the new cultural phenomenon you say it is?” she asks.

Edna’s comment gets Burt thinking, and he begins to muse about the historical roots of Netflix and chill. Suddenly, it hits him that it may just be a trend because so many news outlets wrote about it “in their endless search for viral content.”

They make valid points. Netflix and chill may just be putting a name on a behavior that’s been around for decades, but it has certainly taken off since being introduced into our vernacular. After all, it has even inspired its own condoms.

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Stephanie Topacio Long

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Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

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