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An average person might think there's nothing especially remarkable about Thursdays, but fans of Russian Doll? They know Thursdays are treats. They're not to be taken lightly.
If you have yet to see the Netflix original series, it follows Nadia (Natasha Lyonne,) a woman who keeps dying and reliving her 36th birthday party. Eventually, after dying somany times, Nadia decides that if she's stuck in a vicious cycle of Sunday night birthday celebrations she might as well enjoy the party.
In Season 1, Episode 2, after Nadia's friend Maxine says it's a good thing she started cooking for the party on Thursday, Nadia, who fears she may never live to see another Thursday again, replies, "Thursday. What a concept."
It's a line so iconic that it inspired 22-year-old Megan Sergison to create @thursaconcept, a heroic fan account that exists for the sole purpose of tweeting a screencap of the scene every week. It's a simple, repetitive thrill, but it gives Twitter users something to look forward to on a Thursday, besides, well, Friday.
Tweet may have been deletedSEE ALSO:Natasha Lyonne soars in Netflix's time-bending and engrossing 'Russian Doll'
A week after finishing Russian DollI was still listening to Harry Nilsson's "Gotta Get Up" on repeat and taking prolonged looks at myself in my bathroom mirror. But Sergison, an assistant at MIT Corporate Relations who moonlights as a freelance film and television writer, was busy starting the unconventional account. "I saw someone on my timeline post the screencap on a Thursday," she explained in an email, and though she initially created @thursaconcept "just sort of as a joke" for herself, it unexpectedly took off.
Sergison fired off the first tweet on Feb. 28, 2019, and it received a respectable 156 likes. But 13 "Thursday. What a concept." screencaps later, she's managed to gain some serious reach on Twitter. Her most recent tweets have racked up more than 20,000 likes, and the account has built a loyal following of over 11,500 users.
"I was so pleasantly surprised when people started retweeting it! The first time it really blew up, probably a few weeks into posting it, I assumed it was a fluke," Sergison said. "In lieu of a SoundCloud, I just hurriedly posted my most recent article under it and commented something like 'gay rights!' in the typical attempt to capitalize on a viral tweet."
As the Thursdays fly by and more people watch the show and understand the reference, the account continues to thrive. Netflix's official Twitter account has shown Sergison's screenscaps some love by replying to two of the tweets with extremely high praise, and even Russian Dollco-creator Leslye Headland has given the account a retweet.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
When you think about it, there's a hilarious parallel between the account and Nadia in the sense that she relives Thursday on a loop, and the account tweets the same screencap on a loop. But because the screencap is unchanging, the account's upkeep is incredibly simple. To answer the burning question that I'm sure has crossed your mind, Sergison schedules the tweets in advance rather than manually sending one a week.
'As long as we have Thursdays, I’ll keep the tweets coming.'
"I schedule the tweets using Tweetdeck whenever I have downtime at work. (This really all started with me being bored at work. Follow your dreams,)" she said. "I like putting them up in the morning as folks start their day. I think right now I’ve got tweets scheduled up until September or so, and whenever I have a spare moment I go in and schedule more."
Sergison does fear that one day she'll run out of scheduled tweets and miss a sacred Thursday, but for now she has no plans to abandon her Russian Doll-driven mission. "Based on the replies that the tweets get, I think it makes people happy. I think it's sort of following in the legacy of the show, and that’s more than I could have hoped for," she said.
"As long as we have Thursdays, I’ll keep the tweets coming."
The unexpected charm of day-related quotes
Aside from the all-women writing and directing team, a few of the things Sergison adored aboutRussian Doll were its "existential humor" and "whip-smart one-liners," both of which shine through in "Thursday. What a concept."
"In context, that line is pretty literal — she's stuck on a Sunday night, so Thursday is unattainable, existing only as a concept. But in a larger sense, I think it speaks to this feeling of nihilism that’s pervasive in this day and age, especially amongst millennials," she explained. "We're trying to come of age in a world where it seems like everything is changing so quickly that nothing holds any meaning. The whole world is on fire, and it’s Thursday. What a concept!"
While "Thursday. What a concept," certainly ranks among the top day-related quotes in pop culture, it's far from the only iconic line associated with a day of the week.
Whenever I'm in the mood to hate on Mondays, for example, I remember the Gilmore Girlsscene when Lorelai frustratedly told Luke, "I don't like Mondays, but unfortunately the come around eventually."
Via GiphyOn Tuesdays, some think of Don Draper saying, "It's Tuesday. I don't know," while Sergison thinks of the "Tuesday again? No Problem..." account, which tweets a dog comic made by @brianleewow every week. She said she retweets the illustrations "religiously," and that the account partially inspired her to start her own.
Wednesdays are reserved for checking yourself with a "Lemon, it's Wednesday," or referencing the Mean Girlsquote, "On Wednesdays we wear pink." And Fridays are the time to type "TGIF" and get down to that Rebecca Black song. Bros say Saturdays are for the boys, while Sunday, of course is widely known as the day of rest — unless you're a Harry Potter fan, in which case it's known as the day of "no post."
Via GiphySergison knows "Thursday. What a concept." is in good company, and is "very pro" other day of the week quotes, including the memorable Thursday line fromThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, "This must be Thursday... I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
Tweet may have been deleted
Perhaps the reason day of the week quotes are so beloved is because they're among some of the most evergreen pop culture references we have. Until we find ourselves in a RussianDoll situation of our own, without fail, Mondays will roll around like clockwork. Tuesdays, too! Heck, you can make a 30 Rockjoke every Wednesday for the rest of your life if you want to. It's simple. You can always count on them to accurate deliver.
At their best, the references are genuinely funny throwbacks, that, in a creative pinch can serve as reliable bits. At their worst, people might roll their eyes at the monotony, but they'll get over it eventually.
Simple pleasures. What a concept.
The @thursaconcept account only tweets the same screencap over and over again, sure. But it has the potential to brighten people's days, even if briefly, and too often people take for granted the importance of simple pleasures.
"Sometimes I’ll scroll through the replies and read folks talking about how the account makes their week, or tagging their friends... It’s so wholesome," Sergison said. "It’s such a funny little thing, but I am weirdly proud of it in a way."
Via GiphyThursday's gotten a bit of a bad wrap over the years. The Cure sings the famously rude lyric, "Thursday I don't care about you," and Audrey Hepburn's character in Breakfast at Tiffany's called the day "gruesome," before explaining she could "never remember when it's coming up." Lucky for us all, the @thursaconcept account gives Thursdays a purpose andserves as a helpful reminder that Wednesday just passed and Friday's almost here.
"I hope it brings a little joy into people’s lives," Sergison said of the account. "I want it to be like a little reminder amidst the occasional cesspool of Twitter that hey, even though time is fake, its Thursday! We made it!"
No one knows what each Thursday will be like on the hell site that is Twitter.com, but we can all remain confident that for the foreseeable future the weekday willinclude an image of Natasha Lyonne mid-conversation, cigarette in hand, hair looking flawless, urging us to take a momentary break from scrolling through our timelines to reflect on the absolute concept that is Thursday.
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