LITTLE ROCK — What is it? Friends, the Complete Series on Blu-ray, 236 episodes on 21 discs from Warner Home Entertainment.
How much? $279.98
When? Now
What’s the story? The time: 1994. The place: New York.
A tight-knit group of twenty somethings faced dead-end jobs, dead-end relationships and the struggles of trying to make it in the “real world” as they hung out in a cozy coffee shop and a ridiculously huge New York apartment.
There was neat-freak den mother Monica Geller (Courteney Cox), nerdy sad-sack Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), spoiled Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), sarcastic Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), immature ladies’ man Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) and oddball Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow).
Through the years, they fell in and out of love, found and lost jobs, traded apartments, got married, had children. But even all the changes and the often explosive up-and-down relationship between Ross and Rachel couldn’t drive a wedge in the tightly bound sextet.
As anyone who was sentient in the 1990s could tell you, Friends wasn’t just a TV show, it was a cultural phenomenon. Its cast members were everywhere: magazine covers, movie theaters, ads for Diet Coke. The theme song was in constant rotation on the radio. The TV networks were suddenly clogged with series about hip young singles.
Catch-phrases like “We were on a break!” and “How you doin’?” became ubiquitous.
The show’s popularity attracted a stream of high-profile guest stars including Reese Witherspoon, Julia Roberts, Tom Selleck and Bruce Willis, with varying levels of success. The cast even went overseas, filming a big double episode in London in Season 4.
That’s a pretty massive amount of hype so, naturally, there was backlash. But Friends survived that and went on for 10 successful seasons, racking up awards and securing a prominent spot in TV history.
Isn’t it kind of overrated? Well, that’s a matter of taste and opinion. Some people still groan and roll their eyes at any mention of the series.
But many of us grew up watching Friends. The show made us laugh, made us root for Ross and Rachel (and,later, Chandler and Monica) and introduced us to “Smelly Cat,” Central Perk and Ugly Naked Guy.
Despite some dips in quality along the way, this was a well-written, sometimes-serious-but-usually-funny series that, most importantly, had a great cast. All six actors and characters had terrific chemistry and they created one of the few true ensembles on TV, even taking it so far as to do all their contract negotiations as a team.
What about the set? The complete series has already been released on DVD, but this is the first time any seasons have made it to Blu-ray. And, while it carries over the bonus content from the DVD releases (gag reels, deleted scenes, episode commentaries), the set gets some new bonus features:
True Friends: Documentaries: These three new documentaries, lasting a little over an hour in total, cover the creation of the series, its evolution through the years and its legacy. There are interviews with creators, crew and a few recurring actors who give some nice insight into the show, though there’s nothing from the main cast.
The original producer’s cut and script for “The One Where Rachel Tells Ross.” This episode, which was filmed shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, had to be altered before airing to remove time-sensitive jokes about airplanes and bombs. It’s never been seen the way it was originally intended. You can also read the original script, complete with handwritten notes made during filming and re-editing.
The cast’s post-series visit to The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and snippets of cast appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2004 and 2005.
A seven-minute, end-of series gag reel put together for cast and crew but not released to fans.
The theme song music video - as if “I’ll Be There for You” wasn’t already permanently etched into your brain.
A word on the packaging: It’s excellent. The set is stored in a black box with a lenticular cover (the photo on the front changes with different perspectives). Inside is a photo-filled booklet with episode guide. The discs fit into sleeves in a sturdy book. Normally I dislike this sort of packaging as it increases the chance of disc scratching, but this one is made so the discs slip in and out easily.
The DVD releases included special extended versions of the episodes. The Blu-ray episodes are the original NBC broadcast versions only - no additional footage. A few Season 7 episodes aired as “super-sized” episodes and those versions are available in the bonus features.
So, it’s up to you if you want to do a double-dip upgrade. The new bonus features are nice but not earth shattering and you’re missing some of the scenes you have if you own the DVDs. But the packaging and the enhanced visual quality of the episodes make it a worthy set for series fans.
New this week: Cagney & Lacey, Complete Series; Hot in Cleveland, Season 3; Luck, Season 1; McMillan and Wife, Complete Series; Stargate: Atlantis, Seasons 1-5 (Blu-ray).
Next week: The Donna Reed Show, Season 5; Eastbound & Down, Season 3; Mannix, Season 8; Men of a Certain Age, Season 2; The Simpsons, Season 15.
Style, Pages 50 on 11/25/2012