TV Show Review: Friends - Season 2

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Great characters give us great laughs

Cons: None worth mentioning

The Bottom Line:

The six Friends are back

And the laughs just get stronger

You'll laugh and love them

The One Where Tom Selleck Guest Stars

Welcome to the second season of the hit show Friends. Things are still relatively new, and the show was still producing tons of laughs with every episode.

This sitcom focuses on the lives of six Friends living in New York City. There's siblings Monica (Courteney Cox) and Ross (David Schwimmer). Monica's roommate is her old high school friend Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). And Ross has secretly been in love with Rachel since high school. Across the hall from Monica and Rachel live Chandler (Matthew Perry), a data processor, and Joey (Matt LaBlanc), a struggling actor. Rounding out the group is Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), the slightly ditzy but lovable masseuse and part time musician.

When we last saw our Friends, Rachel had gone to the airport to meet Ross, who was returning from a short work trip to China. She'd gone to declare her love for him. What she didn't know, however, was that Ross was returning with a girlfriend, Julie (guest star Lauren Tom). Naturally, that means we get plenty more complications to the Ross/Rachel relationship. Will they ever get together? Find out in "The One with the Prom Video."

The other four Friends are experiencing trials of their own. Monica loses her job and winds up searching for work. On the plus side, she starts dating Dr. Richard Burke (guest star Tom Selleck). The down side to that relationship is that Richard is old enough to be her parent. In fact, he is Friends with her parents.

Joey and Chandler go through the breakup of their relationship when Joey moves into his own place and Chandler gets creepy new roommate Eddie (guest Adam Goldberg). Meanwhile, Joey is enjoying the rise and fall (literally) of his career when he lands the part of Dr. Drake Ramoray on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Phoebe is the one character with the least in the way of story arcs this season. Not to say she doesn't get some funny episodes, like the one where she is possessed by a dead woman's spirit. We also see the debut of her signature song "Smelly Cat," which gets made into a music video. And she starts trying to track down her father and gets a half brother instead.

Many of the long term storylines that got played out by the end of the series are still fresh here. For example, the problems Ross and Rachel face feel natural and not like writers struggling to keep them apart.

Plus the writing is still very funny. Personally, I love Chandler's put downs and sarcasm, but all the characters can make me laugh. The writers have a way of writing about one thing yet making it sound like something else. For example, many of Chandler and Joey's fights sound more like a married couple then a roommate. Those conversations are hilarious.

But the show also works because of the characters. The bond between them is so strong that you can mix and match (which the writers often do) and you'll still get great laughs. The chemistry between the cast is remarkable. We can tell they are Friends, and that friendship spills over to their characters, which makes everything completely believable.

And that's not to leave out the guest stars. The show always attracted top notch guests. Beside the ones I've already mentioned, we get visits from the likes of Lea Thompson, Michael McKean, Marlo Thomas, Fred Willard, Julia Roberts, Brooke Shields, Jean-Claude Van Damme (as himself), and Charlie Sheen.

Trivia fans will note two interesting things about this season. First, it is the only season to not feature a Thanksgiving episode. It was also the only season to not feature a Ross/Rachel cliffhanger. (I'm not counting the final season here because that season has no cliffhangers.)

This is a collection that will please any fan. All 24 episodes from season two are preserved on four discs for us. As you'd expect from a modern program, the picture is sharp and the sound is good. The episodes are edited together so well you can't even tell where the commercial breaks were. Many of the shows have added scenes that were cut before they aired. Unlike other shows that include these as bonus features, these are added right back in to their episode so you'd never know they were cut. In the way of bonus features, we get two commentaries by the executive producers. There's also an interactive map of the set of Monica and Rachel's apartment, clips of the famous guest stars in action, a trivia quiz that ends with the full "Smelly Cat" video, and some clips highlighting each of the characters from the season.

Friends built a loyal fan base because of the strength of these early seasons. Get season two today and relive the show at its height.

Season 2 Episodes:

1. The One with Ross's New Girlfriend

2. The One with the Breast Milk

3. The One Where Heckles Dies

4. the One with Phoebe's Husband

5. The One with Five Steaks and an Eggplant

6. The One with the Baby on the Bus

7. The One Where Ross Finds Out

8. The One with the List

9. The One with Phoebe's Dad

10. The One with Russ

11. The One with the Lesbian Wedding

12 & 13. The One After the Super Bowl (both parts together as one episode)

14. The One with the Prom Video

15. The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know

16. The One Where Joey Moves out

17. The One Where Eddie Moves In

18. The One Where Dr. Ramoray Dies

19. The One Where Eddie Won't Go

20. The One Where Old Yeller Dies

21. The One with the Bullies

22. The One with Two Parties

23. The One with the Chicken Pox

24. The One with Barry & Mindy's Wedding