TV Show Review: Friends - The Complete Series

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Ten years of great episodes with just one order.

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

A fan of these Friends?

Then get them all in one set

You'll watch many times

The One with a Decade of Laughter and Friendship

Friends is a sit com with a simple premise. It follows six friends as they deal with the challenges of early adulthood in New York City.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is the spoiled woman learning to live on her own for the first time. Her roommate Monica (Courtney Cox Arquette) is a clean freak chef. Monica's brother Ross (David Schwimmer) is a nerdy paleontologist. Across the hall from Monica and Rachel are Chandler (Matthew Perry), a sarcastic office worker, and struggling actor Joey (Matt LeBlanc). Rounding out the group is free spirit Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) who makes her living as a message therapist and freelance guitarist. They are usually hanging out at an apartment or the coffee house they all love, Central Perk.

Over the course of ten seasons, the show managed to get all the characters through a lot of trials. They all had many romantic relationships start and fail and all were out of work at one point or another. Through it all, the friends stuck by each other.

Those friendships are one of the things that continue to draw me to the show. With a few exceptions, any squabbles will be patched up by the time the half hour is over. If only friends stayed this close in real life.

And of course, the show is funny. From Chandler's one-liners to Joey's ignorant statements of fact or Monica's desire for order, these characters could be counted on to make you laugh.

The one story line that stretches from the pilot to the finale is Ross and Rachel's romantic relationship. They almost get together and break up so many times, it gets frustrating after a while. Their relationship is a main focus of the early seasons, but begins to take a back seat to other story lines as the series progresses. Except, of course, when it's time for a season cliffhanger. All but one season ended with some twist to the story. Frankly, it got a little tiresome by the end, but it only detracts a little.

Maybe dragging out the Ross/Rachel story line is one reason for it, but the later seasons do lose a little of their charm. The early seasons had a warmth to them that later seasons seemed to lose. I find I enjoy watching the earlier seasons better then the later ones even though the later ones are still entertaining and funny. Later seasons do, for example, feature Phoebe finding a man to marry and Monica and Chandler's marriage and struggles with having kids. And, of course, there's Joey's triumphant return to Days of Our Lives and movie debut.

There are now two ways to get the complete series.  One is on DVD.  The 40 discs in this set are basically the individual set's DVD's with difference artwork.  I like the book that came with it that holds a bit of behind the scenes information.  In the way of extras, the discs include audio commentaries on three episodes a season, bloopers, making of features, and more.  This is the set I have.

A Blu-Ray release of the series has also been issued.  I don't have it, so I can't speak to how it looks or sounds.  I do know there are some additional behind the scenes featurettes that have me tempted to go out and buy it even though I don't need it.  Must resist.  Must resist....

But if you are a fan of Friends, odds are you are already considering getting one or the other for the day that reruns stop.  I recommend you do since this show will continue to entertain years from now.