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Friends: The Complete First Season
One of the things I stopped doing over the
past 10 years is watching sitcoms. I suppose
that getting involved in Home Theater left me
less time to concentrate on prime time television.
Therefor, for over a decade, I have been virtually
blind to what goes on in network television.
So I wake up from this near 10-year sleep and
find that Friends is approaching its ninth
and final season. And while the shows boasts
more than 36 million viewers, I don't think I can
tell you one thing about any of the friends.
First thing I had to learned is who the Friends
actually are: Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Monica
(Courtney Cox-Arquette), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston),
Ross (David Schwimmer), Chandler (Matthew Perry)
and Joey (Matt LeBlanc).
I am somewhat aware that Warner Brothers had
previously been doing a shoddy job of releasing
this series on DVD (as they do with most all their
TV product), offering a "best of" series. Even
a person like me who isn't a fan of the show can
tell you that this is not the way to handle the
release of television product.
I suppose Warner heard the complaints of fans.
Today I received a box containing the entire
first season of Friends. Since Warner
was so kind to send this to me, I felt it was
my duty to take a look at one of television's
most successful series -- a series I had totally
ignored up to this point.
Friends arrives in a rather lightweight
cardboard slipcover. Reach inside and you pull
out a bulky cardboard insert that opens up into
a five section gatefold that houses 4 discs
placed in plastic housing. Essentially, there
are 24 episodes spread across 4 discs.
Most all of you will get 4 discs. My sealed
copy only had 3 discs inside, so I can't do a
full review on the supplements until Warner
decides to send me the 4th disc (if they decide
to do that).
The outer gatefold panes contain full listings
of each episode including Director, Writers,
Guest Star Alerts -- and oh yes -- original
air date. Intertwined with the episode listings
are pictures of the cast as well as photos from
a few memorable episodes.
Overall, I would rate the packaging to be
rather weak than durable, but keeping the series
affordable was certainly a concern at Warner
Brothers and they have produced this set as
cheaply as possible.
The DVD begins with a quick animated sequence
that takes the FRIENDS logo set against the
New York skyline and interfaces it with strips
of cast photos in a finalized menu structure.
Having trouble as to exactly which episode you
wish to watch? Click on over to the Episodes
selection. An icon of a coffee cup beside each
episode title lets you preview about a minute of
that episode's best moment. This is great for fans
who are looking for a favorite episode, yet don't
remember the exact title.
So, here I am, a Friends virgin about to
watch my very first episode. In order to properly
review this DVD, I chose to watch three episodes.
The One Where it all began is the show's
original pilot episode that aired on 9/22/94.
This is the episode that introduces to all the
show's major characters, most notably Monica's old
high school friend, Rachel who decides to move in
after leaving her fiance' at the alter. There's
also an issue of Ross's wife leaving him for a
lesbian.
The One with the Sonogram at the End involves
Ross's ex-wife Carol telling him that she is
pregnant with his child and that she and her lesbian
lover, Susan, plan to raise the baby together.
There's also an issue with Monica's parents (with
a guest appearance by Elliot Gould) coming to town.
The One with George Stephanopoulos never
really introduces us to the politician, but it
gives the girls the opportunity to discuss life
and guys. Meanwhile, Ross gets invited to go to
a hockey game with the guys, but ends up having
his nose broken by a flying puck.
After watching only three episodes, I fell for
the series. At its most beginning stages, the
series showed promise of being cleverly hip and
funny thanks to its talented cast of actors. I
really had a lot of laughs with the George
Stephanopoulos episode. The scenes in the
hospital emergency room are hilarious.
How is the transfer?
Presented Full Frame, the show looks pretty
damn incredible. While the title and location
establishing shots have hints of video noise in
them, the rest of the show looks terrific.
Monica's apartment has just about every color
in it imaginable. The pristine transfer brings
out all the vivid aquas, greens and purples that
make up the walls and fixtures inside the apartment.
The stereo surround track is rather uneven.
The pilot episode is interesting, as it starts
with a forcible amount of audience laughter that
emanates from the rear speakers. As the episode
continues, the laughter leaves the rear channel
and moves to the front. In episodes that followed,
the audience laughter remained in the rear channel,
but its presence was much lesser defined.
Otherwise, sound is very robust with dialogue
remaining in front speakers while title music
and musical interludes spread themselves to the
rears.
Special Features
On the pilot episode you can listen to
running commentary by Excecutive Producers Kevin
S. Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.
I mentioned that I received a *sealed* final
product copy of this set that when opened did
not have the 4th disc. I do hope this is not
going to be a common problem amongst consumers
who buy this set.
For the reason of not having disc 4, I am
unable to completely review the supplemental
material. If and when I get the replacement DVD
I will update this review.
I can tell you from the Press Release I received
with this set that the supplements on Disc 4
include:
A peek At Central Park, which takes
viewers on an interactive tour of the set to
discover inside secrets from the crew.
Friends of Friends is a video guide to
season one's special guest appearances.
How Well Do You Know Your Friends? is
a video trivia challenge.
Also includes is The One With The Trailer
of Season 2 as well as cast profiles.
Final Thoughts
I can't say that this release of Friends
makes up for the botched way Warner Brothers has
handled their studio product -- especially their
South Park series. But perhaps finally
releasing an entire season set can be considered
a step in the right direction.
Without being an initial fan of the series (I am
now), it looks like Warner Brothers has given
very special consideration to the fans by providing
pristine transfers of these episodes combined with
some interesting extras bundled into this boxed set.
Looks like a must purchase for fans, and a
consideration for anyone like me who wants to
wet their appetite with top-shelf comedy.
Release Date: April 30, 2002