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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Friends-Series 8 Box Set (2001)

Friends-Series 8 Box Set (2001)

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Released 18-Mar-2003

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy None
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 504:00 (Case: 528)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Sided
Multi Disc Set (3)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Kevin S. Bright
Sheldon Epps
Gary Halvorson
David Schwimmer
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Jennifer Aniston
Courteney Cox Arquette
Lisa Kudrow
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Perry
David Schwimmer
Case Gatefold
RPI $69.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
Dutch
French
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    In the world of television comedy, Friends is a tall-poppy indeed. Its huge following and critical praise makes it really tempting to write a controversial and cynical review of this, the Friends Season 8 box set.

    I am not going to do that. Instead, I will let the facts speak for themselves. Friends has been nominated for a staggering forty-four Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and has won the "People's Choice" award for Favourite Comedy Series four times. Guest stars have included Brad Pitt, Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Helen Hunt, Elle McPherson...and the list goes on. Episodes can attract audiences of over 30 million people in the USA and this justifies the main actors' $1,000,000 (US) each per episode. Friends is reputedly the "most expensive half-hour on TV - ever".

    Sure, the plots can sometimes provide a sense of dejá-vu. Sure the jokes are not always laugh-out-loud funny. Sure, it is kinda long-in-the-tooth. However Friends is a genre-defining series which, despite its age, can still hold its own after 9 (and counting) hugely successful seasons, and can consistently bring a smile to the face of millions of fans around the globe.

    For those of you who have been in solitary confinement, or unable to correctly tune-in your television set for the past nine years, here's the basic set-up. The show focuses on the lives of six (now thirty-something) yuppy friends as they share their lives in New York City. Most of the action takes place in one or other of the trendy Greenwich Village apartments they share, or the local coffee shop, The Central Perk.

    The three main male characters are Chandler (Matthew Perry) a witty desk-jockey, Ross (David Schwimmer) a gutless paleontologist and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) the buff-but-dim actor. The three primary female characters are Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) the sexy, naive, fashion executive, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) the sexy, hippy masseuse and Monica (Courtney-Cox Arquette) the sexy, formerly-obese, compulsive chef.

    The box set of Friends - Season 8 contains three double-sided DVDs containing the following episodes:

  1. The One After "I Do"
    The wedding reception for Monica and Chandler provides an opportunity for Rachel to reveal her pregnancy. Joey provides a most memorable wedding toast and Ross gets to dance with a roomful of women.
  2. The One With The Red Sweater
    Will Rachel tell the baby's father? Who owns the red sweater? Will Chandler find the disposable cameras containing the wedding photos?
  3. The One Where Rachel Tells Ross
    Monica and Chandler head off on Honeymoon. Monica's competitive instincts come to the fore, as they repeatedly miss out on newly-wed extras on the plane and the hotel. Ross discovers that "condoms only work 97% of the time".
  4. The One With The Videotape
    Ross reveals that he accidentally videotaped Rachel and himself making love. Monica and Chandler seek out a couple they met on honeymoon. Joey tells Ross a story which can be used to melt any woman's heart.
  5. The One With Rachel's Date
    Rachel goes on a date with an actor, which makes Ross incredibly jealous. Chandler's middle name is revealed to be "Muriel", whilst an office colleague insists on calling him "Toby".
  6. The One With The Halloween Party
    Ross dresses up as a potato. Chandler dresses up as a pink bunny. This ultra-violent episode features graphic violence as Ross and Chandler go head-to-head in an arm-wrestling match of death. Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula, reveals that she is to be married.
  7. The One With The Stain
    Not an episode about Monica Lewinski. Monica becomes angst-ridden when Chandler hires a maid to help with the housework. Sean Penn, complete with porn-star moustache, has a date with Phoebe.
  8. The One With The Stripper
    Rachel reveals to her father that she is "with child". Monica hires Chandler a stripper, to make up for previously untying a male stripper's G-string with her teeth.
  9. The One With The Rumour
    Brad Pitt guest stars as a former school friend of Ross and Monica and a founding member of the "I hate Rachel Green" club. This is a classic episode. The relationship between Pitt and Aniston is sterling television. Rachel finds out that she was known as "the hermaphrodite cheer leader from Long Island" with a "teeny-weenie".
  10. The One With Monica's Boots
    Monica spends a fortune on some stiletto boots. Chandler ensures she gets the most from them. Joey introduces his sister (Marla Sokoloff, from "The Practice") and Phoebe hatches a plan to meet Sting.
  11. The One With Ross's Step Forward
    Rachel's hormones are getting the better of her and flirting becomes her new hobby. Ross begins to get cold feet as his girlfriend gets a little too serious for his liking. Joey and Rachel are getting close...too close!
  12. The One Where Joey Dates Rachel
    Chandler develops a "claw" after Phoebe gives him a Ms. Pacman machine. Joey takes Rachel on a date and they show each other their best moves. Phoebe reveals her extensive expletive vocabulary.
  13. The One Where Chandler Takes A Bath
    Monica introduces Chandler to the delights of bath salts. Phoebe believes Joey is interested in her while Ross and Rachel play "United Nations Security Council" and veto each other's choice of baby names. Joey and Ross begin a power struggle over Rachel's pregnancy.
  14. The One With The Secret Closet
    Chandler is determined to discover the secret behind Monica's locked closet. Phoebe is determined to give Monica a massage...until she is scared off by Monica's sex-noises. Joey and Ross face a power struggle over Rachel's pregnancy.
  15. The One With The Birthing Video
    Chandler believes Monica has bought him some pornography, and watches a birthing video by mistake. Phoebe loans Joey the happiest dog in the world, to help cheer him up. Joey "breaks" the dog.
  16. The One Where Joey Tells Rachel
    Joey confesses his love for Rachel - but it is unrequited. Phoebe finds Monica's soul-mate and arranges for them to meet...much to Chandler's disgust. Ross builds bridges with Joey to stop him "emigrating" to Vermont.
  17. The One With The Tea Leaves
    Rachel tells Joey that her boss wants to "buy" her baby, to stop them feeling awkward about his declared love for her. Phoebe discovers the true meaning of a "PhD".
  18. The One In Massapequa
    Alec Baldwin puts in a star performance as Phoebe's hyperkinetic, incredibly gushy love interest. Monica is determined to upstage Ross in the heartstring-tugging stakes at her parent's 35th anniversary party.
  19. The One With Joey's Interview
    A "showcase" for Joey with flashbacks galore, as he provides an interview for "Soap Opera Digest". Also a fascinating opportunity to watch Chandler's weight fluctuate, along with the video quality, before your very eyes!
  20. The One With The Baby Shower
    Particularly notable for Phoebe's horrendous necklace and Monica's nauseating dress. Rachel's overbearing mum makes an acidic appearance and Joey entertains the guys with a chance to play the stupendously fun game "Bamboozled".
  21. The One With The Cooking Class
    Monica gets a bad review of her cooking in the New York Post and ends up taking a beginner's cookery course. Rachel becomes deeply jealous when Ross gets lucky. Chandler manages -almost- to avoid talking about poo at his job interview.
  22. The One Where Rachel Is Late
    Rachel somewhat ungraciously passes her "due date". Joey takes Chandler to attend the premiere of his "World War I" movie.
  23. The One Where Rachel Has A Baby (Parts 1 and 2)
    Guess what happens in this one? I wouldn't want to spoil it for you.

    The episodes all run for 21:00 (give or take a few seconds) which did feel appreciably shorter than I remembered them. Still, the lack of commercial breaks more than makes up for the apparent brevity of each episode.

    Whilst I am not a huge fan of the show, I have to admit that it is genuinely humorous with high production values. I have yet to catch an episode of Friends which didn't make me - at the very least - smile. This, whilst not compulsive viewing, is feel-good comedy at its warmest.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer for this season is of a similar quality throughout. There are no major defects to be seen, although some of the flashback scenes do vary in quality - suggesting an improvement over time.

    All the episodes are presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and they are not 16x9 enhanced.

    The original footage is shot on videotape so it is not a particularly sharp transfer, with a fair level of grain present throughout the episodes. Most buyers of these discs will be well aware that they are from a television series, and therefore the expectations of video quality will be that the discs adequately reproduce what was seen "on TV". All of these episodes do just that - the quality is no more, and no less than as broadcast.

    Colours appear bright, with skin tones and the occasional outdoor shot looking quite natural.

    There are three sets of subtitles on the discs: English, French and Dutch. Sampling the English subtitles across several episodes, it becomes apparent that they are somewhat truncated. You still get the gist and they probably cover eighty per cent of the dialogue.

    As mentioned, the discs in this set are dual-sided, with four episodes on each side. It is very difficult to determine which side is which, without careful inspection (or the assistance of a scanning electron microscope). This is annoying.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The episodes are presented with a single, unremarkable English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 recorded at 192 kilobits per second. The surround flag is enabled.

    The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times.

    Music is restricted to the catchy theme song "I'll be there for you" and minor snatches of tunes at scene transitions. There is nothing noteworthy here.

    As would be expected from the sound mix, and the source material, the surround channels see limited use and basically carry the music and (slightly grating) laughter track. They did not really add anything to the viewing experience. Subwoofer activity was not evident at any point.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

   The discs contain no real extras.

   As an aside, one feature that might be considered an "extra" is the extremely irritating "InterActual" software DVD player. If I want to change my default PC software player, I am quite capable of choosing to do so myself. I do not need a pop-up window to require me to cancel it every time I insert a disc!

Menu

    The menu is functional but silent. It is 16x9 enhanced.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    I can find no equivalent Region 1 box set. It appears similar complete sets are only available for Seasons 1-3 in Region 1. The Region 4 set appears to be the only choice if you wish to have all twenty-four episodes in one easy-to-carry box.

Summary

This is Friends. It is a funny show.
This is Season 8. The laughter lines are slowly becoming fully-fledged wrinkles.
If you are a fan of the show, then this rather utilitarian DVD set will undoubtedly present you with almost 12 hours of good times on three shiny little discs.

The video transfer is as would be expected from a recent TV series.

The audio transfer is acceptable for a dialogue driven TV series.

There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel O'Donoghue (You think my bio is funny? Funny how?)
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-344 Multi-Region, using Component output
DisplayPanasonic TX-47P500H 47" Widescreen RPTV. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationONKYO TX-DS484
SpeakersJensenSPX-9 fronts, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 surrounds, Jensen SPX-17 subwoofer

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