This is a four DVD pack, which comes in a nice case with each DVD in its own box. It’s all adorned with lots of pictures of the cast in sometimes weird and occasionally wonderful poses. There’s a bit of info on the episodes, cast, etc. It looks nice and it gets the job done

In case you’ve not watched many episodes before, or only seen the more recent and infinitely inferior series, let me explain what it’s all about. The eponymous friends of the series are:

Joey (Matt LeBlanc)
I like Joey. He’s the perpetual child trapped in an adult’s body. There are some funny moments due to his daft lack of understanding of the real world, and some hilarious ones because of his naivety. I think it’s his innocence that makes him such an endearing character, and my favourite out of the male cast. He’s so out of touch with what’s going on, often catching on several years after everyone else has worked it out, but he does have his moments of inspiration and he’s got a heart of gold. (Maybe not 24 carat, but still gold). He also has delusions of being an actor, but rarely gets a part. (He even messes up being Al Pacino’s “Butt Double” in one episode…)

Chandler (Matthew Perry)
This is the guy with all the one-liners. He uses humour as a defence, but that’s fine as he’s funny enough to get away with it. He also seems to me to be the most picked on member of the gang, though no-one gets an easy ride from their friends when embarrassment strikes. (Unless of course it is genuine tragedy, and then as friends do they stick together like glue). He worked as a data entry clerk, hating his job, before getting promoted and turning into one of the managers that he so hated before. Ce la vie. His parents are… different, and this goes a long way to explaining why he is like he is.

Ross (David Schwimmer)
Ross is a palaeontologist, recently divorced, ex-wife Carol is a lesbian, and at the start of the season is expecting their so. He is still in love with Carol when the season starts, falls for Rachel (see below) all over again (he’s fancied her ever since 9th grade at High School), and just when she starts to reciprocate, meets someone else… talk about complicated. He’s a bit of a pathetic character sometimes (intentionally, I mean), and also Monica’s brother. (See below. Again. Well if I stopped typing that you’d get to it quicker but never mind.)

Phoebe (played by the extraordinarily wonderful Lisa Kudrow – well I like her anyway!)
Phoebe is my favourite female character. She redefines the word “quirky”, and is pretty similar to Joey in that she lives on a different planet to other people. (I’m not sure if it’s the same one as Joey lives on… but it seems like a nice place!) Despite an exceedingly troubled childhood, she’s a very sweet person. She’s just very strange. To my mind, she provides a lot of the best laughs.

Monica (Courtney Cox)
Miss Obsessive would be too relaxed a name for Monica. She drives everyone insane on a regular basis. She is seen as a failure by her parents, which irks her (especially when they visit). She is a cook and has the apartment in which everyone hangs around in most of the time. (Joey and Chandler’s place is across the landing). She was a fat girl at school and is hypersensitive about any remarks about her appearance. Has a bad choice in boyfriends.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston)
Rachel has come from a rather more privileged background than the rest of them, but runs from the alter at her wedding and has to fend for herself for the first time in her life. She moves in with Monica, gets a job as a waitress, and life goes on with her being completely oblivious to the fact that Ross is crazy about her. She’s a bit on the tetchy and self-obsessed side, but she does care about her friends so that’s okay.

In this first series the gang are all twenty-somethings living in Manhattan. The plots for each episode are self-contained, but there are threads that develop through the series. I would strongly advise that you watch the episodes in order – you will enjoy all of them anyway, but certain scenes in later episodes mean that bit more if you know what preceded them. The humour is derived from a variety of means – the characters themselves, situations (well I guess that’s why they call it situation comedy…), and (my personal favourite and the impetus behind some of the funniest scenes in the series) parodying film lines / situations in reversed / unusual situations. If you have no idea what I mean by that, let me give you an example. In one episode, Monica breaks up with “Fun Bobby”, who is very popular with the group. When she tells them she’s broken up with him, they are the ones being upset and she’s having to explain to them, but with the words that you could have expected Fun Bobby to tell her if her was breaking up with her. I’m not convinced I’ve explained that very well, but I can’t think of another way at the moment. You’ll know exactly what I mean if you watch it.

The great thing about Friends is, you really feel for the characters. So while there’s a lot of humour, there are also very moving moments as well, which really work because they are interwoven into the storyline so well and the actors are so good. The plots range in complexity, but there are always sub-plots interwoven between plots and sometimes even episodes. The characters are both over the top and realistic at the same time. Guest stars make irregular appearances and enhance the series since they are not melodramatic about it, as too often happens in sit-coms. Peripheral characters to their job well. The plots are involving and not afraid to tackle difficult subjects (which I believe is a large factor in its success). Overall, everything works superbly well. It doesn’t have the bland, over-produced feel of the majority of American sit-coms I’ve seen. Neither does it fall victim to too many clichés, although sadly this cannot be said for some of the more recent series.

For playing the DVD on computer, software called “PC Friendly DVD” is on the CDs. Fortunately it lives up to its name and works fine, I have had absolutely no problems either with the functionality or set-up of this software.

The DVD’s are double-sided. The only thing I would have liked to see was a proper label on each one with the episodes listed, but that is a small quibble. The music video to the title song, “I’ll be there for you” by The Rembrandts is on each DVD. Okay it’s good, but surely having 8 copies is a bit of overkill?!!??! (This trick is repeated in the series 2 box set. Just taking up space, or do the Rembrandts get a royalty for each time the song is burned to DVD?!??!?!?! ;0)

There are some extras thrown in as is always the case with
the DVD format. Briefly, there are cast and crew biographies, commentary from the producers, a quiz, pictures of the special guest stars, an interactive map, and a trailer for the second series box set (which I’ll also be reviewing soon – but I still have half the episodes to watch first!). These extras are all fine, and if you’re a real fan you’ll love them. For anyone else they are likely to be worth a look – once. If you’re familiar with my reviews you’ll know I don’t really hold much with DVD “BONUS” material – but as far as it goes, the abovementioned features are fine.
The episodes are:


The Pilot
The One with the Sonogram at the End
The One with the Thumb
The One with George Stephanopoulos
The One with the East German Laundry Detergent
The One with the Butt
The One with the Blackout
The One Where Nana Dies Twice
The One Where Underdog Gets Away
The One with the the Monkey
The One with Mrs. Bing
The One with the Dozen Languages
The One with the Boobies
The One with the Candy Hearts
The One with the Stoned Guy
The One with Two Parts
The One with All the Poker
The One Where the Monkey Gets Away
The One with the Evil Orthodontist
The One with Fake Monica
The One with the Ick Factor
The One with the Birth
The One Where Rachel Finds Out


Overall this is an absolute must for Friends fans. For people who’ve only seen more recent series and weren’t particularly impressed, they would probably enjoy this much more, but it’s probably too expensive just to try on the off-chance. If you’ve never seen Friends before (though I can’t imagine that represents more than a tiny fraction of the world’s population!), try before you buy.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older