Friends: Complete Season 1-10 (30 Disc Box Set) [1995]

The first two seasons were mostly centered on the on-off saga of Ross and Rachel, and while their relationship remained a strong presence through romantic rivals and even a baby, the other characters eventually moved from sideshow players into a shared comedic lead. But Friends was not without its heart. Most of the cast had dysfunctional relationships with their parents and went through loss, divorce, marriage, parenthood, and love triangles. The emotional pregnancies of Rachel (by Ross) and Phoebe (surrogate to her half-brother's triplets) won the actresses Emmy Awards, and Joey's tender feelings for Rachel in Season 8 won LeBlanc, the most improved actor in the series, a nomination.

Most sitcoms run out of ideas by the fifth season, but Friends gave itself a refreshing jolt the minute Monica and Chandler wound up in bed together. Their budding romance was not only the one of the funniest arcs of the series, but one of the most sentimental, as they planned a wedding, struggled to have a child and eventually turned to adoption. By seasons seven and onwards, the characters had each "grown up" from young singletons to thirtysomethings finding permanence in their careers and love lives but never losing the laughs.

Friends featured a parade of celebrity guests, but utilised most of the stars as more than mere cameos: The sextet's parents were all brilliantly cast, particularly Kathleen Turner as Chandler's drag-queen father and Teri Garr as Phoebe's dizzy mom. Everyone from George Clooney to Sean Penn to Julia Roberts to Bruce Willis has appeared on the sitcom, and Tom Selleck certainly enjoyed a career resuscitation after his recurring role as Monica's older man.

But no star power ever penetrated the bond between the six stars and their unmatchable chemistry worked for ten seasons. Even though the show is probably repeated somewhere in the world every day, this boxed set of Friends remains watchable over and over again -- even if that theme song eventually grates on your nerves! --Sally Giles

I think we have all come to expect a little bit extra when we buy DVD's. Special features, commentary, deleted scenes, etc. Unfortunately, the Friends Box Set falls short on all counts here.

There are no special features on any of the DVD's. All you get is each friends episode, I'll be there for you video and English Subtitles. This is fine, but bearing in mind you are
investing over 150 for something that has been on television, I think it should have had slightly more in it. Another annoying feature is that you cannot skip through an episode. You can only fast forward through it.

The Pilot Episode does have some additional scenes and i think there are a few additional moments edited back in within some of the other episodes, but on the whole, I believe that the DVD Box Set is only for people who want to have every episode of friends and nothing else. The DVD BOX Set comes in a very attractive case and you have more episodes on each DVD. the DVD's are double-sided, so you need to flip them over after about 4 episodes, which is ok as long as you arent too lazy to get up!


The best purchase I ever made   February 26, 2006
L. Tinacci (United Kingdom)
80 out of 96 found this review helpful

Before I decided to shell out my hard earned cash for this mammoth boxset, I loved friends. I would watch it at least weekly, on Channel 4 and E4.

After buying this set, I watch at least one episode EVERY DAY.

As it's still on TV, some would say this is a pointless purchase, but if you're like me, and find Friends to be a cultural, phenomenal masterpiece, then BUY IT TODAY. Please do not miss out. I cannot honestly explain how relieved and pleased I am that I chose to buy it.

Friends has to be considered to be one of the greatest TV shows ever produced, and with 238 episodes at your disposal, you can watch your favourite ones over and over if you wish.

The only downside (as stated in many of the other customer reviews) is the lack of extras. BUT, I feel that the fact that you've got every episode ever made at your grasp outdoes this and you can look past it.

Just go for it, and treat yourself to this amazing DVD set.


surely best ever tv series ??   August 28, 2004
Graham Williams (Liverpool, England)
73 out of 89 found this review helpful

in short and this will be brief, Friends truly is a global phenonemon.

I know it has occasionally dipped into sugar coated schmaltz, but for 10 years this show defined a generation and yet had broad appeal to viewers from ages 10 to 40+

If you can afford it buy this boxset, will put a huge smile on your face right through the cold winter months ahead. A plus point is that you can avoid channel 4's awful links and extra long commercial breaks and those irritating regional accents the voice over guys do.

5 for comedy , 5 for longevity , 5 for maintaining a high standard and 5 for making so many people happy ... ( yes I know the cast also made mi ions lol)


Great case - shame about the extras!   September 3, 2005
60 out of 65 found this review helpful

Now don't get me wrong - it is great to have the entire collection of Friends all in a eye catching box with cute little doors. But I was more than a little disappointed with the lack of extras. It would have been nice if they added more deleted scenes and more documentaries and more new features. There is nothing on this set that I have not seen before on TV.

As this set is truly for the die hard fans of Friends, I think individual end of series interviews with the cast and writers would have been great. With the re-runs on C4 and E4 currently showing, it is possible to watch 4 different episodes every week day. So with that in mind, I believe a little more effort in the DVD content, to match the effort of those who designed the box would have made a super package.

The last series only had 18 episodes - the last disk in the set only contains the final double episode and therefore is not a double sided disk. I think this was a wasted opportunity - they could have added the cast interviews from Oprah for instance on this disk, fact files, trivia questions, music from the show (other than the theme tune, which shows up at least 9 times!). What happened to the Barbados special?

Basically this is a bit of a let down for the true and very loyal fans of this show. I gave 3 points: 1 for the packaging and 1 point for the fact that most of the DVDs are double sided and so saves on shelf space. The last point was given because it is in my opinion a great series. The DVDs will come into their own once the TV re-runs stop. However, Warner Bros. should stop exploiting fans of Friends with such a lame effort.


I Love It!   February 15, 2006
45 out of 46 found this review helpful

Clearly, if you are a Friends fan, then this is the perfect product. There are a few things I should point out though. Season eight claims to have 'never before seen footage' - LIE! There is nothing different about those episodes and the original broadcast episodes. Also, season nine has shortened episodes. I don't know how many but I noticed it on 'The One In Barbados (Part 1 & 2). They have cut lots out making each of these episodes just over 20 minutes instead of the usual 22. This may not sound a lot but this is 10% of the original episode - GONE! However, I would say that not buying this product for the sake of 4 minutes is a bit picky so if you want it - BUY IT! ALSO, I got this for £129.99 on Amazon, so make sure your timing is right! If Amazon could afford to have it that cheap JUST BEFORE CHIRSTMAS then they could afford to have it that price again!