Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-12
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 30

Amazon.co.uk Review
A US sitcom behemoth with a global brand, Friends shot out of the gate in 1994 with snappy writing and an attractive cast. The exploits of sensitive paleontologist Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer), his obsessive-compulsive sister Monica Geller (Courteney Cox, now Cox-Arquette); Monica's roommate Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), a spoiled rich girl trying to live on her own; earthy aromatherapist/masseuse Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow); and Monica's neighbours across the hall -- sarcastic Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and his struggling actor roommate Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) became a nationwide obsession, spawned pop-culture trends (remember "The Rachel" haircut?) and was a ratings hit for its entire run.

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 plot 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.

Yet, 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

Customer Reviews

Not as good as expected
3 stars for packaging not the show (5 stars), the disks are double sided with no labels so very confusing and easily put in wrong order apart from one random disk which is sigle sided and has label, my box arrived with one of the cardboard steps in the box ripped and collapsed and one of the disks lying in the box not in the cover, i doubt this is amazon's fault more like the shoddy packaging. saves space but but poor quality, content as show is great though althouhg could have been more extras.

A M A Z I N G ! ! ! !
FRIENDS IS THE BEST SHOW EVA NUFIN IS EVER GONA COMPARE TO IT. THEY TRIED TO DO A VERSION IN THE CLASS BUT IT WAS RUBBISH COMPARED TO FRIENDS.

Friends on a budget
This is certainly a budget edition of "Friends" - cheap packaging, double-sided DVDs, almost no extras, some menus are ugly, syndicated cut versions of episodes.

Don't get me wrong - it is not THAT bad (in fact picture quality is quite good) and if you are a casual viewer, this is a decent enough package for you. However if you are a huge fan of the series, you will be better off importing US boxsets.