|
|
The Movie:
The eighth season of "Friends" was able to roll forward with a couple of main new plot threads, including Monica and Chandler's new marriage and Rachel figuring out a way to tell Ross that he's the father of her upcoming child. The series mined both these issues with a combination of comedy and some slight drama/conflict, mostly successfully (the show started to get a tad sappy.) Although the show sort of began to wind down in these later seasons of the series, there are still some definite highlight episodes.
Obviously, "Friends" follows the adventures of Jennifer Aniston (Rachel), Courteney Cox Arquette (Monica), Matt LeBlanc (Joey), Matthew Perry (Chandler), Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) and David Schwimmer (Ross). It's interesting to see how much the television landscape has changed since "Friends" first debuted in 1995. The combination of "Friends" and "Seinfeld" made for a wealth of copy-cats boasting attractive young, single people who discussed nothing and everything at once. Yet, a lot those shows never really got it right - whether it was an issue with cast or a show that really put crafting jokes before crafting characters. Now, scripted shows are fighting for space with reality programming.
The eighth season of the show provides some definite highlights, and the cast had reached a point where the characters were fully realized and the actors could play them in their sleep. Some of the best episodes include "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross", which has Ross finding out that condoms are not 100% effective and Chandler and Monica attempting to make the best of their honeymoon. Brad Pitt (in a terrific performance) guest stars as a Thanksgiving guest in "The One With The Rumor". Joey also reveals his feelings for Rachel in "The One With the Birthing Video".
171. The One After "I Do"
172. The One With The Red Sweater
173. The One Where Rachel Tells...
174. The One With The Videotape
175. The One With Rachel's Date
176. The One With The Halloween Party
177. The One With The Stain
178. The One With The Stripper
179. The One With The Rumor
180. The One With Monica's Boots
181. The One With The Creepy Holiday Card (a.k.a. The One With Ross's Step Forward)
182. The One Where Joey Dates Rachel
183. The One Where Chandler Takes A Bath
184. The One With The Secret Closet
185. The One With The Birthing Video
186. The One Where Joey Tells Rachel
187. The One With The Tea Leaves
188. The One In Massapequa
189. The One With Joey's Interview
190. The One With The Baby Shower
191. The One With The Cooking Class
192. The One Where Rachel Is Late
193. The One Where Rachel Has A Baby (1)
194. The One Where Rachel Has A Baby (2)
The DVD
VIDEO: "Friends" is presented by Warner Brothers in 1.33:1 full-frame, the show's origial broadcast ratio. The picture quality generally looks very good, if not without a few minor faults. Sharpness and detail were generally very good, as the show appeared crisp and well-defined throughout - all of the details of the apartments could be seen, allowing viewers to appreciate the set decoration and production design work on the show.
The presentation did show some minor shimmering and slight edge enhancement in a few moments, but neither issue was really a distraction. Some minor traces of pixelation and grain were also spotted in a few sequences. Colors remained bright, well-saturated and vibrant, with no smearing or other faults.
SOUND: "Friends" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.0 again for this eighth season set. Certainly, given the material, these repurposed soundtracks aren't particularly aggressive or ambitious, but they do succeed in opening the sound out a bit, with the surrounds coming in to provide audience sounds and a bit of musical reinforcement. Audio quality is perfectly fine, as dialogue remained crisp and clear.
EXTRAS: Producers David Crane, Kevin Bright and Marta Kaufman provide audio commentary for "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby", "The One With The Videotape" and "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross". Aside from a pretty unpleasant comment by one of the participants during a scene with Aniston's character in the doctor's office during "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross", these were very enjoyable commentaries. The three discuss the production behind each of the episodes, and often pull back to give viewers a good general idea of the process. There's a lot of discussion about jokes that didn't happen, jokes that had to be altered (a subplot with Chandler in "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross") or how some jokes had to be discussed in terms of how far they were taken.
"Friends of Friends: Part Three" takes a look at more of the guest stars who've appeared on the show. "Gag Reel" is an 8-1/2 minute look at some of the flubs, stumbles and goofs during filming this season's episodes. Also included is the short featurette, "Gunther Spills the Beans", the interactive game "Joey's Trivia Challenge" and cast/crew bios. There's also a $10 mail-in rebate for those who buy this set and another of the "Friends" season sets.
Final Thoughts: "Friends" winds down a bit in season eight, but Monica and Chandler's marriage and Rachel's baby does serve to propel much of the season quite well. Combine those with some fun subplots, solid guest stars and continuing chemistry with the cast, and season eight certainly provides some fun moments. Warner Brothers has provided a fine DVD set, with good audio/video quality and some enjoyable, informative supplements.
|
