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The Movie:
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.
A show that became comfortable over the years, "Friends" hit several high-concept high notes over the course of its 10-year run (my favorite still remains "The One With The Football"), but started to wind down in its final seasons. The series finale capped off what seemed like months of promos and countdowns.
This 9th Season ("The One Before The Final One", in "Friends" terms), offers some definite highlights, despite the fact that the show, at this point, had just about run its course. Monica accepts a job running a popular restaurant, and she and Chandler continue to work on improving their marriage, despite the fact that he finds himself working part of the time at a job in Tulsa. Meanwhile, Rachel finds herself falling for Joey, and Ross tries to move on with Charlie (Aisha Tyler), although there may be an obstacle or two along the way, with the two part finale, "The One in Barbados" allowing Ross and Rachel to reveal their feelings to Charlie and Joey.
Season 9
195. The One Where No One Proposes
196. The One Where Emma Cries
197. The One With The Pediatrician
198. The One With The Sharks
199. The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner
200. The One With The Male Nanny
201. The One With Ross's Inappropriate Song
202. The One With Rachel's Other Sister
203. The One With Rachel's Phone Number
204. The One With Christmas In Tulsa
205. The One Where Rachel Goes Back To Work
206. The One With Phoebe's Rats
207. The One Where Monica Sings
208. The One With The Blind Dates
209. The One With The Mugging
210. The One With The Boob Job
211. The One With The Memorial Service
212. The One With The Lottery
213. The One With Rachel's Dream
214. The One With The Soap Opera Party
215. The One With The Fertility Test
216. The One With The Donor
217. The One In Barbados (1)
218. The One In Barbados (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: The DVD set offers commentary by producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane on "The One with the Male Nanny," "The One with Rachel's Other Sister," and "The One in Barbados" (parts I & II). Their commentaries are always informative and this is no different, as we learn a good deal about the day-to-day obstacles faced by the production, such as the big-budget "The One in Barbados", which involved additional sets and production difficulties. The trio also talk about working with guest stars and the challenges of how to best continue when they found out midway that there was going to be another season for the series.
"The Look of Friends" takes a look at the fashions and costumes of "Friends" over the years. The costume designer (who was with the show for 10 years) and others are interviewed, and we learn more about the look of the show and how it evolved and changed over 10 years. Next is a very funny gag reel that lasts several minutes.
"Phoebe Battles the Pink Robots" is the music video from the Flaming Lips, which you'll also find on the final disc. "Gunther Spills the Beans" is a promo for the final season. Rounding out the DVD are an interactive quiz and cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: The next-to-last "Friends" season comes after the high point of the series had passed, but there are still some great moments here as the show's creators try to wrap everything up with the characters and their relationships. Warner Brothers has produced a fine DVD, with enjoyable supplements and fine audio/video quality. Recommended.
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