Product Details

• Actors: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry
• Writers: David Crane, Marta Kauffman
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 40
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006
• Run Time: 22 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (510 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000H6SXMY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,637 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Friends: The Complete Series" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A sitcom behemoth of the last 10 years, Friends shot out of the gate in 1994 with snappy writing and an attractive cast. The exploits of sensitive paleontologist Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), his obsessive-compulsive sister Monica Geller (Courteney Cox); 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 neighbors across the hall-- sarcastic Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and his dim-bulb roommate Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) became a nationwide obsession, a pop-culture icon (remember "The Rachel" haircut?) and a top Nielsen hit for its entire run.

See the 10 or more seasons club .

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 on, the characters had each "grown up" from young singletons to thirtysomethings finding permanence in their careers and love lives but never losing the laughs.

Just friends? See our guide to who kissed whom on Friends.

Friends featured a parade of celebrity guests, but unlike Will & Grace, it actually utilized most of the stars as more than 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 10 seasons. Even if the show is on reruns daily, this boxed set of Friends remains watchable over and over again--even if that theme song grates on your nerves.

Standout episodes include The One With All The Poker (Season 1), The One With The Birth (1), The One With the Prom Video (2), The One With the Flashback (3), The One Where Monica and Richard are Just Friends (3), The One Where Ross and Rachel Take a Break (3), The One With the Embryos (4), The One With All the Wedding Dresses (4), The One With the Thanksgiving Flashbacks (5), The One Where Everybody Finds Out (5), The One Where Ross Got High (6), The One With the Videotape (8), The One With the Rumor (8), The One With the Male Nanny (9), The One With Rachel's Other Sister (9), The One With Ross' Tan (10), and The One Where the Stripper Cries (10). --Ellen A. Kim

Product Description

All the laughs, all the loves, all the lattes--all yours! Settle in with the hilarious and acclaimed series about a family based on friendship. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross were always there for each other. Now they're here for you in the complete 10-season set of Friends.

Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund your purchase.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

433 of 441 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile way to collect all ten seasons at once December 10, 2006

By calvinnme HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Since I notice all the questions seem to concern the logistics of the set, that is the main thing I will address in this review, since you would have to be a resident of another planet to not know the story behind the series "Friends". Suffice it to say it is a classic comic treatment of what I have always called the "post-college adolescent phase" of life, which is roughly the ten years immediately following college graduation as you strike out on your own and try to find your place in life. It is the time in life when you are likely to have the best health, the most freedom, the most disposable income if not necessarily the most total income, and the most fun if you are fortunate enough to have people to share it all with. This phase ends when you "settle down" both career-wise and family-wise, and I always found Friends to track this time in life quite accurately and with both drama and great humor.

As for logistics, this collection fits in a sturdy red box that's less than a foot long. There are 40 DVDs containing 236 episodes that can be found inside. The Friends set just has two pieces of the box that comes together. Flipping the top up exposes the guts of the set consisting of 6 books, with one for each Friend. Thus there are only 6 books to hold the 10 seasons. Each book has a picture of the Friend, a number (1-6), and the episodes you can find in each case. The books flip open from the top, and each disc has its own pouch in the double-sided pages. Every disc has a different photo of the Friend, and they're all inserted into the pouches so that the photo is visible as you flip through the book. The disc number and episode numbers are also visible. The contents of the discs are the same as the previous sets, but they have new artwork.

Besides the packaging, there's just one thing to note for this release, that being the episode guide booklet. This 60 page booklet lists every episode with its synopsis and the disc you can find it on. Of course, the bonus material is mentioned along with the disc it can be found on, and the bonus features include 25 documentaries. You'll also get the original treatment for the series written by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. The booklet, which is as wide as the box, can be found behind the DVD books.

As for screen format, it's full screen, which is what Friends was filmed in. The full screen ratio is 4:3, which is the same as 1.33:1. You can record in wide screen and chop off parts of the frame to make it fit a traditional 4:3 TV, which is what is done with full screen editions of movies. However, you can't add stuff to a frame that was recorded in 4:3 and make it widescreen.

There's very little of value here for someone who already has the season 1-10 boxes, and the book with the episode information is just an upgraded version of the booklets that come with the season sets. If you don't already own the 10 seasons then this is an easy way to buy the show since it is a lot cheaper than buying each set individually. It's also nicer than the box set released last year, which was the existing 10 seasons in a big box. If you decide to replace your existing sets then you'll be happy to know the set takes up exactly the same amount of shelf space.

217 of 239 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Order the Individual Seasons separately December 12, 2007

By Anthony Vu

Format:DVD

I love this show but I am returning this box set and decided to order the individual seasons separately for the following reasons:

1) Many of the DVDs are faulty and skip even when they are not physically scratched. I tested this with multiple DVD players which have never given me problems before. If you check other reviews this quality control issue is pretty common with the DVDs from this box set. From what I can tell the quality control on the original season sets is much better.

2) Disc 28 was missing and I got two copies of Disc 29 instead.

3) The corner of the collector's box was broken/damaged when i received it.

4) The discs are spread out through 6 scratch-prone cardboard-like sleeves for each character instead of by Season. Cute, but i don't want to have to open up a damn episode guide and look up the episode number to figure out which season i'm about to watch, while worrying about scratching my DVDs when taking them in and out of the sleeves.

129 of 148 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Scratched discs won't play without skipping December 8, 2007

By B. Shell

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This set has disc holders made of heavy cardboard that WILL scratch the discs as you take them out and put them back. I just received this set from Amazon today, and the first disc I started watching was scratched and it skipped quite a bit. I'm shipping this back immediately. This packaging is very poorly designed.

On a side note, the size of the box is also less than ideal. It's doesn't fit well with other DVDs on a shelf.

I'm going to buy the individual seasons separately instead! The individual seasons are properly packaged with slim plastic disc holders. Plus, they are the size of other DVDs.