FRIENDS: THE COMPLETE SERIES - 4K UHD Blu-ray (Bright/Kauffman/Crane, Warner Bros. 1994 - 2004) Warner Home Video

 A sitcom that definitely matured with the years, and, most definitely has withstood the test of time, despite its initially mixed reception and more than a few behind-the-scenes hiccups along the way, Friends (1994-2004), co-created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman is perhaps today regarded as one of the seminal offerings from that final – and now, seemingly ‘ancient’ flowering of truly ‘must see’ TV on NBC. Not that critics of the moment saw the more meaningful endurance of the franchise through its initial rough spots. And, in an era dominated by half-hour rom/coms, as skillfully executed as Seinfeld, Cheers and Frasier (all of them produced for NBC), Friends had a lot to live up to come into its own. In hindsight, the network was remarkably gentle with its latest property, wading through the opacity of its uneven and occasionally uninvolving storylines in Season One. Especially in retrospect, Season One plays as very weak-kneed, merely an allowance of pithy one-liners, the best administered by the series’ resident smart ass, Chandler Bing.

A moment’s pause herein, because I still have an incredibly rough time digesting the fact, Matthew Perry (a.k.a. Chandler Bing) is no longer with us. The circumstances surrounding his untimely death are even more appalling and best left to courts of law to decipher. Interesting to consider Perry, playing the ineffectual ladies’ man on Friends, as the class bully who once, in his actual youth, bloodied the nose of future Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. And better still, to remember Perry as the rising go-getter who, by a gracious whim of fate, was cast as Bing after another audition for a TV series fell through. And best of all, to have fond, glowing smiles when considering the arc of his alter-ego on Friends; that of the sassy, good-looking, smart guy, toting formidable assets that somehow failed to gel with the fairer sex, except for his chronic on again/off again romance with nasally annoyance, Janice Hosenstein (Maggie Wheeler) and, of course, his penultimate on-screen love affair and subsequent marriage to ‘friend’ and irrepressible control freak, Monica Geller (Courtney Cox).   

In hindsight, it helped that Friends was exceptionally well cast: in addition to Perry and Cox - Jennifer Aniston as Rachel ‘Karen’ Green, the air-headed and pampered fashionista, knocked off her privileged tuffet after a botched attempt to wed dentist, Barry Farber (Mitchell Whitfield), and thereafter, momentarily to sponge off her good friend, Monica, until she landed a lucrative gig as a buyer for Ralph Lauren. Throughout the series, Monica flirted with several ‘serious’ suitors. None took, however, allowing Monica and Chandler to eventually click as a couple. Chandler was, of course, best friends with Monica’s brother, Ross (David Schimmer), creating initial friction. Meanwhile, Ross – a three-time loser at marriage, and, paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History, suffered the slings and arrows of frequently being reminded his first wife, Carol Willick (Anita Barone, almost immediately replaced by Jane Sibbett) with whom he shared a son, Ben (played first by Cole Sprouse, then Charles Thomas Allen), had thrown him over for lesbian lover, Susan Bunch (Jessica Hecht).

And then, there was the marvelous Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay (also, occasionally to play her more self-absorbed twin sister, Ursula); a guitar-strumming and fabulously flighty girl, presumably from the wrong side of the tracks, whose mother had ‘also presumably’ committed suicide when she was barely a teenager. Of the six main staples, Phoebe experienced the most rewarding ‘dramatic’ arc on the show, oft’ exploited for her eccentric behavior, but gradually to find ever-lasting love with Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd) – the only son of a well-to-do Manhattan couple who abhorred their romance. The last of the core cast was Matt LeBlanc as thoroughly guileless/womanizing actor, Joey Tribbiani – the only cast member to remain otherwise unattached at the end of the show’s run – and, the only character to get his own ‘short-lived’ spin-off series, appropriately titled, Joey.

Friends also featured a delightful assortment of reoccurring kooks, from James Michael Tyler’s love-suffering barista, Gunther (desperate for Rachel) and whose coffee house, Central Perk became the show’s signature place for resolving conflict, to Elliott Gould and Christina Pickles as Ross and Monica’s thoroughly misguided parents, Jack and Judy, and, ‘Marcel’ – the Capuchin monkey, Ross kept as a pet until he sexually matured and began to hump everything. Over the years, there were many walk-on ‘love interests’ – briefly, to muddle the clarity in the friendships and/or relationships burgeoning between the main cast; Cosimo Fusco’s Paolo – a swarthy Italian, who spoke hardly any English, briefly became Rachel’s main stay to make Ross jealous. ‘Fun Bobby’ (Vincent Ventresca) was Monica’s alcoholic ex. David (Hank Azaria) was a rather goofy scientist whom Phoebe contemplates moving in with until he decides to relocate to Minsk to do pure research.

Julie (Lauren Tom) was Ross’ old flame from graduate school. And Richard Burke (Tom Selleck) was an ophthalmologist and close family friend whom Monica beds, but who also happens to be the same age as her father. Emily Waltham (Helen Baxendale), whom Ross proposes to, but then insulted by uttering Rachel’s name instead of hers at the altar, was another of the coming and goes. Tag Jones (Eddie Cahill) – a much younger ‘intern’ whom Rachel employed, briefly became her ‘boy toy’ until things went south. And then there was Tim Burke (Michael Vartan) as Richard’s son, whom Monica also dated, and, Charlie Wheeler (Aisha Tyler), romantically involved, first with Joey, then, Ross, before dumping both for her ex, Nobel Prize–winning paleontologist, Dr. Benjamin Hobart (a real loon played to perfection by a thoroughly haggard Greg Kinnear).

However, Friends also played ‘who’s who’ to a celebrity cavalcade of memorable cameos: ER’s George Clooney and Noah Wyle among the first, appeared as that show’s characters, Drs. Michael Mitchell and Jeffrey Rosen respectively, to flirt with Monica and Rachel at the hospital. Brenda Vaccaro played Joey's overbearing mother. Marlo Thomas was Monica and Ross’ liberated aunt. Chris Isaak became Phoebe's date du jour - Rob Donnan, while Julia Roberts as Susie Moss, sought a public revenge on Chandler for lifting her skirt to reveal her underwear when they were both kids in grade school. Brooke Shields as Erika Ford, stalked Joey after he becomes famous playing Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of Our Lives. Jean-Claude Van Damme (as himself) appeared in an episode where Monica becomes tongue-tied in his presence.  Charlie Sheen was Ryan – Phoebe’s old flame, and, Ben Stiller, was Tommy ‘the screamer’ – a hilariously raging bully. Wynona Ryder appeared as Melissa Warburton - a bi-curious gal/pal who once kissed Rachel at a sorority party but then denied it. Charlton Heston (as himself) was appearing in a movie in which Joey was an extra. Lady Sarah Ferguson – Duchess of York (herself), Reese Witherspoon and Christina Applegate (as Rachel’s sisters, Jill and Amy, respectively), Gary Oldman – as finnicky actor, Richard Crosby, Sean Penn as Phoebe and Ursula’s ex - Eric, and, in one of the funniest episodes, Brad Pitt played Will Colbert, a one-time ‘fat friend’ of Monica’s whom Rachel incessantly niggled in high school, but had since lost weight to become a stud with whom Phoebe flirts, Alec Baldwin, again, as Phoebe’s curiously obsessive and energetic date - Parker, Jeff Goldblum as Broadway director/actor, Leonard Hayes, Dermot Mulroney as Gavin Mitchell – a rival for Rachel’s position at work, Freddie Prinze Jr. as Sandy – a ‘manny’ for Ross and Rachel’s daughter, Emma. John Stamos was Zach – a complete stranger Chandler and Monica briefly consider to be a sperm donor after they learn they are incapable of having a child of their own, and, finally, Bruce Willis – as the steely-eyed father of Ross’ underage flame, Elizabeth, and, having taken an immediate dislike to Ross – for very obvious reasons.

Crane and Kauffman determination to make Friends a true ‘ensemble effort’, meant writing for a reoccurring cast of six, with each character given its own team of writers to develop, and, whose origin stories and current affairs – both figuratively and literally – frequently intersected. It was sheer genius on Crane and Kauffman’s part, ironically, only to hit its stride by the end of Season Two and thereafter, becoming the show’s bloodline. Friends’ parties became all the rage, as viewers followed the exploits of their favorite ‘friend’ from week to week within the ongoing exploits of this oddly assembled, though very eclectic and vivacious clique. Behind the scenes, careers were made. Virtually all six of the principals appeared in feature films apart from the series – some, more successful than others. Courtney Cox met her future ex-husband, David Arquette, on the set of Scream (1996) – reprising her role as the ambitious and conniving reporter, Gale Weathers. The Alabama-born Cox, also suffered rumors she was plagued by anorexia. And while Cox has continued to deny it, there is little doubt her weight plummeted throughout Friends’ 4th and 5th season. Cox was transformed from a fresh-faced, wholesome go-getter into a withdrawn wraith, before slowly reclaiming part of her former youth as the show prepared to end its run. In life, Cox became obsessed with plastic surgery, and, as on the show, struggled to conceive a child.

Similarly, Ottawa-born co-star, Matthew Perry fell into the predictable trap of taking fame much too seriously. After a series of failed attempts to break into the biz, Perry found the part of Chandler Bing so uncannily aligned to his own personality he dove head-strong into it. Yet, despite his good looks and his ability to make sass appear sexy, the then congenial 24-yr.-old, to his everlasting detriment, quickly unearthed the darker side of fame, his salary affording him the luxury to indulge in chronic alcoholism and drug abuse at dangerous levels. By his own admission, Perry barely recalled Seasons 3 thru 6. After a jet ski accident, he also began to binge on Vicodin. Like Cox, Perry’s weight plummeted before an unhealthy bloat set in. A month-long stint at Hazelden’s Betty Ford facility in Minnesota in 1997 did little to curb his hedonism. By 2000, Perry underwent treatment for severe pancreatitis, brought about by his decades of alcohol abuse.

While David Schwimmer, an accomplished character actor with enviable stage credits prior to joining the cast of Friends, marginally regretted the public’s inability to sever Ross from his own person, of all the Friends’ former co-stars, only Jennifer Aniston exited these heady years of runaway success, relatively unscathed. For Aniston, it wasn’t so much what happened during Friends that made tabloids, as what immediately followed its farewell in 2004; her dreams of beginning a life with then hubby of 4-years, Brad Pitt, foiled by rumors Pitt was carrying on with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) costar, Angelina Jolie. The couple’s speedy – if quiet – separation, and Pitt’s almost as expedient rekindling of a romance with Jolie broke a lot of fans’ hearts, exacerbated in the tabloids by Jolie’s deliberate flaunt of Pitt’s devotion to her and their ‘presumably’ happy union. This forewent Jolie’s dark and dangerous tastes for promiscuity, heroin, and wearing a blood sample from her husband in a tiny amulet around her neck. 

Friends is a rarity in television sitcoms. The first season is, today, not altogether regarded as great TV – in some cases, not even ‘good’ and certainly not of the caliber of NBC’s then ‘must see’ offerings from its vintage. The show’s initial and equivocal premise – 6 ‘friends’ merely bumping into each other to discuss their heartaches, sex fantasies and/or lovers, and, careers over coffee - would eventually move beyond what critic, Ann Hodges nicknamed as a ‘Seinfeld wannabe’, but without its edginess. And Friends had staying power all its own, largely because of its cast – each built around a quirky disposition – enough, to make them stand in relief, not only from each other, but also, from the other ‘ensemble’ sitcoms of its generation. Binge-watching a beloved series like Friends, one is acutely aware of how much the show ‘grew up’ between Seasons 1 and 2, with the barb-laden character-specific pokes and situations becoming more genuinely heartfelt and interwoven in the arc of an entire season. From this springboard, a small army or writers took Friends to even more ambitious heights, developing reoccurring secondary characters, like Giovanni Ribisi as Phoebe’s dim-witted brother, Frank Jr. for whom Phoebe would become artificially inseminated to provide him and his much older wife, home-economics teacher, Alice (Debra Jo Rupp) with triplets.

And from this impressive launch in Season 2, the show’s writing would remain of an extremely rare and very high caliber throughout the next eight years. One of the enduring dramatic arcs was Ross and Rachel’s flawed love affair, begun after he openly confessed his long-standing passion, then submarined when – ‘while on a break’ (aside, in life, folks, there is no such thing!)– he seduced a local copy girl for casual sex, thereupon rupturing his already fragile relations with Rachel. From this gloomy splinter sprang reoccurring themes of inadequacy on both sides. Rachel, openly dated a wide variety of interested male suitors, but was never able to find ‘Mr. Right’. While Ross, after proposing to Elizabeth – only to utter Rachel’s name at the altar, finally wedded and bedded a drunken Rachel in Vegas to produce a child, Emma, only to then strike into his third – and final, divorce, eventually found the courage to confess his ever-lasting love for Rachel (and she, miraculously for him) in the penultimate moments of Season 10’s hour-long finale.

The ‘lesser’ dramatic arc in Friends belonged to Monica and Chandler – less only because it was inveigled by awkward passion, and chronic flux to anchor down the particulars as to what made their unlikely union click. For here was a romance, at first, desperately – even riotously – concealed from the remaining ‘friends’ for fear, none would be able to comprehend it, and, Ross, for certain, incapable to be accepting of it. Gradually, the various cohorts came to learn of the couple’s frequent flagrante delictos, and Ross, always late to the party, recognized his best friend and sister were, in fact, soul mates.  As the couple proved childless – and unlikely ever to conceive – the latter episodes of final season dealt with Monica and Chandler’s search for the perfect surrogate, whose child they would adopt, ultimately making the executive decision to leave New York and become suburbanites.

The show’s pilot focused on Rachel ditching her wealthy dentist/fiancé, Barry at the altar and her snap decision to move into Monica’s apartment. From here, we were almost immediately introduced to the rest of the gang. Chandler and Joey lived in the apartment across the hall, with everyone gathered to console Ross, as Carol has just announced she was leaving him to move in and co-parent their child with her lesbian lover. Desperate for money, the uber-pampered Rachel then took a job as a bad waitress at Central Perk – the coffee house frequented by everyone. Season 1 meandered through vignettes – some more charming than others. There were episodes devoted to Monica and Phoebe’s failed love interests, Chandler’s awkward addiction to cigarettes and his even more clumsily intermittent break-ups with girlfriend, Janice.

Thereafter, Janice became the franchise’s first reoccurring secondary character with her iconic and grating ‘laugh’ (a Fran Drescher knock-off) and signature line of surprise, “Oh – my – God!” There were also episodes in which we met some of the annoying neighbors in the building – more, as basic filler than plot-driven incidents to contribute to the enrichment of the show’s comedy. A flashback episode illustrated Monica had been an obese teenager, thereupon making some of the latter-episodes ‘fat’ jokes more apropos, if hardly, more PC-friendly.  Season 1 also followed Joey on several auditions for off-Broadway stage work and TV commercials, introducing us to his nattering agent, Estelle Leonard (June Gable), whose blind faith would eventually pay off, although it first led to Joey being a spokesmodel for venereal diseases.

Season 1 also introduced us to Phoebe’s lover, David, and, Chandler’s sexually uninhibited romance novelist mother, Nora (Morgan Fairchild). One of the most enjoyable episodes from this first launch involved Chandler accidentally seeing Rachel topless, a discovery she became hell-bent to avenge, resulting in Rachel seeing Joey naked, Joey observing Monica sans clothes, and finally, Monica surprising Joey’s father in the shower. These revelations were then exacerbated by Phoebe’s latest fling, Roger (Fisher Stevens) whose snap psychoanalysis of the group hit a little too close to home for all concerned. Momentarily, Joey was to fall for Phoebe’s insidiously callous sister, Ursula, and Ross adopted Marcel, the monkey. After being fired from Central Perk, Rachel unsuccessfully aspired to become a buyer for Saks Fifth Ave. At season’s end, Carol gave birth to Ross’ son, Ben, and, Rachel learned the depth of Ross’ affections for her as he was boarding a plane to do archeological work in China.

At the outset of Season 2, Ross' return home threw another wrench into the Ross/Rachel love affair when he arrived on the arm of his assistant, Julie, a potential love interest. This caused Rachel to take a lover, Paolo, to save face. Worse, Monica and Julie hit it off. The surprises continued, as Phoebe revealed to all she had secretly wed a homosexual Canadian figure skater, Duncan (Steve Zahn) who then confessed he had taken her to wife merely to get his green card while secretly desiring another woman. We also learned Joey had appeared in porn, and Chandler had a third nipple. Ironically, seeking advice from Rachel on how best to proceed in his love affair with Julie, Rachel counseled Ross to abstain from any sexual intercourse. Phoebe was introduced to her estranged half-brother, Frank Jr. who, in turns out, was in love with his much older home-ec teacher.

Meanwhile, Monica decided to get back together with an old flame – Fun Bobby – who turned out to be anything but after giving up the bottle. Rachel began dating ‘Russ’ – a Ross look-a-like (also played by David Schwimmer). This led to Russ and Julie falling in love, leaving Ross and Rachel to resume their romance. Now, Monica discovered her hidden feelings for Richard Burke, an ophthalmologist and friend of the family who also happens to be the same age as her father. Their affair would last until the final episode in Season 2 when she decided their age discrepancy could not outlast their burgeoning love for each other – especially since Monica wanted children and Richard did not. Joey landed a reoccurring role on a popular daytime soap, resulting in his moving out to more posh digs until he blundered into an interview with Soap Opera Digest, resulting in his termination from the show.

During Season 3, the writers explored each character’s sexual proclivities more thoroughly. Ross’s ‘Princess Leia’ fantasy was among the offerings. Chandler’s fear of ‘becoming’ gay, just like his drag queen father, further pushed him into the arms of Janice until he became commitment shy and ditched her yet again. Rachel’s new job at Bloomingdales created an upset for Ross, who became jealous of her mentor, Mark (Steven A. Eckholdt).  Meanwhile, Chandler and Joey both fell for Chloe (Angela Featherstone), a girl at the copy center, while Ross, certain Rachel was on the cusp of having an affair with Mark, broke off with Rachel; then, compounded his error by sleeping with Chloe.  Naturally, Rachel eventually unearthed the truth, resulting in a bitter grudge and their seemingly unrepairable separation. Also, Phoebe’s desire to date two men at once – Vince, a studly fireman (Matt Battaglia), and Jason (Robert Gant), an impossibly as sexy kindergarten teacher, resulted in each man discovering the other. At the end of Season 3, a beach house getaway resulted in Phoebe setting Ross up with Bonnie (Christine Taylor), a pretty girl who shaves her head. Chandler set out to prove to Monica he was ‘boyfriend’ material but miserably failed to convince her. Appearing on the edge of a reconciliation, Rachel and Ross were again parted when Bonnie surprised everyone with an impromptu visit. 

At the outset of Season 4, Ross and Rachel reconciled, although his inability to accept full responsibility for their break-up, again resulted in a rift. For the rest of the season, Ross and Rachel would date other people, virtually all of them with genuine character flaws, resulting in some fairly hilarious ‘cute meets’ and ‘joyous defeats’ – further to solidify, if only for the audience, they were, indeed, destined to become soul mates. Chandler became smitten with Joey’s girlfriend, Kathy, while Monica began to date Richard’s son. Ross hooked up with Emily – a Brit for whom he seemed finally to have found true love. By the end of Season 4, Phoebe would become a surrogate for her half-brother, Frank Jr. and give birth to his triplets. Having unearthed Ross’ feeling for Rachel, Emily made the demand Ross fly to England to be with her. This, he did, and later proposed marriage, only to refer to his bride-to-be as Rachel at the altar – much to the bride’s chagrin.

Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler began having their affair, skulking around hotel rooms in secret. After the summer hiatus, Season 5 marked the beginnings of Monica and Chandler’s failed attempt to keep their sexual rendezvous from everyone. Torn between Rachel and Emily, Ross was to thoroughly muddle his affections for both women, leaving Rachel forlorn and flying solo to Greece. Thereafter, Ross and Rachel repeatedly failed to connect, and Rachel, determined to rid herself of her emotions for Ross, began exploring various ways of improving herself, including taking a literature course with Phoebe. Joey, then Rachel, and then Phoebe, learned of Monica and Chandler’s on-going affair but elect to keep it a secret from Ross until he bore witness to their passion through the open window of his newly acquired apartment, whose living room unfortunately faced Monica’s.  At the end of Season 5, Rachel was hired by Ralph Lauren as a buyer, and, Ross and Rachel, on a drunken whim in Vegas, tied the knot at the Chapel of Love.

In between Seasons 5 and 6, Courtney Cox became Mrs. David Arquette, her screen credit hyphenated in the show’s credits thereafter. As for further plot developments, the arc of interest in Season 6 revolved around Monica and Chandler moving in together, necessitating Joey finding a ‘new’ roommate and forcing Rachel to move out of Monica’s apartment. Lying to Rachel about having their whimsical Vegas nuptials annulled, Ross invited her to move in with him under the false pretext of just being roomies. When Rachel learned of his deception, she filed for the annulment, claiming Ross to be gay, mentally unstable, and addicted to intravenous drugs. When Ross contested these criteria, the judge ordered the couple to legally file for divorce. Later, Rachel moved in with Phoebe, and Joey found a temporary roommate in Janine (Elle Macpherson) – a dancer, whom he aspired to develop his first ‘serious’ relationship. Meanwhile, Ross attained an assistant professor’s position at the local college, almost derailed when he began to date one of his students, Elizabeth, raising more than a few eyebrows on campus, as well as incurring the ire of her father, Paul. Their affair was as short-lived, as Rachel’s with Paul, and also, Joey’s stint on a failed sci-fi TV series, Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E. The season concluded with Chandler proposing to Monica in their candle-lit apartment.

In Season 7, Monica and Chandler’s pending nuptials became the center of much controversy. Phoebe’s desire to play her guitar at their reception created some angst for Monica, as did Monica’s discovery her parents spent her entire wedding fund to build their dream beach house. Worse, Chandler’s attempts to encourage a little spending prudence infuriated his bride to be. Meanwhile, as Chandler's new eyeglasses fogged up in the gym steam room, he inadvertently sat on his future father-in-law's lap while both men were in the nude. Rachel hired a new assistant, Tag, based solely on his attractiveness, while Joey was re-hired to play the evil twin of the character he once had played on Days of Our Lives. Eventually, Tag and Rachel began to date against the house rules of Ralph Lauren. Alas, when Rachel turned 30, she suddenly realized the error in this judgement and dumped Tag. Meanwhile, Monica became embroiled in a free-for-all at a discount bridal shop in order to buy the dress of her dreams. As the wedding neared, Monica believed it important for Chandler to reconcile with his estranged gay father (Kathleen Turner) by attending one of his drag shows. Rachel discovered she was pregnant with Ross’ baby but, through a mix up, Phoebe assumed the positive test results, found in Monica’s bathroom, indicated she was the one pregnant with Chandler’s baby. An acute attack of cold feet caused Chandler to nearly miss his own wedding.

In Season 8, Rachel’s pregnancy was unearthed by Monica and Phoebe. Everyone assumed Tag was the father, as a red sweater inferred he had been the last man with whom Rachel had been intimate. In fact, the sweater belonged to Ross. Consternation arose after Ross learned of his parentage – claiming Rachel had come on to him, while she insisted quite the opposite. Eventually, a tape surfaced to confirm Ross’ story, leaving Rachel humiliated. Season 8 also introduced Joey’s secret feelings for Rachel – confirmed when, after being spurned by Ross yet again, Joey asked Rachel to move in with him. Struggling with her emotions, Rachel moved in with Ross, much to the chagrin of his gal/pal, Mona. Meanwhile, Joey confessed his feelings for Rachel to Ross who, at first appalled, later encouraged it. But Rachel gingerly turned Joey down. In their verve to throw Rachel a baby shower, Phoebe and Monica forgot to invite her mother, Sandra. As Rachel’s due date passed uneventfully, she attempted to induce her own labor. The season concluded with Ross and Monica’s mother, Judy, giving Ross her mother’s engagement ring to propose to Rachel. As fate would have it, Joey found the ring on the floor under Rachel’s bed and, believing he was the one actually proposing to her, Rachel accepted.

By Season 9 there was some evidence the momentum in Friends’ popularity was winding down. The machinations employed to continually delay Ross’ inevitable reconciliation with Rachel showed some strain. The couple hired a ‘manny’, then separated, with Ross dating Charlie – a fellow professor still in love with her ex. As if this were not enough, the writers also inexplicably created a storyline where Chandler was forced to take an executive’s position in Tulsa, leaving Monica alone in their apartment while he commutes back and forth. To fill the void of his character’s periodic absences, the focus of Season 9 shifted to Phoebe and her burgeoning relationship with Mike, hitting a few awkward snags along the way, especially when David returned, professing his love for Phoebe too. Stuck in Tulsa on Christmas Eve, and narrowly avoiding being seduced by a co-worker, Chandler quit his job and took the first flight back to New York. Unemployed, he eventually procured a job in advertising where he proved to be the oldest of the unpaid interns. Experiencing financial woes, Monica and Chandler each, independently asked Joey, now the more affluent of their close-knit clique, for a loan, but later decided to do without a few luxuries instead. Meanwhile, Rachel began to develop delayed and awkward feelings for Joey. Having secured his job in advertising, Chandler and Monica plotted to start a family, only to learn they were infertile. At the end of the season, Mike proposed to Phoebe and Ross impetuously kissed Rachel, once more muddling her torn feelings for both him and Joey.

For reasons undisclosed, the final season of Friends was foreshortened from 24 to 17 episodes, swiftly to tie up virtually all of the loose ends in these narrative arcs. Ross was dumped by Charlie, allowing him to pursue Rachel. Phoebe and Mike, after some initial consternation, held their impromptu outdoor wedding just beyond the courtyard of Central Perk in the middle of a crippling blizzard. Meanwhile, Monica and Chandler decided to move out of the city to a big, beautiful home in the suburbs, creating a bit of stress for all concerned. Having made a mix-up with the adoption records, Monica and Chandler were then mistaken for another couple by the prospective birth mother, Erica (Anna Faris) who, nevertheless, eventually decides to give them her child. The season concluded with Erica giving birth to twins, and, Rachel, having accepted a buyer’s job in Paris after being fired from Ralph Lauren, thwarted in her plans to begin anew by Ross’ last-minute declaration of love at the airport…unless, of course, they are ‘on a break’. Season 10 received generally mixed reviews, with only a few critics actually acknowledging that the trajectory of the show had been steadily morphing away from ‘fall down’ comedy to family-orientated situations, reshaped by the casts’ natural maturing into adulthood.

In the years since Friends departed our airwaves, other sitcoms have tried in vain to bottle the magic of a well-written ensemble piece where the lives of seemingly disparate individuals come together in meaningful and unexpected ways. Alas, nothing on the horizon has managed to quite duplicate this show’s endearing familial quality, proving the time-honored adage, that true ‘friends’ are forever. Interesting to consider the show to crystalize this concept was almost entitled ‘Insomnia Café’ – as pitched to NBC by Crane and Kauffman, along with their production partner, Kevin Bright. The trio’s timing could not have been more perfect, as network president, Warren Littlefield, was searching for just such a property to put into production. Littlefield’s aim was for a series to represent Generation X-ers in their awkward transition into adulthood. From here, the title of the series morphed into ‘Six of One’ as NBC felt ‘Friends Like Us’ too complimentary to ABC’s rival sitcom launch, These Friends of Mine.

The other intrigue here is how close we came to getting a different assortment of ‘friends’, as producers had hoped to cast Courtney Cox as Rachel. The part of Ross was always written with David Schwimmer in mind. But Crane and Kauffman were forced by Littlefield to accept Matt LeBlanc as Joey (a decision they were not entirely happy about), while Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were signed, based on the merits of their respective auditions. Season 1’s growing pains eventually yielded to a more adept approach to the writing, tailoring the gags to suit the actors. In particular, the character of Joey grew considerably into a more naïve sort, while Monica, at the outset, the level-headed den mother of the group, increasingly drew on a neurotically charged obsessive/compulsiveness that made her competitively flawed. Kauffman and Crane, although integrally involved in the show’s daily operations, ultimately relinquished control of the show’s development to a small army of young writers, the main staples, Adam Chase (who wrote a whopping 53 episodes), Alexa Junge (49 episodes), Jeff Astrof, Mike Skiowitz and Ira Ungerleider (47 episodes each), Greg Malins (37), Michael Curtis, and, Scott Silveri (32 each), Shana Goldberg-Meehan (31), and, Ted Cohen (25), basically crafting the characters and episodes we have since come to know and love. Throughout each summer hiatus, the writers, along with the producers, convened to discuss the pending season’s narrative arcs and storylines well in advance of shooting each episode.

While the show’s establishing shots were all authentically New York based, cast and crew never actually left the Warner Bros. Burbank lot to shoot, confined to Stage 5 for Season 1, but moved to the more spacious Stage 24 for the remainder of the show’s run. Virtually all of the other ‘locations’ – from Barbados to Vegas - were recreated at Warner Bros.. Ironically, Season 4’s finale, Ross and Emily’s flubbed wedding, was actually shot in London, England where the episode is set, as Friends had a massive following in the UK. It took roughly 6-hours to shoot each 22-minute episode. But by the start of the 9th Season, Kauffman and Crane were preparing to bow the franchise they had created, particularly after their writers expressed some consternation how to balance the intrusion of a baby into the lives of Rachel and Ross. The 10th season’s foreshortening was therefore designed to wind up the franchise, with Kauffman and Crane absolutely refusing to carry on, even if the network or cast expressed interests otherwise. NBC transformed the final episode of Friends into an all-night love-in, preceded by an hour-long retrospective of all that had gone before it, and, with a memorable follow-up and send off, Jay Leno hosting The Tonight Show from the Central Perk coffee house set, with the principal cast as his guests.  The end of Friends became the 4th most-watched series finale in television history, outclassed only by the grand finales to M*A*S*H, Cheers, and, Seinfeld. Almost 20 year later, with 236 episodes, 63 Emmy nominations, and over 50-million viewers tuning in weekly at the height of the show’s popularity, Friends remains one of the irrefutable ‘feel good’ sitcoms from an era that bred them like Pez candy, or just a warm cup of java  continues to warm our hearts.

One of the rare sitcoms to actually be shot on 35mm film as opposed to digital tape, allowed for Friends: The Complete Series to receive a proper 1080p upgrade nearly 6 years ago.  Now, we get the 4K release. Question: how much better can Friends look in hi-def? Answer: not very, especially when the scan used here is identical to the one down-sampled for 1080p. And Warner Home Video has yet to rectify the slight fans endured from that standard Blu release, electing to offer up only the broadcast versions of each episode in UHD 4K. The various repackaged DVD releases contained ‘full’ episodes, with added footage excised before their broadcast for time constraints. The other faux pas here is that WHV continues to present the entire broadcast run of Friends only in open matte 1.78:1. The first 5 years were broadcast in ‘then’ standard 1.33:1.

To be clear, Friends was originally conceived in 1.78:1, but cropped for standard 1.33:1 broadcast - until the Blu-ray when Warner re-scanned episodes in their native widescreen format.  Important to note, ‘hi-def’ was a concept not even fully understood in 1994, much less aspired to by TV show creators for future cultural preservation. So, ostensibly, the creators were actually forward thinking in their aspirations to present the show in widescreen. That’s the good news. The rest is more difficult to decipher. Image quality here is all over the place. Color balancing veers from subdued to occasionally muddy, to garish and gaudy, depending on the season, and overall image clarity toggles between moderately impressive to downright soft, with grain levels intermittently banished, and elsewhere, burgeoning forth to an unusual level of distraction. Again, remember the vintage of the series for context. Friends was never meant to be viewed on anything larger than a 32-inch tube TV. Cost-cutting measures aside, the aspirations here were to preserve it for smaller format viewing – not to be scrutinized on 85-inch flat screens or (choke!) home theater projection.

The more disconcerting issues here arise from the actual masters used, artificially sharpened for the DVD era, with none of that digital tweaking realigned to accommodate the wider gamut of scan lines in a Blu-ray, and now – 4K.  Color and contrast is very inconsistently rendered. Season 1 – 3 illustrate a pleasing, almost natural appearance, while thereafter, the image becomes overly saturated with contrast boost, and then, in latter seasons, suddenly drops to more acceptable levels, but with a dulling effect on color grading in general.  Flesh goes from orange to pink. It never looks natural in any of these episodes. Primary colors turn cartoony bright and artificial too. There is a lot of black crush throughout, and compression artifacts that pop up here and there for no apparent reason. WHV have also plastered certain episodes with so much DNR, midrange and close-up shots become a waxy mess – though again, not always. It’s maddening, frankly. The Blu’s were arguably, ‘acceptable’ in a sort of “oh well, it’s nice to have Friends in hi-def”. But in 4K – not so much. While the uptick from DVD to Blu was noticeable, the move from 1080p to 4K isn’t so much a leap as a misstep ‘money grab’ to goad the collector into buying something they already own in comparable quality. Frankly, not impressed.   

Warner has stuck with the show’s original ‘stereo’ mix, given a Dolby Digital 5.1 upgrade for the DVD releases, rather than a new lossless remaster. Realistically, however, I really don’t see how a DTS track would have ‘improved’ what’s already here. So, no harm/no foul. With the exception of the Friends ‘reunion’ broadcast and a tribute to the late Matthew Perry, virtually all of the special features included here hail from the DVD and Blu-ray release of Friends. Addressing the elephant in the room – NO – the extended cuts of episodes are not among this content. You will get 29 audio commentaries, spread throughout the series, plus a lot of disposable junkets produced in standard def, and, 3 ‘documentaries’ created exclusively for the Blu-ray set. Also, the extras are NOT in 4K, but housed on separate Blu-rays. There are season summaries and gag reels and, of course, The Rembrandts’ ‘I’ll Be There For You’ music video - in SD. Bottom line: Friends: The Complete Series in 4K is a pretty shabby release for all of the aforementioned omissions and inconsistencies that remain. If WHV really wanted to impress, it could have done a lot better here. Overall, adequate – with caveats. But we already had that on Blu-ray. The anticipation for vast improvements and a comprehensive set at last in 4K remains unfulfilled herein. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

Overall - 4

VIDEO/AUDIO

Overall – 3

EXTRAS

2.5