Friends : Complete Series 1-10 Box Set - 30 Discs (New design) [DVD]

What was the defining TV series of the 90s?Maybe the X-Files, possibly Frasier, Inspector Morse if you like something more British, but Friends is probably the series that held the most attention for longest for the greatest number of people. Certainly, of all the romantic comedy series, Friends was the clear winner.Why was Friends such a great series? It's easy to talk about the attractive cast, the fast moving banter, the endless flow of comic situations, and the overall energy of the performances. But all these things were true of Veronica's Closet, Seinfeld and Ellen, and are as true today of Ten Simple Rules, Big Bang Theory and a dozen other would-be hit shows.What Friends had was a perfectly balanced set of core characters, with the most unlikely pairing - bookish, unsophisticated Ross and fashionable, unintellectual Rachel - destined from the beginning to be the key romantic interest. But there was much more embedded in the mix. The first time around, few of us spotted the potential for romance between Chandler and Monica. Watching from the beginning again, the tension between them is palpable, and probably most of us are wondering how we missed it.The main attraction of this boxed set is the ability to watch all the way through from the beginning to the end. Of course, actually doing this will take five solid days without a break, which wouldn't be medically advisable, but it does mean that you can relive the years 1994 to 2004 in a virtually endless experience of romantic nostalgia.Other reviewers have complained about the packaging and the fact that it doesn't include the uncut US scenes available on Region 1 discs. You need to make your own mind up about this. Personally, five solid days is enough for me and I don't need the extra scenes. Equally, the extremely compact packaging is a real plus -- actually quite a triumph getting 236 episodes on 40 discs (including two music discs) into a nice sized box. You also need to make your mind up about whether you want the inconvenience of Region 1 discs. We have a multi-region DVD player which is fine, but the upscaling on our Region 2 Blu-Ray player produces a vastly better picture. For my money, this was the set to get, and I'm not disappointed.--PostscriptIt seems that there are two versions of this set doing the rounds. Some people's sets have no printing on the discs, and are being described as 'double-sided' (which, if accurate, means you have to flip the discs half-way through, like an old LP). These discs are also short on extras, and are missing scenes.My set (and some of the other reviewers') is properly printed, are dual-layer discs (you don't flip them), and contain extras on each disc, as well as what appear to be uncut episodes.I'm delighted with my set, but I can see why anyone receiving the unprinted discs is going to struggle with them -- not only do they have less material, but must also be a nightmare to find out which disc you are on. If you receive such a set, my personal advice would be to return it and demand a proper one. By the way, my discs _are_ Region 2 discs.

It's friends. It's good, but it could be so much better. Why are we short changed? Why don't we get the uncut episodes that the US release gave us? Some of the funniest moments have been cut for length or content and we will never get to see them. They actually did away with the specially released uncut episodes that were released on individual DVDs for seasons 7 and 8. Am very disappointed. How many repackagings do we get before we see some real extras, some new scenes and single sided disks? This is nothing I haven't see before.

This box rocks. Being a big fan of Friends I must say this is a great product. With a lot of extra bonuses (photos and videos, interviews, etc.).

The condition was a joke. The box was ripped in several places, and the disks looked like they'd been handled by a toddler after a meal. I don't recommend this seller. This was a gift so I had no choice but to spend 4 hours restoring the box myself and cleaning the disks. It's also a cheap 4:3 ratio converting and not the official wide screen version of the box set. Ultimately I'll have to purchase the proper official version as this ended serving as a "place holder/promise I'll get you the nice version" gift to the recipient. Very disappointed and can't be bothered fighting with the seller.

Still watching these after years of use as purchased 2008.

Bought this as a birthday present for my friend and am so pleased I'm considering buying it for myself - even though I already have all the individual seasons on DVD! The complete collection is great as it is so compact - takes up the same amount of space as about 2 of my original boxsets. There are 6 episodes on a disc so less getting up to change over. Lots of special features too.Only criticism is that you can't tell at a glance which series you're watching as there are only 6 packs of DVDs inside as opposed to 10 - not a big issue really.All in all very good product.

Great item

Loved Friends when it was on TV and had the whole collection on DVD and video, but to save space we bought this collection to replace them. It saves space however I'd probably recommend getting individual DVD sets.Because the disks are double-sided I find it annoying having to figure out which side to put in (we've now marked the middle of each side A and B in marker pen to help us), and I much prefer being able to easily see what episodes are on each disk. This might not bother everyone, but me and my mum now watch less Friends just because it's annoying finding the episodes we're in the mood for.