Friends: Season 8

During the seventh season, many people thought that Friends was near the end. The comedy that existed in the beginning seemed to be a little stale, yet it was still one of the best shows on television. There was talk that season eight would be the final one for the six friends. Then came Sept. 11. Following the horrific events of that day, people began turning to comfort items and Friends was certainly that. Rejuvenated by higher ratings the show took off again and enjoyed quite possibly one of the finest years in the ten year run. The eighth season journeyed down a number of roads, with the two predominant ones being Ross and Rachel's baby and Chandler and Monica as newlyweds. Matthew Perry's Chandler went through a lot of changes during the course of the show, probably the most of any of the characters. Seeing him as a newlywed brings a whole new side to his comedy. He was certainly funny as a single guy living with Joey, but this newlywed Chandler is a different kind of funny. Courtney Cox Arquette is great as the neurotic Monica, finally in a marriage, but with someone she may never have guessed only a few short years ago, before the whole London thing. In this season she attempts to stick it to a reviewer who disses her restaurant, talks Chandler into taking baths and tries to impress her parents with a toast involving a dead dog. Once again, her comedy with Chandler takes on a whole new level. The storyline involving Ross and Rachel's baby is a great one and the episode where everyone finds out exactly how it "happened" is one of the best of the season. As a viewer, most people have been rooting for the two to get together, and this season does that, but at the same time begins to pull them apart. The very beautiful Jennifer Aniston pulls off a pregnant Rachel very well. The nerves, the mood swings, the food aversions, and the actual birth itself are all well done. This is her moment to shine on this show and she takes it and runs with it. As Ross, David Schwimmer continues to be the "divorced guy." He meets Mona at Monica and Chandler's wedding and begins dating her then tries to explain the whole Rachel pregnancy thing to her. He talks himself into many ridiculous situations throughout the course of the season. Matt LeBlanc's Joey gets a great storyline in the season as well, as he realizes he is falling in love with Rachel. This plays out through the season as Rachel moves in with Ross, then after having the baby, says yes to Joey's "proposal", leaving the viewer hanging until the start of season nine. As Phoebe, Lisa Kudrow is often on the outside, but she presents a unique angle on many of the situations. Her stories this year include dating her twin sister's fiancee (Sean Penn), giving Monica a massage and a variety of other strange situations. This season featured some great episodes, as mentioned. One of the great episodes of the ten seasons was the Thanksgiving episode featuring Brad Pitt. He plays a high school friend of Ross who was a founding member of the "I Hate Rachel Green Club". His loathing of her makes for an interesting Thanksgiving for everyone. And it is actually kind of funny to watch him despise his real life wife. All in all, this season was one of the best seasons of the show. Viewers got to see new sides to many of the characters, yet the old back stories that made them who they are still are relevant. The ending to the season was a great one, leaving a viewer hanging on until season nine (Which is due out in a few months). Obviously any fan of Friends is going to want this set, but anyone who is a fan of the sitcom in general and wants to see what good writing and good acting look like, this, or any set from the Friends series, is a good bet. NBC sure misses this show.

I love Friends, though, personally, I've felt it was at its best season 1-5. When season 6 came around it was good but not quite as good as 5. Then season 7 honestly wasn't very good. It was just a "day in the life" kind of things but there wasn't much going on to really keep you wanting to watch and see what happens. I feel like the writers were struggling to shift the stories with the age of the characters and things happening in their lives. Just when one may think that it's ready to end, the show definitely lives up again this season. Rachel's pregnancy is one of the pushes... but not only that, but the jokes, writing, and acting was all perfected. They allowed the characters to evolve and we could really see new dimensions to their personalities. They really did well this season and while watching this season I'm not at all surprised that they one an Emmy in 2002. Overall, fantastic season and definitely worth watching.

FINALLY- After a long period between the release of season 7, the end of friends and finally we can move on the next set of DVDs - the long awaited season 8! I will admit I absolutely love EVERY single episode of friends and it will forever be my fave show but season 8 is truly great. Many people think friends was losing its touch around season 7, as it wasnt the greatest and some thought plots were getting stale- but the dynamic group came back full force in season 8 with great new storylines and the magic and freshness that dominated the first few seasons. This was the season that debuted after the unfortunate events of 9/11 in New York and it was at this time that Friends' ratings once again shot through the roof as people found comfort in their favorite show. Now that it has finally been released on DVD we too can find comfort in watching our favorite six over and over on disc now that the show is over forever :(!!

Fun way to always enjoy this great comedy

Okay, so I NEVER watched Friends until the 8th season. The reason why is because I was pregnant (along with Rachael!!) and before I was pregnant, I worked and was a student and didn't watch much TV at all. When I got pregnant, I didn't work anymore and watched a LOT of TV, which is when I started watching Friends. I fell in love! I completely related to Rachael because I was pregnant too and it was SO FUNNY to go through pregnancy with Rachael and identify with her so much! We moved to Japan after that season (after Rachael and I had our babies!) and I couldn't watch the 9th season, so a friend taped the first half of the season for me (but I had to send the tape back), and I missed the whole last half of that season! The 10th season, I saw most of it, but missed the last 4 episodes! I ended up buying EVERY single season on DVD (up to the 7th, of course) and it was SO FUN to watch almost every episode for the first time and finally understand the whole Ross & Rachael history! I have now seen Seasons 1-7 five times through! I know, crazy, right? I'm just a huge fan now. So I never saw the first couple of episodes of Season 8, so I'm dying to find out about the one after Monica and Chandler say "I do." I hope seasons 9 and 10 don't take too long, because I haven't seen 1/2 of season 9 or the last 4 episodes of season 10!! Keep in mind, everything I did see from Season 8 to season 10, I saw BEFORE watching seasons 1-7 and understanding the Friends' history. Oh, and on a side note, I gave birth before Rachael: I named my daughter Emily and she named hers Emma!!

Comme d'habitude, avec les "Friends", on fait le plein de fous rire tout on observant la fameuse bande d'amis évoluer en maturité... La qualité du produit est tout simplement irréprochable et le contenu de ces DVD est tout aussi parfait!

ESTA SERIE ES MUY ENTRETENIDA, NOS GUSTA MUCHO Y TIENE MOMENTOS MUY DIVERTIDOS PARA VER TODA LA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS

Love all 10 seasons of FRIENDS! Very funny show! Good packaging and arrived in good time.

There are funnier things than Friends on television, but nothing as long-lasting and consistently funny. In Season 8, the acting and directing (as well as visual quality) have improved from the early series, whilst it has lost none of its inventiveness and sparkle. The season kicks off right after Monica & Chandler's "I do" and with the finding that Rachel is with child. Her pregnancy comes up in all 24 episodes. From the identity of the father ("Oh no- don't tell me it's her!"), to the possibility of marriage ("What, because that's your answer to everything?") and breaking the news to the parents (I particularly loved Rach explaining to her father why Ross won't marry her: "He says I'm damaged goods"). The question comes up: can the pair commit themselves to raising the child together whilst continuing their separate love lives as before? Certainly, it's not the sort of thing that blights lives: Rachel has a stable career and can afford to refuse a husband. It is perhaps in recognition of how anaesthetised it is that halfway through the season, she meets a much younger woman with far fewer financial means in the same situation. Interestingly, there is no mention whatsoever of the possibility of abortion. Also involving R&R, an old friend from High School returns bearing an old and dark hatred (played by Brad Pitt, who is not mentioned in the credits for some reason) and that old favourite, a woman demanding sex from a man (nobody as attractive as Jennifer Aniston can be so pathetic at sexual provocation). Meanwhile, see Phoebe spell out her name ("P as in Phoebe..."), Joey reminiscing about his first good review ("Everything else was just terrible; Joey Tribbiani was abysmal."), Monica splurging on a pair of ill-fitting boots ("They're killing me, one toe at a time!") and Chandler taking a bath with oils and perfumes (but also a toy boat, which makes it a man's bath). And plenty of others that would seem flat and boring on paper. What really puzzles me is how devoid of features the DVD release is. No interviews, commentaries or even scene selection (very annoying). However, they do promise: `Web enabled' (what's that?) `Scene access' (no, only episode access) `Interactive menus' (like selling a car as having a waterproof petrol tank) `Original TV broadcast episodes, each containing "never before seen" footage, exclusive to DVD' (I'm sure Hegel would love that). There's a dubbing in French, but it's awful (use subtitles). The franchise deserves much better.

Absolutely love this season when Ross and Rachel are expects baby. Friends will be there for you.