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Friends: Complete Sixth Season
Warner Bros. // Unrated // January 27, 2004
List Price: $44.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Show
I began watching Friends in 1996, when I was introduced to it by my then girlfriend (now wife)(I, in turn, forced her to watch The Simpsons.), and I have been a loyal fan of the show ever since. Up until recently, if someone had asked me which season of Friends was my favorite, I'm not sure if I would have had an answer. I certainly have favorite episodes, but I couldn't have named a favorite year. That has changed with the release of Friends: The Complete Sixth Season on DVD, which helped to remind me which season continued some of my best-loved shows.
(SPOILER WARNING!: In order to describe Friends Season Six, I must divulge some of the plot-lines for the shows, as well as discuss events from Season 5. So, if you haven't seen Season 5 and want to be surprised by Season 6, read with caution.) As Season 5 of Friends drew to a close, the cast of familiar faces found themselves in Las Vegas where Joey (Matt LeBlanc) was (supposedly) shooting a movie. Overcome with the thrill of Vegas, Monica (Courteney Cox Arquette) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) almost get married, but decide to wait. However, as they are about to leave the chapel, they are surprised to find that a drunken Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) have just exchanged vows.
With the opening of Season 6, Ross and Rachel decide that an annulment is in order, although it takes Ross quite some time to come through with this. Another change takes place as Monica and Chandler decide to live together, which means that Rachel must move out and that Joey must find a new roommate. Rachel moves in with Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), while a dancer named Janine (Elle MacPherson) shares Joey's apartment. As the season progresses, the majority of the storylines focus on Monica and Chandler. As their blossoming romance, the gang begins to wonder if Chandler will propose.
Unlike the previous two seasons of Friends, Season 6 works for two reasons. One, the Monica and Chandler plotline is a positive one which harks back to the very early episodes of the show in which Ross was courting Rachel. The relationship between Monica and Chandler may be contrived and convenient in terms of how it was written into the show, but they do make a good couple and watching their relationship grow is fun, especially when one considers how the manic Monica scares Chandler. The focus on this couple leads to the second successful ingredient of this season. It allows the other four main characters to have their own individual adventures. Once Ross straightens out his marriage to Rachel, he becomes involved with one of his students, and this leads to an Emmy-award winning guest appearance by Bruce Willis. Joey is attracted to Janine, but is unsure how to approach her. And Phoebe and Rachel must come to terms with their differences in order to be successful roomies.
In my review for Friends Season 5, I mentioned that the true measure of the show's quality was the Thanksgiving episode. The one in Season 6, in which Chandler learns that Monica's parents don't like him and Rachel makes a dessert with meat, is one of the best ever and ensures a stamp of quality for this season. Combine this with the episode in which Ross and Monica perform a dance routine from middle school on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and you've got the makings for my favorite season of Friends.
Video
Friends: The Complete Sixth Season comes to DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. This four disc set contains all 23 episodes from the show's sixth season. The shows are presented in their original 4:3 aspect ratio. The video quality of the episodes contained in this set is much better than that of the Season 5 DVDs. The pictures are sharp and clear for the most part, as there is very little grain present. The colors are bright and bolds, but there is some bleeding around the edges of most objects on-screen. Artifacting is visible throughout the episodes, but it is not overly distracting. The quality of the video presentation is good, but it doesn't quite match digital broadcast quality.
Audio
The episodes contained on these DVDs features a Dolby Digital 5.0 audio mix. These tracks provide clear dialogue and sound effects. There isn't much in the way of overt stereo or surround sound effects, as the dialogue emanates from the center channel, while music, sound effects and the live audience's laughter come from the front and rear channels. Be warned, there is a defect in this set -- For the three episodes which contain audio commentary ("The One That Could Have Been", "The One Where Ross Got High", and "The One with the Proposal"), the English audio track has been mixed improperly. Instead of the configuration listed above, the dialogue comes from the front channels on these episodes with audience laughter coming from the center. The difference is jarring and sounds very alien.
Extras
With the release of each subsequent Friends DVD set, the extras become less and less impressive. Yet, something which never fails to impress are the audio commentaries from series producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. For this set, they offer comments on three episodes -- ("The One That Could Have Been", "The One Where Ross Got High", and "The One with the Proposal". They always pick the best episodes of the season and are very good at offering background information on the story's origin, how the episodes fits into the overall scheme of the season, and they give a wealth of facts about the making of each show. The remainder of the extras for this season can be found on Disc 4 of the set. We start with "Friends of Friends", a 12-minute segment which features interviews with Elliot Gould, who plays Jack Geller; Christina Pickles, who plays Judy Geller; Maggie Wheeler, who plays Janice; and Jane Sibbett who plays Carol. These talks are dull for the most part, with only Gould and Wheeler bringing any spice to the chats. A 10-minute gag reel from Season 6 offers some good blooper-style laughs and shows that Matthew Perry is obsessed with giant bowel movements. "Gunther Spills the Beans" is a 90-second segment in which actor James Michael Tyler offers some plot information concerning Season 7 of the show. And finally, the "Casino Challenge" is a set-top trivia game designed to play like a Las Vegas game of challenge. It should be noted that the episode listings inside the DVD set do not match the actual episodes on the DVDs.
If you've ever wondered about all of the hype surrounding this show, then Friends: The Complete Sixth Season is a great place to start. (That is, of course, aside from starting at the beginning.) This season's fun and engaging plotlines, combined with classic episodes make it a must-have. Yet, the fact that this set contains some major problems with the audio and the packaging are a concern, and, as of this time, Warner has yet to comment on these flaws, so buyer beware.
I began watching Friends in 1996, when I was introduced to it by my then girlfriend (now wife)(I, in turn, forced her to watch The Simpsons.), and I have been a loyal fan of the show ever since. Up until recently, if someone had asked me which season of Friends was my favorite, I'm not sure if I would have had an answer. I certainly have favorite episodes, but I couldn't have named a favorite year. That has changed with the release of Friends: The Complete Sixth Season on DVD, which helped to remind me which season continued some of my best-loved shows.
(SPOILER WARNING!: In order to describe Friends Season Six, I must divulge some of the plot-lines for the shows, as well as discuss events from Season 5. So, if you haven't seen Season 5 and want to be surprised by Season 6, read with caution.) As Season 5 of Friends drew to a close, the cast of familiar faces found themselves in Las Vegas where Joey (Matt LeBlanc) was (supposedly) shooting a movie. Overcome with the thrill of Vegas, Monica (Courteney Cox Arquette) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) almost get married, but decide to wait. However, as they are about to leave the chapel, they are surprised to find that a drunken Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) have just exchanged vows.
With the opening of Season 6, Ross and Rachel decide that an annulment is in order, although it takes Ross quite some time to come through with this. Another change takes place as Monica and Chandler decide to live together, which means that Rachel must move out and that Joey must find a new roommate. Rachel moves in with Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), while a dancer named Janine (Elle MacPherson) shares Joey's apartment. As the season progresses, the majority of the storylines focus on Monica and Chandler. As their blossoming romance, the gang begins to wonder if Chandler will propose.
Unlike the previous two seasons of Friends, Season 6 works for two reasons. One, the Monica and Chandler plotline is a positive one which harks back to the very early episodes of the show in which Ross was courting Rachel. The relationship between Monica and Chandler may be contrived and convenient in terms of how it was written into the show, but they do make a good couple and watching their relationship grow is fun, especially when one considers how the manic Monica scares Chandler. The focus on this couple leads to the second successful ingredient of this season. It allows the other four main characters to have their own individual adventures. Once Ross straightens out his marriage to Rachel, he becomes involved with one of his students, and this leads to an Emmy-award winning guest appearance by Bruce Willis. Joey is attracted to Janine, but is unsure how to approach her. And Phoebe and Rachel must come to terms with their differences in order to be successful roomies.
In my review for Friends Season 5, I mentioned that the true measure of the show's quality was the Thanksgiving episode. The one in Season 6, in which Chandler learns that Monica's parents don't like him and Rachel makes a dessert with meat, is one of the best ever and ensures a stamp of quality for this season. Combine this with the episode in which Ross and Monica perform a dance routine from middle school on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" and you've got the makings for my favorite season of Friends.
Video
Friends: The Complete Sixth Season comes to DVD courtesy of Warner Home Video. This four disc set contains all 23 episodes from the show's sixth season. The shows are presented in their original 4:3 aspect ratio. The video quality of the episodes contained in this set is much better than that of the Season 5 DVDs. The pictures are sharp and clear for the most part, as there is very little grain present. The colors are bright and bolds, but there is some bleeding around the edges of most objects on-screen. Artifacting is visible throughout the episodes, but it is not overly distracting. The quality of the video presentation is good, but it doesn't quite match digital broadcast quality.
Audio
The episodes contained on these DVDs features a Dolby Digital 5.0 audio mix. These tracks provide clear dialogue and sound effects. There isn't much in the way of overt stereo or surround sound effects, as the dialogue emanates from the center channel, while music, sound effects and the live audience's laughter come from the front and rear channels. Be warned, there is a defect in this set -- For the three episodes which contain audio commentary ("The One That Could Have Been", "The One Where Ross Got High", and "The One with the Proposal"), the English audio track has been mixed improperly. Instead of the configuration listed above, the dialogue comes from the front channels on these episodes with audience laughter coming from the center. The difference is jarring and sounds very alien.
Extras
With the release of each subsequent Friends DVD set, the extras become less and less impressive. Yet, something which never fails to impress are the audio commentaries from series producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. For this set, they offer comments on three episodes -- ("The One That Could Have Been", "The One Where Ross Got High", and "The One with the Proposal". They always pick the best episodes of the season and are very good at offering background information on the story's origin, how the episodes fits into the overall scheme of the season, and they give a wealth of facts about the making of each show. The remainder of the extras for this season can be found on Disc 4 of the set. We start with "Friends of Friends", a 12-minute segment which features interviews with Elliot Gould, who plays Jack Geller; Christina Pickles, who plays Judy Geller; Maggie Wheeler, who plays Janice; and Jane Sibbett who plays Carol. These talks are dull for the most part, with only Gould and Wheeler bringing any spice to the chats. A 10-minute gag reel from Season 6 offers some good blooper-style laughs and shows that Matthew Perry is obsessed with giant bowel movements. "Gunther Spills the Beans" is a 90-second segment in which actor James Michael Tyler offers some plot information concerning Season 7 of the show. And finally, the "Casino Challenge" is a set-top trivia game designed to play like a Las Vegas game of challenge. It should be noted that the episode listings inside the DVD set do not match the actual episodes on the DVDs.
If you've ever wondered about all of the hype surrounding this show, then Friends: The Complete Sixth Season is a great place to start. (That is, of course, aside from starting at the beginning.) This season's fun and engaging plotlines, combined with classic episodes make it a must-have. Yet, the fact that this set contains some major problems with the audio and the packaging are a concern, and, as of this time, Warner has yet to comment on these flaws, so buyer beware.
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