Season five of those wonderful Friends continued the saga of Ross's wedding, added another in between, birth of triplets and found the cast everywhere from New York to London to Las Vegas and in between! This season also sees the one hundredth episode, a feat which nearly always signifies a long long life in syndication for a show.
As a fan of the series, I would argue that Season Five is the shows peak as far as story development. It seems from here on out that these Friends start facing too many serious issues, leaving the laughter in second place. While the romances juggle more than laundry in a dryer, there's still that magical chemistry between these six people that make season five about as good as it gets.
The complete season list includes 23 episodes spread over five discs. These can be found at http://www.nbc.com/Friends/episode_guide/index.html
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The Disc:
Friends fans who picked up the first four seasons will know what to expect here. Each episode has been newly remastered in its original 4:3 broadcast aspect ratio bringing a vibrant picture from the already colorful television broadcasts. Sounds come in the same newly remixed English Dolby Digital 5.0 surround setups. As with the previous seasons this is quite impressive considering the clarity of the center channel and the ambiance of the surrounds for a simple comedy.
As with the previous versions we get the uncut extended versions featuring "never-before-seen footage." As to what exactly is unseen remains a mystery to me but Warner has never deceived us before. Next up is screen-specific audio commentaries by producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, on three episodes. All of these are interesting to listen to especially for thier lighthearted approach.
Next up is Friends coffee guy Gunther in a new featurette Gunther Spills The Beans About Next Season. At 9 minutes this feature is somewhat useless for its target audience since most everyone here has seen the next season. Probably the biggest extra at over an hour is the Discovery Channel's The One That Goes Behind The Scenes. Why this aired on the Discovery Channel I will never know but Friends fans should find it to be interesting.
Tying more into last season than season five is the feature Friends On Location in London. I suppose this shows some stuff that we never knew before but really it isn't all that interesting.
Finally there is the usual small time stuff such as the Friends of Friends clip index, What's Up with Your Friends? video character profiles, and Who Knows Whom Best Ross's Ultimate Challenge?
bottom line:
One of TV's classics already, the fifth season of Friends shows just how quickly this series jelled and became one of America's Must See shows. Definitely with a modest price one of the best DVD's to own.
By - Brian "Shroom" Gray
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