A US sitcom behemoth with a global brand, Friends shot out of the gate in 1994 with snappy writing and an attractive cast. The exploits of sensitive paleontologist Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer), his obsessive-compulsive sister Monica Geller (Courteney Cox, now Cox-Arquette); Monica's roommate Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), a spoiled rich girl trying to live on her own; earthy aromatherapist/masseuse Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow); and Monica's neighbours across the hall -- sarcastic Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and his struggling actor roommate Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) became a nationwide obsession, spawned pop-culture trends (remember "The Rachel" haircut?) and was a ratings hit for its entire run.

The first two seasons were mostly centered on the on-off saga of Ross and Rachel, and while their relationship remained a strong presence through romantic rivals and even a baby, the other characters eventually moved from sideshow players into a shared comedic lead. But Friends was not without its heart. Most of the cast had dysfunctional relationships with their parents and went through loss, divorce, marriage, parenthood, and love triangles. The emotional pregnancies of Rachel (by Ross) and Phoebe (surrogate to her half-brother's triplets) won the actresses Emmy Awards, and Joey's tender feelings for Rachel in Season 8 won LeBlanc, the most improved actor in the series, a nomination.

Most sitcoms run out of ideas by the fifth season, but Friends gave itself a refreshing jolt the minute Monica and Chandler wound up in bed together. Their budding romance was not only the one of the funniest plot arcs of the series, but one of the most sentimental, as they planned a wedding, struggled to have a child and eventually turned to adoption. By seasons seven and onwards, the characters had each "grown up" from young singletons to thirtysomethings finding permanence in their careers and love lives but never losing the laughs.

Friends featured a parade of celebrity guests, but utilised most of the stars as more than mere cameos: The sextet's parents were all brilliantly cast, particularly Kathleen Turner as Chandler's drag-queen father and Teri Garr as Phoebe's dizzy mom. Everyone from George Clooney to Sean Penn to Julia Roberts to Bruce Willis has appeared on the sitcom, and Tom Selleck certainly enjoyed a career resuscitation after his recurring role as Monica's older man.

Yet, no star power ever penetrated the bond between the six stars and their unmatchable chemistry worked for ten seasons. Even though the show is probably repeated somewhere in the world every day, this boxed set of Friends remains watchable over and over again -- even if that theme song eventually grates on your nerves! --Sally Giles

Considering this box came out more than a year after the older (black) box set, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a newer, better box. Judging from the other reviews, this is not the case. It's just a new design. I see that most of the 1 star reviewers say their rating is not down to the show, which is one of the greatest sitcoms ever, but to the packaging, which is a rip-off. I completely agree. I assume that by "new design" the makers simply mean "fresh attempt to fleece loyal fans out of more money before Christmas". I mean how many "complete" boxes can you bring out before you make one that IS complete?

I haven't yet bought either of the box sets, mainly because I knew about series 7 onwards being shorter episodes, "as shown on TV", when the original single DVDs held "extended versions". Why they would do that?? However, the main reason for my utter disappointment with this entire franchise is the lack of extras. On the individual series 10 DVD, you get just under 32 minutes of "bloopers". This from a comedy series that ran for 10 years?? And in a DVD set that runs for 86 hours and 32 minutes (according to play.com - Amazon don't include the running time for some reason). That is HUGELY short-changing fans. I've seen more outtakes than that on a single disc movie!

I suppose these problems contribute to the fact that a box set that originally sold for ??200 now goes for ??50. Special features: "Exclusive 60 page collectors booklet brimming with photos" and "The Creators' original pitch for the series" (again that's from play.com - there's no extras according to Amazon). Sorry, but this series ended around five years ago. I think the makers have had enough time to put together more than a small photo album! I for one won't be parting with more of my hard earned until they bring out a box set that really IS complete!

I know there are a lot of negative comments posted here but here is my honest opinion. The set is very nicely presented and fits perfectly on my shelf. Sure, the box could be stronger, the flap flexes and the label peels at the edges, but who cares?can't expect miracles at this price.Its the dvds that count! A lot of people complain that you can't identify the dvds if you get them out of their boxes. WRONG! all the dvds are marked in the centres with a disk reference number. eg 17791 which, if you look at the list contained in the box,will explains which series and episodes are on the dvd. Yes, I agree its not the easiest way to do it but it works if you use a little common sense. I was concerned at first about the crudeness of the cardboard sleeves but I can report that they don't seem to cause any damage to the dvds. As for people complaining that you get fingerprints on the two sided dvds-try holding them at the edges like you should be doing. All in all a truly wonderful investment that has brought many, many, many hours of laughter and enjoyment. BUY IT-YOU WONT REGRET IT!

3 stars for packaging not the show (5 stars), the disks are double sided with no labels so very confusing and easily put in wrong order apart from one random disk which is sigle sided and has label, my box arrived with one of the cardboard steps in the box ripped and collapsed and one of the disks lying in the box not in the cover, i doubt this is amazon's fault more like the shoddy packaging. saves space but but poor quality, content as show is great though althouhg could have been more extras.

FRIENDS IS THE BEST SHOW EVA NUFIN IS EVER GONA COMPARE TO IT. THEY TRIED TO DO A VERSION IN THE CLASS BUT IT WAS RUBBISH COMPARED TO FRIENDS.

This is certainly a budget edition of "Friends" - cheap packaging, double-sided DVDs, almost no extras, some menus are ugly, syndicated cut versions of episodes.

Don't get me wrong - it is not THAT bad (in fact picture quality is quite good) and if you are a casual viewer, this is a decent enough package for you. However if you are a huge fan of the series, you will be better off importing US boxsets.