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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
The eighth season of Friends picks up just moments after Monica and Chandler said, "I do." But the focus of this season is firmly on Rachel's pregnancy, as the story progresses from fatherhood revelations in "The One with the Red Sweater" and "The One Where Rachel Tells..." toward complicated new feelings for Rachel, Ross, and Joey, culminating in the maternity ward two-parter "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby." But it's not all Rachel's pregnancy story. Standalone highlights include "The One with the Rumor" in which the "We Hate Rachel" club started in high school by Ross and a certain Mr. Jennifer Aniston (an uncredited Brad Pitt) is revealed; while "The One with Monica's Boots" has Monica and Chandler arguing over finances when Phoebe and Ross are arguing over the attentions of Sting's wife, Trudie Styler (cameoing as herself). Relationship complications fall upon Phoebe as "The One with the Tea Leaves" hooks her up with a stellar cameo from Alec Baldwin. "The One with Joey's Interview" has Matt LeBlanc in top form preparing to be interviewed by Soap Opera Digest. But time starts to tick faster for everyone in "The One Where Rachel Is Late," as Joey's WWI movie finally arrives, but is overshadowed by the wait for Rachel's overdue arrival. Naturally it's all build-up to the cliffhanger finale and a final emotional surprise. --Paul Tonks
Best of Comedy
Review date: 2006-11-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
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.
However, that was some time ago and on the high praise from some friends of mine, I decided to have a gamble on one of these new re-releases of the well-known series, starting with this one because it's got the episode with Brad Pitt in from the 'we hate Rachel Green club.' This is kind of sad now they've split in real life, but I've always been curious to see this episode. What I wasn't prepared for in the least was the comedy, addictiveness and surprising depth this series explores.
It begins with people discovering that Rachel is pregnant. Some funny situations lead to a huge laugh when we discover who the father is, and yet another memorable moment when the father himself discovers the truth! How Rachel and those close to her deal with her pregnancy and the inevitable events leading up to it is often funny, but very moving at times too, giving a real insight into what it must be like for single mothers going through pregnancies, minus the comedy moments of course.
This series is exceptional and I'll be watching it over and over again for a long time to come. I recommend you do the same. Haven't finished it yet though, so I can't wait to see how it all turns out!