Friends: The Complete 6th Season (DVD)

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I really enjoy the performances by the cast members, but I also detest Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe). I like wacky stuff that humanizes a fictional creation, but Kudrow´s character is wacky for the sake of being wacky. The other five characters often act with chagrin when they realize that they´ve done something silly, but Phoebe is so oblivious to reality that she elicits groans rather than laughs from me.

Video:
The sixth season of "Friends" arrives on DVD with a 1.33:1 (full-frame on 4:3 monitors) video image. The video quality is still not as great as, say, the quality of the video of the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" DVDs. Most episodes are rather soft, and that softness can lead to the occasional blurring. Sometimes, the footage sports a digital sheen rather than appearing film-like, possibly due to overzealous edge-enhancement. However, colors and lighting schemes have been reproduced well.

Audio:
Warner Bros. re-mixed the show´s soundtracks into Dolby Digital 5.0 English presentations. Since "Friends" is a sitcom, there´s not much that requires the use of dazzling sonic effects. Therefore, while the 5.0 mixes help to "widen" the depth of the soundstage, there´s nothing on these DVDs that will compel you to pop them into your DVD player to impress your friends. Dialogue and music are well-balanced. Low-end frequencies are scarce, but they´re not necessarily suitable for something like "Friends" anyway.

Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
Despite the fact that there are four discs in this box set, there aren´t many extras to accompany the Sixth Season of "Friends". Where are the retrospective interviews with the cast members looking back at their costumes and their hairstyles from the early seasons? Sigh.

Disc 2: Audio commentary by executive producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane for "The One Where Ross Got High".

Disc 3: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "The One That Could Have Been".

Disc 4: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "...the Proposal".

The other "big" extras are also found on Disc 4. There´s a "Friends of ´Friends´ Guestbook" (a featurette that looks at four regular guest actors), a gag reel, and a "Casino Challenge" trivia game. There´s also "Gunther Spills the Beans", a featurette that has the Gunther character giving away some of the plot developments of Year Seven (it´s actually a promo for the next box set).

--Miscellaneous--
On each disc, the menu screen that allows you to pick an episode to watch also has "coffee cup" icons in front of each episode´s name. These icons access previews of the episodes. Each disc also has a list of the show´s leads as well as executive producers. There are some weblinks if you use a DVD-ROM drive to view the discs.

The cardboard gatefold packaging provides information about the episodes´ writers, directors, original airdates, and guest stars.

Film Value:
Season Six of "Friends" was not as funny as Season Five. With Ross and Rachel hemming and hawing their way to a divorce after their quickie Vegas wedding and with Monica and Chandler hemming and hawing their way towards marriage, everyone seemed to be marking time. Also, a lot of the jokes for this year are based on crude sexual references. The jokes are funny, yes, but "Friends" can be funny without the jokes, you know? Still, the actors´ comic timing was great, and I had a great time laughing so hard that I had to clutch my stomach a few times.

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