'Friends: The Complete Series' is coming November 13

[BreakAtmo]

I hadn't considered Cheers. I'm not sure how that was shot, but I can imagine the detail making the show more immersive.

From IMDb:

"The series was shot on film unlike most sitcoms during this time which were shot on tape. Because the series was low-rated at first, NBC was losing money on it. Paramount considered switching to tape due to its lower cost. A test scene was shot on tape but the producers hated how it looked."

So that's reassuring. No idea what perf was used though.

[caliminius]

I was in a sour mood yesterday and it irks me that this show is being released before Seinfield. They've been showing Seinfeld in HD on TBS for a long time, the show is great (still holds up & doesn't feel dated to me), yet still nothing on bd. I didn't care for Friends when it aired and when I've tried to watch on TBS, it just annoys me - the humor feels so forced most of the time.

We all have different tastes. I personally could never stand Seinfeld. To me, it had a group of the most idiotic, unlikable characters ever assembled in one show. I never understood why people loved Kramer so much; all he did was annoy the crap out of me with how ridiculously stupid he was. And most of the time the show seemed like 30 minutes of people whining and complaining.

I didn't like Friends when it aired either. But having seen some episodes more recently, I actually enjoy it now. I think it helps that I'm closer to the characters' ages now, when before I was younger so really couldn't appreciate the situations they were in.

Really though, I'd much rather have Alias on Blu-Ray. Seeing Jennifer Garner in HD wearing those costumes and disguises would be a thing of beauty.

[Krawk]

Studios testing the waters? I did not like this show really but am glad to see it announced.
Wake me up when Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are released.

[Boston007]

We all have different tastes. I personally could never stand Seinfeld. To me, it had a group of the most idiotic, unlikable characters ever assembled in one show. I never understood why people loved Kramer so much; all he did was annoy the crap out of me with how ridiculously stupid he was. And most of the time the show seemed like 30 minutes of people whining and complaining.

I didn't like Friends when it aired either. But having seen some episodes more recently, I actually enjoy it now. I think it helps that I'm closer to the characters' ages now, when before I was younger so really couldn't appreciate the situations they were in.

Really though, I'd much rather have Alias on Blu-Ray. Seeing Jennifer Garner in HD wearing those costumes and disguises would be a thing of beauty.

Yes so what everyone has different tastes.

Do you know how successful Seinfeld was? The popularity of the reruns should tell you. This is OneManShow's point on his post. Seinfeld was a HUGE show and still has many people who would buy the seasons on BD. His point was Seinfeld was far and away a better and more popular show than Friends was, yet Friends is being release on BD first.

[Josh Z]

Hopefully the option of removing the laugh-track is one of the special features.

Friends was shot multi-camera in front of a studio audience. Aside from the occasional exterior location scene, there is no laugh track to remove. It's embedded in the recording.

Seinfeld was shot single-camera with an artificial laugh track. I would love to watch that without the laugh track, much like is an option on the M*A*S*H DVD sets.

[caliminius]

Yes so what everyone has different tastes.

Do you know how successful Seinfeld was? The popularity of the reruns should tell you. This is OneManShow's point on his post. Seinfeld was a HUGE show and still has many people who would buy the seasons on BD. His point was Seinfeld was far and away a better and more popular show than Friends was, yet Friends is being release on BD first.

Better is a matter of opinion. Seinfeld is a crap show to me. I wouldn't own it on Blu-Ray if it were given to me for free. Friends was a crap show to me when it originally aired. Although I can enjoy it now, I probably won't ever own it on disc.

[paaron46]

Friends was shot multi-camera in front of a studio audience. Aside from the occasional exterior location scene, there is no laugh track to remove. It's embedded in the recording.

Seinfeld was shot single-camera with an artificial laugh track. I would love to watch that without the laugh track, much like is an option on the M*A*S*H DVD sets.

'Seinfeld' was shot in front of a live studio audience most of the time. Watch the DVDs and turn on Notes About Nothing. They talk about it extensively. Like how the actors had to wait for the studio audience to stop laughing before they could begin their next line.

And 'Seinfeld' was a multi-camera sitcom. Just like 'Friends'.

EDIT: They talk specifically about how the Larry David and others feared that the clapping and laughing during the Kramer entrances became too long in later seasons. The notes talk about them having to curtail the studio audience from getting too excited when he entered the apartment.

[Attebery]

Friends was shot multi-camera in front of a studio audience. Aside from the occasional exterior location scene, there is no laugh track to remove. It's embedded in the recording.

Seinfeld was shot single-camera with an artificial laugh track. I would love to watch that without the laugh track, much like is an option on the M*A*S*H DVD sets.

Exactly. I went to a Friends taping in 1997. The audience seating was covered with hundreds of dangling microphones. It was "The One With the Dollhouse." Aside from a preshot sequence of Joey in bed with a costar (which they replayed for the audience in order to get their reactions) everything was done live with audience laughter recorded. And there were no signs or people encouraging us to laugh like out of control maniacs either.

[JSmith]

From IMDb:

"The series was shot on film unlike most sitcoms during this time which were shot on tape. Because the series was low-rated at first, NBC was losing money on it. Paramount considered switching to tape due to its lower cost. A test scene was shot on tape but the producers hated how it looked."

So that's reassuring. No idea what perf was used though.

I have the eleven seasons of cheers on DVD and the first few seasons look exceptional on DVD. The seasons tend to look worse after season 5. There were a lot of instances where they had spliced in very poor quality video tape cuts in between higher quality cuts and it looks very bad. Add to that the packaging went downhill after season 7, which makes the box set look uneven.

I hope Friends has had the gold standard treatment by WB, they are known to look after their classic movies, and they will only get one shot on a BD release of Friends, there is no other option for a double dip opportunity.

[*TL]

His point was Seinfeld was far and away a better and more popular show than Friends was, yet Friends is being release on BD first.

Seinfeld and Friends are a wash, popularity wise. Seinfeld wasn't very popular for its first four seasons, then exploded in Season 5. Friends, IRRC, was a top-10 rated show its entire run. So claiming that one was more popular than the other is going to require some pretty fancy data manipulation.

Point being, they both were and are incredibly popular shows.

[Boston007]

Better is a matter of opinion. Seinfeld is a crap show to me. I wouldn't own it on Blu-Ray if it were given to me for free. Friends was a crap show to me when it originally aired. Although I can enjoy it now, I probably won't ever own it on disc.

Well guess what? Your opinion is in the minority otherwise Seinfeld would not have run for that many seasons and made that much money. That is the point!!!!

I love when the minority screams and shouts because they dislike something. Again, you missed the point entirely.

You have Avatar as your avatar. MY OPINION is that movie is complete SHIT and I don't own the blu ray and I wouldn't accept the blu ray if you PAID me. How is that for opinion? Does that mean Avatar wasn't popular? Does that mean Avatar didn't make a shitload of money?

Seinfeld and Friends are a wash, popularity wise. Seinfeld wasn't very popular for its first four seasons, then exploded in Season 5. Friends, IRRC, was a top-10 rated show its entire run. So claiming that one was more popular than the other is going to require some pretty fancy data manipulation.

Point being, they both were and are incredibly popular shows.

Point being, Seinfeld made more money and is more popular today than Friends.

[OneManShow]

I can see Friends having a more mainstream appeal , so maybe that's why this is getting bd release and Seinfeld isn't anytime soon. If I ever see, Jason Alexander, I'll ask him if he knows anything about it. My wife's aunt lives on the same street as his brother. Whenever we've been at her house during the holidays, I'm always on the look out for him just on the very slim chance he'll be there.

[*TL]

Point being, Seinfeld made more money and is more popular today than Friends.

If you have any objective data to substantiate that claim, I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise, you're just talking out your ass.

[cardpetree]

Just FYI, complete is spelled wrong in the title on this page.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/7254..._complete.html

[Bane]

Well guess what? Your opinion is in the minority otherwise Seinfeld would not have run for that many seasons and made that much money. That is the point!!!!

I love when the minority screams and shouts because they dislike something. Again, you missed the point entirely.

You have Avatar as your avatar. MY OPINION is that movie is complete SHIT and I don't own the blu ray and I wouldn't accept the blu ray if you PAID me. How is that for opinion? Does that mean Avatar wasn't popular? Does that mean Avatar didn't make a shitload of money?

Geez, dude, calm the fuck down. The only one coming off as screaming and shouting is you. All Caliminius did was say that, in his opinion, Seinfeld was a bad show. And go back and reread his posts... dude never says the show wasn't popular or didn't make a shitload of money. You brought that up on your own.