While Friends may not have "jumped the shark," beginning with the seventh season, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Ross, and Rachel began to wear out their welcome. To quote the show's still irresistible theme song, Friends became stuck in second gear. Blame the heretofore reliable writers for the increasingly desperate and tiresome travails that plague the hapless Ross ("The One with the Holiday Armadillo" and "The One with the Nap Partners" represent some kind of nadir for the series). This season is also heavy with hit and miss guest stars turns: Susan Sarandon acquits herself nicely as a washed-up soap star in "The One with Joey's New Brain”; Kathleen Turner is an inspired choice to portray Chandler's transsexual father in "The One with Chandler's Dad"; and Gary Oldman displays a knack for comedy as a besotted actor in "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding"--the two-parter that somewhat redeemed this lackluster season with one of the series' very best cliffhangers. But Winona Ryder is a bust as Rachel's former sorority sister in "The One with Rachel's Big Kiss." Compiling all 23 seventh-season episodes, this four-disc boxed set also features producer commentaries on three episodes (still no cast member commentaries), the “Friends of Friends, Part II” featurette, and a you-had-to-be-there gag reel. The very essence of comfort television, Friends enjoys a devoted following, but with very few benchmark episodes, this set is a bit of a disappointment. Recommended for those collecting the entire series; optional elsewhere. (D. Liebenson)
Friends: The Complete Seventh Season
Warner, 4 discs, 576 min., not rated, DVD: $44.98 Volume 19, Issue 4
Friends: The Complete Seventh Season
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