GatorDeb

Thought it was too good to hide DVD set under $90 if you want the extended editions.

blokhed

Looks dead now. They switched this one and the Hogwarts collection, seems like.

That'sAllFolks

I keep passing on this set. I could've got it a bit cheaper at CH last month, but just couldn't pull the trigger. Maybe someday.

Decker

I had it in my cart. Good price, but space is a consideration and besides when will I want to watch 250 episodes of a TV show I've already seen? I'd rather start watching Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Bates Motel or something else I haven't seen yet

kenbenobi

Same here. If these included the extended episodes, I would have bit. But they don't, so I'm satisfied with my DVD set (the cool wooden box with the swinging doors). I never watched the whole thing, anyway (I watched the show when it aired). Somebody I'll watch it again, but I doubt I'll watch it more than once or twice.

SoonerDoc

Does anybody know, do the original individual DVD seasons released include the extended episodes? Or was that only in the complete series DVD collections?

GatorDeb

The complete series on DVD did NOT have the extended episodes. Only the individual seasons did.

I've watched an ep here and there but maybe about just 10 or so. Looking forward to sitting down from beginning to end.

By the way, the whole series runs 90 hours and that's without looking at any of the awesome extras. That's give or take 45 movies at the theater. I'll give 75 bucks for 90 hours of entertainment. And the extras look awesome! 9 hours of extra without counting the commentaries. I was waiting for a good price, I jumped in

That'sAllFolks

One of my all-time favorite DVD sets in terms of packaging.

The first complete series sets was just a wooden box with all the individual seasons included.

E Unit

So question - how many "supersized" episodes were there? Just curious because I got the box set in today. The back of the box says "The Ones with More Friends: The Original Broadcast 'Supersized' Episodes from Season 7"

kenbenobi

I don't think the Extended episodes are the same thing as the Supersized episodes. NBC actually aired "supersized" episodes that season, which are longer than standard episodes. But the extended episodes from the DVD seasons were not broadcast that way.

GatorDeb

Got mine today (or yesterday depending on your timezone)

Randy Miller III

IIRC, all season and/or series collections of Friends on DVD included the extended episodes, whereas the Blu-rays do not. For example, I reviewed the "red box" series collection and, aside from new disc labels, all the episode content, menus, etc. are the same as the individual season sets. I've never owned the "white box" DVD collection but I'll assume it's the same for one reason: WB is too cheap to offer multiple options if they can help it.

E Unit

Okay, thanks. Makes more sense now.

Decker

Yeah, they shoot extra scenes that get trimmed. I once went to a taping of Cheers in the late 80s and was shocked to see an entire "B" storyline get completely excised before it aired on network TV two months later. You'd think they'd have a good idea what 22 minutes of TV programming is.

Manzana

I'm completely confused now. Supersized vs. extended episodes... what's the difference? I didn't know the individual DVD sets had extended episodes. I dont' remember reading anything about that on the packages. All I know is this: I bought all 10 seasons of Friends for $6 - 20% coupon = $4.80 each at Big Lots back in July 2009 during the legendary WB TV season sale. Do I have all of the extended episodes or supersized episodes on those?

I can't believe the Friends BD set really contains shorter episodes (as shown on TV?) because I'm surprised they would handicap the BD seasons that way. I'm like benkenobi in that getting less material on the BD seasons would likely cancel out any desire to buy them on BD for the enhanced A/V quality or new extras. However, from the comments above it sounds like the BD set has more extras because (IIRC) the individual DVD sets had very few extras (if any).

All of my Friends DVD sets are still sealed (and if I were to try to sell them if I ever got the BD set I'd probably be hard pressed to get back what I paid), but shockingly I've actually seen the entire series once because once upon a time (before I had a family) and before Blockbuster closed up every nearby store I actually had time to rent and watch stuff cheaply (or for free at the library).

GatorDeb

Some episodes had an extra joke here and there that were not part of the episode as they aired. The ones in the BD are as they originally aired. The trimmed jokes were mostly saucy. They were added for some of the DVD releases. Something to do with rights issues made them not appear on the BDs. But the BDs have the eps as they were seen on TV so I don't feel anything's missing.

Supersized eps were just longer special eps for special occasions I would guess for Superbowl or such? Those are episodes themselves, not a joke here and there added to an existing ep, and all of those are on the BDs.

PhantomStranger

Supersized episodes were a gimmick instituted by NBC in the latter years of Friends. They were broadcast on television and typically ran over the normal 30-minute slot. I believe those are on the Blu-ray. What the Blu-ray is missing are unaired extended scenes cut back into the episodes for the DVD set.

Warner could have included them on the Blu-ray set but that would have required a much larger financial expense. The extended episodes had been finished in SD for DVD and there was no easy way to include them on BD.

rfduncan

It was indeed an NBC gimmick but was not only done with Friends. I believe Will & Grace and Scrubs also featured "supersized" episodes on the same night during February sweeps in 2004. The idea was to make 3 30-minute shows longer to fill up 2 hours. So if you were watching one LIVE you'd stay tuned in to watch the next show because something on another station would already have been on for 10 minutes. I have no idea how it worked, and it certainly wouldn't today with DVRs.