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Friends - The Complete Ninth Season (2005)
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
Lisa Kudrow Phoebe Buffay
Jennifer Aniston Rachel Green
Courteney Cox Monica Geller
Matthew Perry Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer Ross Geller
Matt Le Blanc Joey Tribbiani
Christina Applegate Amy Green
Jeff Goldblum Leonard Haze
Matt LeBlanc Joey Tribbiani
Movie Details
Genre Comedy
Director Robby Benson; Peter Bonerz; Kevin Bright
Producer Dana Borkow; Betsy Borns
Writer Doty Abrams; Sherry Bilsing; David Crane; Marta Kauffman
Studio Warner Bros.
Language English
Audience Rating NR (Not Rated)
Running Time 620 mins
Country USA
Color Color
IMDb Rating 8.5
Plot
Friends' penultimate season could well be called "The One with All the Romantic Arcs." Phoebe meets Mike (Paul Rudd virtually joining the ensemble). Rachel attempts to "move on" from Ross with a rival co-worker (guest star Dermot Mulroney). Ross meets Charley (Aisha Tyler, welcome colorblind casting), a paleontologist with an intimidating roster of Nobel Prize-winners in her dating history (so, of course, she hooks up with Joey). Other storylines, including Chandler's transfer to Tulsa and Rachel's sudden lust for Joey, are not as compelling as previous seasons', and an indication that inspiration is flagging. But while one is hard-pressed to add any of these episodes to the Friends pantheon, what redeems the season are the grace notes: Phoebe channeling a New England WASP to impress Mike's parents ("The One with Ross's Inappropriate Song") or playing naughty girl to Ross's "daddy" ("The One with the Lottery"); Joey's confession that he doesn't get it when people punctuate the air with finger quotes ("The One Where Emma Cries"); and Chandler's discomfort (and ultimate revenge) as an audience member at a ranting feminist's one-woman show ("The One with the Soap Opera Party").

On the guest star front, Friends welcomes back Jon Lovitz, who reprises his character from the classic first-season episode, "The One with the Stoned Guy" in "The One with the Blind Dates," and Hank Azaria as David the "Science Guy" who returns to complicate Phoebe's love life. Christina Applegate is a riot as "Rachel's Other Sister," and it's surprising that NBC didn't go all Suddenly Susan on Freddie Prinz Jr. after his surprisingly funny stint in "The One with the Male Nanny." Selma Blair is a seductive co-worker who makes a play for Chandler in "The One with Christmas in Tulsa," and Jeff Goldblum portrays a master thespian who mistakes Joey's urge to urinate as method acting. For Friends fanatics, it's a coup to get the episodes complete and uncut as opposed to their commercial-laden syndicated counterparts. For more casual viewers, let's just say of this comparatively lackluster season (by Friends' own gold standards) that the show was on a break. --Donald Liebenson

Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 158
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
IMDB
Product Details
Edition Special Edition
Format DVD
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3)
Layers Dual Side, Single Layer
UPC (Barcode) 085393366124
Release Date 08.03.2005
Subtitles English; Spanish; French
Packaging Custom Case
Audio Tracks Dolby Digital 5.0 [English]
Nr of Disks/Tapes 4
Extra Features
"The Making of..." Featurette(s) Closed Captioned Commentary Interactive Game Scene Access Gag Reel