First off let me warn you - this review is looooong !!

'Friends' is an absolutely hilarious collection of 10 series of episodes following the day-to-day lives of 5 best friends living in New York, American. In my opinion, it is not the typical stereotypical American humour that I understand a lot of people dislike for its cheesiness and pathetic punch lines, it is very much your typical day-to-day problems and experiences taken in and acted in out with a very intelligent and witty sense of humour that everyone will love!
I am a very strong follower of this comic programme have almost every single episode. Series 8, I believe, is no funnier than any of the other series as I can honestly say I haven't seen a disappointing episode yet, but I believe it is slightly more addictive as it has some very interesting turns to the story line included, such as two of the best friends unexpectedly falling for one another.
Each episode is around the usual 25 minutes long and although the story line is continuous from one episode to the next you can always guarantee that something new and interesting happens in each.

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasurable experience of these comic programmes, I will explain a little about the characters first.

Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) - Was little Miss. Popular at high school and with daddy being a super rich man, was also a spoilt little brat. Leaving her Fiancé Barry at the altar she makes a run into the city where she meets up with her old best friend from high school, Monica, and is forced to become more self-reliant and even achieve the unthinkable … get a job !!

Monica (Courtney Cox) - Is a top chef at a very popular restaurant. She is also has an obsessive habit of cleaning and freaks at the tiniest little spots of dirt. She eventually ends up marrying Chandler who has been her brother, Ross', best friend for years after getting together at his wedding to an English girl called Emily in London.

Ross (David Schwimmer) - Is a big dinosaur geek. He is a palaeontologist at a university and likes to bore everyone with useless facts. His apartment is visible from the window of Monica's. He has been best friends with Chandler since college and is at first upset when he gets together with Monica. He gets married 3 times in 10 series and has two babies by two different women. His first marriage ends when he discovers his wife is a lesbian while she is pregnant with his child and she leaves him for another woman. His 2nd marriage is to Emily the English girl that no one likes as she tries to make him stay away from Rachel, and his 3rd marriage is actually to Rachel who has his second child, Emma.

Chandler (Matthew Perry) - Has always had commitment problems when it came to relationships until he got together with Monica. He is the joker among the group and relies on his humour to get out of embarrassing situations and to hide behind. Before getting together with Monica he was Room mates with Joey in the apartment across from Monica and Rachel's apartment.

Joey (Matt Le Blanc) - Is a bit of a ladies man and can have whatever woman he wants. He is half Italian and love his food especially meat. He is an out of work actor who's only decent job is on a soap opera called "Days of our Lives". He has a chick and a duck as pets and is distraught when Chandler leaves him to go live with Monica.

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) - She is the oddball of the group. Her mother killed herself when she was 7 and she then lived on the streets for a while. She thinks of herself as a musician playing the guitar although she isn't actually any good at it. She won't let anyone touch her guitar and tries to give Joey guitar lessons at one point. She ends up marrying a guy called Mike who at first has commitment problems like chandler but soon realises what he's lost when they temporarily break up and decided to propose.

The episodes:

The One with The Rumour:
When Monica bumps into an old school friend (Brad Pitt), she invites him over for Thanks Giving dinner, unaware of his underlying hatred of Rachel, who in high school was little Miss. Popularity. As his annoyance of her begins to boil over during dinner, it spills out about the "I hate Rachel" club, which he and surprisingly Ross started back in school, which he funnily still feels very strongly about. I think it's hilarious to watch Jennifer Aniston (Rachel) and Brad Pitt who were married at the time of filming, having to act with such hatred for one another and I believe both of them carry this out tremendously well as well as making the audience laugh.
Also in this episode, Monica tries to get everyone to help out with the cooking and preparation of the meal and so Phoebe and Chandler pretend to be enthralled with a game of Football on TV that they actually know nothing about, in order to escape the punishment.
When at first Monica suggests not making a Turkey because of the wastage with only a few of them eating it, Joey, who is a massive fan of food and especially meat, freaks out and vows to finish the entire turkey to himself as long as she makes it, so that there is no waste.

The One with Monica's Boots:
Monica spends a fortune on a gorgeous pair of boots that are over-expensive but she totally falls in love with them. When Chandler finds out, he is furious but forgives her when she explains that she will wear them everyday. Little does she know that the heavenly boots are hell to walk in and they soon begin to kill her feet. She has to try and hide the fact from Chandler but eventually admits it at the work's Christmas party and Chandler has to give her a piggyback ride home leaving the boots behind for good. I found this part of the episode particularly hilarious as I know from experience how tempting a gorgeous pair of shoes can be no matter how much they cost and also how much pain we go through just to look good.
Phoebe learns that Ross' son attends the same school as rock star sensation Sting's son and they don't seem to get along. In a desperate attempt to meet the rock star and bag some concert tickets she pretends to be Ben's mother and arranges a family meeting to try and "solve" the problem but her plan fails when she is caught out by Sting's wife.
In a more serious story plot, Joey's younger sister confides in a pregnant Rachel about becoming pregnant herself by pretending to be interested in fashion. She doesn't know how to tell Joey and it is left up to Rachel to mediate between them.
I also enjoyed this part particularly as so many younger women who get caught in the same situation and are afraid to tell their families (again speaking from experience) can relate to it.

The One With Ross' Step Forward:
When Ross' new relationship with Mona hits the Critical question "Where are we going?" he struggles to find a way to express how he feels without making the relationship take a more serious turn. When she suggests mailing out a Christmas card to all of their families with a picture of them on the front he really begins to get nervous and freak out.
Rachel is beginning to feel the effects from all of the hormones in her body due to being pregnant and finds her herself feeling very horny! She tries to find someone she can get intimate with without commitment - no strings-attached and becomes so desperate she even considers Joey! Again I feel that most women can relate to this part of the episode and I found it very entertaining.
Meanwhile, Chandler and Monica, who are newly married themselves, have to endure the painful companionship of Chandler's boss who is going through a divorce and don't know how to let him down gently. Monica refuses to go to dinner one night and leaves it up to Chandler to make an excuse for her. He is forced to pretend that they have themselves split up and finds himself being dragged from strip bar to strip bar by his boss who is trying to cheer him up. (I'm sure he didn't really mind).

The One Where Joey Dates Rachel:
On a very rare occasion, Joey finds himself unprepared for a big date coming up. Usually the ever-so confident chick magnet he turns to Rachel for support, who agrees to go out with him to help prepare. Unexpectedly the 'practice' date turns out to be a huge success and Joey and Rachel start to look at each other in a very different way!
I thought this part was really exciting and found myself sitting on the edge of my seat. It is to be the beginning of a very exciting story line so I definitely recommend watching it!
Monica purchases a 'Mrs Pac Man' arcade machine, which Chandler at first sticks his nose up at. After just one game he becomes addicted and racks up a whole range of new high scores using naughty words as the names. However, Ben, Ross' son is visiting that afternoon and Monica freaks out trying to beat his scores to erase the bad words. Chandler finds that his hand has stuck in a claw position from grasping the joystick and cannot play anymore. What will Ben think?

Overall I think this particular set of episodes is excellent. It is by no means the best or worst but is the perfect example of how comic and entertaining the programme is as a whole. I would recommend watching the set right from series one to get a feel for the characters and you will soon, like so many other, and myself be fanatical about these "Friends".
I think the main thing I like about this programme is the range of different characters used which definitley helps add to the comical value. Also the use of big names who mostly became big after doing this programme.

The rating of this particular set of episodes is 12 although they can range upto 15 on particular sets. They are available from almost anywhere selling DVD's due to how popular they are and are on average around £14.99 for a DVD containing 4 episodes - well worth the money in my opinion :)