Friends: The Complete Series on Blu-ray Nov. 13

Warner Home Video didn’t send me a review copy of this (not surprising, considering it’s $280!), but I wanted to post about it anyway because it’s pretty big news in the blu-ray department.

Friends: The Complete Series is getting a blu-ray release on Nov. 13, 2012. If you watched the series when it aired on TV, this one’s for you because there are 20 hours of bonus features, including three hours of all-new bonus features.

And if you didn’t watch the series when it aired on TV, now is the perfect time to grab this set and start from the beginning. That would be me. I caught a few episodes here and there, but must have been otherwise occupied in my life when it originally aired.

The set features all ten seasons — 236 episodes on 21 discs – completely remastered and in 1080p high definition. It’s packaged with a lenticular box cover, a hard-cover book that holds 21 blu-ray discs, and a 32-page episode guide. Whew! You can pre-order it on Amazon.

Friends aired from Sept. 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004, and followed the lives of six friends struggling to survive on their own in Manhattan. It starred Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, and David Schwimmer as Dr. Ross Geller.

Tons of guest stars paraded through the show during its ten seasons, including Tom Selleck, Aisha Tyler, Jon Favreau, Anna Faris, Hank Azaria, Bruce Willis, Reese Witherspoon, Christina Applegate, Sean Penn, Jon Lovitz, Alec Baldwin, and many others.

Here’s the scoop on the new bonus features: 

• True Friends: Documentaries: Retrospective documentaries with new interviews looking at the influential 10 years of the show and how it changed the cultural landscape of the 90’s and first half of the new millennium
• Friends From the Start: Learn how the show was created and the challenges of finding the perfect cast and capturing “lightening in a bottle”
• When Friends Become Family: Enter the Writers Room and hear about the inspiration and development of some of the most iconic episodes and favorite moments from various seasons
• Legacy of Friends: Learn why the show had to come to an end, its influence on pop culture, and the legacy that it left behind
• The Original Producer’s Cut for ‘The One Where Rachel Tells Ross’: ‘The One Where Rachel Tells Ross’ is re-assembled back to its original form. An introduction by Kevin Bright will set up the episode and explain why it was ultimately edited before air.
• The Original Script for ‘The One Where Rachel Tells Ross’
• Friends On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2005)
• Friends Visit The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2004)
• The Ones With More Friends: The original extended broadcast episodes
• The One with the Never-Before-Seen Gags: Originally for the cast and crew, this never-before-seen gag reel has all the laughs that were too funny to include on the DVD
• The Rembrandts – “I’ll Be There For You”: Official music video featuring the cast of Friends

And 17+ hours of special features from the original Friends DVD releases:

• Friends Around the World: Explores the Friends phenomenon around the globe
• On Location in London: Cross the Atlantic for a whirlwind English visit with Friends
• The One That Goes Behind the Scenes: The full hour-long Discovery Channel Documentary
• Behind the Style: The Look of Friends: Costume Designer Debra McGuire, Hair Stylist Jonathan Hanousek, and Makeup Artist Robin Siegel offer an inside look at Friends fashion, hair and makeup over the years
• The Flaming Lips Phoebe Battles the Pink Robots music video featuring Lisa Kudrow and directed by Kevin S. Bright
• Friends Final Thoughts: The cast and producers reflect during their final days at work and after series production ends
• Never-before-seen uncut version of Smelly Cat
• Matt LeBlanc Joey Joey music video
• Commentaries From 31 Episodes
• Friends of Friends video guestbook
• Gag reels from multiple seasons
• And More!

Other Stats:

• Audio – English Dolby Surround 5.1, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, German, Japanese, Parisian French
• Subtitles – English SDH, Brazilian Portuguese, Complex Chinese, Castilian Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Japanese, Latin Spanish, Norwegian, Parisian French, Swedish
• Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
• Running time: Approx. 90 Hours (episodes)
• Over 20 hours (special features) – Including 3 hours of all-new special features
• Suggested Retail Price: $279.98