Friends (season 1)

Friends (season 1)
The first season of Friends, an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. Friends was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The season contains 24 episodes and concluded airing on May 18, 1995.
Cast and characters
Main cast
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
David Schwimmer as Ross Geller
Recurring cast
Anita Barone/Jane Sibbett as Carol Willick
Mitchell Whitfield as Barry Farber
Cosimo Fusco as Paolo
Maggie Wheeler as Janice Hosenstein
Jessica Hecht as Susan Bunch
Vincent Ventresca as Fun Bobby
Elliott Gould as Jack Geller
Christina Pickles as Judy Geller
Larry Hankin as Mr. Heckles
Guest stars
Merrill Markoe as Marsha, Ross' boss
Jill Goodacre as herself
Hank Azaria as David
Morgan Fairchild as Nora Bing
Fisher Stevens as Roger
Jon Lovitz as Steve
Helen Hunt as Jamie Buchman
Leila Kenzle as Fran Devanow
George Clooney as Dr. Mitchell
Noah Wyle as Dr. Rosen
Jennifer Grey as Mindy
Claudia Shear as Fake Monica
Leah Remini as Lydia
Jonathan Silverman as Dr. Franzblau
Corinne Bohrer as Melanie
Lauren Tom as Julie
Sofia Milos as Aurora
Jennifer Grant as Nina
John Allen Nelson as Paul the Wine Guy
Geoffrey Lower as Alan
Beth Grant as Lizzy
Marianne Hagan as Joanne
Camille Saviola as The Horrible Woman
June Gable as The nurse
Lee Garlington as Ronni Rapalano
Brenda Vaccaro as Gloria Tribbiani
Robert Costanzo as Joey Tribbiani Sr.
Episodes
Home media
The first season was officially released on DVD in region 1 on April 30, 2002, becoming available in both the United States and Canada as a 4-disc DVD Box Set. The release includes the extended versions of every episode with footage not seen on their original NBC broadcast. Additionally, each episode is updated with color correction and sound enhancement. Special Features include a commentary for the pilot episode with executive producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kaufmann and David Crane, a video guide to season one's guest stars, including George Clooney, Helen Hunt and Noah Wyle; an interactive map with inside stories from the crew, a trivia quiz and the trailer of Season Two DVD Release.
For region 2, the release included the original NBC broadcast version of the episodes, and not the extended versions unlike the region 1 release.
The season also had an individual Blu-ray for region A on April 30, 2013, in this release the episodes are presented in their original NBC broadcast versions and does not include the extra deleted scenes and jokes that were included in the DVD version. Additional audio & subtitle tracks are also included with this release.
Reception
Early reviews of the series were generally positive. In the Los Angeles Daily News, Ray Richmond named the series as "one of the brighter comedies of the new season", and the Los Angeles Times called it "flat-out the best comedy series of the new season". Tom Feran of The Plain Dealer wrote that the series traded "vaguely and less successfully on the hanging-out style of Seinfeld", while Ann Hodges of the Houston Chronicle called it "the new Seinfeld wannabe, but it will never be as funny as Seinfeld." Chicago Sun-Times Ginny Holbert found Joey and Rachel's characteristics to be underdeveloped, while Richmond commended the cast as a "likeable, youth ensemble" with "good chemistry"; Robert Bianco of USA Today was complimentary of Schwimmer, calling him "terrific". He also praised the female leads, but was concerned that Perry's role as Chandler was "undefined" and that LeBlanc was "relying too much on the same brain-dead stud routine that was already tired the last two times he tried it". The authors of Friends Like Us: The Unofficial Guide to Friends thought that the cast was "trying just a little too hard", in particular Perry and Schwimmer. People Magazine said that the "saving grace" is that the characters become more likable as time goes on.
The website Collider ranked the season #9 on their ranking of the ten Friends seasons. They wrote that the best episode of the season was "The One Where Rachel Finds Out".
Notes
References
Sources
External links
01
1994 American television seasons
1995 American television seasons