Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Friends: The Complete Series

 

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the two biggest comedies on TV were probably Friends and Seinfeld. Friends was aimed at the younger demographic, going for the viewers that were in their mid to late 20s, while Seinfeld was aimed at the demographic about a decade older. Friends premiered in 1994 and was about a group of friends living in New York. The series starred Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc. I actually never watched the series consistently when it was on the air. I was a senior in high school the year it began, so I just never really got into it and never appreciated how good it really was.

Friends was one of those shows like ER, where the cast was made up of relative no names (at least at the time), but unlike ER the main cast stayed together for the entire run. I think that allowed the show to keep the same feel and tone throughout the series. The writing was very very good in that they allowed the characters to evolve and grow over the course of 10 years but never lost the core of who they were over that time. They also did a great job of referring to old jokes without (for the most part) making them stale. For the ones that did, it got to the point that they would even poke fun at it (for example "We were on a break"). I also liked how the show relied on more than just sex jokes for the comedy (unlike many of the sitcoms of today). While there were certainly sex jokes throughout the series, the show did not lean on them and there were a lot of smarter jokes in the series too, that presumed the audience was smart enough to be entertained by other material.

The Blu-Ray set is a 21-disc set. The 234 episodes and some of the bonus content are spread across discs 1-20, and disc 21 has additional bonus content. The A/V quality of the set is good, but not outstanding, especially if you are a big A/V wonk. Even though the A/V quality is not perfect, it is a step up from the A/V quality of the DVDs. One big drawback (for some) in this release is that the episodes were only the ones that were broadcast. Apparently, the DVD sets included a lot of extended episodes, but this is just going to give you the show as it was intended to originally be seen. If that is a deal breaker for you, then don't waste the money. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, trailers, "Friends of Friends" featurettes, which give a breakdown of all the guest stars for that particular season, featurettes on the fans, the on-location episodes, gag reels, and more.  The final disc also includes appearances by the cast on The Tonight Show and the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the "I'll Be There for You" music video, a couple of series retrospectives, and the original version of the episode "The One Where Rachel Tells Ross" which aired shortly after 9/11 and was edited because of a bomb joke. 

Streaming App Review: Max

 

Max (formerly HBO GO) allows you to subscribe to HBO without subscribing through whatever cable or streaming service you use for live channels. It has most of the archived HBO shows like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, etc., as well as the vast majority of the DC Comics content (aside from, as of this writing, the CW shows that stream on Netflix and Smallville which streams on Hulu), and shows like Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon that get licensed to stream on the service. Plus, due to COVID-19's impact on people going to theaters, for a time, the newly released Warner Brother movies were available for 30 days on the day that they were released. I believe that is no longer happening, however. And, the new episodes of shows like House of the Dragon are made immediately available at the same time they would air if you were watching HBO through a cable subscription.

The interface is very good and easy to navigate. You can search or browse, and add content to a watch list. And, if you stop a movie or show before it ends, there is a continue watching section that allows you to pick up where you left off. The interface is very similar to that of Disney + and Peacock, so if you have, or have used, one of those, you can easily navigate around in this. And, I do not notice a ton of buffering issues even though my Wi-Fi connection can be spotty at times. The connection to the app seems more consistent than I get with some of my other streaming apps. The only drawback is that it does not have archived versions of all the weekly shows, like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. It only has the shows of the most recent season, and as soon as the new season starts the prior season's shows are removed. That kind of sucks if you have not seen the early episodes and would like to go back and watch them without having to try and track them down online. Aside from that, I am definitely happy with it even though it is yet another paid streaming platform.

Product Review: Roku Premiere | HD/4K/HDR Streaming Media Player

 

I have a few different Roku devices (two ultras, and one Express). The Roku Express crashed when trying to open apps like Netflix and Hulu, but worked with other apps. After trying to restart and factory reset it (and trying to replace the express with my old Firestick which got caught in a boot loop that I could not get it out of), I decided to replace it with the Premiere. So far, it is able to open all of the Apps without a problem and the stream quality is very good. The setup is very easy. You just go to the Roku website and enter the code on the screen. Then it will download the apps that you select, or if you already have a Roku account, whatever apps have already been downloaded on the other devices.

Overall, the interface and remote for the Roku to be much better and more user friendly than the FireStick/FireTV interface and remote. The only downside I have discovered with the Roku interface (aside from the issue of the Roku express crashing) is that you are forced to have all of the same apps on each device that are logged in under that account. So, if you have multiple TVs in your house, some of which only certain people watch, and each has a Roku device that is logged in under the same account, everyone has to have the same apps on their home screen. The apps on each device's home screens can be rearranged, however, and those are sticky to the particular device. So, while each TV is stuck with the same apps, regardless of whether the person who watches that TV watches them all or not, each person can have their home screen arranged how they prefer, with the apps they watch toward the top of the list. And, Roku will randomly put new Apps on the home screen, whether you want them or not. That is the biggest pain and drawback. But, other than that, Roku has a very nice interface and is easy to use.

Product Review: Roku Express

 

This is an inexpensive option for cord-cutters (kind of an oxymoron since it still has cords) i.e., those who are looking to ditch cable or satellite TV. It is basically a box that attaches to your TV via an HDMI cable, and then allows you to download various apps, some free, some paid (e.g., Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Sling TV, YouTube TV, etc.) through which you can watch TV or movies.

The setup is easy. You just plug the Roku box into one of the HDMI ports on your TV, then connect it via a USB cable to a power source, which can be either through a USB port in the TV or connect the USB end of the cable into a power adapter that plugs into a regular wall outlet. Then you just follow the on-screen prompts to set it up, which will include connecting to your home's wireless network, telling it what you like to watch so it can suggest apps to download, and either setting up or logging into your Roku account (if you have an account set up). So, as long as you are not completely technophobic, you can get it set up in a few minutes.

There is absolutely no activation fee to set up the box. You have the option to set up Roku premium content (like HBO, Showtime, etc.) but you do not have to activate any of those. There are a bunch of free apps, including the Roku channel which have TV shows and movies, and usually play commercials throughout the shows, but those are generally past seasons of shows. If you want to watch current shows you either have to pay for a service like Sling TV or the like or get an HD antenna to connect to your TV to watch shows over-the-air.

Overall, this is a very good deal. Just to note, it will not play content in native 4k, so if you have a 4k TV you may want to upgrade to one of the more expensive boxes that will allow you to get the best resolution. But, if you have a regular HD TV that outputs 1080p, this is a great option. And, the remote is about 1000 times better and easier to use than the Amazon Fire remotes. So, if you are deciding between a Roku and one of the Amazon Fire devices, that may be something you want to consider. Roku does have an Amazon Prime app, so you can play all the Prime video content if you are a Prime member.

App Review: Disney+

 

I have subscribed to Disney+ since its launch, mostly to watch the Star Wars and Marvel content, but I do, from time to time, watch some of the older movies that I watched as a kid. While the app is free to download, you do have to pay for a subscription, just like is the case with Netflix, Hulu, etc. It has a big chunk of the Disney catalog (with more being added pretty consistently) including many of the older movies and shows that people who are over 40 grew up with.

There are numerous ways to navigate around the content in the app, such as searching, browsing just TV shows, just movies, and by content (e.g. Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic, etc.). You can also browse content by the decade of release. One great thing is that you do not have to pay extra for the material that is available in 4K. If you have a 4K television, you can play 4k content without having to upgrade your subscription ala Netflix. Another thing that is really nice is that you get bonus content, mostly for the newer movies, much like would be included with the physical DVD or Blu-ray discs which is sometimes missing when you opt just to stream material.

You also can set up multiple profiles so each person in the house can have their own watchlist, and get their own recommendations based on what is viewed under the profile. And, you can set any additional profiles (there is a pre-set main/default profile that cannot be altered aside from assigning it a name and icon) as a "kids" profile to limit what content can be watched under it. As I mentioned above, each profile can also be assigned an icon of pretty much any character from the shows/movies on the service.

I have not had any of the streaming issues or error messages that some are getting. I was able to download and sign in without a problem, although I did so pretty early on the morning launch day. Overall, you get a ton of content for your money, including movies that are harder to find on physical media because they have gone out of print. It is a great value, especially if you signed up for the three-year deal that was offered a few months, or if you already have Hulu (you can basically pay a dollar per month more (if you subscribe to commercial-free Hulu) to bundle Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.

One thing to note is that after you sign in, it will require you to verify your email address, basically by emailing you a code that you then enter into the app. Although, the system does not make this very obvious because there is no box that pops up instructing you to verify your email. What happens is, on the menu (which is on a sidebar) there is a settings icon (a gear icon), that will have an exclamation point over it. When you click into the settings you will then see that you have to verify your email, then it will send the code. I am not sure what will happen if you do not verify or how much time you have to do so. Most likely it will kick you out after a while, but it is ultimately a very easy process. I definitely recommend it.

App Review: Tubi

 

Tubi is a free streaming service that is a rival to services like Netflix and Hulu. This means you will have to sit through commercials that will randomly pop up during a movie (they do seem to be keyed to natural ad breaks for most of the TV shows, however), and the content is more on the B or C list level. The good thing is that movies are not censored, so you will not have to watch the TV versions of movies. There are some older A-list movies that get sprinkled in, and there are some TV series that they have (such as the reboot of V that aired a handful of years ago now) that I have not seen on other services. 

It is easy to navigate the various categories, and the content does cycle through (there is a category for leaving soon) if you want to watch things that will not be on the service much longer. It is a good option for cord-cutters, especially if you do not want to subscribe to all the paid services out there.

App Review: CBS News

 

This app allows you to watch either archived/on-demand news clips and stories or watch a live feed of CBS News. During the times when some news program is regularly airing on CBS, such as during the evening news or Sunday morning, you can watch it live. On the off-peak times, the "live" feed are top stories that get played on a loop. So, if you just had it playing in the background, the stories are going to be recycled. It does cut in for breaking news or newsworthy press conferences though. So how much of a recycled feel you will get can vary depending on the particular day's news. As others have said, the Fire Stick version can be glitchy. Content-wise, however, it is good, and it does not require a subscription to CBS All Access (now Paramount+) to use it.

App Review: Amazon Music Unlimited

 

If you are a Prime member on Amazon you do get the basic version of Prime Music included. The basic version is good but does have songs and albums that disappear every so often and does not have licensing rights for everything that is available on the Unlimited version. This will get you the most albums from most artists who have ever been popular or at the very least had one hit song. There have been a couple songs that I have not been able to find, but I have been able to find the vast majority of the songs I have been looking for on Unlimited.

The App is fairly user-friendly and allows you to easily find music in your library which are songs you own or have added, or you can listen to stations that play songs by artist (and artists similar to them), by genre, or damn near any parameter you can think of. There are also many podcasts available through the app as well. It is a relatively inexpensive way to access almost every album that has been released.

App Review: Curiosity Stream

 

Curiosity Stream is an app that has educational documentaries. While this is a free download you do have to have a subscription to watch anything. It has hours of documentaries available (I am partial to the Astronomy/spaced-based ones) and it would be nearly impossible to get through them all. If you are generally a fan of documentaries and want more than what is available on other streaming services, this is a great addition.

Product Review: LG Electronics 86UK6570 86-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV (2018 Model)

 

I have had the 86" version of this TV for a few years and have not had any problems with it or any big complaints. I love the fact that it has 4 HDMI ports so I can hook up all the devices I have (PlayStation 4, 4K UHD blu-ray player, a region-free regular blu ray player, and a Roku) to it without having to use a splitter. I also have an HD antenna hooked up to it, and another nice point is that you can tell it your zip code, and it will give you a guide to all the over-the-air channels. It does come with a sling TV app, along with Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, MAX, and the like. I have a Roku soundbar so most of the time, when I watch shows through any of those apps, I use the Roku versions.

It will definitely take a couple people to set up. It comes in a 130lb box that is about 8 feet long and 4+ feet tall, so one person will not be able to maneuver it much at all. The one I got came with just the regular LG remote, not the "magic" remote that has more functionality. The picture and sound quality have been great with UHD discs, regular blu-rays, and even over-the-air channels. I used to have it sitting on two Ikea shelves I laid on their side and put side by side (so about 10 feet long give or take with the two together). The stand is just wide enough to fit on that setup. I have had a stand custom-built for it, but you can wall mount it or keep it on the floor (depending on your seating situation). It was pricey when I bout it, but it was definitely worth the price.

Product Review: CorLiving Bakersfield TV Stand

 

I got this to put a 55" TV on. It does seem pretty sturdy once you get it together, but the instructions are not the greatest (due in part to the fact that the pieces are not labeled very well) and it was not easy to tell what all of the pieces were just by looking at them and matching them up to the instructions.

I ended up getting it together with some pieces backward, so the inner pieces that act as separators in the lower part would not go in. Instead of taking it apart and putting it back together I just left it as is. It has been stable and the TV fits on it (although just barely, so if you have anything bigger than 55", depending on the stand that acts as the base of the TV, this will probably be too small). With those provisos it is decent.

App Review: HBO Go

 

This was the app that was used if you subscribed to HBO through a cable or satellite service or through DirecTV Now. The interface was okay, not great, but I could generally find what I was looking for without an issue. I have not had issues with it crashing, buffering, or freezing up as other reviewers on Amazon did (nor have I had those kinds of issues using the MAX app. 

My one complaint is that it did not hold your login credentials long enough. For many apps, and I would say most of the ones I use, once I log in with my DirecTV NOW username and password they will stick unless I uninstall and reinstall the app, or after the app is updated. This one seems to log me out on a much more consistent basis. Then I have to go through the process of entering the code into the activation site, resubmitting my DirecTV NOW credentials, etc. It does not take a ton of time to do so, just a few minutes, but pain nevertheless. Of course, this has now been replaced with the MAX app, which has a much different interface and user experience, so the functionality of this one is moot now.

App Review: HGTV GO

 

This is an App that has most of the HGTV shows on it. It is free to download, but you have to sign in with your account information for whichever TV provider you have, be it cable, DirecTV, DirecTV Now, etc. If you do not have a cable or satellite provider (unless they have altred the policy) everything will be locked if you try to watch something. Once you do, you can stream pretty much every show on the network. 

It mostly has just the most current episodes of the various shows (whatever season is currently airing, or most recently aired, and occasionally the season prior to that). It does not have every episode of every show, especially those which have been around for more than a few seasons. Some of the shows allow you to fast-forward through the commercials and others make you sit through 4-5 commercials (and sometimes the same commercial run over and over). If you are a cord-cutter and are a fan of the shows on the network, it is a great way to watch them when you want, especially if whatever streaming TV service you use does not have (or you do not want to pay for) DVR functionality.

All of the HGTV shows are now on MAX, which used to be HBO Go and then HBO Max. So if you subscribe to that you do not need to watch this, but if you do not want to pay for another streaming service and still have a cable subscription, this is a good option.

App Review: Sling TV

 

I tried Sling TV back in 2018, then switched to YouTube TV (mainly to watch Cobra Kai), and have now switched back to Sling after YouTube TV increased its prices a couple of times without adding any additional content or features. To be clear, despite Sling's claims, it is not truly a-la-carte TV. You cannot select just the channels you want. You have to choose from packages, which, depending on the one you choose will have a pre-selected set of add-ons you can choose. For example, if you want cable news channels you have to choose the mid-level blue package, then pay an extra $5 per month for the "news add-on".  They have subsequently removed the news add-on, but you still have to subscribe to the blue package. Then there are different packages to get extra sports channels and the like. You cannot just pick from a list of all the channels, select the one(s) you want, and pay a flat fee based on that. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:

1) The app is much more stable than DirecTV NOW (which is what I initially switched from to Sling). It buffers and/or freezes far less at peak internet use time than DirecTV Now does.

2) The optional DVR functionality which allows you to record shows (up to 50 hours worth) and fast forward through them is great, and something lacking on some of the other services. But, see below.

3) Easy to navigate

Cons:

1) Live local channel availability is very limited. In my area, there is no local CBS, NBC, ABC, CW, etc. It does get the local Fox station and the local Fox Sports channel so I can watch some of the local sports teams, but DirecTV NOW has a much better selection.

2) No commercial-free upgrade option when watching on-demand shows. Granted the DVR function eliminates the need for that somewhat, but it would be a nice option to have when you are watching on-demand shows.

3) The DVR reliability is spotty. It does not record everything I have set to record every time there is a new episode. I have it set to record some of the nightly talk shows and some nights it will record fine, and others it skips them all together, even though there is plenty of space available. Also, if you have older recordings on there that you have watched already it will sometimes, depending on what device you are on, throw an error code and not play it. It has also canceled some of the recordings I have set up so I have to go back in and tell it to record the series. And, sometimes when you tell it you only want to record new episodes, it will record re-runs anyway. 

4) While you can select your favorite channels when you go into the guide you will see all the channels, and you do not have the ability to block, lock, or even just hide any channels you do not want to watch.  So, the favorite channel function is basically useless.

Overall, it is the most cost-effective live TV streaming app, but it is definitely not perfect. It has, however, gotten better over time, and will hopefully continue to do so.

App Review: DirecTV

 

I like the idea of a more a-la-carte TV package (not that this is truly a-la-carte), and on its face, DirecTV NOW was a very good deal (with the base package starting at $35). The $5 per month HBO add-on (which is the best price I have seen for it) is great. However, the app is glitchy. I have it on the fire stick and on Roku, and during peak times it buffers all the time (and I have a very high-speed internet connection). So much so that it is nearly impossible to watch a show. During off-peak TV and internet use time, like during the day or after midnight it works better, but unless you are a second-shift worker, that will not do you a lot of good. it is also prone to freezing up. I have taken to using the app as little as possible and using the network-specific apps (many of which you can use the DirecTV Now credentials to sign in with) and watching the shows I want to see through those because they tend to have far fewer problems than this app.

There is also no DVR option like there is on Sling or a commercial-free option for when you are watching on-demand shows. One positive is that it has a great selection of local channels. In my area, it has the local CBS, NBC, ABC, CW, FOX, and in the middle tier package the local FOX Sports channel, which Apps like Sling do not have.

++++Update++++

They are now adding a DVR option to the app, and have seemed to upgrade the stability of the app significantly. It still does crash and kick you out of it, but much of the buffering issues have been resolved. So it is still not perfect.

+++Update 2 +++

I finally got sick of the glitches and freezing so I canceled my subscription to the app after a price increase which was not warranted for the quality of the product. I have no idea what it is like now. Hopefully, they fixed the issues I experienced, but the version I was using back in 2018 was definitely not ready for wide customer release.

App Review: FXNOW

 

The menus in the app are very user-friendly and easy to navigate. You do have to sign in with your TV provider information otherwise you will only get about an hour's worth of time to watch something then you will be locked out. So you have to have a service with DirecTVNow or cable (when I used it you could not sign in with credentials from Sling TV) that gives you access to FX in order to watch more than one episode of something. Most of the FX content is split between Disney+ and Hulu these days, so if you subscribe to those (or the bundle), then you do not need to use this App.

App Review: Comedy Central

 

The app is mostly good and easy to use with a couple caveats which knocks it down a couple stars for me. First, they jack up the volume of the commercials, so much so that I often mute the commercials. Second, the episodes are only unlocked for the most recent shows, unless you are signed in through something like DirecTVNOW, or some other cable or satellite-type subscription. So for example, only the current week of Daily Show episodes will be unlocked. This would not be much of an issue if the app kept you signed in once you had logged in one time. It does not do so, however, and it is kind of a pain to keep signing into it if you get behind on shows and want to watch older ones.

These days, most, if not all, of the Comedy Central material is not streamed on the Paramount + App, so if you subscribe to that, there is no reason to use this one, and that gives you a better user experience anyway. But, this is available if you do not want to subscribe to another streaming service.

App Review: Disney XD

 

I used this mainly to watch Star Wars Rebels. I found it to be much smoother in terms of buffering than the DirecTVNOW app which I was subscribed to at the time I was watching Rebels. The only real irritating part is that it tended to replay the same commercials over and over (which many of the apps do), sometimes back to back. Otherwise, I think it was fine. Not great, but not bad either. Of course, this App has been replaced by Disney + (and is probably not available anymore anyway), which has a totally different (and better) user experience.

App Review: Fox Now

 

If you have a subscription to Hulu, the Fox shows are all available there, and that tends to work much better than this app. I initially downloaded it when I cut the cord from satellite TV and before I discovered the shows were on Hulu. While I did like that this allowed you to sign in and keep track of where you left off with a show, I found it to be glitchy, including freezing up and crashing quite frequently. Hopefully, subsequent updates will fix some of those issues, but since I have a commercial-free subscription to Hulu, I just watch all the shows I would normally watch through this app there.

App Review: Paramount +

 

I decided to cut the cord back in 2017 and get rid of cable/satellite TV. Because I watch many of the CBS shows I decided to shell out for a CBS All Access (now Paramount +) subscription. You would only want to download this if you actually have (or plan on buying) a subscription, otherwise, it is basically useless. Yes, it is free to download the app, as most of the TV-based apps are, but in order to watch anything on it you have to subscribe separately to Paramount+. The subscription prices vary depending on whether you want the version with commercials or whether you want to shell out a bit more for the commercial-free version and/or add on a Showtime subscription. I have the app both for the Firestick and the Roku. I would say I like the app for the latter a bit more than this one, in part because navigating the menus tends to be easier. But that is as much a function of the Firestick remote vs. the Roku remote as anything.

To be clear if you have cable or satellite and DVR, and you have no interest in watching the shows that you can only see through the app (like The Good Fight, Star Trek Discovery, and the archived shows that are no longer on the air like Limitless) then there is no reason to get this. My main issue with the app is that for some series, it will allow you to watch every episode from season 1 on, and for others it only allows you to watch the current season. And for the late-night shows (at least Colbert) you can only go back for a couple weeks worth of episodes, so if you fall too far behind you cannot watch the older episodes.

The subscription is definitely a better deal for cord-cutters than those already paying for cable. Even for those people, it does give you access to some older CBS shows that are not on the air anymore, so if you did want to watch an older series without getting it on DVD, or do not subscribe to another service where the show might be available, it will give you that option. It also allows you to watch your local CBS station live. It is certainly not perfect, but if the circumstances are right for you, worth it.