It’s hard to believe eight years have passed since Friends went off the air. Harder still to believe just how much television has changed in that time. Friends may have been the last of the network behemoths: old school dramas and comedies that everyone watched and chatted about over the water cooler the next morning. The environment in which it thrived no longer exists, replaced by the long tail and cable shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad that now command our cultural attention. Which is why the new Blu-ray set covering the entire series feels more like a nostalgic throwback than a white-hot imperative.  Hit the jump for my full review.

This week on Blu-ray, Pixar’s latest comes to home video, one of the most popular sitcoms of all time finally gets an HD upgrade, and a visually arresting classic gets the Blu-ray treatment.  Briefly:

• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure [Blu-ray] – $13.86 (31% off)
• Brave (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition: Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy) – $27.99 (44% off)
• Brave (Three-Disc Collector’s Edition: Blu-ray / DVD) – $19.99 (50% off)
• Friends: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] – $149.99 (46% off)
• Lawrence of Arabia (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray] – $64.96 (32% off)
• Lawrence of Arabia (Restored Version) [Blu-ray] – $18.99 (30% off)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding: 10th Anniversary Special Edition [Blu-ray] – $14.99 (25% off)
• Pixar Short Films Collection 2 [Blu-ray] – $27.96 (30% off)
• Savages (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)- $19.99 (43% off)
• Vamps [Blu-ray] – $12.99 (48% off)
• The Watch [Blu-ray] – $22.99 (43% off)

Hit the jump for all the details.

Though the term “sitcom” has become a dirty word nowadays with exceptional single-camera TV comedies dominating the airwaves, multi-cam comedies were the norm way, way back in the 1990s.  A number of 90s sitcoms were successful enough to be deemed “appointment television,” but two shows invaded the zeitgeist like no other: Seinfeld and Friends.  The latter is still one of the most successful television shows ever made, and its influence is ever-present as contemporary comedies are still trying to emulate its “formula.”

Friends is now—finally—coming to Blu-ray later this year with completely remastered versions of all 236 episodes in 1080p HD video, 16×9 widescreen format and 5.1 audio.  Moreover, the complete series set will include over 3 hours of new bonus features.  Hit the jump for more details.