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.

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.

NBC unveiled their upcoming Fall 2012 schedule yesterday, and we included clips from all the new NBC series in that post.  Hoping to steal a little of Fox’s thunder from their upfront presentation today, NBC has now posted full trailers for each of their new shows.  We just shared the trailers for their new dramas, Revolution and Chicago Fire, and now we’ve got the trailers for NBC’s new comedy offerings.  The most high profile new comedy is probably Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s half-hour series The New Normal.  The film stars Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon) and Justin Bartha as a same-sex couple who are having a baby via surrogate (Georgia King).  I can’t say I found the trailer funny, but it does maintain Murphy’s signature dialogue for better or worse.  I’ll watch the pilot, but I don’t exactly have high hopes after watching the trailer.

However, I was really impressed by the trailer for Go On.  Matthew Perry stars as a sportscaster trying to move on from a loss with the help of his fellow group therapy members.  Perry’s comedic timing is spot-on with a nice dramatic touch, and the ensemble cast looks to be surprisingly impressive.  Hit the jump to watch the trailers for all of NBC’s new comedies.

The networks will be unveiling their fall schedules next week at the upfronts, but a few high-profile NBC pilots have already been picked up to series.  Briefly:

• The New Normal – Ryan Murphy’s blended comedy pilot centering on a same-sex couple and their surrogate.
• Revolution – The J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke-produced action/drama takes place in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist.
• Go On – Matthew Perry stars as a sportscaster trying to move on from a loss with the help of his fellow group therapy members.
• Save Me – Anne Heche plays a woman who, after letting herself go while in a broken marriage, goes through a transformation in which she becomes the best version of herself and creates miracles.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

On the new ABC comedy Mr. Sunshine, Matthew Perry stars as Ben Donovan, the manager of a San Diego sports arena called the Sunshine Center. His boss is arena owner Crystal (Allison Janney), a woman who is as erratic and unpredictable as she is attractive and powerful, and who is the cause of many of the venue’s legal problems. Married six times, she is now faced with getting to know Roman (Nate Torrence), her sweet-faced but clueless adult son, who is looking to forge a relationship with his mother..

During a recent press day to promote the series debut, actress Allison Janney talked about the appeal of playing a character so drastically different from CJ Cregg on The West Wing, how gratifying it is to have a role created and written specifically for her, working with Matthew Perry as a co-star and executive producer, and how much fun she’s been having doing comedy. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

Midseason schedules have already been announced from FOX and NBC, but now ABC has revealed their plans for the midseason with the premieres of the new comedy series Mr. Sunshine starring Matthew Perry and Happy Endings featuring Elisha Cuthbert (24). As a result of the new comedy premieres, Courtney Cox’s Cougar Town will not return to the schedule until Wednesday, April 13th. Starting that same Wednesday ABC will premiere a three-hour comedy block starting with The Middle and concluding with Modern Family Fan Favorite episodes. For a full rundown of the new schedule and details on ABC’s two new comedy series premieres, hit the jump.

We already gave you a list of the winners from the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmys (Link 8), but if the ceremony was just nominees being read and awards being handed out then the telecast wouldn’t be over three hours long would it? So to follow-up, we’ve put together some of the highlights form the show itself complete with video for your hungry eyes and ears. Below you’ll find a great comedic bit featuring the cast of Modern Family receiving some advice on how to make their next season even more hilarious. Remedies include George Clooney and Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin as new cast members and even the use of 3-D to show off Sofia Vergara’s…talents. In addition there’s a couple great acceptance speeches and other laughs to be had just below the jump.

Screen Daily reports that Vincent D’Onofrio has been perfectly cast to play Harvey Weinstein in the upcoming adaptation of Peter Biskind’s Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film.  As you can guess by the title, Biskind’s book chronicles the rise in popularity of independent films in the 90′s and how Miramax (which Harvey and his brother Bob Weinstein ran) played a huge role in everything.  Kenneth Bowser, who previously directed the documentary adaptation of Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood,will be directing the film based off of a script by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral) and Joshua James (Alien Uprising).  The always “trusty” IMDb also lists some interesting names like Matthew Perry, Andy Serkis, and Sally Hawkins as part of the cast.

I’ve read Down and Dirty Pictures and I can not stress enough how curious I am about this film.  I would think that making a documentary based off of the book would be the easier thing to do, since adapting the book into a film is going to require actors to play people who such as Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith.  Plus, there is a lot of story to be told.  One thing is certain though, it’s going to be one very interesting film whenever it comes out.

When this film came out I had no desire to see it.  I thought it looked like a repeat of “Big” mixed with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” only lame and for tweeny boppers.   I will be the first to admit I was wrong, this movie is a cocktail of both those films, but keeps things fresh and has a hell of a lot of laugh out loud moments.  I typically shy away from the more “family friendly” films that come out because they have a tendency to talk down to the audience or over-sentimentalize things, but in my opinion “17 Again” is a comedy first, family film second.  There are enough nerd humor, “adult-themed” jokes, and snappy dialogue to keep even the most avid naysayer smiling throughout. More after the jump: