| The producers do a lot better picking episodes from Season 4 |
The producers of "Friends" do a lot better for this "The Best of Friends: Season 4" collection of episodes from the year that Phoebe got pregnant and Ross proposed to Emily:"The One With the Jellyfish" is certainly the most educational episode of "Friends" ever, because if Joey knows what to do when somebody is stung by a jellyfish, then that pretty much means the entire nation now knows. However, even that exciting event becomes secondary in this episode since Ross fell asleep reading Rachel's 18-page letter and find that replying affirmatively to her question, "Does it"? was not something with which he can live. One of the better of the many non-ending endings for the Ross & Rachel traveling circus. Does anyone in this country dare take a break on their relationships? "The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line" has Chandler riddled with guilt and the apartment littered with new furnishings, after Chandler makes out with Kathy. Once again Chandler learns that there is no success he can have with the opposite sex that will not come back to plauge him two fold. "The One With The Free Porn" has Joey and Chandler keeping their television on so that they do not lose the unscrambled adult cabel channel that pops up. Meanwhile Ross tells Emily he loves her, but that is nothing compared to two guys in lazy boys watching free porn. "The One With All The Wedding Dresses" has Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe all getting caught up in wedding fantasies. Rachel might be the one proposing, but it is Monica who foreshadows the future with her obsessiveness about the perfect wedding (see Season 6). "The One With The Worst Best Man Ever" is the one less than stellar episode that almost costs this collection a star. Joey throws a bachelor party for Ross while Phoebe's mood swings have Monica and Rachel wondering if there is anything they can say or do that will keep the expectant mother from ripping their heads off. I guess the show wanted to get this nonsense out of the way before the season finale in London. The pickings are pretty good for Season 4 because previous collections of "The Best of Friends" only culled "The One with Chandler in a Box," "The One with the Emrboys" and both parts of "The One with Ross's Wedding." Those are the four best from the season, but there are more good ones out there: "The One with the Cat," "The One with the Cuffs," "The One with the Dirty Girl," and "The One with the Fake Party" immediately come to mind (and I like "The One with Joey's Dirty Day" a lot too). Any one of those would have been a much better replacement for "The One with the Worst Best Man Ever." I was going to go with four stars again, but compared to previous "Best of Friends" season collections, this has four solid episodes, so I will round up on the 4.5.
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