The 2001 “Friends” episode, “The One with Monica and Chandler’s Wedding,” is included in the series DVD out next Tuesday. (NBC via Getty Images)
It never ceases to amaze me how many “Friends” fans there are out there — so they’ll want to pay attention to this.
Warner Home Video will release “Friends: The Complete Series,” next Tuesday. The 21-disc set features all 10 seasons of the NBC sitcom (236 episodes). While the series is already out on DVD, “The Complete Series” out on Tuesday is on Blu-ray — the first time “Friends” has been released in this format.
The new Blu-ray release features over three hours of new bonus features, including retrospective documentaries with new cast interviews, gag reels, the “Friends” cast on “The Tonight Show” (2005) and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (2004) and the original producers cut for the episode, “The One Where Rachel Tells Ross” (back in its original form — with an introduction by series executive producer Kevin Bright explaining why it was edited before hitting the air).
Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer starred in the series, which aired from 1994-2004.
And speaking of classic sitcoms, Bill Persky, who co-wrote, directed and produced many beloved sitcoms, including “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “That Girl,” has written “My Life is a Situation Comedy,” which will be published next month. Persky, 81, teamed with the late Sam Denoff and directed and produced over 300 shows during his long career.
More books: photographer Rose Hartman will celebrate the release of her new book, “Incomparable Women of Style,” with a cocktail party hosted by Jean Shafiroff next Tuesday (Nov. 13) at The Sanctuary Hotel (on West 47th). Hartman has photographed, among others, “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker, Claudia Schiffer and Lauren Bacall.
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Prime-time comedies and dramas, particularly those set in New York City, will often mention The Post in their storylines, which is always fun (although I’m still waiting for Bryan Cranston’s Walter White to give this column a shout-out on “Breaking Bad,” but that’s for another day).
Well, now it’s People magazine’s turn in the prime-time spotlight.
Next Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” will feature a storyline in which People, and more specifically its “Sexiest Man Alive” issue, is prominently mentioned. It’s a tie-in to the mag’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” who will be revealed the next day (Nov. 14). That’s when the Nov. 26 issue hits newsstands in New York and LA (it’s out everywhere else next Friday).
Anyway, Tuesday’s episode (9:30 p.m./Ch. 7) revolves around June (Dreama Walker), who’s obsessed with the mag’s annual “Sexiest Man Alive” issue — much to Chloe’s (Krysten Ritter) chagrin. She drops by the People offices to try to coerce them into featuring James Van Der Beek (who plays a fictionalized version of himself in the series) on its cover.
Oh, and the real Van Der Beek is writing a column for the “SMA” issue (joining others including, in past years, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien).
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Last, but not least:
* Ch. 2, Ch. 55 and all of CBS Radio’s New York stations will host a phone bank to raise funds for the American Red Cross’ relief effort (Hurricane Sandy) today from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. . . . TV style expert Jacquie Stafford co-hosts a cocktail event/panel at the Clarins Skin Spa (1060 Madison Ave.) tonight at 6:30 . . . SPEED is partnering with iPowow to enable NASCAR fans to voice their predictions while watching “NASCAR RaceDay,” which airs Sundays. Speedtv.com has details . . . Anne Meara and Patricia Arquette will play mother-and-daughter in an upcoming episode of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” called “Dreams Deferred” . . . Mel Brooks visits “Jimmy Kimmel Live” next Thursday (Nov. 15) to promote his DVD box set, “The Incredible Mel Brooks” . . . The “Yule Log” returns to Ch. 11 on Christmas morning (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The “fabled fire stick” (as so eloquently waxed by station publicist Jessica Bellucci) has been a WPIX tradition since 1966 . . . Series including “Medium,” “The Tudors,” “CSI: Miami,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Twin Peaks” will be available on Hulu Plus come January . . . The seventh season of “Gunsmoke” is out on DVD Dec. 11.