The Office and Friends: Owning the series vs streaming it

Prepare to say goodbye to two beloved classics as The Office and Friends pack up and leave Netflix in the near future. But has owning both shows on Blu-Ray or DVD always been better?

The Office is scheduled to leave Netflix beginning in 2021, and Friends is moving out even sooner, just this coming year in 2020. Friends will be available to stream on HBO Max, which is WarnerMedia‘s upcoming streaming service. While The Office will be part of NBC’s own forthcoming streaming service.

This is unfortunate news for sure. We are all so used to turning on Netflix and binge-watching all episodes back-to-back or simply enjoying it in the background. Episodes of The Office and  Friends never get old. Even though they are on Netflix, if we happen to see a rerun episode of either show on live TV, we can’t turn away!

Unfortunately, watching these two classics is about to become so much more expensive! With Friends leaving in 2020 and The Office in 2021, we’ll no longer have ONE go-to place to watch them at. Instead, we’ll need to subscribe to NBC’s service and HBO Max.

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At this point, is it better to just splurge and own the Blu-Rays/DVDs of both shows? Has it always been? It appears so, especially for those who are more angry than most about the news.

You’ve likely seen the posts already, many are threatening to leave Netflix once The Office and Friends are no longer available. But isn’t this a bit silly? Have you all truly been paying $12 (or more) a month only for Friends and The Office? Because, after a while, it all adds up to cost more than what the discs would have cost you.

Sure, Netflix facilitates our binge-watch as we are able to quickly select the episode and season we want to see without having to switch discs. But money wise, it’s better to just have your own copies.

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In a year, you’ll pay Netflix approximately $144 (based on $12/month) as opposed to $55 for the complete series of The Office on DVD at Amazon. Friends is just a little more pricey, if you’d like the Blu-Ray set, it’ll set you back just over $95, also at Amazon. For those who claim to really only have Netflix for these two shows all of these years, it seems you have overpaid.

Another great reason to just own both is the very reason it’s leaving Netflix, you just never know what will happen in the streaming world! It’s better to just have your own to fall back on.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, while I already own all of Friends on Blu-Ray, I’m off to purchase The Office before the price goes up due to high demand. Will you be subscribing to both HBO Max and NBC’s upcoming streaming service or enjoy your own copies?