{"id":41656,"date":"2023-11-03T18:58:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T22:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=41656"},"modified":"2023-11-03T18:58:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T22:58:59","slug":"the-bootleg-files-microsoft-windows-95-video-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/11\/03\/the-bootleg-files-microsoft-windows-95-video-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: Microsoft Windows 95 Video Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 846:<\/strong> \u201cMicrosoft Windows 95 Video Guide\u201d (1995 instructional video starring Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry). <\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube and Archive.org.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> Only the original VHS release.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> It no longer has any perceived value.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely.<\/p>\n

When Matthew Perry passed away last Saturday, the obituaries and tributes focused heavily on his role as Chandler Bing in the NBC sitcom \u201cFriends.\u201d There was some mention of his other work, particularly his Emmy-nominated performances on \u201cThe West Wing,\u201d his brief foray into film acting with forgettable flicks like \u201cThe Whole Nine Yards,\u201d and his two-season reboot of \u201cThe Odd Couple.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n

Curiously absent from most of the Perry tributes was his starring role with \u201cFriends\u201d co-star Jennifer Aniston in a straight-to-video instructional production called \u201cMicrosoft Windows 95 Video Guide.\u201d Most people may not recall that Microsoft hired the sitcom actors to teach people how to use their most ambitious-to-date offering. Not surprisingly, this strange little offering comes across like a third-rate parody of \u201cFriends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I know it is bad form to speak poorly of the recently deceased but I was never a fan of Perry\u2019s work on \u201cFriends.\u201d I thought the series was badly written and the Chandler character was the least endearing of the central figures \u2013 the writers gave Chandler tiresome and unfunny sarcastic quips and Perry, either through his own shortcomings as an actor or because of terrible direction, spat out his lines with no sense of wit or irony. <\/p>\n

In \u201cMicrosoft Windows 95 Video Guide,\u201d Perry and Aniston identify as themselves, but they are rehashing their \u201cFriends\u201d characters \u2013 Perry is saddled with sarcastic cracks and Aniston acts vaguely cute. In this go-round, they are visiting Microsoft headquarters to meet with the company\u2019s chief, Bill Gates, who promised a demonstration of the new Windows 95 operating system.<\/p>\n

However, Gates is not in his office \u2013 nor is he in the video, which is something of a blessing as he is far more emetic than the combined \u201cFriends\u201d cast. Instead, his self-described \u201cloyal assistant\u201d Bernice Keppleman serves as Gates\u2019 substitute host. Perry spies the severe-looking woman and dubs her \u201cThe Wicked Witch of Windows\u201d (which is probably the funniest thing in this video). Keppleman (played by Marilyn Pasekoff) speaks with a heavy Noo Yawk dialect and drops references to Lindy\u2019s and Barbra Streisand \u2013 yeah, the comedy is that level.<\/p>\n

In their initial spin on Windows 95, Aniston portrays the computer-illiterate cutie who has no idea what she is looking at while Perry is a bit more savvy \u2013 he acknowledged the breakthrough of being able to have longer file names on the new system, recalling how he lost files in college because he couldn\u2019t recall the codes that doubled as short file names. <\/p>\n

A great deal of the consideration of Windows 95 involves Aniston and Perry discovering that they can use their PC to send a faxed menu to a Chinese restaurant. Their meal is delivered by a guy riding a bicycle and wearing the head of a Chinese New Year dragon \u2013 but once the dragon head is removed, he\u2019s revealed to be a blonde guy with an Asian headband speaking in Mr. Miyagi-style mysticism. The video also includes a nerdy guy with glasses named Chipster (a Gates wannabe), a fat Russian named Boris (Keppleman remarks that he is active in “drive-thru windows”), a tween gamer and some dumb rockers. <\/p>\n

Mercifully, these mirth-free misfits only take up the first third of the hour-long video. The second third repeats most of what was discussed in the first third but without the stereotypes and lame attempts at humor, while the final third does a Q&A that repeats the info from the first two-thirds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMicrosoft Windows 95 Video Guide\u201d had a brief distribution when the operating system was new, but it quickly became antiquated as Microsoft updated Windows. Not surprisingly, it was only made available on VHS video \u2013 the likelihood of a DVD or Blu-ray release is nil. <\/p>\n

Some fun folks made unauthorized uploads of the title to YouTube and Archive.org. If you\u2019re nostalgic for the 90s, it is worth a peek. Otherwise, to flip the \u201cFriends\u201d theme, you don\u2019t need to be there for it.<\/p>\n