24 years after it's debut, Friends is still a powerhouse in American culture. Love it or hate it, the show is still popular, still watched in syndication, and still quoted regularly in mainstream culture. Kelsey Miller's I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends is an interesting, fun look at the show's creation, history, controversies, and successes.

The book follows a fairly chronological sequence; it begins with the show creators's college days and explains how they became writing partners and, ultimately, creators of one of the most popular shows on TV. Readers get an inside look at the casting process and how each of the core six actors came to be involved with the show. 

From there, Miller breaks down the big moments, both on air and off, for each season. She looks at audience reaction to major episodes, how the crew tweaked each show and season for viewers, how the cast negotiated for those million dollar salaries. I really enjoyed how linear the storytelling is - it's easy to follow along as the show matures. When talking about behind the scenes issues, Miller does a great job grounding her timeline by offering references to the episodes we'll recognize.

Miller does explore the show's controversies; namely, the lack of diversity and jokes at the expense of the GLBTIQQ and obese communities. Watching the show in 2018, it's impossible to *not* notice the lack of representation in the show. Most of Miller's interview subjects seem to have the same response to these questions; yes, there could have been better representation of X, but at least there was Y. For example, the show could have had more GLBT characters, but at least there were Carol and Susan. The show could have had Asian characters, but at least there was Julie. The show could have had black characters, but at least there was Charlie, etc. 

I'd rate this book 4/5 stars. I'm taking away a star because I think Miller could have and should have been more critical of these issues. This is a book written by a Friends fan for Friends fans and I think that affected the narrative.

I really enjoyed it otherwise. It was fun and well put together. I was surprised by the sections about how more people tuned in after the events of 9/11 and about the Lyle vs. Warner Bros. case. I hadn't heard of either of these topics. The Lyle case involved a female employee who worked in the writers room and, after being fired, brought suit against the show for sexual harassment. Sadly, her case is still relevant today. I'm glad Miller included both the details and the lack of press the case received.

This isn't just a trivia book. At it's heart, this novel explores why Friends is still so popular, why it still feels relevant, even though there are many aspects of the show that are out of date. It's a nostalgic look back at a show that doesn't seem to be leaving our cultural lexicon anytime soon.

Pub Date: 23 October 2018
Price: $26.99
ISBN: 9781335928283
Page count: 304 pp
Publisher: Hanover Square Press

I received an ARC of this work from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's crazy to think that the hit TV show, "Friends" debuted 24 years ago. I watched the show towards the end of its original run and it's such a classic show with common themes that still resonant in a variety of relationships and friendships today. Due to syndication, 90's nostalgia, and Netflix, a resurgence in the interest of the show has come back again and author Kelsey Miller goes into painstaking detail about how this phenomenon came to be. From how the creators came up with the idea for the show to how each actor got cast, and all the drama and accolades in between, Miller does a great job highlight all of the elements and factors that went into making the show a classic. The book also does not shy away from the show's controversy, like not casting a person of color and the fat-shaming and homophobic jokes.

For fans of the show and those who want to learn more about the origins of the show, this is a great, definitive read for the history of "Friends".

Editor Correction: Matt LeBlanc won a Golden Globe, not an Emmy for "Episodes"

A great read! I think it will be most enjoyable for people who REALLY enjoy friends. Nostalgic of one of my all time favorite shows.

This is a pretty solid book about the phenomena that was and is Friends. That said, to those who watched it as teenagers or young adults during the original run, there probably isn't going to be anything new covered on the page, though it's a nice nostalgic reminder of the climate of the 90s. The audience for this book is the millennial primarily watching the reruns or on Netflix--and that's not a bad thing at all! Much like The Golden Girls, Friends has somehow crossed over generations and provides just as much fun escape now as it did twenty plus years ago. There is a wonderful background on the evolution of the creators, how their partnership formed, and how they eventually came to create Friends. There are also some cute--albeit short--blurbs on the casting of these mostly fresh-faced "new" actors. However, for all of the quotes and background, noticeably missing is any actual interview by the author with the creators or even any cast member. It quickly becomes a glaring omission when instead of asking the actor point blank about what he was thinking, the author instead describes facial expressions in detail from a late-night talk show interview he gave fifteen, twenty years prior. Much of what made the show work through even the corniest of storylines was the cast chemistry and performance and it would have been great to have read a new interview with them (or at least one of two of them) in light of all of the problems Friends (and the 90s) had politically and socially. At the very least, it would have been wonderful to hear more about the behind the scenes of writing/filming/acting through more of the classic episodes themselves. There are precious few of these anecdotes.
So, again, great for the newer fanbase who wants an idea as to how the show came to be or what was going on in the 90s to shape the show's success. However, original fans will find very little, if anything, new here.

A very well documented (seems like half the book) about the Television hit Friends. From the start to the finish of the book you can read all about these great characters playing Monica, Ross, Rachael, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey. I loved the show and the book. Little tidbits you’ve never heard to Rolling Stones magazine cover in the first season. Luckily even with ups and downs, the cast survived up to this present day.

A solid outline of each of the main character's beginning. Great writing about topics like the haircut, the holiday armadillo, the weird Joey and Rachael relationship, and even the #metoo movement. This is a great read for someone who loves Friends

Thanks for the early review copy!

I recommend this book to fans of nonfiction. It was well-written and interesting to read about the Friends sitcom.

I loved this book.

I loved friends, yes watching them today, I do notice some sexism, but "Friends" was simply a product of the time.
This TV show did not set out to be trailblazers, lighting the way for equality. It was a show from the 90's, it was written in a language we all understood.

This book not only gives you a behind the scene look at the creation of the series, character development, and auditions. But it also talks about the cast dynamic, the way they stood together as a team during contract negotiations, as well as the way the show was and is perceived in regards to homophobia, sexism and lack of diversity.

I have been talking about this book non-stop since I started reading it.
Highly recommend for any friends fan

I am a huge Friends fan.... I used to measure my son's naps to how many episodes I could sneak in. I really enjoyed reading about the behind the scenes action of the show, but felt the book tended to lean a little too much to the political at times. I would have liked to read a little more trivia about the actual actors. Other than that, I found this book incredibly entertaining, and although it is not the type of book I normally read, I was glad I picked it. Definitely a must-read for fans of the show, young and old.

This was one of those books that I flew through. While I'm not such a big fan of nonfiction, I am when it comes to things that I like, of which there are only two categories: true crime and TV shows. I was a youngin' when Friends ended in 2004, but I still caught the tail end of that wave when a local store had a recently released an entire magazine on Friends, as a farewell and a look back on 10 seasons. I remember reminiscing - for no reason, I was barely in the 4th/5th grade - and hanging onto that magazine. Those were simpler times. Btw, I'm about as old as the pilot episode of Friends, but that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed it. Honestly, the only thing to replace the Friends hole - though it could never be fully replaced - is How I Met Your Mother, but even that ended so I'm still missing something.

This book is written well, like if one of your friends (haha) was reading this book to you. It makes you feel good, miss Friends, reminisce about simpler times - especially in TV - and provides a great experience for all of the things you knew about Friends, and perhaps things that you didn't.

I was a teenager in the 90's so of course Friends is one of my favorite shows. It is like comfort food to me, especially the Thanksgiving episodes, I have this show playing in the background quite often and I know other people from my generation do too. I will devour any book related to Friends even two decades after the show ended. I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends had some interesting behind the scenes facts. I absolutely loved the section that gave the background on each of the main six cast members and how they came to join the show. They were six incredibly unique experiences and they all came together to make one of the best ensemble casts of all time. Some of the rest of the book gets a little political, and that isn't what I want in a story about one of my favorite TV shows. I wanted more about the actors and less political stuff. I did appreciate the backstory on the writers and others involved in the behind the scenes work! Still, I would recommend this book to any fan of Friends.

This is a fun read about a nostalgic topic, the television show Friends.  I'm not a huge Friends fan, but the show has left its mark on American and International popular culture.  This book ends up being a commentary not just on a television show, but on a rapidly changing society who can't seem to outgrow a television show about six irresponsible friends.  The book is well-written and informative.

Such a fun look into one of my all time favorite shows! Loved the behind the scenes stories and the interesting facts it was so fun and would be perfect for any Friends fan!

OMG! I was thrilled to stumble on this book and loved reading every word of it. If you are a die-hard Friends fan who watched from the beginning, or someone who's just discovering this iconic TV show now, you'll love reading all the behind-the-scenes stories about cast members as well as the creators of the show and those who worked behind the scenes to make it the outstanding series that it was (still is!).

With gratitude to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advance reading coy in exchange for my honest review.

Solidly enjoyable, but mostly only for Friends Superfans. You really gotta care about the show to care about this book. (I do, so I did.)

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

On Monday, after successfully launching another school year for my kids, my husband and I snuck away to the lake for a day. I took my book club book with me, as well as every other book I own (thank you, Kindle!) and then instead of reading my book club book, I read this one "cover to cover". This was exactly the type of light fare I needed for a day on the boat. I really enjoyed all the in details about the cast and the various criticisms leveled at the show. Many of these were things I never noticed- like the absence of POC- and some were things that made me uncomfortable from the beginning- like Fat Monica. Regardless of Friends problems, it remains one of my top five shows of all time. I recently committed to rewatching the series and I suspect reading this book will make me look at it differently (but not with less love.)

Being part of the 'Friends' generation, this book was mostly like a walk down memory lane. I loved the stories of behind-the-scenes, how the show came to exist and the actors nailed down, and all of the memories of what was REALLY going on behind the scenes. It explained some of the more awkward episodes, too. If you've seen every season, then you'll get a deeper meaning (or sometimes just a good chuckle) at some of these stories behind the episodes. I didn't like when it took a turn toward the more political. The book would have been just as good, and ended on a better note, without the political commentary.

<b>You Should Read This Book If:</b>
-You love nostalgia and want to prance down memory lane with people who can drop <i>Friends</i> inside jokes as frequently as you can.
-You want a well-researched look at the writing, casting, and those highly-publicized salary negotiations.
-You’re into pop culture phenomenons. Because <i>Friends</i> definitely is one.

Kelsey Miller loves <i>Friends</i> in the way that I do. Soothed by those TBS reruns and able to easily able to ramble off some of the all-time best quotes (“They don’t <i>know</i> we know they know!” “15 Yemen Road, Yemen.”), Miller takes the reader on a well-researched and well-written journey into the history of Friends.

There’s a lot of layers of culture influence and Miller digs into them all: from The Rachel haircut to the highly publicized team-effort salary negotiations. She takes in-depth looks at 9/11 and the impact it had on <i>Friends</i>, along with the writers decisions on how to acknowledge (or,errrrm, not acknowledge) the national tragedy via a show that was set in lower Manhattan.

Miller also looks at some of the serious social justice issues of <i>Friends</i>. If you rewatch <i>Friends</i> in 2018 (which is a thing I’ve been doing), it’s easy to see how deeply, deeply problematic the series is. Homophobia runs rampant. LGBT characters are scarce, and people of color are virtually non-existent. Sure, we get a lesbian wedding, but it’s going to be as heteronormative as possible and no way in hell are we going to see the couple kiss. Friends doesn’t have a black character that appears in more than one episode until <i>season 9,</i> which is more than a little ridiculous. The one trans character the show features is designed to be the butt of a series-long joke. Additionally, instead of casting a trans actor, they cast a cis woman to play a trans woman. <i>Why.</i>

The author acknowledges all of the things, but is perhaps a bit too easy on the show. She seems to excuse them based on her own anecdotal (and sometimes seemingly tokenizing) interviews; she’ll interview a black or trans friend who attests to be relatively unbothered by the lack of representation, so <i>*shurg*</i>. Miller’s sentiment is generally <i>well, yes, there’s transphobia, but at least they HAD a trans character! At least they HAD a gay wedding!</i> She argues quite a bit for the fact that Friends was simply a relic of it’s time. Perhaps Miller is just more forgiving than me.

In a powerful chapter, Miller does bring to light a story about a black, female assistant in the <i>Friends</i> writers room who was subject to racial and sexual harassment. In 2004, Amaani Lyle lost a harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit against Warner Brothers on the grounds of “creative necessity.” Miller is highly critical of the court's ruling, noting that it lead to a precedent of creating a culture that marginalizes a population that’s already historically underrepresented in the entertainment industry. Miller points out that Lyle was truly at the forefront of #metoo and bravely speaking up to end misogyny in the entertainment field.

<i>Friends</i> IS a cultural phenomenon, and I’ll Be There For You ties the history together pretty nicely. I don’t think there’s any insider information that’s too groundbreaking here, but it’s written with the same heart and humor that Bright, Hoffman, and Crane put into their beloved show, plus lot of insight that’s relevant to 2018.

<b>Rating:</b> 8/10, because I would have loved to see the author be just a bit more critical, but hell, this book is <i>good</i>.

<i>I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.</i>

A few years ago having <I>Friends</I> on in the background was a daily occurrence. I watched my DVDs so much that I ended up killing an Xbox (red ring of death!) and once I got a new one you know what I did? Yup, back to daily <I>Friends</I> watching.

This is a book that will probably appeal to those who grew up watching the show and even those who may have found it after it had already ended. I found the process of how it all got started very interesting, and particularly liked reading about how the actors got cast. Being a sporadic watcher while the show was still on air, I wasn't aware of all of the uncertainty about whether the show would even continue and everything else going on behind the scenes. Salary negotiations? No idea! The possibility of there not being a tenth season? Had no clue! I loved reading about the Friends being so united and supportive of one another, both while the show was on the air and after.

There were quotes from the show that made me so nostalgic that during the middle of reading I decided that I'd do a rewatch, for old times' sake.

Overall this was an interesting and quick read that'll make any <I>Friends,/I> fan nostalgic for a show in the best possible way. :-)

Having failed several pub trivia games in the past, I really enjoyed Miller's new release, I'll Be There for You. There was more content than I was expecting and this is a must read for any fan!