If you're a fan of Friends or you know someone who is, this is the perfect book for you.

I enjoyed the frank, honest discussion about the show. While Miller is clearly a fan, she isn't afraid to mention the show's flaws. Great job!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is an amazing little book for any fan of the show. FRIENDS has a huge cult following, and anyone who remembers tuning in for each new episode as it aired will appreciate the trip down memory lane that the author offers here. I also loved how she wasn't afraid to point out the clear flaws with the show, especially in today's social and political worlds. Loved this!

This book is about how Friends affected culture and what it means to people all over the world. What I loved about it was that there were so many fun little behind the scenes facts and footnotes about the cast and the show itself.
The authors writing style is very conversational and makes the parts involving television business lingo just breeze by without being boring. Plus, she is the same age as me, so her views of the shows over ten years were relatable to me. Even if you’re more of a Seinfeld person, I think this book is for anyone who watched and loved tv during the Friends era. *Thanks to the publisher for the free advance copy for review.*

All about the show Friends. Personal connections and how it all began. Interesting read. I loved the show when it came out and once in a while have to binge watch it.

I am a Friends Superfan and have purchased many books about my favorite show over the years. This book is the best, by far, as it includes tidbits that I didn't previously know. I thought I knew everything about Friends, but obviously didn't! Highly recommend!

Thanks to the Instagram book community for posting about this book. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. Friends is my all time favorite TV Show. I can watch it over and over and over again and never get tired of it.

I love and will always love the show but the feeling I got while reading this book was this is a raw eye opener on the show in general, the characters and all things surrounded it during the ten seasons on air. I don't mean this in a bad way but I don't think I will ever be able to watch the show again without inevitably thinking or remembering all the details described in here. Things that I personally would have not noticed, care about or think of otherwise.

What I loved how the beginnings of the show are told, about how each actor/actress got to be one of the Friends, how strong their friendship really was off camera. How it is mentioned which episodes are the most powerful because it makes you think about it and also it is good to see how other people share the same feelings about the show, how it was/still is a sort of comfort, escape or just a way to go back to that period of time, the 90's, which for lots of us will always be the best time ever. What I did not like, I did not want the book to end, but oh well, again, will it ever be enough when it come to Friends? Don't think so.

Thanks you Netgalley and the Publisher for the free Advanced Copy in exchange for an honest review.

“I'll be there for you
(When the rain starts to pour)
I'll be there for you
(Like I've been there before)
I'll be there for you
('Cause you're there for me too)”

When you hear that, you don’t think of The Rembrandts. You think of “Friends” -- Monica, Ross, Chandler, Joey, Rachel, and Phoebe goofing around in a fountain in the dark. My daughter didn’t even realize it was a song outside of the “Friends” theme or that it had a second verse until we started watching the series on Netflix and I pulled up the song on iTunes. We were probably in season 7 when I was scrolling through NetGalley and saw the title “I’ll Be There for You” by Kelsey Miller with a picture of the coffee house couch on the cover. I didn’t need to read the tagline: The One about Friends. I immediately knew what this book was about, and I wanted to read it.

I am not typically a reader of non-fiction. I can count on one hand the number of biographies I have read -- two about Elton John, one about Arthur Ashe. I also recently read “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls because a good friend recommended it. I can’t remember any others that I read because I *wanted* to read them. I started reading this just before we watched the “Friends” series finale (yes, we were binge watching to get from season 7 to 10 that quickly), and it made me want to watch the whole series again...but not for the reasons you would think.

There were some things in the book that I already knew (the contract negotiations, Lisa Kudrow’s real-life pregnancy during her on-screen pregnancy, etc.). There were many things I didn’t know, so it was fun to learn them. The book begins with the story of how Marta Kauffman and David Crane met and started working together and how “Friends” came to be. It tells the story of the cast, where they were in their careers when they auditioned, and talks about the magic of their ensemble. There is basically a chapter for every season and then it ends with a chapter about a lawsuit no one knew anything about that might have ended differently had the #MeToo movement started sooner.

I liked the book for the memories it brought back. I DO remember when my friends were my family. When “Friends” was in its prime, I was living in an apartment building with my best friend in the same building two floors below, and we became friends with the woman who lived on the floor between us. We were like the characters in “Friends” in that we ate together, we watched television together, we laughed together, and we cried together. As cliche as that sounds, it was true. We were each other’s day-to-day connections. In the book, the author mentions when “Survivor” first aired on CBS opposite “Friends,” and I remember watching that first season with my friends as well (thank goodness we had VCRs!) In that respect, I can agree that’s one of the reasons “Friends” was so popular and beloved as a series.

What I didn’t like is that this could have gone into so much more detail and people would read it. If the show is as popular today as the author indicates, then she could have and should have done so much more. One chapter for each season didn’t scratch the surface of everything that went on with this show. And I would have liked to hear more from the stars themselves, but it sounds like they had a favorite author even when the show was on and probably weren’t interested in talking to this author (if she even reached out). I just don’t know how you do a “retrospective” without hours and hours of interviews with the cast.

It also felt like this was intended to be less of a retrospective and more of a way to cash in on the show's continuing popularity while bashing the show for being homophobic and non-diverse. THAT is what makes me want to watch the series again, to see if there’s something I missed, because when I think about “Friends,” I don’t feel like it’s homophobic. And while the main cast is (*gasp*) all white, many of the shows on television in that time were either all white or all black. We can’t put a show that aired 20 years ago up against the standards we hold for society today. Times change...and that’s a good thing. It doesn’t mean we berate the past.

To the author’s point, people didn’t watch “Friends” because it was a statement on the times we lived in. They didn’t even talk about 9/11 on the show, and it was based in Manhattan! People watched “Friends” because it was funny, and it was a way to escape. They watched it because they could relate to being a single 20-something who spent all their time outside of work with their friends. And they still watch it today because it’s funny, and they’re reminded of the time in their life when they were 20-something and hanging out with their friends.

I give this book 4 stars for the memories, but I give it 2 stars for not enough retrospection and too much judgment. I can see fans of the show going extremely negative or ridiculously positive on this one. But I can see non-fans of the show saying that this is why they never liked it to begin with. I won’t say skip it because I wanted to read it, but know going in why you’re reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin/Hanover Square Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Thank you Hanover Square Press for a copy of I’ll Be There For You for review.
This book is a giant walk down memory lane and I loved it! Not about cast gossip but more the story of how it was made and what made the show so special to so many people. It was a quick easy read but be warned that it will make you want to re-watch all ten seasons for the 101th time.

Here in 2018, the television entertainment options presented to us are truly staggering. Between broadcast networks, cable channels and an ever-increasing number of streaming services, it feels as though there are nigh-infinite options for new content.

And yet, for many of us, the choice is to look back. Whether it is a nostalgia trip or a youthful discovery of a show from before our time, we use the Netflixes and Hulus of the world to watch what was beloved a generation ago.

We watch “Friends.”

Why does this sitcom about six, well … friends living in New York City from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s still resonate? Why is it still among the most watched programs in both streaming AND syndication, even well over a decade after the final new episode aired?

That’s the central question behind Kelsey Miller’s excellent retrospective “I’ll Be There for You: The One about Friends.” This thorough and thoughtful book goes deep on the beloved show, exploring the behind-the-scenes making of the show as well as the broader pop cultural impact it had during its decade-long run.

Obviously, “Friends” is remembered as significant, one of the most popular shows of its era. But when Marta Kauffman and David Crane first created the show, it was a far cry from a guaranteed success. There were plenty of obstacles there right from the beginning. Would they be able to assemble the right ensemble? Would the network allow them to do it the way they wanted to do it? Would people really watch a show that was just half-a-dozen people living their lives?

It turns out that the answer to all three questions was – eventually – “yes.” And thus, the phenomenon that was “Friends” was born. No one – not Kauffman and Crane, not NBC and certainly not the young largely-unknown cast – could have anticipated what would happen.

Within a few short months, “Friends” was everywhere. A legitimate mania had set in, a cultural fascination with the show and its stars that vaulted everyone involved to staggering heights of fame and fortune.

Much of its success came from the simple fact that so many viewers were able to see pieces of themselves in the characters on screen. Everyone had a group of friends that shared qualities with the gang at Central Perk. Social circles everywhere were doling out their designations – groups all had their own Rosses and Rachels, their Chandlers and Monicas, their Joeys and Phoebes.

Along the way, “Friends” trends sprang up. Who can forget that summer when it seemed like half the population had gotten Rachel’s haircut? And it’s hard to remember now, considering their ubiquity, but coffee shops weren’t really much of a thing back then.

“I’ll Be There for You” delves into some of the most memorable moments in the series, as well as into the groundbreaking ensemble negotiations that helped change TV contracts. The book also takes care to address some of the more dated (and more problematic) aspects of the show and how they are perceived with culturally sensitive hindsight.

While it might be presumptuous to refer to a work like this one as definitive … if the shoe fits. Miller has given us a tremendously detailed look back at one of the most beloved sitcoms of a generation, one of the most popular shows during an era that has to be considered the peak of the broadcast sitcom. The timeline of the production itself is exquisitely rendered, with each season receiving attention. Each Friend is given ample page time – every actor’s relationships with the show and with each other are explored.

But what really makes this book shine as a piece of pop history is the way that it folds the “Friends” phenomenon into the larger context. This show was very much a product of its era; Miller does a fantastic job in examining that fact. And by connecting the show’s vast past popularity with today’s still-significant viewer base, she offers a look at the universality of the show that can’t be defined by haircuts or pop songs.

Full disclosure: I still watch “Friends” from time to time. I watched it regularly in its heyday and will still tune in for at least a little while if I come across it while flipping through the channels. It is TV comfort food, one of those rare shows that both evokes nostalgia and entertains on its own merits.

“I’ll Be There for You: The One about Friends” is aimed at people like me, to be sure, people with fond memories of the show. But it’s not aimed JUST at me. There are plenty of younger people – more every day, in fact – that genuinely connect with the show despite being toddlers when it first left the airwaves.

Everyone has friends … and everyone has “Friends.” It’s that truth that Kelsey Miller captures. And it’s that truth that makes this book such an engaging, entertaining piece of pop culture history.

If you are a big fan of the TV series Friends, I wouldn't say this is the only book you need. There are several great books that have been written about the series each one slightly different but worth reading. This book is a great addition to that set of books. The book focuses on the history of the show and how it influenced and was in turn influenced by its time and what it is about the show that resonates with so many people. It gives an overview of the series from its earliest development, through casting the series, through highlights of the various seasons right up to the end of the series and beyond. It includes comprehensive details about the actors and creators of the show including their backgrounds, how they came to be involved with the show, how their careers continued after the show and how their future careers were affected by their time on the show. It is an extremely fascinating read, and a great addition to any true Friends fan's library.

Well, that was super fun! As an almost-lifelong Friends fan, this was just the warm and fuzzy nostalgia I needed. When I first started this book, I arrogantly assumed that I already knew all the ins and outs of All Friends Everything. I had, after all, seen every episode dozens of times, many *with commentary* like a true geek. I’ve seen all the interviews, watched all the dvd special features, and read all the articles. I was pleasantly surprised by how much new information this incredibly well-researched book contains! So many details about the creators, writers, actors, producers, and everyone in between. The author, Kasey Miller, goes into all of the behind the scenes details about conception, writing, producing, etc, as well as the cast’s powerful and famous united front regarding their salaries. She also explores how the show would be received now in today’s more “woke” political climate and provides a fascinating social commentary on tv in the 90s/00s vs today. More than anything, though, this book is about the cultural importance of Friends as “comfort-food television.” The author talks about how people turned to Friends for comfort and escapism after 9/11 as well as how so many people (myself included) turn on familiar Friends episodes during hard life moments. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves the show and needs a dose of nostalgia. And now, I must go start the series over from the beginning.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good trip down memory lane. Having watched Friends through my 20s and periodically in reruns, it was fun to revisit old times. Like Seinfeld, Friends offered plenty of fodder for conversational references. Does this book cover all things Friends? No. But how could any one book cover 10 years of a show? Well worth a read for any Friends fan.

Thank you to Kelsey Miller, HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing, Hanover Square Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this fun book.

I saw a promo for this in a magazine, I got so excited--
Friends was my show:
I can recite majority of the lines, won Friends Trivia Nights, own entire DVD collection and books,
I'll Be There For You is my ringtone, own 2 soundtracks- one for home and 1 that remains in my car,
and I still stream them today.

1994 Debut and every week was must-see TV for me.
That meant no phone calls, no talking, nothing stood in my way- I could not miss it.
I have continued to watch reruns until recently, I subscribed to Netflix to watch the episodes.

Friends came at a time in my life when my friends were my family.
Then I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and during surgery recovery and throughout treatment-
'Friends' became mental salve for my soul. It was my comfort food. It reminded me of the possibility that good times will return for me.

Go back to September 22, 1994
The story of how 6 people came together and became the Friends phenomenon.
How each person auditioned- their own story.
This is the story behind the curtain- where we can see the wizard and the projector.
This is how the writers and producers worked together to bring a show to us for 10 years.
It was 5 stars for me, but I could have done without the last chapter where it went
into a negative space.
This true fan thoroughly enjoyed it up to that point!!

This is a must read for any FRIENDS fan! I loved reliving moments and even being reminded of some things I didn’t remember. I also learned a thing or two! At first I wasn’t sure about this but it definitely was a must read! Loved it!

I’ll be perfectly honest: I was predisposed to enjoy this book pretty much no matter what, because I am a complete “Friends” fanatic. I’m one of those people who has seen every episode multiple times, can supply a quote for almost every occasion, and can kick butt on Friends trivia every time. On a trip to England this summer, I even hunted down Joey’s hat (the one that Sarah Ferguson admires) for my similarly obsessed best friend. (I never did get “The Rachel” though, so minus a point for that). Safe to say that because of my long-standing interest in the show, there was a lot that I did already know. However, I enjoyed reading about how Kauffman and Crane developed the show, and there were more than a few behind the scenes pieces of information that I had not heard before. I did not care for the final chapter, and all of its relating to current themes in society and television. Frankly, trying to put 2018 expectations on a show that ended 14 years prior is extremely off-putting. Considering that the rest of the book was more or less a memoir, it would have been better served to discuss what the stars’ careers were afterwards and left at that. No need to bring up overwrought analysis. It took me right out of the “fuzzy blanket” feel that the show was known for, and that the book had given me up until that point. That was a disappointing way to end what had been an interesting book on a favorite show. Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin (Hanover Square Press), and the author for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting read; I’m not a Friends super fan or anything but I’ve always enjoyed it. It is, as Miller discusses, a feel-good escape from reality. The first section about the creators was moderately boring but necessary. I obviously found the section about the actors’ roads to stardom incredibly interesting. I ended up looking up the ads and shows they were in before Friends, as well as the Windows ‘95 video Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry were in. I wish there were pictures, as well as links to the ads the stars were in, as they were highly entertaining and could have added to the book. I found the chapters discussing the societal issues (ie LGBT+) interesting, as it discussed the societal views at the time versus how people feel now in relation to the show. And the chapter discussing 9/11’s influence on the show was also interesting, as I hadn’t thought about the impact it would have on television before. I liked how Miller quoted various sources, including interviews from the creators and actors as well as articles that were written at the time of the show’s airing. Overall this was just a very well written and well researched book that I found highly interesting. If you are even slightly interested in Friends I’d recommend reading this book.

I didn't watch Friends in its original incarnation. My one funny story from its run isn't even mine, it involves my best friend, her date night, and two shoplifting strangers in the back of a police car. (I swear, it's a funny story)

But after the fact, with reruns being what they are, I did start watching. And I fell rapidly in love, and ended up buying the entire DVD box set for myself and another set for my mother. Because when it comes to empty comfort food, it's almost impossible to beat this show.

That being said, there's something missing from this book.

We start out with the story of how Marta Kauffman and David Crane came to create the show, and how each of the six stars came to be cast. Their bios are short but deceptively descriptive, and you get a real feel for each of them, and also for how perfectly they fit into their roles. I was pleased by how fast this part went.

Now. As a look at the problematic nature of Friends, this book does a decent job. I feel like more hard hitting critique was possible, from the lack of diversity to the homophobia of the 1990's to Ross in general. But what is said is, in general, very pointed and very accurate, if kind of swiped at while walking by.

If you've picked up this book for a discussion of the seasons, you're not really going to get that here. There's plenty about the Big episodes of the season, there's plenty of talk about the over saturation, the ginormous paychecks, the behind the scenes cast love. But again, this goes really fast.

I feel like Kelsey had this absolute enormous wealth of information, and had to pick and choose what she was going to include. And in effect, a lot got left out. Now, there are plenty of books about the show out there, and you can find all the fun tidbits in there. But somehow, the discussion here just feels very surface skimming. I can't quite put my finger on it.

This is a good book, make no mistake. And maybe if everything I'm talking about had been included, it would've been too long, too overwrought. I don't know, it just feels lacking in several areas. Grazed rather than touched on.

I was never a fanatical fan of 'Friends' when it first ran on tv but I liked the show when I occasionally watched. Then in later years, I found myself watching reruns and enjoying the mere fact of being able to laugh. The show didn't pretend to be deep or serious; it existed to bring pleasure and laughter to its viewers.

I really enjoyed this book (and true fanatics will absolutely love it!). The author has done a tremendous amount of research and presents it in an easy-to-read style. The book evokes memories of a more simple time and gives the reader a chance to think back on those pleasant shows.

I liked this book frankly more than I was expecting to. I am the same age as the author and did not grow up with Friends, but instead discovered it as an adult, when it had ended and was in reruns. I do love the show and have seen all the episodes many times. I do also recognize how problematic many elements of the show were, and appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from discussing those. I did, however, feel a bit frustrated by her willingness to explain a lot of those things away as a product of the moment, and the fact that she tended to quote only experts who agreed with that perspective - I’d prefer a slightly more unflinching examination of things such as, for example, the way the show treated Fat Monica as a punchline. However, overall the book was fun and interesting - I knew some of the behind the scenes info but not all of it, and I appreciated the new perspective on the show’s popularity and why so many of us enjoy(ed) it so much.

A wonderfully compiled and researched retrospective on the utter cultural phenomenon that was (and remains) the iconic television show Friends . Miller does such an excellent job of stating all that was right with Friends and all that later turned out to have been wrong with it, and weaves it together into the now and present climate.

Keeping my own personal tidbits to a minimum, I loved this show and still do. The flaws are sometimes blindingly glaring now with my 2018 spectacles on, but hindsight is 20/20, as the saying goes. I was a sophomore in high school when the show started, but I was just getting over my first love and first heartbreak that year, and I don't really remember its first season at all. I know I didn't watch it. Before its second season, I had really started hearing a lot about this show, and I paid attention enough to have my interest piqued and tune in. As it happens, the first episode I watched was an iconic one ("The One Where Ross Finds Out"), and I was immediately hooked. Though I waffled a bit near the end of the show's run, I made sure to be one of the millions to watch it all end, and I still live my life with Friends thoroughly entrenched on my mind and in my heart.

The details and trivia, along with the carefully paced narrative, had me whipping out my phone to look up everything and anything. Photos, video clips, etc. Mostly it was hilarious stills or commercials from the cast's pre-Friends repertoire. However, on that stood out included a court case I had never heard about, Lyle v. Warner Bros. , which (given today's climate that is finally coming to the surface) should've received more attention (and probably a different outcome). But, as one can and does usually say about many things in regards to Friends, that was another time.

The 90's. Somehow this general crawl towards an all-encompassing embrace of acceptance of all humans was executed with this sweeping of things under rugs, hiding things on the back shelf, letting things simmer on the back burner, and completely covering your eyes to all things that make us unique and different all while shouting merrily that you don't see people's skin color, backgrounds, bank accounts, sexuality, or jobs...you are all-accepting and therefore won't talk about the things that racists and bigots bring out on full-display. Not surprisingly that gave the actual bigots and racists corners and shadows in which to hide—and now, with the benefit of having arrived in a murkier future, we can see where all these people where hiding and how. But I digress.

To watch this show now, many of us have to look at it with a similar lens as you would for something equally iconic like Gone with the Wind or I Love Lucy, both for different but similar reasons. Writer, producer, and comedian Akilah Hughes, a fan of the show, is quoted in this book aptly stating, "This may be harsh, but it's the way that I watch Gone with the Wind. I can enjoy these things even though I know that they could have done a lot better by people of color, and women. There's so many problematic things about it. But also, that's just what it was back then. We can't just delete the media that came before, because it does inform why we like shows now."

Miller is clearly a fan, a wholehearted one like so many, but she's also not afraid to dissect the show and analyze it a little bit. So to love Friends becomes this other thing...it's nostalgic without (hopefully) overlooking all the gay jokes, slut-shaming, and misogyny—just to name a few things. As a point that Miller drives home well, Friends was escapism at its peak for situational comedies. Like I Love Lucy before it, there's a general sense of being similar to the "regular person" but not completely. There's a lot you have to overlook when your eye starts to edge toward being overly critical of the fundamentals of the show: economics, lack of diversity, and the light and breezy (I'm ... breezy!) problems and solutions encountered. This show was the bubblegum pop song of the television lineup. And it was so damn fun.

So suffice it to say, I laughed—often out loud—and read some passages aloud to my husband (whether he asked or not). But I cried off and on while reading this one, too. I'm one of those people who naturally taps (sometimes unwittingly) into the emotional aspect. Any all-for-one can get me, any new angle on how 9/11 affected someone or something, as well as a general sense of contentment or happiness that is somehow earned or deserved brings up a tear or two. All that is here, and much, much more! (Clearly, 80's and 90's is on my brain.)

Altogether this was a fantastically executed book, detailing the entire path, from beginning to the end and beyond. There's trivia, there's tiny bits of social commentary, and there's a plethora of excellent footnotes. In short, there's everything I could have asked for.