I'll Be There For You: The One about Friends

I love Friends. I have watched the entire series as it aired, on DVD, and streaming on Netflix when it had the rights. There are so many iconic moments that still make me laugh. So I was excited to see a book about the show and I quickly bought and read it.Ehhh. There are some insights but nothing that great, given that the show ran for so long. And much of what is there is just retelling. So I would have given it three stars.Unfortunately, the author felt compelled to examine the show, albeit briefly, through a 2018 lense of political correctness and identity issues. She goes on how the show had many "homophobic" and "transphobic" moments, and was incredibly non-diverse, with 6 white people forming the main cast.Then at the end, the author devotes substantially more pages to a very tangential harassment suit filed by a writers' assistant on the show alleging lots of dirty locker room talk in the writers' room. These pages weren't about the show, the actors, the plots, etc. It was just a chance for the author to tie into #MeToo. A really unnecessary diversion.I find it a bit surprising that the theme of Friends being an escapist, feel-good, no-drama show is mentioned repeatedly, and that theoretically the readers were fans of the show. Yet the author didn't have the sense to realize that her diversions into political correctness and identity issues ran exactly counter to that whole vibe and that people might find it really alienating. Thus one star only.

This book covered a fascinating subject ... poorly. It's worth reading for the information it contains but the author manages to make one of the best topics available into a snooze-fest. Her writing is flat and uninspiring, making this a book you wade through because you love Friends, not a book you can't put down. She repeats herself constantly and makes all sorts of conclusions, based on her own personal experience viewing Friends, that are neither relevant nor interesting. It's the sort of writing more appropriate to a blog than a book, crowded with unnecessary filler. Such a shame that this topic was hijacked by a mediocre writer instead of getting the sort of talented storyteller the subject deserved. Still, as I mentioned earlier, it's worth reading for the trivia around making Friends - I'd just wait until it goes in the "Free on Kindle" pile, or borrow it from your local library.

You’d be better off purchasing the “Friends... til the End” authorized coffee table book that came out when the series wrapped.This book is basically just a re-telling of other articles and stories that have already been written. (The ‘Source Notes’ section is more than 50 pages long).There are some interesting tid bits and trivia, but again it’s mostly stuff we’ve heard before. The author spends a great deal of time talking about how the show impacted her personally (I don’t really need to know, or care, that you time your gym visits to line up with Friends re-runs).Nothing new is learned, no great insight is revealed. There aren’t even pictures to accompany the stories. The author is clearly just trying to cash in on Friends nostalgia. She has taken what should have been a blog post and re-packaged it into a book.

So I was really excited about this book as excerpts had appeared in articles. And now I see why, the whole book reads like a big newspaper article. This author breezes through the Friends history occasionally touching on moments here or there. But never getting into real detail on things. Some things are never mentioned, like Rachel's pregnancy. Instead she devotes time to society issues like the Friends "homophobia", that stupid Coke a Cola ad campaign or the events around 9/11. This is why reporters are not authors. If you want behind the scene facts about the show you'd learn more reading the IMDB page than you will with this. Don't waste your time, I breezed through the book because there was NOTHING in it I didn't already know.

49 pages of sources, and a list of interviewees (none of whom are the Friends or anyone associated with the show). And lots of stories about how the author felt about what she was watching, plus a whole #MeToo chapter tacked on trying to be relevant. Sadly, shallow reporting for readers with short attention spans.

I, like most people, have wonderful memories of sitting with my family watching Friends. I bought a lot of the dvds, I would watch it on syndication. Then I would stop. Then it came on Netflix and I watched it. Then I stopped. But this book was so well-written it has me watching it all over again! But it's not just a nostalgic book, it's genuinely an interesting history of Friends, and about that era seen through the eyes of that tv show.

The front cover of this book just screams Friends; from the font and colour used on the title to the famous orange couch that the cast sat on in Centrel Perk. I love that under the title there is three umbrellas one yellow, red and blue which the cast use in the opening credits of the show.As soon as I found out about this book I knew that I had to buy it, being a super fan and all!!!!! (Well so I thought!) I was only 10 years old when Friends started, so I didn't really start watching it till I was about 14 maybe 15. (all though now I have watched all the episodes now, more than a few times I might add!!!!!!)I'll Be There For You is packed full of information from one of the most famous American sitcoms of the 90's. Kelsey has left no stone unturned as the book starts with the writers and how Friends came about, to choosing the cast to how they thought it was going to be a flop and much more.I have to say I really thought I was a Friends super fan but on reading this book I know now that there was so much I didn't know. I absorbed all those facts and learning in more depth about the show and the people who were involved. I really enjoyed reading this wonderfully written book about a show I still love so dear. As I said earlier I thought I was a super fan before I started reading this book... well I defiantly am now!!!!!!! For me Friends a show I will always go back and watch; its like a cosy blanket wrapping around you with laughter!

In this book, Kelsey Miller looks at the phenomenon of Friends and examines why people love it so much.Over the past few years, it has been debated and referenced when discussing how problematic our faves have become. In this book, Kelsey looks at some of the key things that the show covered that they probably wouldn't get away with today, including:Chandler's transgender Dad being played by a cis woman and reduced to "a man in a dress"Ross' ongoing jibes at lesbian ex-wife Carol and her wife Susan and general possivenessTHAT Rachel & Joey storylineFat Monica's only personality trait being that she was fatNo main black charactersI loved the way these discussions were handled in the book, and I learned a lot that I hadn't known before.A really great book for fans of the show, one that you may ACTUALLY learn something new from.

Who doesn’t like friends?

An interesting read into how the show came about. There was some good facts and I enjoyed learning about how it all came about but I was hoping for a little more. I wanted more stories from the filming. Still a good read for any fan if the show.

I started watching Friends when I was 10 years old. I loved it, partly because at the time of its airing I was thinking about becoming an American. Ludicrous, I know but it was what I wanted to be, like how some people want to be pilots or lawyers.Anyway, even after I realised that it wasn’t something you could just ‘be’ I still loved the program. I have watched it many times since and I still find it hilariously funny. I even get most of the jokes now – ones that I certainly did not get as a child.Kelsey Miller examines the phenomenon of Friends and gives a history of how the show started and how it lasted so long and why even today, 25 years since its original airing it is still as popular as it once was.I’ll Be There for You is a must read for any Friends fanI’ll Be There for You: The Ultimate Book for Friends Fans Everywhere by Kelsey Miller is available now.