I'll Be There for You

The One About Friends

By: Kelsey Miller

Narrated by: Amber Benson, Kelsey Miller

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

An InStyle 10 Books You Won't Be Able to Put Down This October

SIX FRIENDS THAT BECAME A FAMILY.

A TELEVISION SHOW THAT BECAME A PHENOMENON.

Today, Friends is remembered as an icon of ’90s comedy and the Must See TV years. But when the series debuted in 1994, no one anticipated the sensation it would become. From the first wave of Friends mania to the backlash and renaissance that followed, the show maintained an uncanny connection to its audience, who saw it both as a reflection of their own lives and an aspirational escape from reality. In the years since, Friends has evolved from prime-time megahit to nostalgic novelty, and finally, to certified classic. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe have entered the pantheon of great television characters, and yet their stories remain relevant still.

I’ll Be There for You is a deep dive into Friends history and lore, exploring all aspects of the show, from its unlikely origins to the societal conditions that amplified its success. Journalist and pop culture expert Kelsey Miller relives the show’s most powerful moments, sheds light on its sometimes dated and problematic elements, and examines the worldwide trends that Friends catalyzed, from contemporary coffee culture to the wildly popular ’90s haircut The Rachel. Taking listeners behind the scenes, Miller traces the cast’s rise to fame and untangles the complex relationship between the actors and their characters. Weaving in revelatory interviews and personal stories, she investigates the role of celebrity media, world-changing events and the dawning of the digital age - all of which influenced both the series and its viewers.

I’ll Be There for You is the definitive retrospective of Friends, not only for fans of the series, but for anyone who’s ever wondered what it is about this show - and television comedy - that resonates so powerfully.

©2018 Kelsey Miller, LLC (P)2018 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited.

The One That Shouldn’t Have Been Written.

As a fan of Friends, I was expecting a more celebratory, anecdotal, behind the scenes tome. Instead, this Is an analytical and psychological study of what Friends did wrong, by people, most of whom were not even born when the show debuted. What you have is a bunch of people nitpicking the show to pieces, desperately looking for something to outrage them. So, most of the book is boring. And the reader is awful.

Decent book, poorly read

The book is about Friends but more about their place in various aspects in cultural history. The author reads the first and last chapter and it’s natural and engaging. When the performer reads the rest of the book it’s robotic and sounds more like someone reading through an article for the first time in front of an audience.

If you’re looking celebrity gossip or insider info this is not the book. If you’re looking for an examination of Friends impact through different lenses of cultural history then this is a decent start. The author is a fan of the series and that bias comes through in the writing but does tough on objectivity at times.

Don't be there for them

As a father who experienced Friends when it aired originally, and watching it now with my 2 sons, I was excited to hear about this book.

What a disappointment it was to sit through over 8 hours of this audio book performance.

I'm sure it's not all Amber Benson's fault.The book itself is only mediocre, including mostly stories that a fan would have heard over the past 20 years or so. But Benson's reading, coupled with some atrocious editing, made listening something of a horrible experience.

I won't give the audio book one star because it was not total rubbish. But the painful vocal inflections Benson used for the characters, particularly the male characters, and a read that made it sound like she was reading both a text book and an angry diatribe at times puts this squarely in my never listen again column.

Meanders into Topics Most People Don't Care About

An entire chapter about FRIENDS not acknowledging 9/11. Really? The equivalent of 3 chapters about the lack of racial diversity in the cast and behind the scenes.

I was hoping for a book that looked at each of the ten seasons, their story arcs in particular, to bring a new meaning to the show, as a whole. It's a lot of critique not history.

If you are willing to skip over whole chapters, a few of the chapters are really fun like the false-last season 9 and the eventual last season 10.

Very conflicting book

From the start, it seems like the author is a genuine fan of the book and really took you for a walk down memory lane with a few new facts sprinkled in. But several times, she goes on these very long rants on how the show failed society at representation of gays, Jews, transgender, and minorities. She acknowledges the steps they did take and criticized them for not being to her liking. This ended up feeling much more like a very long op-ed piece by the end of it.

Big Let Down

​I was really excited to listen to this book as I loved the show Friends. This book didn't tell me anything I hadn't heard before which was a let down. The book reads a bit like a textbook and the narration doesn't help. The narration is flat and the voice imitations are annoying. Also not sure why this book had to add in all the information about other shows that were on at the time, comparing Friends to them. The other thing the book did was add in how Friends was racist, and the show did not address LGBT rights and sexual harassment appropriately. It was a different time so one cannot look through the lens of today to exam these issues. I couldn't even finish listening to the last chapter as it wasn't about the Friends characters. It was about sexual harassment and not the show. It was almost like the writers wanted Friends fans to not like the show by bringing up all these back room issues about sexual harassment.

Not what I expected

After learning of this book I was excited to give it a listen. I anticipated learning more about the genus is of the show and the migration/aggregation of the actors. While the book did include a portion of these elements these portions were entirely too short. In its place valuable book real estate was taken up by social commentary with extensive chapters on gay rights, lack of minority actors, and transvestites, and oddly a focus on how Friends failed all of those cats girlies. First part? Good. Middle? Squishy. End? A let down.

Informative and fun

I love Friends and this furthered my love for the show that keeps me sane and company through this pandemic. I enjoyed the reading and all she had to say.

The One With The Review

Can I SAY anything better about this book?!

I laughed, I cried, I contemplated my life. I make Chandler’s sex face as I write this, attempting to smile about it.

I never watched Friends when it was on TV, but it became my favorite when I got the DVD set from a discount bin at GameStop circa 2007. Since then, it’s been my go to, via my now overworn and lent out DVDs or Netflix.

I have calculated a realistic number of how many times I have watched each episode (minus the 2nd disc that had Joey’s face on it, that one mysteriously disappeared) and I have seen them at least 385 times. I say these things to give my review cadence and the type of authority everything Richard said had.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I will start it over tomorrow for my drive to work, and revisit it as often as I revisit my Friends, no matter how sick of it my real life friends are of listening to this or the series.

**Best consumed with frozen margaritas while spying on cute famous neighbors with your girlfriends.

Sheer. Guilty. Pleasure.

As someone who was in her early 20’s living away from family and building my friend-family, I LOVED the show Friends. I re-watched it a few years ago with my six-year old and he loved it (there is relatively little I had to skip for him). I am not sure how I found Kelsey Miller’s book I’ll Be There For You but I downloaded it on audible and basically inhaled it. She talked about how it got on the air, insights on those famous salary disputes and how truly groundbreaking they were in the industry, why the producers made decisions they did, and whether it is still relevant today. If you are like me and ready to sign up for HBOMax today and watch Friends again and the Friends reunion, this is a great book to help you make it until July.