Kelsey Miller - Ill Be There for You: The One about Friends

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.

Ill 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 shows 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 readers behind the scenes, Miller traces the casts 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 ageall of which influenced both the series and its viewers.

Ill Be There for You is the definitive retrospective of Friends, not only for fans of the series, but for anyone whos ever wondered what it is about this showand television comedythat resonates so powerfully.

Praise for Ill Be There for You

Ill Be There for You is a lot like Friends : you come for the comfort, you stay for the much larger (and far more interesting) conversations it sparks. Like Kelsey Miller, I was a casual Friends fan back when it airedand have been fascinated by the shows afterlife with an entirely new set of fans. Miller not only gives all the fascinating backstory on how such a seminal and popular show made it to air, but answers the question thats been following me for years: how is this show still so popular? Ill Be There for You isnt just about Friends its about the specific void that Friends has filled in so many peoples everyday lives.

Anne Helen Petersen, culture writer at BuzzFeed
and author of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

Can you write with a fans affection about both what makes a show timeless and what makes it dated? What makes it rewatchable and what makes it sometimes regrettable? This book suggests that you can.

Linda Holmes, host of NPRs Pop Culture Happy Hour

Deeply reported and brimming with delicious insight, Kelsey Millers account of the Friends phenomenon takes us on a nostalgic, thrilling and bittersweet journey behind the scenes of a TV show that captured the fleeting moment in our lives when friends became family. Ill Be There for You illuminates the real-life bonds between cast members and how Jennifer Aniston and company stuck together through ups and downs, meteoric fame and iconic haircuts, breakups and Brad Pitt. All the while, Millers intelligent analysis of the series enduring legacy reveals a universal truth: The friendships we make in our twenties change us foreverand for those eager to relive the magic of the past, Friends now feels like family.

Erin Carlson, author of Ill Have What Shes Having:
How Nora Ephrons Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy

Kelsey Miller

Ill Be There for You:
The One about Friends

For my friends

Kelsey Miller is a journalist and the author of Big Girl: How I Gave Up Dieting and Got a Life. She and her work have been featured in Glamour, Allure, the New York Times, Teen Vogue, Salon, People, Good Housekeeping, Entertainment Weekly,Womens Health and other outlets. She is the founder of The Anti-Diet Project, one of Refinery29s most popular franchises, for which she received the Digiday Publisher of the Year Award. She lives in Brooklyn.

www.kelseymiller.com

Contents

INTRODUCTION

The Sweet Spot

A few months ago, I walked into the gym, hopped on my usual machine, and thumbed the worn-out little button on the monitor up to channel 46. It was very early eveninga kind of magic hour at the gym. The place was packed, but oddly quiet, save for the whirring of stationary bike wheels and rhythmic thumping of sneakers on the treadmill. Gyms in New York City have a reputation for being scene-y and intimidating, full of athletic wunderkinds and sweat-free medical marvels eyeing each other as they deadlift a thousand pounds and do pirouettes in the mirror. On the whole, this reputation is shockingly true. But not at 5:30 p.m. At that hour of the day, all is calm and no one is judging. And every TV seems to be tuned in to a basic cable channel, as New Yorkers unwind with some cardio and reruns. That day, I walked in and saw the usual array of familiar faces lined up above high-tech machines: some folks watched Greys Anatomy, others preferred Law & Order. Some even tuned in to Family Guy, right out in the open. Really, theres no judgment at 5:30. Personally, I always went right to channel 46, where every afternoon TBS ran Friends.

Id started this routine a few years prior, around the same time I started working out regularly. I was in my late twenties, and up until that point, exercise had been the kind of thing I did either obsessively or not at all. Like most young women (at least the ones I knew), Id thought of working out as something you did to try to look better, or to cancel out the dollar-slice pizza you ate on the street with your friends after five glasses of revolting wine. Now, Id entered a new phase of adulthood. I ordered the good pizza and ate it at home with my long-term boyfriendand not too close to bedtime, or wed both need a Zantac. I exercised for actual health reasons, like a grown-up. It was boring and consistent, and I actually liked it. There were other things I didnt like about getting older (like always having to keep Zantac in the house), but the gym wasnt one of them. Because there, every evening, I could turn on Friends and hop back in time for a moment.

Channel 46 became the nostalgic escape hatch at the end of my grown-up workday. I would pedal away on the Arc Trainer, watching the episode where Monica accidentally dated a teenager, or the one where Chandler got stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre. I didnt even know who Jill Goodacre was, really. I just knew she was a Victorias Secret model in the 90s, and rewatching the episode was like returning to an era when both she and Victorias Secret were hot pop-culture references.

Id never counted myself among the die-hard Friends fans, though of course Id watched it. I was ten years old when it debuted in 1994, and in college when it ended. During those years it was one of the biggest shows on televisionone of the biggest cultural events, periodand its enormous impact was baked into my DNA like radiation. Id gotten The Rachel in middle school, Id watched the finale with a group of weepy girlfriends, and if pressed, I could probably remember all the words to Smelly Cat. But that was base-level