I'm a huge fan of Friends so couldn't resist requesting this book! I found it a bit of a mixed bag - I enjoyed the discussion of friends and I learnt some things that I didn't know before which was fun. I did find it a little bogged down in the discussion of network television and how the TV scheduling worked in the 90s. Having said that, it was interesting to learn a bit more about the crossover episodes as here in England we didn't see the different TV shows in the order they were shown in America so it helped to know context (like the blackout episode of Friends). I loved reading about how Friends evolved, and how it adapted and changed. On the whole I enjoyed this book and I'm glad I read it.

This person knows Friends but if you are a die hard Friends fan, like me, you will not learn anything new from this book. It has a serious take, which is unfitting for a book about a sitcom. This focuses on casting and features details about certain episodes and storylines, but doesn't offer anything new. As a UK reader I wasn't interested in the snippets of info of other US sitcoms and hadn't heard of half of those either.

I'm not sure who the right readership is for this book, as die hard fans will know this, and those less interested would be unlikely to pick this up.

Thanks to White Owl and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

First off, this book is not just about Friends, the popular 1990s TV show, but about the 1990s sitcoms and television in general from that period of time. The majority of the book is about Friends, the NBC network’s Must-See TV lineup, which started back in the 1980s with The Cosby Show, and how they tried to dominate by offering up endless sitcoms. There is some talk about British television in the fact that some of the American shows were exported to various channels there, much like some British shows appear here in the U.S. on PBS.

What I find interesting about the book is not the rehash of Friends’ seasons, which can be had in any number of places, but how the show evolved and changed. Also important to note is the reflections of the show’s creators addressing the now-problematic issues with the show: fatphobia, homophobia, lack of diversity, and how they admit they got those things terribly wrong. It’s clear most of us have learned and grown with the years, and some aspects of the show which we once thought were hilarious fall flat now.

Some of the other shows mentioned include Suddenly Susan, Sports Night, Veronica’s Closet, Just Shoot Me, Caroline in the City, Spin City, The Drew Carey Show, Dharma & Greg, Will & Grace, and Ellen. Many of those shows are in syndication on retro TV channels in the U.S. right now like Antenna TV, Catchy TV, and Me TV, and some have aged better than others.

There’s also discussion of the TV landscape in general, with popular dramas like E.R. and The West Wing, Law & Order, and the return of the prime-time game show like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, as well as the major networks’ foray into reality TV with Survivor and The Bachelor.

I found this book very interesting from a nostalgia standpoint, not only for Friends, but also the time in which the show aired.

A great read for FRIENDS fans and students of media alike. It was packed with trivia about the show, characters and actors and provided an in depth analysis and commentary about other sitcoms and shows that were broadcast around the same time. Informative, interesting and entertaining. As someone who watched friends right from the start it provided a high level of nostalgia for me. .

Unfortunately, this book didn’t meet my expectations. I was hoping for more insight into the personal dynamics of the cast, similar to what we see in Friends, rather than just a focus on the sitcom itself. This may be more of a personal issue, as I’m already quite familiar with the behind-the-scenes details—like Courteney Cox being originally cast as Rachel Green and Matt LeBlanc’s financial struggles at the time. I’ve decided not to leave a review elsewhere to avoid impacting others' interest in the book. I was simply hoping for new information that I wasn’t already aware of.

I loved this look into sitcoms and how Friends managed to affect and continue to bring nostalgia to do many. I liked the look into what the producers did to help this show be different and leave a lasting impression.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Great book for ultimate fans of friends with some fab behind the scene facts and trivia! I do think it’s more for anyone studying media as lots of facts about sitcoms and data on their time on screens etc

I really enjoyed this! I liked reading about what made FRIENDS so special compared to other shows at the time. How the writers kept it from being like all the other sitcoms by writing the unexpected story lines for the characters was interesting to read about. Knowing about the time and thought that went into a lot of my favourite episodes makes me love them even more. Reading about the networks and how they were all competing, how they configured their line ups and and how shows were picked up or canceled was eye-opening. Some shows I had never even heard of and a lot I had forgotten about. The introduction of HBO and the rise of game shows and reality TV made more of an impact that I realized.

Even though all these years later, we've come to realize that the show was not without its problems given some of the story lines, the culture significance, the friendships, and the nostalgia still holds strong.

thank you to NetGalley and Pen&Sword for the ARC

I found this book to be a little dry in spots with a lot of statistics, but overall enjoyed it. I am a big fan of the TV show Friends and it’s always fun to see a behind the curtain look at episodes and what the writers, producers and Directors were thinking when they chose certain scenes.

It was an enjoyable read, but there wasn’t any new insider information about the show, which is kind of what I was hoping for. There’s been one or two books about Friends already, so I appreciated the new perspective about how television programming was evolving at the time.

I am a huge 'Friends' fan so naturally this peaked my interest. It was not too bad, if you are interested in the technical side of sitcoms and how everything works, especially early 90s sitcoms, this would be up your alley. A lot of the 'Friends' information was stuff I already knew but a lot was new information to me.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and Pen & Sword for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I rated this a 3.5 star but rounded up!

As someone who watches endless reruns of Friends, i absolutely adored this book.

With new insights into the filming of the show and cross referencing from other books including Matthew Perry’s biography - it’s a truly interesting read.

I loved that it answered why Friends was so popular in the age of the sitcom, and how it became the behemoth that it is now.

“Friends” was NBC’s Must See TV from 1994-2005 and I don’t know whether there’s an episode I haven’t seen, either first run or on re-run. I notice that it seems to be gaining popularity again now based on the number of really young people I see with “Friends” shirts and other paraphernalia. This book was meant to be about the impact of the show and how the sitcom changed television, and while there was a bit of this, it was mostly a recap of popular episodes season by season and a list of other shows that NBC (and other networks) were putting on.

The book was written by British writers so there was also some discussion about what British networks were airing the show and its ratings there. Obviously that was of little interest to American who hadn’t heard of the other shows mentioned.

Oh, and this was an ARC, so normally I wouldn’t mention this, but Courteney Cox’s name was misspelled throughout the entire book. Odd for a book that is practically one-sixth about her. Probably a 2.5, there’s a better book to be had about “Friends.”

I love Friends so this was an interesting read for me. I don’t remeber when it first aired so it was good to get some of the back ground and some of the commentary behind some of the decisions and the scenes.

I liked Friends and watched it throughout its run and still watch it occasionally. This book gives you a high level yet comprehensive review of the show. It was interesting getting the behind-the-scenes scoop on what was happening with some of the episodes. With the series, I was happy when the focus shifted from Rachel and Ross and I hated the Rachel-Joey crush/romance.

I also found it interesting to read about what was happening during Friends' run with the other networks and why some decisions about shows and programming were made. Lots of TV shows are discussed and I found myself Googling them because I'd forgotten about them, wondered why I hadn't watched some or hadn't heard of them. During Friends' original run, I was traveling for work often, taking lots of courses at night, didn't have a PVR or I guess just wasn't interested.

I found it odd there was a large focus on British viewers, their channels and shows and see the author is in England ... it at times felt like it was being directed at British readers rather than world-wide fans.

Love love loved this book. As a huge friends fan it was just a perfect hit of nostalgia and I really enjoyed hearing some of the info I hadn’t come across before!

This is a great look into the history of the sitcom, a breakdown of the different seasons of Friends, and interesting looks at the place this era will have in television history! I'm not usually a nonfiction girl, but I love my sitcoms, and this was a fun read!

Full disclosure: I am a Friends fan, despite being aware of its more problematic features. I find myself quoting it constantly in real-life situations. I've done the Friends' "Experience" three times (once driving from NYC up to Boston on a day trip just to do so). And I've read all the books, articles, and interviews with various cast members, producers, and anyone who has ever been involved with the show and has spoken about it. So I was curious to see if I would learn anything new from this book.

And I did. If you are interested in the show and/or the rise and fall (and maybe rise again?) of the situation comedy in the 90s and early 2000s, this is a fascinating read. And it turns out I am. Of course, I'm old enough to remember some of the shows discussed--on the other hand, I had no idea how many shows passed through the small screen briefly.

I was fascinated by the discussions of how the shows were filmed, what constituted a "concept" show, and in how Friends was situated in these contexts. I found the discussions of how reality shows impacted the industry as well as the tidbits about how different casts interacted with each other, what personal factors informed outcomes on many shows. While I'm interested in theater and films, I did not expect to find this kind of information as engaging, even absorbing, as I did.

This is at least in part due to the excellent quality of the writing. Smooth, fluid, easy to follow, I was carried along the flow of information presented in a conversational, informal tone. The author expresses her personal opinions from time to time but in a way that augments rather than interferes with flow of the book.

Reading this book felt like having a conversation with a very knowledgeable industry insider, one who loves the show and the business of television and is eager to share it. Also, someone who is articulate and easy to listen to.

The more problematic aspects of Friends are covered: the fat jokes, the homophobic jokes, the lack of diversity, amongst others. Also covered are the strengths: ways in which Friends avoided many of the common pitfalls of sitcom writing, the strengths of the relationships of the characters, The favorable depiction of Ross's ex-wife marriage (Susan--his ex-wife's wife--is presented for the most part in a negative light but I would argue that this more because she committed adultery with Carol and, from his point of view, broke up their marriage--however, Susan and Carol's relationship is clearly strong and loving).

As a fan, I naturally loved the discussions of the more technical aspects of the show, the writing, direction, plot choices. I thought I'd read all there was to say, but not at all. Of course I was familiar with much of the information but there was much more that was unfamiliar and the placing the show in the context of its time as well as its position in NBC's line-up gave the subject greater depth than a usual simple fan read.

I highly recommend this book if you like Friends and/or are interested in the television industry and its relationship to the society in which it's situated.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Publisher Pen and Sword/White Owl, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Friends and the Golden Age of the Sitcom is scheduled for publication on August 30, 2024.

Me and my friend planned a whole night round this book for her birthday and it did not disappoint a most for a any friends fan we laughed we cried we learn new things it was such a interesting and full of information
Love it

Could this BE any better? I absolutely adored this! I was (am) a huge Friends fan and this was a really interesting read. I particularly enjoyed the tidbits about other sitcoms, ones I‘d almost forgotten about but the memories came flooding back! Caroline in the City, Becker, Cybill, Dharma and Greg; I loved them all.
I learned facts I didn’t know and I left this book with a new appreciation for the behind the scenes world of TV. It’s a great book and I hope it finds its audience- I’ll be buying a copy for a couple of Friends super fans!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.