A review by benlundns
Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era by Saul Austerlitz

5.0

What can I say, I liked this book. I'm the guy that has Friends on in the background while I'm cleaning up, or has it on while I eat my breakfast. It's fun, it's familiar, and I know what I'm going to get. The same goes for this book, I knew what I was getting into when I picked it up. I wasn't looking for the "rumours" or the "gossip" of the show. That has been throughly covered by the tabloids. I wanted to know why Friends is the way it is. I can't think of any other show that had 10 consistently funny seasons, and a group of people that felt so much like, well, friends. And has so much pop culture cache, say "how you doin?" in a room and not get a laugh from someone, or go online for a gif of every friends scene ever. "Could there BE any more .gifs?" It really opened my eyes to how Friends came to be, and what it was like to be a part of that phenomenon, not so much as the actors, but of those that made the show exist each week, the production assistants, the writers, all the people we don't see, but who are vital to the show appearing on our tv each week, and forever in reruns. A fitting recap to 10 years of hilarity and emotions that is still resonating with people today.