A Friend of the Family is an American drama miniseries. Based on true events, it follows Robert Berchtold, a close friend of the Broberg family, who kidnaps Jan Broberg twice over a period of two years. It consists of nine episodes and premiered on Peacock on October 6, 2022.[1] The events depicted in the series were previously covered in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight.
A Friend of the Family | |
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Genre | Drama |
Created by | Nick Antosca |
Starring |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 51–56 minutes |
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Distributor | NBCUniversal Syndication Studios |
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Original network | Peacock |
Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) – present |
In 1974, Robert Berchtold, a close friend of the Broberg family turned serial child abductor, kidnaps Jan Broberg, age twelve. After she was returned to her parents, he abducts her again at age fourteen in 1976.
No. | Title [2] | Directed by | Written by [3] | Original air date [4] |
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1 | "Horseback Riding in American Falls" | Eliza Hittman | Nick Antosca | October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) |
2 | "The Mission" | Rachel Goldberg | Teleplay by : Brian Chamberlayne Story by : Brian Chamberlayne & Rachael Paradis | October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) |
3 | "The Gift of Tongues" | Eliza Hittman | Teleplay by : Lucy Teitler Story by : Lucy Teitler & Julia Batavia | October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) |
4 | "Articles of Faith" | Rachel Goldberg | Marie Hanhnhon Nguyen | October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) |
5 | "The Bitter Cup" | Steven Piet | Brian Evenson | October 13, 2022 (2022-10-13) |
6 | "Son of Perdition" | Steven Piet | Alana B. Lytle | October 20, 2022 (2022-10-20) |
7 | "The Great Deceiver" | Jamie Travis | Brian Chamberlayne | October 27, 2022 (2022-10-27) |
8 | "Outer Darkness" | Jamie Travis | Teleplay by : Lucy Teitler Story by : Lucy Teitler & Diana Pawell | November 3, 2022 (2022-11-03) |
9 | "Revelation" | Lauren Wolkstein | Nick Antosca & Brian Evenson & Alana B. Lytle | November 10, 2022 (2022-11-10) |
In May 2020, it was announced Universal Content Productions was developing a series revolving around Jan Broberg's kidnappings, with Nick Antosca set to write and executive produce the series under his Eat the Cat banner, with Broberg and Mary Ann Broberg set to serve as producers.[5] In February 2022, Peacock gave the series a straight-to-series order, with Eliza Hittman set to direct episodes and executive produce.[6]
In February 2022, Jake Lacy, Anna Paquin, Colin Hanks, and Lio Tipton joined the cast of the series.[7] In March 2022, Hendrix Yancey, and Mckenna Grace joined the cast of the series.[8][9] In April 2022, Austin Stowell, Patrick Fischler, Bree Elrod, and Philip Ettinger joined the cast of the series.[10] In July 2022, Ella Jay Basco joined the cast of the series.[11]
Principal photography commenced by February 2022.[12]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.8/10, based on 21 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Unspooling like a slow-motion nightmare, A Friend of the Family benefits immeasurably from Eliza Hittman's deft direction and Jake Lacy's unflinching portrayal of insidious evil."[2] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[13]
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