Antosca previously released a statement of his own, expressing his hope for anyone watching to “come away from the series with a deeper understanding of the family and say: In that time, in that place, they were like me. They made terrible mistakes, but they loved their kids. And, a master manipulator took advantage of them.”
“The series exists outside the typical categories of genre,” he continued. “It’s a thriller built around obsessive relationships, a family drama, and a nightmarish coming-of-age story.”
The showrunner also described A Friend of the Family as a story about survival, “and a larger story about the American psyche and the institutions of family, religion and community.”
“And part of what makes the story so exceptional isn’t how strange it is, but the fact that the Brobergs told it at all,” Antosca said. “It was a wrenching, complicated story to work on. In addition to the thousands of pages of trial transcripts, FBI notes, interviews, and childhood diaries that we were able to use to tell the story, we have had the privilege of working with Jan Broberg herself. We could not and would not tell this story without Jan and her family’s blessing and participation. Thank you for watching.”
Scroll on for photos from A Friend of the Family, which premieres Thursday, Oct. 8 on Peacock with three episodes at launch and new episodes streaming weekly thereafter.
