{ "id": "epwqch5qry", "slug": "a-friend-of-the-family", "title": "A Friend of the Family", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers", "label": "Psychological and domestic thrillers", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series", "label": "Drama and prestige series (individual series)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series", "label": "Crime and thriller series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "A Friend of the Family is a 2022 Peacock true-crime limited series, created by Nick Antosca, dramatizing the 1970s double kidnapping of Jan Broberg by family friend Robert Berchtold; Jan and Mary Ann Broberg produced.", "snippet": "A Friend of the Family is a 2022 Peacock true-crime limited series, created by Nick Antosca, dramatizing the 1970s double kidnapping of Jan Broberg by family friend Robert Berchtold; Jan and Mary Ann Broberg produced.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv.drama-prestige-series.crime-and-thriller-series.psychological-and-domestic-thrillers", "markdown": "# A Friend of the Family\n\n**A Friend of the Family** is an American true-crime drama limited series that premiered on Peacock on October 6, 2022. Created by Nick Antosca, known for the Hulu limited series *The Act* and *[Candy](https://www.edgepedia.org/candy-miniseries)*, it dramatizes the kidnapping of Jan Broberg, an Idaho girl abducted twice in the 1970s by her family's neighbor and close friend, Robert \"B\" Berchtold.[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive) The nine-episode series ran through its finale, \"Revelation,\" on November 10, 2022.[2](https://time.com/6232343/a-friend-of-the-family-true-story/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Network and run | Peacock; nine episodes, October 6 to November 10, 2022[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive) • [2](https://time.com/6232343/a-friend-of-the-family-true-story/) |\n| Creator | Nick Antosca (*The Act*, *Candy*)[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive) |\n| Main cast | Anna Paquin as Mary Ann Broberg, Colin Hanks as Bob Broberg, Jake Lacy as Robert \"B\" Berchtold, Lio Tipton as Gail Berchtold, Hendrix Yancey and Mckenna Grace as Jan Broberg[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/60551/a-friend-of-the-family) |\n| Real-life subjects as producers | Jan Broberg and her mother Mary Ann served as producers[4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/jan-broberg-bob-berchtold-real-life-a-friend-of-the-family) |\n| Basis | The 1970s abductions of Jan Broberg by family friend Robert Berchtold in Pocatello, Idaho[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/a-friend-of-the-family-stars-and-producers-on-the-true-crime-drama-series/) |\n| Reception | Metascore 73 from 12 critic reviews; 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/a_friend_of_the_family/s01) |\n| Rating | TV-MA[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Episodes\n\nThe nine episodes, with their original Peacock air dates:[10](https://epguides.com/FriendoftheFamily/)\n\n1. \"Horseback Riding in American Falls\" (October 6, 2022)\n2. \"The Mission\" (October 6, 2022)\n3. \"The Gift of Tongues\" (October 6, 2022)\n4. \"Articles of Faith\" (October 6, 2022)\n5. \"The Bitter Cup\" (October 13, 2022)\n6. \"Son of Perdition\" (October 20, 2022)\n7. \"The Great Deceiver\" (October 27, 2022)\n8. \"Outer Darkness\" (November 3, 2022)\n9. \"Revelation\" (November 10, 2022)\n\n## The true story behind the series\n\nThe Broberg family lived in [Pocatello, Idaho](https://www.edgepedia.org/pocatello-idaho), where in the early 1970s they met their new neighbors, the Berchtolds. Berchtold, a father of five whom the family met at church, systematically groomed and assaulted multiple members of the Broberg family while earning their trust through Christmas dinners, joint family vacations, and false confessions to the parents. His central obsession was the eldest daughter, Jan.[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/a-friend-of-the-family-stars-and-producers-on-the-true-crime-drama-series/)\n\n**The first abduction.** In 1974, when Jan was 12, Berchtold drove off with her after telling her parents he was taking the child horseback riding. He kept her captive for a month, and a staged scenario persuaded her that aliens had taken the two of them: with Jan sedated and bound to a bed inside his mobile home, a tape recording blared from speakers, informing her that she was part alien and needed to breed with whatever man she chose in order to preserve both the species and her household. She believed the story for years.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/07/a-friend-of-the-family-review-the-most-jawdroppingly-incredible-true-crime-story-there-is)\n\nBerchtold had also ensnared Jan's parents in a web of trust and shame that led them to drop the most serious charges against him and continue letting him spend time with their daughter. He had seduced both parents into relationships that later became sources of blackmail. Two years later, when Jan was 14, he kidnapped her a second time.[4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/jan-broberg-bob-berchtold-real-life-a-friend-of-the-family) • [8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/07/a-friend-of-the-family-review-the-most-jawdroppingly-incredible-true-crime-story-there-is)\n\n**The aftermath.** According to the documentary *Abducted in Plain Sight*, Berchtold pleaded guilty to felony kidnapping and ultimately served only 10 days in prison. He died by suicide in 2005.[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive)\n\n## Production and the family's involvement\n\nJan Broberg, who grew up to become an actress with credits including The WB's *Everwood* and the holiday film *The Road Home for Christmas*, served as a producer on the series along with her mother, Mary Ann. She said she was willing to revisit her trauma because \"telling a story in headlines, you don't get the context.\"[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/a-friend-of-the-family-stars-and-producers-on-the-true-crime-drama-series/) When Jake Lacy reported to set for his first day of shooting, he discovered a note waiting in his trailer, written by Broberg, in which she recalled, from her childhood, the man he would portray: someone charming, warm, and funny, a gifted storyteller who could burst into tears instantly, and whose charm concealed a nature she described as monstrous. The letter concluded with her blessing to proceed.[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive)\n\nBroberg has said she keeps telling the story to help people recognize abuse before it is too late: \"This is the most common kind of abuse. It's not a scary stranger. It's someone you know, someone you often love and usually trust.\"[1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive) Alongside the series she co-wrote a memoir with her mother, *The Jan Broberg Story: The True Crime Story of a Young Girl Abducted and Brainwashed by a Friend of the Family*, and started the Jan Broberg Foundation, which offers community support for survivors of grooming, trauma, and abuse and their family members.[2](https://time.com/6232343/a-friend-of-the-family-true-story/)\n\n## Earlier tellings and the series' approach\n\nThe Broberg story had previously been told in the memoir *Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story*, the 2017 Netflix documentary *Abducted in Plain Sight* directed by Skye Borgman, and a podcast.[8](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/07/a-friend-of-the-family-review-the-most-jawdroppingly-incredible-true-crime-story-there-is) The documentary condensed the saga into 91 minutes, and some viewers reacted harshly toward the parents, wondering how a child could be taken by the same person twice. Broberg said afterward that she felt she had \"allowed my parents' legacy to be soiled,\" and that while many viewers who had experienced grooming or manipulation could relate, many others could not.[4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/jan-broberg-bob-berchtold-real-life-a-friend-of-the-family)\n\nThe series was designed to answer that reaction by showing how a family like the Brobergs, devoted to their faith, family, and community, could have let Berchtold and his family into their lives and given him second chances. Where the documentary compressed events, the nine-episode format examines each stage of the relationship between Berchtold and the family.[4](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/jan-broberg-bob-berchtold-real-life-a-friend-of-the-family) • [1](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive) The involvement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints runs through the story, and the episode titles, including \"The Gift of Tongues,\" \"Articles of Faith,\" \"Son of Perdition,\" and \"The Great Deceiver,\" draw on LDS vocabulary.[9](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/fact-vs-fiction-a-friend-of-the-family-what-happened-to-jan-broberg) • [10](https://epguides.com/FriendoftheFamily/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics received the series favorably. It scored 73 on Metacritic based on 12 reviews, with 9 positive and 3 mixed and none negative, and holds 92% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 25 reviews.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/) • [7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/a_friend_of_the_family/s01) Reviewers singled out the performances and Eliza Hittman's direction; the critics' consensus on Rotten Tomatoes describes the series as \"unspooling like a slow-motion nightmare\" and credits Hittman's direction and [Jake Lacy](https://www.edgepedia.org/jake-lacy)'s portrayal.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/a_friend_of_the_family/s01) Paste Magazine wrote that what distinguishes the series from other scripted true crime is that it examines the *how* of the abuse rather than the *why*.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/) Some critics found the nine-episode length excessive; [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s reviewer wrote it did not have \"six hours' worth, much less nine.\"[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [How 'A Friend of the Family' Dramatizes the Horrific Saga of Netflix's 'Abducted in Plain Sight', Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/friend-of-the-family-peacock-limited-series-first-look-exclusive)\n2. [Why I Told My Story of Childhood Sexual Abuse in 'A Friend of the Family', TIME](https://time.com/6232343/a-friend-of-the-family-true-story/)\n3. [A Friend of the Family, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/60551/a-friend-of-the-family)\n4. [Jan Broberg on 'A Friend of the Family' and the Real-Life Bob Berchtold, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/jan-broberg-bob-berchtold-real-life-a-friend-of-the-family)\n5. [A Friend of the Family Crime-Drama Series Is Even More Disturbing Because It's True, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/a-friend-of-the-family-stars-and-producers-on-the-true-crime-drama-series/)\n6. [A Friend of the Family Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/a-friend-of-the-family/)\n7. [A Friend of the Family: Limited Series, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/a_friend_of_the_family/s01)\n8. [A Friend of the Family review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/07/a-friend-of-the-family-review-the-most-jawdroppingly-incredible-true-crime-story-there-is)\n9. [Fact vs Fiction: A Friend of the Family, What to Watch](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/fact-vs-fiction-a-friend-of-the-family-what-happened-to-jan-broberg)\n10. [A Friend of the Family (a Titles & Air Dates Guide), epguides](https://epguides.com/FriendoftheFamily/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Psychological and domestic thrillers*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"A Friend of the Family\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[A Friend of the Family](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"A Friend of the Family\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-friend-of-the-family. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "A Friend of the Family is a 2022 Peacock true-crime limited series, created by Nick Antosca, dramatizing the 1970s double kidnapping of Jan Broberg by family friend Robert Berchtold; Jan and Mary Ann Broberg produced." }