While watching "A Million Little Things," I often wonder if this show's creators/writers are people like me: a 90's child who grew up watching "Friends," hoping that someday when I and my friends were adults, we'd have fun, almost glamorous lives like the group shown on that show, but now that I've matured past the age of the characters on the original sitcom, my real middle-aged life has actually been much more like the lives of the characters in this drama, with serious issues like suicide, alcoholism, cancer, money issues, etc. and unfortunately much less goofiness. However, the main concept of both these shows is still the same: adults getting by in this world by leaning on their friend groups.
To carry the comparison further, the characters in these two shows can also be paired up:
-There's the respected professional with a successful white collar career on the one hand whose family situation at home is messy on the other hand (Ross/Katherine)
-There's another professional who seems to be doing well financially at a poorly-defined office career who's also a goofy man child who is convinced he's the funniest member of the group (Chandler/Gary)
-There's one in the entertainment industry who isn't quite where they want to be yet, but keeps trying (Joey/Rome)
-There's the woman who thought she'd get to be a pampered housewife for the rest of her life, but then her marriage didn't go according to plan, so now she needs to become a career woman to support herself (Rachel/Delilah)
-There's the artsy musician who isn't quite making a living off of their music (Phoebe/Eddie)
-And finally the chef trying to make it in the restaurant business, whom the rest of the group rely on whenever they want feeding (Monica/Regina)
In addition, some of the story lines are similar, but obviously done much more seriously on the drama than the sitcom:
-Two of the friends sleep together, resulting in an unplanned pregnancy
- A pair of the friends are married and pursuing an adoption
Overall, a quite good show that speaks to both a generation's issues and the affect a solid group of friends can have on each other's lives.