Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay in Friends, defended the 90s show from new criticism that it is “sexist” and “homophobic”.
The sitcom, which ran from 1994 to 2004, following the lives of six twenty-something best friends in their New York apartments, was much loved during its heyday.
Hordes of viewers tuned in over the ten series to catch up with what Phoebe, Rachel, Ross, Joey, Monica and Chandler were up to, with the 2004 final episode among the most-watched finales of all time, watched by over 52 million American viewers.
But since returning to Netflix and drawing in a new generation of viewers, it has also attracted its fair share of criticism, with some calling it “problematic”.
The show has been described by some as “sexist” and “homophobic” by some of those watching the show for the first time.
Kudrow has defended the sitcom, suggesting in an interview with The Sunday Times that it should be viewed as a “time capsule”. However, she agreed that it would be made differently if it was made today.
“Oh, it’d be completely different,” she said. “Well, it would not be an all-white cast, for sure.
“I’m not sure what else, but, to me, it should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong.”
“Also, this show thought it was very progressive,” she added. “There was a guy whose wife discovered she was gay and pregnant, and they raised the child together?
“We had surrogacy too. It was, at the time, progressive.”
People connecting
She added that as well as delivering laughs, part of the appeal of the show was that it was about people connecting, which is something she believes today’s young people have craved since before the lockdown.
“Yes, it’s a fun comedy. But it’s also about people connecting, and part of what appeals about it now is that young people have this unconscious nostalgia for personal connection. And not just right now during the pandemic, but before that,” she said.
An unscripted, one-off, Friends reunion was recently announced, set to bring Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, together in one room, along with Kudrow, who said she is “really looking forward to it”.
The date for the show has been delayed for the time being due to coronavirus uncertainty.
In the meantime, Kudrow will be back on our screens at the end of May on Netflix in new comedy Space Force.
She will star alongside Steve Carell in the satirical show inspired by Donald Trump‘s administration, which follows a new US military agency, led by an army general and an eccentric scientist.