Lisa Kudrow defends 'Friends,' says it was ‘very progressive’
- 19 May 2020
Lisa Kudrow, one of the main stars of the beloved sitcom "Friends," has hit back at those criticising the show for ageing badly.
The actor starred as Phoebe Buffay in all 236 episodes of the sitcom between 1994 and 2004.
In recent years, the show has been accused of having "problematic" storylines, with millennial viewers describing it as transphobic, homophobic and sexist, and lamenting the lack of non-white characters.
Speaking about what "Friends" would be like if it aired today, Kudrow told The Sunday Times: “Oh, it’d be completely different.
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.”
She continued: “Also, this show thought it was very progressive. There was a guy whose wife discovered she was g** and pregnant, and they raised the child together? We had surrogacy too. It was, at the time, progressive.”
Kudrow added that the reason the show is still so popular is because “young people have this unconscious nostalgia for personal connection.”
The star can next be seen in Netflix’s satirical series "Space Force," alongside Steve Carell.
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