It’s no secret that they simply don’t make sitcoms like they used to. In a new interview, the legendary former Friends star Lisa Kudrow is revealing exactly what is wrong with the modern day sitcom.
Kudrow Sounds Off
According to Kudrow, the sitcoms of today are “too afraid” of jokes that make people uncomfortable. This has led to the sitcoms themselves becoming devoid of humor.
Kudrow said this while talking to Lily Tomlin for Interview Magazine. During their talk, Kudrow was asked if sitcoms are evolving or dying.
“I wish they were evolving. 30 Rock and Seinfeld and Friends were really funny and really well written,” said Kudrow, 62. “But I’m not drawn to new sitcoms that are multi-camera in front of an audience because I’m not buying it. I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve seen too many single-camera sitcoms — I think we need to get back to being able to tell jokes. I feel like we’ve been too afraid to make jokes that might make people uncomfortable.”
Kudrow went on to explain that “really good” jokes aren’t tame ones. Instead, they need to catch the audience off guard.
“But the really good ones, they’re not tame jokes,” Kudrow stated. “They’re jokes that are kind of, ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’ Comedy is about surprise. You need things you didn’t see coming.”
Does Kudrow Watch Friends?
Later in this interview, Kudrow was asked if she ever watches herself in shows or movies.
“I can watch The Comeback, no problem,” she replied, referring to her current HBO series. “Now I’m comfortable watching Friends without punishing myself. I’m trying to have that be my nighttime show, so I have a laugh or two before I go to sleep. There are still episodes I’ve never seen.”
Kudrow previously revealed in 2024 that she couldn’t bear to watch herself on Friends for decades. However, that all changed when her former Friends co-star Matthew Perry died in 2023 from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 54.
“Well, I used to not be able to watch it at all. I mean, I’d see it on and be, like, mildly interested, and then I’d see me and say, ‘That’s enough of that, I can’t bear it,'” Kudrow said two years ago. “Listen, after Matthew died I could start watching the show again because it wasn’t about me, it had to do with him for some reason.”
“And, so I have started watching Friends, she added. “Not started like season one, you know, but there are marathons on, and I have spent at times, since he died, all day long watching the show.”
Jennifer Aniston Weighs In
Meanwhile, Kudrow’s former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston has said that there is likely an entire generation of young people who think their legendary sitcom is problematic. According to her, there’s a new level of “sensitivity” culturally these days that wasn’t there when Friends was originally on the air from 1994 until 2004.
“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” Aniston said in 2023. “There were things that were never intentional and others… well, we should have thought it through — but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”
The woke crowd can call Friends problematic all that they want to, but we find it hilarious. If show-runners want to make good sitcoms these days, they might want to listen to Kudrow’s advice. In the end, Kudrow knows what she’s talking about when it comes to making laugh-out-loud television.
If only we had good sitcoms like Friends on TV these days!