Despite finishing its run in 2004, Friends continues to create headlines. The latest column inches have been about the show’s lack of racial diversity following comments by Lisa Kudrow.
The star who played Phoebe Buffay in the show told The Daily Beast that the sitcom reflected the world its creators knew and that Marta Kauffman and David Crane had “no business” writing about POC.
Kudrow stated: “Well, I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college. And for shows especially, when it’s going to be a comedy that’s character-driven, you write what you know”.
Continuing: “They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of colour. I think at that time, the big problem that I was seeing was, ‘Where’s the apprenticeship?'”
Kudrow previously commented on the diversity issue stating that the comedy would look far different if it was remade today and that it should be viewed as a time capsule.
Furthermore, Kauffman recently donated $4 million to create a fund to support African and African American studies at Brandeis University in response to her embarrassment over the success of a show with very little diversity.
