Lisa Kudrow said in a recent Interview Magazine profile that she is “not attracted to” the new multi-camera sitcom. The Friends star believes it’s because the new show is “scared” of jokes that will make viewers “offensive.”
When asked if the sitcom genre is evolving or disappearing, Krudlow said, “I wish it had evolved. ’30 “Rock,” “Seinfeld,” and “Friends” were really funny and really well-written. But I’m not drawn to new sitcoms that do multi-cameras in front of an audience, because I just don’t buy them. I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve seen too many single-camera sitcoms, but I think they need to.” Let’s get back to being able to tell jokes. I think we were too afraid to tell jokes that might make people uncomfortable. ”
She added: “But the really good ones aren’t the dumb jokes. They’re the ‘I can’t believe I just said that’ kind of jokes.” Comedy means surprise. You end up needing something you weren’t expecting. ”
Kudrow played the free-spirited Phoebe Buffay on all 10 seasons of Friends, perhaps the most iconic multi-camera comedy of all time. Her main castmates were Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc. Kudrow’s role on Friends won her an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1998.
The “Comeback” star said that during the heyday of “Friends,” fans always told her that they thought Phoebe was “so terrible.” But Mr. Kudrow never interpreted her that way.
“At the time, I was like, ‘How great is she? Why do you only play ditz?'” And I thought, “Is she a ditz?” To me, she wasn’t,” she said. “In 1994, it was like, ‘I love her.’ She’s such a great person.’ And it was like, oh, okay, that’s the Ditz for us. People who didn’t toe the line… But she wasn’t stupid. ”
