With the Friends reunion special (and the massive corresponding pay checks) on a break due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lisa Kudrow has offered her insights about a lingering concern some fans and critics have about the sitcom: that the six friends were all white, and despite living in the diverse metropolis known as New York City, rarely, if ever, interacted with diverse people outside of their own race. “Oh, it’d be completely different. It would not be an all-white cast, for sure,†she told Britain’s The Sunday Times. “I’m not sure what else, but to me, it should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong.†Kudrow, like her co-star David Schwimmer has said in the past, reiterated how numerous Friends storylines were considered to be quietly revolutionary for television at the time. “Also, this show thought it was very progressive,†she explained. “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.â€
Schwimmer previously admitted that he was “well aware of the lack of diversity†during Friends’ ten-season run, and advocated for his character, Ross, to date more women of color as a result. “One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian-American woman, and later I dated African-American women,†he said. “That was a very conscious push on my part.†Hmm, maybe this will be a hot topic when the reunion special finally films.