'Friends' Creator Reveals BIGGEST Regret About Hit TV Show
Even if it has been more than a decade since the hit television sitcom "Friends" dominated the airwaves, the show's popularity never went down and is now being discovered by younger generations.
While the hit 90s show gained a massive following and was raved by different age groups, the show also received backlash, especially on the lack of diversity among the cast members.
Fifteen years later, "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman admitted lacking knowledge on incorporating diversity on the shows she created and made a huge impact on society.
In a panel interview during the 2020 ATX TV Festival, the 63-year-old TV producer got emotional talking about a thing she wished she knew when her career started. Kauffman apologized and said that she could have done better when it comes to diversity if only she could apply what she had learned over the years.
"I wish I knew then what I know today," Kauffman said. "Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would've made very different decisions."
It only means that the cast featuring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc could be different if the show were created in a different time and setting.
After expressing a heartfelt apology, Kauffman said: "I mean we've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough and now all I can think about is what can I do?"
"What can I do differently? How can I run my show in a new way? And that's something I not only wish I knew when I started slow running, but I wish I knew all the way up through last year."
Famous Cast Approves Diversity
Kauffman's statement echoed Lisa Kudrow's recent nod on the diversity issues on the show.
The 56-year-old actress, who played the role of quirky Phoebe Buffay, believes the show has tackled some progressive topics. Such topics include Ross Geller discovering his wife to be lesbian and doing co-parenting, her character having surrogacy, and Monica and Chandler adopting babies.
However, Kudrow thinks that having an all-white cast would be a different discussion if the show was made in modern times.
"It would not be an all-white cast, for sure," the actress told ET Canada last month.
Earlier this year, David Schwimmer, who played the role of Ross Geller, suggested that it would be a good idea to have a more diverse remake of "Friends."
"Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends," the 53-year-old actor told The Guardian.
But even during the height of the show between the 90s and early 2000s, Schwimmer has been aware that the show lacked diversity -- which is why he pushed for his character to date a woman of color.
"One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part."
