Friends Star Lisa Kudrow Calls Out the One Thing Modern Sitcoms Get Wrong
Friends alum Lisa Kudrow says modern sitcoms are missing the mark — and pins the blame on one big problem dragging TV comedy down. In a new interview, the Emmy winner calls out a single, glaring flaw she believes is hobbling today’s laughs.
If you want an unfiltered take on what's wrong with sitcoms these days, Lisa Kudrow—yeah, Phoebe from 'Friends'—just delivered. She got right to the point in a recent chat, and let’s just say, if you’re hoping for a shameless love letter to the current batch of laugh-track comedies, you’ll be waiting a while.
Lisa Kudrow Isn’t Buying Modern Sitcoms
Kudrow recently spoke with Interview Magazine and gave some pretty blunt opinions about the multi-camera sitcoms currently making the rounds. You know, the kind shot in front of a live audience, chanting and hooting at every punchline. According to Kudrow, a lot of the new stuff just isn’t holding up compared to classics like 'Friends', 'Seinfeld', and '30 Rock'.
As she put it:
'I wish they were evolving. 30 Rock and Seinfeld and Friends were really funny and really well written. But I’m not drawn to new sitcoms that are multi-camera in front of an audience because I’m not buying it.'
In other words, she’s not convinced that what’s on network TV now is changing or getting sharper—it just feels stale. If you’ve watched a pilot or two in the last couple years, you might know what she means.
The Big Problem: Too Tame, Not Enough Surprise
So what’s going on, exactly? Kudrow thinks it boils down to comedy losing its edge. In her eyes, sitcoms have gotten too cautious. There’s a sense that writers are treading lightly, maybe a little too worried about stepping on toes or making anyone uncomfortable. You know those jokes that make you go, 'Did they seriously just say that on TV?'—there just aren’t enough of those anymore.
'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...But the really good ones, they’re not tame jokes. 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.'
Looking Back, Looking Forward?
It makes sense coming from Kudrow, who played one of the weirdest, funniest characters TV ever produced. 'Friends' famously pushed boundaries and threw in jokes that you couldn’t always predict. Apparently, those days seem a little distant for her—and honestly, for a lot of us in the audience, too.
- Kudrow starred as Phoebe Buffay in 'Friends' for ten seasons
- She thinks the best sitcoms ('Friends', 'Seinfeld', '30 Rock') combined sharp writing with real risk-taking
- Her main gripe: new multi-cam sitcoms play it too safe, and it shows—both in the punchlines and the overall vibe
Maybe it’s time for a little more risk and a little less predictability. Or maybe we’re just stuck rewatching 'The One with the Embryos' forever—but honestly, that’s still a pretty good deal.