Co-creator Marta Kauffman wishes she did more to encourage diversity in 'Friends'.
Marta Kauffman wishes she did more to encourage diversity in 'Friends'.
The co-creator of the iconic 90s television series admits she ''wishes she knew then what she knows today'', amidst the current Black Lives Matter movement.
During an ATX TV ... from the Couch panel, she said: ''I wish I knew then what I know today. We've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough. 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? That's something I wish I knew when I started showrunning.''
'Friends' - which stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer - has been criticised in the past but cast member David has spoken out about it, insisting it was progressive at the time.
He said: ''The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships. The pilot of the show was my character's wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended. I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. I'm the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality.''
Whilst Lisa insisted the show would be a lot different if it was filmed in 2020.
She said: ''Well, it would not be an all-white cast, for sure. I'm not sure what else, but, to me, it should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong. Also, this show thought it was very progressive. 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.''
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
Ahead of the imminent release of his second solo album - Dekker, aka Brookln Dekker, took time out to let us know about the musical project he...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
Ahead of the imminent release of his second solo album - Dekker, aka Brookln Dekker, took time out to let us know about the musical project he...
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman reunite with The Switch directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck...
There's nothing particularly original about this animated comedy adventure by Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors). It has...
For many large companies, the office Christmas party are nights that can rapidly descend into...
Over the centuries Stalks have been entrusted to create and deliver human babies to their...
Mother's Day is the latest in the series of Garry Marshall's films which include Valentine's...
Hogarth Hughes is an intelligent young boy with a love of exploring. One day, his...
Wacky enough to make us smile but never laugh out loud, this screwball comedy harks...
Jennifer Aniston delivers an Oscar-calibre performance in this rather over-worked drama, which tries to emphasise...
With preparation well underway for his latest Broadway show, director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson) heads...
Claire Bennett is struggling to get through day-to-day life despite her buffet of pills, one-on-one...
Like The Hangover, Horrible Bosses was a movie no one really wanted to see a...
In the wake of their struggle to murder their bosses in the first film, 'Horrible...
Although the plot itself is nothing special, this kidnapping comedy keeps the audience entertained by...
Having previously got involved with a scheme to kill their abusive bosses (a plan which...