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Lisa Kudrow Says Today’s Multi‑Cam Sitcoms Play It Safe, Recalls Being Labeled ‘the Sixth Friend’

Her comments come during promotion for The Comeback’s third season, which riffs on AI‑written TV.

Overview

  • Kudrow said in a recent Interview Magazine conversation that many new multi‑camera sitcoms are too afraid to tell jokes that might make viewers uncomfortable.
  • She argued that sharp comedy needs surprise and lines that make people think, saying tame writing has drained the genre’s edge.
  • In an Independent interview published Saturday, she said parts of her agency called her “the sixth Friend” during Friends and that “nobody cared about me.”
  • She pushed back on a long‑running fan view of Phoebe Buffay, saying the character was not stupid and took work to understand and play with care.
  • She denied being the ringleader of the Friends cast’s equal‑pay talks, as coverage notes she promotes The Comeback season 3 on HBO, which features a sitcom secretly written by AI.