David Schwimmer was the one actor on FRIENDS to demand more diversity, now he wants an All-Black Reboot
David Schwimmer, current star of the Sky One and Now TV series Intelligence, is understandably not keen on the idea of cobbling together some sort of nostalgia-beholden Friends reunion.
In a lengthy new interview with the Guardian this week, Schwimmer addressed a few issues surrounding the blockbuster NBC sitcom, which is certainly not better than Seinfeld but has maintained a massive pop culture presence of its own thanks in part to a renewed interest by way of its longstanding Netflix availability.
When the topic of younger generations discovering the show and promptly criticizing its all-white cast and handling of certain storylines came up, Schwimmer defended the series with some thoughts on context.
"I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context," Schwimmer, who called the show "groundbreaking in its time," said. "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."
He also proposed some possible reboot ideas.
"Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends," Schwimmer told the Guardian. "But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women 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."
For the full Schwimmer experience, which also sees the actor/director reflecting on a recent reunion dinner at Courteney Cox's house, click here.
The last we heard of a Friends reunion special was earlier this month at a Television Critics Association event during which HBO Max CCO Kevin Reilly assessed the likelihood as currently being a mere "maybe." The upcoming HBO Max streaming service, of course, will be the new home of the original Friends series once it leaves Netflix.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 31, 2020 12:28 AM
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I don’t think people know that the character Aisha Tyler played was supposed to be white until Schwimmer demanded she be black, as he doesn’t believe someone like Ross, who was attracted to intelligent and successful hard working women as well as attractive, would exclusively date white women. He personally picked Aisha after meeting her, too, and she still thanks him for that to this day.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | January 29, 2020 2:22 AM
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It was called Living Single.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | January 29, 2020 2:24 AM
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Well, why not an all-black or all-asian version? Stupid and shallow shit sells across all demographics.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | January 29, 2020 2:25 AM
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PS it is All Black or All Asian casts. He is ok with an all Asian cast also. Just not another white cast.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | January 29, 2020 2:25 AM
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Or maybe, how about write a new show with a different setup.
Fresh Off the Boat seemed to do fine - although I suppose you could argue that it was Asian Malcolm in the Middle.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | January 29, 2020 2:41 AM
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R5 it is not about being woke. It is about being realistic and giving different people opportunities.
He was a huge critic of the lack of diversity while the show originally aired. They gave him an Asian GF to shut him up about the fake all white NYC the show depicted during season one. He argued to cast black actors and they wouldn’t, until late in the series.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | January 29, 2020 2:43 AM
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Oh, sure. Now that he's made his millions off the show, he can say "Do an all non-white Friends!"
Cynthia Erivo can play Monique Gellar.
And there won't be an original Friends cast reunion. That would require Matthew Perry to sober up.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | January 29, 2020 2:44 AM
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I want an all white remake of Good Times and What's Happening.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | January 29, 2020 2:46 AM
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Why not an all-Lesbian Friends?
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | January 29, 2020 2:48 AM
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If you knuckledraggers read the interview, it goes into his background and how he was raised to appreciate diversity and was pushing for it on Friends during the run. Not just jumping on a current bandwagon
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | January 29, 2020 2:48 AM
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R12 exactly. Over the years there have been people on this site who mentioned he was always pushing for diversity on the show to the Producers and writers and they would tell him NO straight out. I always respected him for fighting for people of color to get work, meanwhile the Queens on here were somehow OFFENDED by this and others claimed it was bullshit. It wasn’t and he personally demanded Charlie be played by a black woman.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | January 29, 2020 2:57 AM
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Someone is not aging well.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | January 29, 2020 5:14 PM
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the only reason that show lasted as long as it did was because of Jen Aniston's popularity
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | January 30, 2020 1:50 PM
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All black reboot? How diverse is that?
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | January 30, 2020 1:55 PM
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[quote]Someone is not aging well.
Most Jewish men don't. Jewish men and British men age poorly. Italian men and Swedish men hold their beauty well into advanced age.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | January 31, 2020 12:28 AM
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[Quote] And there won't be an original Friends cast reunion. That would require Matthew Perry to sober up.
While I'm sure that's one of the main reasons, I don't think it's the [italic] only [/italic] one.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | January 31, 2020 12:28 AM
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