Lisa Kudrow Says She Also Doesn’t Remember Filming Scenes from ‘Friends’

Did anyone pick Lisa in the celebrity dead pool?

She had a life outside the show?

Just another day at the office for them.

I remember every single moment filming “Taxi” and I’m old as fuck!

All that nicotine. All three females in the cast were smokers.

The show was so bland, and it was thirty years ago. Can you blame them?

I don't (want to) remember Friends either! 🤮

Some actors don't like watching themselves and more consider their work a job, not an art. I'm not surprised she doesn't remember. She probably doesn't have all 10 seasons on repeat 24 hours a day like some fans.

I can imagine that shooting 22 episodes per year of a network show (and it used to be even more: 26, 29, etc.) can lead to a sort of "actor fugue state." It would be like asking people who worked in a factory 25 years ago about specific products they put together one week in October 1997. It all runs together. It's different from, for example, asking Frances McDormand to talk about the experience of making Fargo, or what Marge Gunderson was supposed to be thinking in a particular scene.

I don’t know why people consider this odd. They filmed 236 episodes, I can’t imagine remembering every episode, much less scene, filmed.

Most people, not just dementia patients, recall shit they done twenty years ago. Lame fucking post.

Well, Lisa, let me tell you, you kind of stuttered a bit and said, "you know" a lot and, well there was "Smelly Cat" and that was , you know, about it it. Kind of...

Now you know, sort of

When watching the Academy Awards, I realize that the nominated actors (and other nominees) have likely moved onto another movie (or two) since filming, and the movie they're up for is probably a distant memory while they're being interviewed by entertainment reporters who are still amped up and excited about the film. It's understandable that the memories of a weekly TV show would be vague or even forgotten for the cast and crew as time moves on.

I would imagine the pace of learning a whole new script every week for 24 weeks - ostensibly taking place in the same three or four sets - would tend to run together after a decade

I was too young to really get into the show when it was airing, but I remember flipping through my aunt’s old Entertainment Weekly’s as a 10 year old and poring over their lists, countdowns and obsessive cataloguing of every minute detail of the show. They were really insane about that show over there. Whatever moves mags, i guess.

How many of you bitches remember what you did at work last month, much less 20 years ago. good lord.

Well, Lisa is almost 60.

I don’t remember what I ate yesterday

The actors rehearsed Monday through Thursday and then taped before an audience on Friday night. A few hours of work per episode for the actors. That seems easy to eventually forget. It's interesting to hear that they do. The writers might remember more because of their grueling schedule and having to put so much thought into each episode and keep continuity throughout the series.

So much shitting on Friends, like there were better sitcoms in the 90s (besides Seinfeld). And then later in 21st century, when shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office (UK), Arrested Development came up, Friends were still miles ahead of all the other typical sitcoms with laughi tracks.

It's time to send them all to the nursing home as they're almost at that age

[quote]I can imagine that shooting 22 episodes per year of a network show (and it used to be even more: 26, 29, etc.) can lead to a sort of "actor fugue state." It would be like asking people who worked in a factory 25 years ago about specific products they put together one week in October 1997.

BINGO. Btw most of the show's actors have forgotten a lot of what went on during the episodes, which you can see for yourself on the "Friends" reunion show that aired last year. Similar story with most actors in long-running shows, for that matter. After a while it all blurs together, and it's nowhere near as "glamorous" as people seem to think – and least of all during filming.

I remember *every* scene of *every* episode of *my* sitcom!

And yet 98 year old Joan Van Ark can still remember Knots Landing shit in vivid 'CBS Special Presentation' detail.

Joan Van Ark was on 20/20 last week to talk about acting in college productions with Heaven's Gate cult found Marshall Applewhite.

I don't remember every day at work either.

OP, WHY NO "SAD LAST DAYS" IN YOUR POST TITLE!!!!!!

:( :( :(

Work it!

[quote]A few hours of work per episode for the actors.

I suspect they put in long hours.

The Gilded Age is better than Friends

[quote]A few hours of work per episode for the actors.

It was "Friends," not "The New Zoo Revue."

R20 I guess.

Growing up in the 90’s, I didn’t know sitcoms were supposed to be funny because I don’t remember really laughing. I remember enjoying the characters and storylines.

I loved “Full House” but did anyone really laugh? I loved that show but it wasn’t funny to me at all. I may have chuckled a bit.

I felt the same way about “Friends” except I didn’t really watch it. I don’t understand people dying hysterically of laughter to that show but I’ve seen it happen.

As a kid I watched The Simpsons, Kids in the Hall, Mad TV, Absolutely Fabulous, The Tracey Ullman Show when I wanted to laugh.

Watching Patsy and Eddie fall into those graves at the fathers funeral was the funniest fucking thing to gay 9 year-old me. Or Tracey Ullman’s old lady mall walk skit.

Nothing on “Friends” could compete with that humor to me.

But yeah, I guess it was the best show for 90’s sitcoms. I kind of enjoyed the Roseanne rip offs like “Grace Under Fire”. I enjoyed the white trashy family humor.

Back then, they handed out Benzos like candy. I can't remember much from those days either.

It's because it was ages ago, nutbag at R5. They're old now.

[quote]It was "Friends," not "The New Zoo Revue."

Where six delightful X-ers have fun with what they do.

I don’t remember much of my show. I did watch every episode on the night it aired and I’ve revisited a few but if I catch a rerun on TNT, I’m like I don’t remember doing that at all.

Sometimes actors don't like their own projects [She can't come out and say that as I'm sure she is getting residuals as it rolls on in syndication].

Fans expect actors to continue the characters off the set and that they all love it as much as their audience does. It was a stupid show where they played lame characters. I get it Lisa, I didn't like that show either. Cut her some slack. It was a job. Plenty of tasks at some of my jobs I would rather forget.

Some things are just unforgettable

Does Lisa remember making The Comeback?

Apparently Lisa doesn't give a fuck about Friends which is funny because she is the only woman on the show not really known for anything else. Courtney has the Scream franchise and Aniston has a bunch of RomComs.

So what? I don’t remember everything I do all day, everyday, at work either. Why the fuck would anybody?

What does she mean, "There was no TiVo then"? I had a VHS recorder in 1980, followed, by the time of Friends, by a DVR. Did Lisa not have enough money for a DVR?

R41, she wasn't being asked to remember everything she did, she was being asked to remember highlights, as even casual Friends fans do. This kind of answer, if she really gave it, is a real "fuck you" to them.

I didn't think it was fair that Joey just blurted out to Phoebe that Santa Clause doesn't really exist. And then he just walked away. Harsh!

The only serious "fuck you" to fans would have been if she started phoning in her performances and acting disengaged with whatever Phoebe had going on. That's something I've never seen Kudrow do in anything. She's always energized and commits to the character.

She's not saying, "I don't remember the stories, and I can't imagine being lame enough to remember what TV characters did 25 years later. Those people should make actual friends." She's just being honest. For her, it was a different experience from the inside vs. being a fan watching it.

She accepted the money, stayed with the show the whole run, learned her lines, hit her marks, went on the talk shows to promote the thing while it was ongoing, and came back for the drippy reunion. IMO, that's fulfilling any reasonable definition of what she owed fans of Friends. But clearly, we're not going to come to a DL consensus on this one.

I don't know her!

R40 Romy and Michele

@r23, "I remember *every* scene of *every* episode of *my* sitcom!

—Cybill"

Apparently, I don't remember you at all

R44, you are technically right, but just because you're no longer being paid to promote the show that made you a squillionaire it doesn't mean you should be graceless about it.

I actively dislike Friends, and I agree Kudrow was the best thing in it, but these comments are not classy. The "there was no TiVo then" particularly ticks me off because it's so blatantly dismissive and at the same time disingenuous.

Maybe she was making fun of herself for not knowing how to set her vcr to record. Those fuckers were not easy to deal with.

"I actively dislike Friends"

Best comment of this entire thread 👏👏

I remember watching “Friends” pretty regularly, but was more into “Seinfeld.” But there are TONS of Friends episodes I don’t remember at all.

I know I probably saw almost every episode, just don’t remember them.

TiVo was invented half-way through the run of Friends. They probably all got one from the network for Christmas that year.

I tend to associate Courtney Cox with “Cougar Town.” I love that show and re-watch the whole series every few years.

R53 you know you're in for a fun time when it's made by the same people who did Scrubs.

"They probably all got one from the network for Christmas that year. "

No wonder they held out for more money. Cheap-ass network 😏

I remember in the early '90s, a critic reviewed a TV movie with Courteney Cox and said the poor thing was going to end her career best remembered for dancing with Bruce Springsteen in that video. She just hadn't happened, with a couple failed series and a stint as "Alex Keaton's girlfriend after the one everyone remembers. Good on her for turning it around after at 30.

If it weren't for Friends would any of these people have a career?

psst... (The answer is no)

To the earlier poster who suspected they put in long hours on the show, quite the opposite. The cast was hardly there until taping day, though that was a long day. (In fact, they would send the studio audience home after a few hours and bring in a fresh one because it was so long.j

Multicam gigs are easy. But when you’re on a huge hit and have power, you can get away with murder.

It was also plagued by sameness and monotony

It was like they were always stuck in second gear.

She's a flake.

@r60, "It was like they were always stuck in second gear. "

Maybe it just wasn't they're day, they're week, they're month Or even they're year

Plagued by sameness and monotony, R59?

The show was plagued by booze, pills and LOTS of cocaine.

This is what distinguishes her from Valerie Cherish! Valerie memorized each and every episode from “I’m It”

"The show was plagued by booze, pills and LOTS of cocaine. "

I'm telling you, making millions doing that lame show while high as a kite sounds like a pretty great way to live... Until it isn't

r58 is correct. It was widely reported at the time (around the contract negotiations) that they only worked two days a week (brought up to point out what a cushy deal they had and why wouldn't they sign up for another season).

There's an AV Club interview with Amy Hill (a great read all around) where she talks about the episode she did:

"All of the regular actors weren’t there, so we rehearsed with stand-ins all week. It was so weird because I was like, “Aren’t the regular people coming at some point?” But they were busy with their career stuff. They were running around. I don’t know what they were doing. Looking good, probably. David Schwimmer was the director, and he was really sweet and wonderful to work with. The day before taping, when they do camera blocking, that’s when the actors came in, and they all knew their lines, they all knew what they were doing and they just kind of did it. I think they maybe pre-shot a few things, and then we taped it.

It was like a machine. They came in, did their thing, but they only had to do two days a week. And at that time they were getting a million dollars an episode. I thought, “Well, that’s the way to do it.” I want to be on a show that’s a hit and only have to come in a couple of days a week. And they were good!

AVC: Some of those multi-camera sitcoms are really just machines.

AH: They know what they’re doing. The actors know their characters and the writers know how to write for them, so it’s not like they have to work on that."

I saw every episode of Friends in first run. I'd say it was well above average as sitcoms go, but I think a lot of its becoming and staying such a massive hit was because it was comfortable. I guess it pushed the envelope in some ways, like showing the lesbian wedding. But with Seinfeld, I remember this whole universe of characters, some of whom were only there for an episode or even a scene, and I remember not just lines but whole back-and-forth exchanges. There's not as much of that with Friends. Even when really famous people guest starred on it, I can't really remember details of their stories. MMV.

^ I agree, but that's because the writing on Seinfeld was far superior making bits and pieces still relevant 25-30 years later

"It was a good bit in the '90s, and it's STILL RELATABLE TODAY!"

What's Lisa Kudrow?

Many actors who work in sitcoms don't even watch the finished episodes afterwards. So for them it was another script and another week at work.

^ You mean they didn't even remember when Brad Pitt guest starred? I guess they ignored him like all the other guest stars 🤔

no one wants to watch the sausage being made, but they like when it’s up inside them

Well, you can't be expected to remember every scene or role.

Lucky for her, lucky, lucky for her.

I don’t recall taking big dicks up my ass in the 80s; hence it never happened.

R76, That's ok Peter, they can jog your memory. They got it on tape.

Couldn't she have fibbed a bit and say that the show was a career-changing experience that she appreciated? These women on that show are loony.

"the show was a career-changing experience"

Wasn't bad for the old bank account either

Lisa Kudro was perfectly cast with Christina Ricci in "Opposite of Sex." One of my fave 90s gay-themed films.

I always wonder if long term recording artists remember every song they ever recorded, especially if they wrote them.

Not sure why this is odd. It was like 100 years ago. I am sure my parents have no recollection of the daily rigamarole in their work lives.

If she’s smart she’s forgotten everything about Mad About You.

R46 I loved Romy and Michele, but that is not what she is known for.

[quote]she wasn't being asked to remember everything she did, she was being asked to remember highlights, as even casual Friends fans do. This kind of answer, if she really gave it, is a real "fuck you" to them.

Highlights to who? Obviously no to her. Just because fans find a particular moment sentimental or to be a favourite, does not necessarily mean it is at all important to her. Friends fans are juvenile.

I've heard that working actresses with kids pray to get on a long-running sitcom because it's an easy, high-paying gig that lets you have a life outside it.

[quote]If it weren't for Friends would any of these people have a career? psst... (The answer is no)

"If it weren't for this hugely successful sitcom, none of the previously unknown actors who starred on it for years and years would have become known!"

What a profound observation.

^ Thank you, I thought so, to bad it went over your head 😏

"R53 you know you're in for a fun time when it's made by the same people who did Scrubs."

UGH! I hate, hate, HATED Scrubs! Such an unfunny show. My partner at the time insisted on watching that (along with the equally detestable How I Fucked Your Mother) every week. I think those shows were two of the reasons I eventually left him.

They may have only come in twice a week but they worked on those “off days” to be ready for the taping. Esp if as it was said, they were good.

Friends is only funny to me when I'm high or drunk. Jennifer Aniston can be annoying but she basically carried that show. Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc we're supposed to be the stars because they were the hottest but they lacked likability. Chandler, Phoebe and Ross were just annoying. So without the Rachel Green character which straight girls became obsessed with and empathized with since the pilot episode. Friends would have been a one season to maybe 3 season and a half show. The Rachel obsession is still prevalent among Gen Z girls. I like Lisa though, she's more talented than Jen and Courteney but she did better without the annoying Phoebe character

Let's talk about that Joey spinoff. What a piece of 💩💩💩!!!

Matt LeBlanc was and is so hot. Joey went from being a cocky, sly womanizer to a mentally challenged but sweet-natured idiot with a fast metabolism.

R89 sorry to hear that 😬

Scrubs was a very cleverly written show with a great supporting cast. The problem was Zach Braff. Shows like Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, and Brooklyn 99 drive me up the wall with their whining man child main character.

I once met a New Yorker at a party who was *convinced* (because she was from NYC and I was just visiting) that Lisa Kudrow was originally a Chinese American called “Li Sah Ku Dro” who only got her career started when she changed her name, bleached her hair and got eyelid surgery.

Convinced.

Anyone see Marci X?

R91 Raises some good points. I hated Friends so much. It wasn't funny. The "plots" (if you could call them that) were stupid. All the characters were one dimensional and annoying as fuck!

Oh and did I say, I HATED Friends?

Without the talent of Jennifer Aniston that show woulda been done after one season. She really spun that shit into gold. That's why she ended up being the most successful after it ended.

All I really remember of Friends was that every single young woman had their hair cut just like Jen's. It was even called "The Rachel"

R99 I actually felt sorry for Rachel. She had a douchebag fiancee' and a gaggle of idiots for friends. The theme song was really about her. That "character" is the only one I would want to know. The others I would cross the street to get away if I saw them.

Chandler's idiotic sarcasm, disguised as wit to cover his many insecurities would make me wanna slap the shit outta him. I would literally fall asleep standing there talking to boring ass Ross. Monica was a neurotic bitch! Phoebe and Joey were low functioning morons!

^ Yep, that was "Friends" in a nutshell 😂

Obviously, something on the set of Friends is causing not so late in life dementia issues for the former cast. Perhaps the crouch in Central Perk or the picture frames in Monica and Rachel’s

^ Or maybe it was the massive amounts of cocaine 😜

If these were actual people, Rachel would be the one I'd least want to be around. I remember her as materialistic, shallow, spoiled, and kind of petty. But that's how you make a successful ensemble sitcom: put different personalities on it for people to identify with (or not), and cast the roles with good-looking people. That was a great-looking cast in 1994.

The show got a gift of a time slot, yes, but that alone didn't keep The Single Guy, Cursed, or (thank God) Veronica's Closet on the air for ten years.

R104 Rachel was a character on TV, so of course she wasn't perfect. But isn't the stereotypical "pretty girl" usually materialistic and spoiled? My point is that her character was closest to being a real person with real problems, setbacks and thoughts beyond obvious "lines" set up for a gag or a lame punchline. The suspension of disbelief required to accept the other characters even within the context of a tv show was just too extreme. Good looks can only take you so far. These people were the equivalent of 30 minutes of attention whores mugging for the tv camera. It was nauseating.

I do not understand why people are losing their shit over this? They can't remember things they did at work 25+ years ago - well, who among us remembers what we did at work that long ago? I find this mystifying. Do people think that all the cast of friends watched every episode multiple times the way they did and should remember every single scene and every line word for word after all this time? Come on now!

R97, she better hope curious Friends fans never seek it out. Everyone would get cancelled.

I imagine going to the studio to film an episode of a tv show that you've been on forever is much like going to the office of a job you've been at forever. To me it's not surprising that they've forgotten a lot of it. Think about what you do, pick a random day from maybe a year ago, and give a blow-by-blow of everything you did that day. I sure couldn't do it.

@r106, The point is they all remember cashing their million dollar a week paychecks, you'd think those years would have had a bigger impact then a part-time job at McDonald's

[quote] If these were actual people, Rachel would be the one I'd least want to be around. I remember her as materialistic, shallow, spoiled, and kind of petty. But that's how you make a successful ensemble sitcom: put different personalities on it for people to identify with (or not), and cast the roles with good-looking people. That was a great-looking cast in 1994.

I agree, it was almost created in a lab. The writers and network did a lot of market research I feel and the actors they choose had excellent chemistry. The writers wrote the jokes perfectly for their skills. Originally it was supposed to be about Monica's character. Courteney Cox had actual minor fame as a model and an actress on Family Ties and Ace Ventura and she was stunningly beautiful. The rest were supposed to be satellite characters who interacted with Monica with Joey being her love interest. A cocky womanizer wannabe actor, she had a love-hate relationship with. I watched the pilot recently and Monica's personality is meant to be more relatable and down-to-earth. Notice by the end of the first season, the characters become more like their actors. Chandler was supposed to be gay and in denial with a "coming out" episode planned but the writers made him a snarky straight metrosexual guy like Matthew Perry.

The fact the cast is mostly white was never an issue for me especially since they were of the upper middle-class white world of NYC (which does self-segregate) but the fact they all had wildly different personalities and interests and were still good friends that did everything together in their late 20s. That was the most unrealistic part. Most people like them would be friends in high school but out of proximity and inertia, once college hit and they go separate ways. They would just drift apart due to growing up and finding a new life. I think that's another part of the appeal, most adults don't have that type of friend group that does everything together.

^ Very good observations, you've given "Friends" more thought then they deserve

Kudrow always looked 80 years old. LOL. Now she looks about 180.

Also the first few seasons were more Jewish. It's interesting how more white-bread it became. Because season one alone is filled with Jewish jokes and references on par with Seinfeld. Monica and Ross's very Jewish dad and Rachel Green being the spoiled Jewish princess who makes fun of her high school friend Mindy's nose job and was engaged to a rich doctor.

Was the Rachel Green character Jewish? I thought she was in the first season, but I thought she later said she was Protestant. Or maybe I'm confusing her with Elaine Benes.

I think Rachel stayed consistently Jewish but it became more implied rather than overt as seasons went on. Sometimes the writers would throw in terms like "bubbe" or a nose job joke to remind you. Monica didn't seem Jewish either but it could at least be explained that she and Ross have a gentile mother and Ross just took after the dad.

Rachel was JewISH, Monica and Ross were JEWISH

The funny thing is neither Aniston or Cox are Jewish. Though at least Aniston can pass for Jewish and growing up in NYC and in the arts, so she was exposed enough to Jewish culture. Cox is a upper-class Protestant from Alabama. Monica and Ross were written as half-Jewish and their parents didn't seem to be religious types.

It reminds me of the blooper where Monica refers to Ross rapping at her Bat Mitzvah, and Cox really can't sell that naturally. (This was also the season of the Holiday Armadillo, so they were still trying to maintain Ross and Monica's Jewishness at that point.)

R40, I’m surprised you feel that way. I think Kudrow had the most interesting career post Friends. She’s been in interesting films & the only interesting TV project any of them has done was The Comeback. Maybe Episodes. She has fuck you money and gas used it very well.

I once did (ugh) NINE THOUSAND performances of a show over a 10 year period. Believe me. They blur.

I thought Kudrow gave a good performance in The Other Woman as the type A, tightly wound ex wife. But she gave her nuance as well so the character didn't devolve completely into a one dimensional stereotype.

I loved Lisa Kudrow in her cameo in The Girl on the Train. Apparently, that character wasn't in the book and was introduced in the movie just to tie up loose ends. I thought she was terrific in that two- or three-minute role, though. She was definitely the best thing in an otherwise terrible film.

R119 Agreed. Lisa is my favorite Friends actor.

R109, that does not make sense. Surely, they remember their first day and maybe other moments. But, just because they are making good money does not. mean that they would remember scenes filmed on each episode. It was work. They went in, did the work, and thats it. Money has nothing to do w it. Esp after awhile.

^ I would think the money would have been symbolic that they were making some classic TV which might have been a flag saying, "This is historic TV, pay attention", but I was wrong

- r109

She's been through the pause and her memory is shot.

Actors work a stressful job. Just because millions of people watched Friends weekly and are still obsessed today. Does not mean the actors themselves share that obsession. And given that all of them have actually tried to diversify their filmography and avoid typecasting. I imagine they are tired of being associated with Friends.

^ I can't believe that by season four they didn't realize they had something here that would follow them the rest of their lives. Every TV actor in a hit show before Friends understood and accepted this (well except for snotty Jan Brady)

I honestly don't care now nor then, but they do seem to come off a bit flippant

Eve Plumb is not bitter.

^ 😂😂

Well, at least she's remembered for something

Does she remember Romy & Michelle?

^ Jan Brady? I doubt it

Sad last days…

[quote]I loved Lisa Kudrow in her cameo in The Girl on the Train. Apparently, that character wasn't in the book and was introduced in the movie just to tie up loose ends. I thought she was terrific in that two- or three-minute role, though. She was definitely the best thing in an otherwise terrible film.

I also liked her in that movie. Another movie where she was great in a supporting role was as the guidance counselor in Easy A. I thought she was well cast as the white trash mom in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I wish her character would have been in more episodes.

I don't remember Lisa's appearance in The Girl On The Train. But she was good in Easy A as a cheating asshole.

[quote] All I really remember of Friends was that every single young woman had their hair cut just like Jen's. It was even called "The Rachel"

And now it's associated with Gen X Karens.

[quote] every single young woman had their hair cut just like Jen's. It was even called "The Rachel"

That cut looked damn good on Aniston

Jennifer Aniston's best role was in Horrible Bosses. She's better at dark and sociopathic than the innocent girl-next-door or perky type she gets typecast as. She was also amusing as Jeanie in the terrible Ferris Bueller TV show spin-off.

Jennifer gets props though for allowing herself to be filmed with no makeup for Cake. Way too many actresses are too vain to let themselves look "ugly."

[quote] Jennifer Aniston Was the 1996 Kim Kardashian

Was her butt even that huge? I mean she had a great body and nice form but her butt doesn't stand out. Maybe she was getting compared to all the skinny white models at the time. I think maybe JA has this Mediterranean look (Roman nose, thick hair, slight curvy body, olive skin undertone) that made her seem more interesting than all the WASPY blondes.

R138 She uglied up for the role because she thought Cake would be an Oscar bait movie that people would bite on. It ended up being an Oscar bait fail.

Mila Kunis uglied up for the role of a junkie in Four Good Days and that flopped hard.

139 No, but she was well known to have lost a lot of weight pre-Friends so it seemed everyone was obsessed with her body and hair. The three actresses were very thin on that show, like scary skinny. Aniston still had a perky butt, so somehow she got tagged as the one with the hot bod even though I’m sure you could play the xylophone on her rib cage.

[quote]Think about what you do, pick a random day from maybe a year ago, and give a blow-by-blow of everything you did that day. I sure couldn't do it.

How terribly sad for you.

It is 10 season of a boring "sitcom". The actors were fully aware of it. They doesn't even bother to put effort into the acting. Just overact each and every scene then take the money home.

Yes Friends is not The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm or Breaking Bad and it's not a big Hollywood movie. Something that would be worth remembering for the people involved. It's a feel-good TV sitcom with typical cliches and at a certain point, the characters basically became the actors. Why would you expect the actors of a sitcom filmed every week for 10 years to remember every detail? Friends ended 18 years ago.

Jennifer annoys me when she needlessly brushes hair to the side, even when it's not in the way - just like Barbra does. With those perfectly manicured nails. Annoying, makes her look like a damn snob. Both of them!

You know, I have an idea for a reboot. Since all the actors from Friends are suffering from early onset dementia ( I still think it was something from the set they were all exposed to) there could be a TV sitcom where they all move into a special wing built for them of the Screen Actor Guild retirement home, to live and be cared for and they slip in and out of reality between being the actors who they are, and the characters they played on Friends, this causes hilarity to ensue!

R145 Aren't there a hundred Golden Girls threads you need to be starting today, you repulsive psychotic cuntbag.

Yeah, Friends is pap, but somehow it's insanely popular. Most stupid sitcoms are lucky to have a small run in syndication and then disappear. Friends is still on every channel in the world at any point in the day. The creators knew how to create a moneymaker.

Lisa is a good dramatic actress. She anchors Happy Endings and yes her cameo in The Girl on the Train is great!

I wish someone would give her a meaty dramatic role that could elevate her career in a way Lady Bird did for Laurie Metcalf

R147 I've never started a GG thread. I've posted comments on them but never started one. Nice try, Trump supporter.

R150 Get off the DL, you pedo Trump supporter. No one likes your kind on here. You infest every Golden Girls thread with your repulsive propaganda.

R151 Nice try, you've supported Trump since day one but now you're pretending otherwise. People who use the term "your kind" is all we need to hear. You're a lunatic.

It's a misleading little headline, OP. What is your mental or developmental age that you can't grasp the concept of repetition? For example, do you expect the star of a long running musical to remember the exact performance you as an audience member saw?

Maybe you do. Maybe you would expect them to be able to point you out in a lineup.

R152 thinks the Golden Girls is 100% real. She is a pedo and Trump supporter with no grip on reality. You're sick, lil girl. Very very sick.

R154 You've been seeking advice on here on how best to douche before getting fist fucked, how much to tip your escorts, and how many loads is "too many" in one day, but I'm the sick one. LOL

Get some help.

checkmate

She remembers NOTHING!

R33 Judy? Judy is that you?

Before it became a soap opera with nonstop hetero drama, I think Chandler was meant to be gay and Phoebe and Joey bisexual. It was meant to be more edgy "for Gen X" show about New Yorkers (a TV version of Singles and Reality Bites) until NBC chickened out and pushed it to be a more conventional sitcom for flyover fraus. The first season has remnants of the original style plus the very Jewish wry humor and undercurrent of anxiety and darkness but by season two, it settled into becoming The Jennifer Aniston show with the humor being dumbed down, the characters got more loud and stereotypical and the grungy NYC setting become more Middle-American suburbia.

R158 You seem to know a lot, what was the monkey supposed to be about? Was it maybe held over the actors that if they didn’t like someone there’d be a monkey attack on the character and it eats off their face and they get a face transplant like that lady in Connecticut and then they could easily recast the part with different actor? Because that’s the only justification I could come up with?

R159, I too think the monkey was held over their heads as a threat. But not as an attack monkey, but as a REPLACEMENT for anyone who got out of line. I'm sure they were told: "A monkey could do your jobs. And it's right over there just to remind you!"

I could see a cast member getting replaced by a sassy monkey. Unlike other shows where they try to bring in a cute kid that ends up being annoying. A monkey (or any animal) will always stay cute because they don't talk or get too old. Schwimmer isn't funny, so got jealous of Marcel

Marcel was first-season weirdness. There was pressure to get ratings that would make the show stand out as more than a "time-slot wonder" (tm Jerry Seinfeld) and to build an audience that would follow Friends if it moved it to another night, because those things are always up in the air. The producers were looking for any edge they could find. Ross was a paleontologist, so it made sense to give him a cute exotic pet, the sort that launches T-shirts and refrigerator magnets. If it had been a decade later, he'd have launched memes.

A lot of fans did like Marcel, but the old cliché about working with animals has something to it. The cast (especially David) wanted him gone yesterday. Then, over the 1994-95 summer hiatus, the show just soared in popularity in reruns and was the biggest thing out there when it returned in the fall. Marcel became expendable.

Friends was holding Marcel back. He went on to movie stardom

^ It beat the shit out of The Pallbearer.

Another element from season one that quickly got eliminated was the wacky neighbor who was always nagging them to keep quiet. Didn't they kill him off very early in season two? Season one was the most "old-fashioned sitcom" season. I actually found it the funniest, but romantic comedy obviously proved a winning formula for them in the long term.

Watching the first season, you can see though why Jennifer Aniston became the breakout star. She had the most energy and really brought the Rachel character alive. The other actors were awkward and still finding their roles while Jennifer had this youthful enthusiasm. Not to mention, Rachel's fallen princess arc, constant exasperation and childish quirks made her relatable to young girls as well as young women. Midway through season one, she got her iconic parted hairdo and the rest was history. Monica the intended main character came across as too smug, too perfect and too sexy.