NBC
While Friends is certainly one of the most successful sitcoms of all time, it definitely wasn’t one of the edgiest. Don’t tell that to former star Lisa Kudrow, though.
In a recent interview to promote the third season of her HBO series The Comeback, Lisa Kudrow — who famously starred as the eccentric Phoebe on Friends for the entirety of its ten seasons — said she’s “not drawn” to new the sitcoms of this generation as she believes they’ve become too risk-averse.
Friends star Lisa Kudrow says she doesn’t like modern sitcoms because she believes they’re afraid to make uncomfortable jokes
“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,” Kudrow told Interview Magazine.
“I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve seen too many single-camera sitcoms—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,” she added.
Kudrow’s comments didn’t land the way she likely hoped, however, as TV fans were quick to point out that Friends is essentially the platonic ideal of benign, safe comedy.
The famously edgy humor of Friends https://t.co/RiGX5OSFXV
— youth code orange (@thamosdeaf) April 5, 2026
This might be the first American generation that thinks the newer generations are stiffs. https://t.co/4qf2kqJzY0
— Joseph Kahn (@JosephKahn) April 5, 2026
TV fans were also quick to point out that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been on the air for a record amount of time and has been pushing the envelope during its entire run.
So funny to act like you couldn’t make an edgy show like Friends today when Always Sunny is still on https://t.co/TNjtUio7Ou
— Justin Whang 🐙 (@JustinWhang) April 5, 2026
It’s Always Sunny is still on tv and is more offensive in a single episode than Friends was in the totality of its run https://t.co/N6NLhxQgfZ
— The Serfs (youtube.com/theserftimes) (@theserfstv) April 6, 2026
Kudrow currently stars in The Comeback, HBO’s long-running mockumentary series in which she plays faded sitcom actress Valerie Cherish attempting to revive her career. Season 3 premiered on March 22 and is currently airing on the network.