Lisa Kudrow Reveals Why She Thought ‘Friends’ Might Never Make It to Air
Lisa Kudrow Reveals Why She Thought ‘Friends’ Might Never Make It to Air
Nicole MooreThu, March 26, 2026 at 3:42 AM UTC
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(Photo by: NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)
While the beloved NBCsitcomFriendsended up being a massive hit, Lisa Kudrowwasn't sure if it would ever make it to air.
In a March 2026 interview with Vanity Fair, Kudrow noted that she was cast as her Friends character Phoebe Buffay while she was appearing as the waitress Ursula on Mad About You, which had a seven-season run until 1999. She said that she felt grateful to have Mad About You, which starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt, to fall back on because she wasn't sure Friends would be picked up.
"When I shot the pilot of Friends, I thought, 'Yeah, I mean, this is a good show, but good shows don't get picked up all the time,'" said Kudrow during the Vanity Fair interview. "If there's any hope of me being able to stay on Mad About You after the pilot doesn't get picked up or they pick it up for, you know, 12 more episodes and then that's it, like after this fails, because there's no telling what's gonna happen, something can be great and still it gets canceled."
She then noted Friends aired for nine seasons until 2004. She said that the writers of Friends decided to have Ursula be Phoebe's estranged twin sister while the NBC shows were airing at the same time.
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"I was preserving Mad About You for myself. Friends found that they had to justify why this same face and voice is gonna be on at eight o'clock on Mad About You once in a while," said the actress in the March 2026 interview. "They had to cope with that and incorporate Ursula into Friends. And I mean, look, they're good writers. So if you're a good writer, there are no problems. There's just, you know, really interesting things that come out of adapting, but I was thrilled, you know, that I could still be Ursula."
Lisa Kudrow Revealed She Began Watching 'Friends' After the Death of Matthew Perry
In a July 2024 interview on Conan O'Brien's podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, Kudrow shared that she wasn't all that interested in watching Friends until her castmate Matthew Perry's 2023 death at the age of 54. Perry famously played Friends character Chandler Bing.
"I used to not be able to watch it at all. I mean I'd see it on and be like mildly interested and then I'd see me and say that's enough of that. I can't bear it and then, well, listen after Matthew died, I could start watching the show again because it wasn't about me. It had to do with him for some reason and so I have started watching Friends," explained Kudrow.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
