Although ‘Friends’ has been off the air since 2004, Lisa Kudrow isn’t surprised the show is still a hit with younger audiences.
The show, which ran from 1994 to 2004, continues to resonate with TV audiences. Back when the show’s finale aired in May 2004, it was watched by 52 million people, placing it as the fifth most-watched series finale in US history.Almost 20 years later, Kudrow – who played Phoebe Buffay on the show – says she understands why younger generations continue to watch.
“I’m not amazed because it’s good and it’s familiar,” she told Page Six, adding that ‘Friends’ has a ‘subconscious nostalgia’ for younger fans who grew up with cell phones and social media.”For something they don’t have, which is in-person connections and relations. And that’s always been at the heart of every successful show.”
“That’s why people get attached to them and then if it’s funny, there [are] good performances, good jokes, that’s a bonus and ‘Friends’ had all that.”
She also stated that many people didn’t think a show about “a bunch of young people sitting on a coach talking” was even a show.
“That’s not my problem,” was her response. “I’m just in it, but yes it was a show.”
Kudrow’s upcoming project
With ‘Friends’ now in the past, Kudrow will next appear in “No Good Deed”, a Netflix dark comedy series about three families competing to buy the same home her and on-screen husband Ray Romano live in.Abbi Jacobson, Linda Cardenelli, Denis Leary, and Poppy Liu are some of the other cast members.
“Such a good actor, he’s so effortless and he seems like such a nice person…I have a feeling that that would work out really well and it did! Yeah, we have a lot in common,” Kudrow stated about getting to work with Romano.
