“She’s so real”- Fans Agree With Lisa Kudrow’s Anger and Irritation With Audience 20 Years After ‘Friends’ End

Published 07/23/2024, 10:41 PM EDT

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Lisa Kudrow is as genuine and unfiltered as Phoebe Buffay. The actress speaks her mind, even if it means digging up some dirt about the show that made her an international fame. Kudrow is best known for the iconic sitcom, Friends, and while she has always spoken fondly of her time on the popular show and is still friends with the 'Friends', there were a few things- mostly behind the scenes- that really rubbed her the wrong way.

Back in the '80s and '90s, it was standard practice for sitcoms like Friends to be filmed in front of a live audience. Naturally, this came with its own set of problems, and Lisa Kudrow felt every bit of that frustration. On a recent episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, she opened up about how the Friends' live audience’s dishonest and drawn-out reactions really got under her skin. "It wasn’t an honest response and it irritated me,” said the P.S. I Love You actress.

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The reason for her frustration mainly stemmed from the fact that the audience would hold up the shooting of episodes, which already took six to eight hours for just a one-and-a-half-hour show. To make matters worse, when the jokes started to fall flat after several takes, the audience would stop laughing, which would force the writers to tweak the scripts, adding even more time to the process.

‘Friends’ Star Matthew Perry Once Opened About How He Felt When the Live Audience Did Not Laugh at His Jokes

Lisa Kudrow’s no-holds-barred interview led fans to cheer for her, who could totally relate to the pointless background laughter that seemed to drag on unnecessarily throughout the show.

Lisa Kudrow gets a lot of love from fans for being so honest

The live audience on '90s sitcoms did more than just boost the punch of the jokes. They were a real barometer for the creators to see what worked and what did not. The audience's reaction also gave the actors a boost, as the raucous laughter from the crowd made them feel like they were nailing their lines. Still, it seems Lisa Kudrow was more focused on getting the job done in time and heading home, and now, fans are loving her for being so honest and different from the rest, saying, "She's so real for that". 

Meanwhile, many fans felt like they had been living a lie since they had no clue about the live audience before Lisa Kudrow's interview.

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Fortunately or unfortunately, it has become pretty uncommon these days for shows to be filmed in front of live audiences. Game shows are still keeping that tradition alive, but scripted shows have mostly moved away from it. Even though there are a few shows like Saturday Night Live, which is still shot in front of a studio audience, just like it has been for nearly 50 years, but overall, the trend has been to ditch laugh tracks in comedies.

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What do you think about Lisa Kudrow's interview? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Hriddhi Maitra

1401 articles

Hriddhi Maitra is a Hollywood News reporter at Netflix Junkie. An enthusiastic movie buff, Hriddhi found her true calling when she worked as a Cinema Content Writer at My Cinema Story while analyzing movies objectively, and offering constructive feedback. Coming from a background where she worked in different niches like finance, food, travel, medicines, automobile, and entertainment, we can safely say she is a jack of all trades.

Edited By: Aliza Siddiqui

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