TV - Movies
The Friends
Detail That Aged
So Poorly That
The Co-Creator
Had To Apologize
By PAULI POISUO
With its clever combination of laugh-a-minute quips, physical comedy, and complex relationship drama, “Friends” is an enduring and extremely rewatchable sitcom. However, the show is not without its problems, and now one of the people behind the sitcom, co-creator Marta Kauffman, has expressed regret about the way a particular detail was handled with one character.
In an interview with the BBC World Service show "The Conversation," Kaufman was quite clear that Chandler's parent Helena, a transgender woman, got a pretty raw deal on the show. "We kept referring to her as 'Chandler's father,' even though Chandler's father was trans," Kaufman said. "Pronouns were not yet something that I understood … That was a mistake.”
Kauffman also owned up to other criticisms, such as representation issues in the show's casting. "If I knew then what I know now, there are certain things I would have changed," she said. "But I didn't know them and I have since learned." While the co-creator is acutely aware about the mistakes "Friends" made, she seems quite adamant about not repeating them.