Jerry Seinfeld was all too happy to take some credit for the success of Friends, according to an anecdote from Lisa Kudrow. Luckily, she seems to agree with the comedian.
Lisa opened up about sharing time with the other iconic series of the ’90s, and told The Daily Beast in an interview that she didn’t feel competitive “at all” with Seinfeld. In fact, she explained how the series actually helped boost ratings and contribute to the incredible success of Friends.
“Not to take anything away from the writing on Friends, or the cast, or how good Friends really was, but the first season our ratings were just fine,” Lisa said.
“We held onto enough of [sitcom] Mad About You and starting building, but it was in the summer when we were in reruns after Seinfeld, where Seinfeld was our lead-in, where we exploded,” she added, before recalling an anecdote that screams Seinfeld.
“I remember going to some party and Jerry Seinfeld was there, and I said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘You’re welcome,’” Lisa said. “I said, ‘Why, thank you … what?’” And he said, ‘You’re on after us in the summer, and you’re welcome.’ And I said, ‘That’s exactly right. Thank you.’”
But unlike Friends, which scored big with its reunion in 2021, Seinfeld is still holding off on getting the cast together – for now.
“It would seem sad to me,” Jerry said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2021. “It would seem like we couldn’t think of a new idea.”
When the interviewer at the time suggested the Seinfeld cast and crew could put together something like Friends did for their reunion special, the comedian joked: “I don’t think you win Emmys for that stuff.”
The reunion did, however, get four Emmy nominations.