"We've been too afraid to make jokes": 'Friends' star Lisa Kudrow says modern sitcoms feel too cautious for real comedy laughs

Lisa Kudrow says today's multi-camera sitcoms fail to capture her interest, arguing that many avoid the kind of daring humor that defined classics like Friends, Seinfeld, and 30 Rock.

In a recent profile with Interview Magazine, the actress, 62, subtly criticized the style of modern sitcom writing as being too conservative to offer viewers anything shocking or unexpected.

"I feel like we've been too afraid to make jokes that might make people uncomfortable."

Lisa Kudrow is best known for her role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, which ran for 10 seasons and earned her a 1998 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

She noted how the mix of good writing and strong humor made it possible for multi-camera sitcoms of her generation to distinguish themselves.

"I'm not drawn to new sitcoms that are multi-camera in front of an audience because I'm not buying it."

The Easy A actress noted that successful comedy requires elements audiences don't anticipate. While she implied that the reason for her lack of interest was due to modern single camera format shows, she stressed the importance of comedy that takes chances.

"But the really good ones, they're not tame jokes. They're jokes that are kind of, 'I can't believe you just said that.' Comedy is about surprise. You need things you didn’t see coming."

Lisa Kudrow on her character Phoebe Buffay being branded as a "ditz": "She wasn't stupid"

In Friends, which is arguably the most iconic multi-camera sitcom of all time, she co-starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc. Through the years, fans have adored Lisa Kudrow's character Phoebe Buffay as a "ditz."

However, the actress herself doesn't interpret her breakout role in such a way.

"At the time, it was like, 'She's such a ditz. How is it that you only play ditzes?' And I thought, 'Is she a ditz?' To me, she wasn't. In 1994, it was like, 'I love her. She's such a ditz.' And it's like, yeah, okay, that was what a ditz was to us. Someone who wasn't toeing the line…. But she wasn't stupid."

Nonetheless, in her recent interview with The Independent, Lisa Kudrow confessed that she felt overlooked while she starred in the popular sitcom.

"Nobody cared about me. There were certain parts of [my talent agency] that just referred to me as 'the sixth Friend.'"

The actress added:

"There was no vision for me, and no expectations about the kind of career I could have. There was just, like, 'Boy, is she lucky she got on that show.'"

Lisa Kudrow would then prove this wrong as she went on to star in different shows and films, with offers coming her way left and right.

"The agents and business people started circling, wanting to put me in romantic comedies and things."

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She appeared in the 1996 comedy-drama movie Mother, Clockwatchers in 1997, and Analyze This in 1999. Kudrow also co-starred with John Travolta in Lucky Numbers in 2000, as well as with Dan Bucatinsky and Christina Ricci in All Over the Guy in 2001.

Lisa Kudrow stars in The Comeback, which has just premiered its third and final season.

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