Social media has been on dragging spree for actor David Schwimmer after he went viral this week regarding comments of wanting to see a ‘Friends‘ reboot with some diversity.
It all started when David suggested that the hit NBC series return, but with an all-black or Asian cast instead of white cast.
David Schwimmer proposes “all-black” or “all-Asian” reboot of ‘Friends.’ https://t.co/XHsdQRG04S pic.twitter.com/UeLUnthxp5
— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) January 28, 2020
via Complex:
In a lengthy new interview with the Guardian this week, Schwimmer addressed a few issues surrounding the blockbuster NBC sitcom, which is certainly not better than Seinfeld but has maintained a massive pop culture presence of its own thanks in part to a renewed interest by way of its longstanding Netflix availability.
When the topic of younger generations discovering the show and promptly criticizing its all-white cast and handling of certain storylines came up, Schwimmer defended the series with some thoughts on context.
“I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context,” Schwimmer, who called the show “groundbreaking in its time,” said. “You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. I’m the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality.”
He also proposed some possible reboot ideas.
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” Schwimmer told the Guardian. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”
While we applaud David for being proactive and progressive during his time on ‘Friends’ and demanding more diversity on set, he made one misstep–suggesting that ‘Friends’ was the first show of it’s kind.
It wasn’t! and actress Erika Alexander made sure to remind him. Erika who famously played super-star attorney Maxine Waters on ‘Living Single‘ during its entire five seasons, took to Twitter to remind David that his show was ripped off of ‘Living Single’
Hey @DavidSchwimmer @FriendsTV – r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of #LivingSingle? We invented the template! Yr welcome bro. 😉 David Schwimmer 2 The Guardian: “Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends” https://t.co/r8W1ZHBwoy
— Erika Alexander (@EAlexTheGreat) January 28, 2020
Erica then tagged her co-stars Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, Terrence C. Carson, Kim Coles and John Henton in a second tweet to school David on the similarities and differences between the two shows.
@DavidSchwimmer 4 yr edutainment. Help me school him @IAMQUEENLATIFAH @kimcoles @KimVFields #TCCarson #JohnHenton @warnerbrostv #elvisdidntinventrocknroll https://t.co/MRJQBnULlU
— Erika Alexander (@EAlexTheGreat) January 28, 2020
This conversation has actually been going on for quite some time. Queen Latifah discussed being the inspiration for ‘Friends’ during a 2016 interview with James Corden.
John Henton who played the lovable handyman Overton on the show, has also been vocal on the debate.
What are your thoughts!? All this talk has us even more hype for the alleged ‘Living Single’ reboot.
