Lisa Kudrow Says Jerry Seinfeld Took Some Credit For The Success Of 'Friends'

The "Friends" star said she didn't feel competitive "at all" with the success of "Seinfeld."
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Jerry Seinfeld was all too happy to take some credit for the success of “Friends,” according to an anecdote from Lisa Kudrow. Luckily, Kudrow seems to agree with the comedian.

Kudrow opened up about sharing time with the other iconic series of the ’90s, and told The Daily Beast in an interview published Wednesday 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,” Kudrow 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.

Jerry Seinfeld (left) once told Lisa Kudrow "You're welcome" for the success of "Friends."
Jerry Seinfeld (left) once told Lisa Kudrow "You're welcome" for the success of "Friends."
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“I remember going to some party and Jerry Seinfeld was there, and I said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘You’re welcome,’” Kudrow 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 HBO Max reunion in 2021, “Seinfeld” is still holding off on getting the cast together ― for now.

“It would seem sad to me,” Seinfeld 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.

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