Los Angeles, March 30 – Hollywood star Lisa Kudrow, known for her iconic role as Phoebe Buffay in "Mad About You," was hesitant to leave the show for the then-unknown sitcom "Friends," and was keen to "preserve" her role if possible.
She played Phoebe Buffay for 10 years in the beloved comedy series, but when she was first cast, she had a recurring role as a sarcastic and indifferent waitress in an already-established comedy series.
She told Vanity Fair magazine: "I was really proud to have a role in "Mad About You."
"Honestly, when I shot the pilot of "Friends," I thought, 'Yeah, this is a good show. But good shows don't always get picked up.'
"Thank God for "Mad About You," which was my favorite show on TV. I mean, I thought it was such a great show. It was a high-quality multi-camera show…"
"If there was any chance of me staying on "Mad About You," after the (Friends) pilot didn't get picked up, or if they picked it up for, you know, 12 more episodes, and then that's it... like, if this fails, because there's no telling what will happen, something great can still happen, but it still gets cancelled, I'd still have "Mad About You."
"I was preserving "Mad About You" for myself."
After Lisa was cast in "Friends," which debuted in 1994 and also starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and the late Matthew Perry, the channel had a dilemma as to how to explain the fact that the same actress would be appearing in two primetime shows as different characters, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
So, the actress was delighted when her "Mad About You" character, Ursula Buffay, was introduced as Phoebe's twin sister, adding depth to her backstory.
She said: "With "Friends," they found that they had to justify why the same face and voice would be on "Mad About You" once in a while, and then there she is on "Friends" at 8:30 p.m.
They had to deal with that. And incorporate Ursula into "Friends." I was thrilled, you know, that I could still be Ursula."
The actress recently said that she has been catching up on old episodes of "Friends," but she is "too embarrassed" to watch it in front of her husband, Michael Stern.
Asked what sitcoms she watches, she said on BBC Radio 2: "I watch "Friends" at night before going to bed. I haven't seen many episodes. I sit in the family room, and I wait until my husband goes to sleep because I'm too embarrassed for anyone to see me watching it - but I'll tell all of you!
"He knows that I like watching it."