David Schwimmer dissed for all-black 'Friends' reboot idea, fans say show was white version of 'Living Single'
It has been over a decade since 'Friends' last aired in 2004 but fans still hope to see a reboot of their favorite TV series. Recently, addressing the wishful fans, David Schwimmer came up with an idea to revive the show that starred him, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc, back in the day.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the actor who played Ross, revealed he pushed for his character to date women of color, among which were Julie, played by Lauren Tom, and Charlie Wheeler, played by Aisha Tyler. "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."
What's more, he also proposed an idea for more inclusivity. "Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends," Schwimmer suggested. "I'm very aware of my own privilege as a heterosexual white male whose parents were able to pay for private education," he added, disclosing his mother was a prominent feminist activist lawyer. "I've always felt a sense of responsibility to give back and to call things out if I see an abuse of power."
However, in June 2016, Queen Latifah made a huge revelation on 'The Late Late Show' that her '90s Fox sitcom featuring all-black actors, 'Living Single' inspired 'Friends'. After Schwimmer's interview, many fans reminded the actor of the same and dissed his suggestion.
"'Friends' was a mediocre show. We need better shows than that, and black and Asian writers are writing better shows. #DavidSchwimmer said that he'd like to see an all black or all asian version of #friends, but forgot that Friends was a white version of Living Single #LivingSingle," one tweet read and another said, "#DavidSchwimmer was this many years old when he learned through the twitter-verse his show #Friends was a rip off of a black show called #LivingSingle. Thanks but no thanks we don’t need your “all black” proposed reboot of a stolen show reboot."
One fan even went on to say 'Living Single' was better than 'Friends'. "I love how people are hopping on David Schwimmer for suggesting an all-Black or all-Asian #Friends reboot, and reminding him that #LivingSingle existed (which was a much better show, in my opinion)," his tweet read and another one wrote, "So we are going to pretend like #Friends didn't steal the entire concept of the show from #LivingSingle??? You know the all black show that premiered before 'Friends'!"
Talking about the idea of revival with the original cast, Schwimmer doesn't see it happening because of the different career trajectories of all the actors. "I just don't think it's possible, given everyone's different career trajectories," he said. "I think everyone feels the same: why mess with what felt like the right way to end the series? I don't want to do anything for the money. It would have to make sense creatively and nothing I've heard so far presented to us makes sense."
Hinting on why 'Friends' is still so popular, Schwimmer thinks it's because the show was set in the '90s, before the era of smartphones and social media.