Lisa Kudrow grew ‘really angry’ at ‘Friends’ studio audience for extended laughter

Lisa Kudrow revealed her frustration with the "Friends" studio audience's prolonged laughter.

Lisa Kudrow recently shared her frustration with the live studio audience during the filming of "Friends" on the "Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend" podcast. Kudrow, who portrayed Phoebe Buffay throughout the sitcom's ten seasons, revealed that she often became irritated with the audience's prolonged laughter at moments she felt didn't warrant such a response. Kudrow explained, "Because they were laughing for too long. It wasn’t that funny. That’s why. It wasn’t an honest response and it irritated me"

Kudrow emphasized that the extended laughter disrupted the show's timing. "Now you’re just ruining the timing of the rest of the show. There are other lines. Sometimes I would just look out if they’d been laughing too long, and go, ‘Come on.’ Really angry," she added. Kudrow also highlighted the difference between performing for a live audience and a televised one. "A TV show is not for the studio audience. It is made for the TV viewers at home. That’s who we are in service to," Kudrow stated.

The actress noted that filming an episode of "Friends" could take six to eight hours, with numerous takes leading to audience fatigue and diminishing laughter. This often caused the writers to believe the material wasn't working, resulting in rewrites and more takes. Kudrow pointed out, "But it worked the first time! All I knew is you’re going to take the laugh track from the first take and move it to whatever take this is.".