Former TV writer Patty Lin reflects on her experience on the hit sitcom ‘Friends’ – and it was far from perfect…
After working on Freaks and Geeks, Patty Lin had the opportunity to write for the hit NBC sitcom in 2000, during the show’s seventh season. The idea of writing for big stars like Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer is what drove her. But if she was initially excited, her joy quickly faded.
“The novelty of seeing big stars up close quickly wore off […]. The cast seemed unhappy to be chained to a tired old series when they could branch out, and I felt like they constantly wondered how each storyline would serve them specifically.”, wrote Lin in his memoir End Credits: How I Broke Up with Hollywood (via Time and Deadline). She continued:
They all knew how to make people laugh but if they didn’t like a valve they seemed to deliberately sabotage it, knowing we would rewrite it. Dozens of good jokes were thrown away just because one of them mumbled the phrase through a bite of bacon.
Lin goes on to write that the actors voiced their opinions “vehemently” when they didn’t like something in the script.
“They rarely had anything positive to say, and when they raised issues, they didn’t suggest workable solutions. Considering themselves the guardians of their character, they often asserted that they would never do or say such and such a thing. That was helpful at times, but overall these sessions had a disastrous, aggressive character that lacked all the levity one expects from sitcom directing.”
AND IT WAS NOT BETTER IN THE SCREENPLAY ROOM
She was quick to criticize her former work colleagues as well (via Variety): “The Friends writing team was a clique, more so than any other show I’ve worked on. They reminded me of the rich, preppy kids in my high school who shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch and drove brand new convertibles.”
The former screenwriter who also worked on shows such as Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad said that during her time on Friends she suffered from “impostor syndrome”.
“But impostor syndrome, I learned later, is a common experience for racial minorities who work in fields where they lack representation.”, she explained. “As the only Asian screenwriter featured in many venues, I felt very alone, bowing under the pressure to represent my entire race and prove that I deserved a place at the table – or a place on this stage.”
And after Season 7 ended, Lin’s contract was not renewed for Season 8: “I was mortified and outraged. I was also a little relieved. No more all-night rewrites, no more anxious jokes, no more feeling like a nerd at the popular kids’ table.”
Patty Lin adds that Judd Apatow, the producer of freaks and geekshad warned her against taking the job on Friends because it was already a “well-oiled machine” and she wouldn’t learn anything. She states thus: “I didn’t learn much except that I never wanted to work on a sitcom again. But the choice was clear at the time. And, for better or for worse, Friends would remain my most recognizable credit.”
Friends is available to stream on Netflix.