'Friends' Spin-Off Rumors: Lisa Kudrow Reprising Phoebe Buffay Role? Warner Bros. Clarifies

By Rachel Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Is Lisa Kudrow reprising her role as Phoebe Buffay from "Friends"? Rumors have it she's set to do a "Friends" spin-off with creator and producer Marta Kauffman.

Kudrow is supposedly preparing to bring back her well-loved role to the small screen, potentially via Netflix. Kauffman has a series, "Grace and Frankie," on the streaming platform and Kudrow will appear as guest for season 4.

The spin-off would feature Phoebe Buffay as a divorcee who is still living in New York. The show would then give fans that long-awaited "Friends" reunion as well, as Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Matthew Perry would be asked to appear in "one hilarious episode," according to a source who told InTouch Weekly.

But Warner Bros., which owns the rights to "Friends" and its characters, denies that such discussion with Kudrow and Kauffman has taken place. A representative of the studio told Buzzfeed the report on the spin-off is not accurate. A spokesperson for the actress also confirmed via Digital Spy that Kudrow is not working on a "Friends" spin-off.

Early this year, Kudrow also dashed any hope of a "Friends" reunion on television. "It's been 13 years, 13 years of the same question and right now, or in the future, it's not going to happen," she told Heat.

"Friends" did have one spin-off following its end in 2004. LeBlanc's Joey Tribbiani headlined "Joey" for two seasons, where his character moved from New York to California to embark on his progressing career as an actor.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cast of "Friends" also nixed any reunion or spin-off plans because of their busy schedules. Besides, the actors all agreed fans might not want to see their aging characters. "The setting, and that time of life, worked brilliantly for then," Kudrow said.

"Friends" aired for 10 seasons on NBC and topped the ratings for most of its run. In its series finale, the show had almost 50 million viewers watching the gang say goodbye and close the door to Monica's iconic apartment.