“Friends” is 30 years old, and for the occasion, the magazine “Premiere” devotes a special issue to him. The journalists met David Crane, Marta Kauffman and Kevin Bright, the creators, these names that we see again at the end of each episode. The opportunity to ask them a somewhat taboo question…
“It’s exactly the same…”
In 2019, in the columns of TV 7 daysbut also on Sud Radio, the producer of our most popular French series “Hélène and the boys”and his little sister “The miracle of love“, suggested that he was behind the phenomenal success of “Friends”. Indeed, Jean-Luc Azoulay, boss of the AB Productions studio, assured that his partner, Claude Berda, had been contacted by the Americans, and: “Finally, Claude gave it to them, free of charge, in exchange for the broadcasting rights of Friends in France…(…) The Americans did not copy us, they made an exchange with us. (…) They changed everything, but the basic concept of young adults living together with apartments, a cafe and all that, it’s exactly the same thing…”
A legend that raised the mustard in Marta Kauffman’s nose, report our colleagues from Premierethis March 29, 2024. They say that she “got carried away in a second” and would have tackled: “We have never heard of this guy. We have never met anyone in France”.
“There’s not even an ounce of truth in it“
She would be “obviously aware of the rumor“, And “somewhat annoyed”, underlines the magazine which reports this sentence: “I have no fucking idea what this guy is talking about Friends ! In any case, it’s 100% bullshit.” And the confirmation of David Crane who estimates: “There’s not even an ounce of truth in that.”