Jennifer Aniston on why generation of Friends viewers are taking offence

The stars of hit comedy Friends: From left, Monica (Courteney Cox), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Ross (David Schwimmer). Photo / Supplied

Friends may be one of the most popular shows ever, but one of its stars, Jennifer Aniston, has admitted she realises the show wouldn’t fly today.

In an interview with French news site AFP, 54-year-old Aniston, who starred as Rachel Green, says she’s aware young viewers aren’t exactly impressed with elements of the hit New York-based comedy.

Jennifer Aniston admits the show wouldn't be produced with the same 'comedy' today. Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she said.

“There were things that were never intentional and others... well, we should have thought it through - but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”

Aniston, whose decade-long series ran from 1994 to 2004, noted comedy is more difficult than it’s ever been.

“Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved,” she said. “Now it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life.”

Before, recalled Aniston, “you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh - that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were.

“And now we’re not allowed to do that.”

But, the comedy actress said people still want content that makes them chuckle.

The cast of Friends, from left, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt Leblanc during a taping of the Friends: The Reunion special. Photo / AP

“Everybody needs funny! The world needs humour! We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.”

Her comments follow confirmation that there won’t be another Friends reunion. However, the woman who played Rachel Green said the cast were “family forever” and that TV special back in 2021 was definitely their “swansong”.

According to the Daily Mail, Aniston also spoke on The Jonathan Ross Show and said all six of the cast keep in touch and admitted she’ll watch old episodes “every once in a while”.