Former ‘Friends’ Writer Says Cast ‘Rarely Had Anything Positive To Say’ About Scripts And Why She Suffered From Impostor Syndrome Deadline

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Former TV writer Patty Lynn talks about her experience working on the hit sitcom friends She says she didn’t have the best experience.

after working on Freaks and geeksLynn was given the opportunity to write for the popular NBC sitcom in 2000. The idea of ​​writing for big stars like Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer was what initially sparked Lynn’s interest, but she says that quickly fizzled.

The novelty of seeing big stars up close quickly faded, as well as my excitement about breakfast. “The actors seemed unhappy to be chained to a tired old show when they might have branched out, and I felt like they were constantly wondering how each script would serve them specifically,” she wrote. Lynn in her diary. End Credits: How I broke up with Hollywood (via time).

She continued, “They all knew how to laugh, but if they didn’t like the joke, they seemed to deliberately miss it, knowing we’d rewrite it. Dozens of good jokes would be thrown out just because one of them muttered the line through a piece of bacon.” David [Crane] And Marta [Kauffman] He never said: “This joke is funny.” The actor just needs to sell it.

Lin goes on to write that the actors expressed their opinions “loudly” when they didn’t like something in the script, adding, “They rarely had anything positive to say, and when they brought up problems, they didn’t suggest feasible solutions. Since they see themselves as the guardians of their characters, They often argued that they wouldn’t do or say such-and-such.. Sometimes that was helpful, but overall, these sessions had a horrible, aggressive quality that lacked all the lightness you’d expect from the sitcom industry.

Former writer of shows like Desperate Housewives And Too bad She also said that during her time friendsShe suffered from “impostor syndrome”.

“But I later learned that impostor syndrome is a common experience of ethnic minorities who work in fields that are underrepresented,” she explained. “As the only Asian writer in so many halls, I felt very lonely, succumbing to the pressure to represent my entire race and prove I deserved a seat at the table — or a place on that podium.”

Lane says Judd Apatow, producer Freaks and geeksHe warned her not to take the job friends Since she was already a “good oil machine” and didn’t learn anything, she added, “I didn’t learn much, except that I never wanted to work on a sitcom again. But the choice was clear at the time. For better or for worse, friends It will remain my most popular credit.