Famous 90s sitcom ‘Friends’ co-creator Marta Kauffman has announced a $4 million donation as she feels embarrassed over the lack of diversity in the show.
According to Kauffman, she is pledging $4 million to Brandeis University to establish the Marta F. Kauffman ’78 Professorship in African and African American Studies. The fund will support a scholar studying Africa and the African diaspora and assist the department to recruit more expert scholars and teachers, as well as provide new opportunities for existing students, she said.
Kauffman, who created the series with David Crane, revealed that she originally thought the criticism over a lack of representation was difficult and frustrating. However, she said that the events of 2020, namely the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police force, shed new light on her understanding of the series.
Friends ran from 1994 to 2004 and starred Schimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc as the core friend group. Friends received acclaim throughout its run, becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time.
Read more: Friends actor Matthew Perry announces releasing a memoir
The show ranked no. 21 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and no. 5 on Empire magazine’s The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 1997, the episode “The One with the Prom Video” was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide’s 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time.
In 2013, Friends ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America’s 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time, and no. 28 on TV Guide’s 60 Best TV Series of All Time. The sitcom’s cast members returned for a reunion special aired on HBO Max on May 27, 2021.
