For some inexplicable reason, Friends has seen a resurgence in the last five years. This was mainly due to it being easily accessible on Netflix until recently. I don’t get it, but hey, I’m not white. As a result of this resurgence, it seems like every week a former Friends star is asked about a reboot of the show.
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News Editor for The Root, Monique Judge, wrote last week about when it was David Schwimmer’s turn to be asked about the idea of a reboot. He responded by saying that he would like to see a new version of Friends with an all-Black cast. Problem is, there was an all-black version of Friends that came out a whole year before Friends even premiered. Living Single was about a group of successful women living in a 90s kind of world who were simply glad they had their girls. It really was just Friends but funnier, with a better theme song and more Morris Chestnut guest appearances. One of the show’s stars, Erika Alexander, called Schwimmer out on Twitter after his comments went live. Schwimmer would respond.
I mean honestly, as far as mea culpa’s go, not bad. He acknowledged the show, its contributions and the fact it paved the way for Friends to exist. Alexander thanked Schwimmer for his thoughtful response on Twitter while also promising to go more in-depth on the issue. I’m honestly really curious what Alexander has on her mind; whether it be Friends essentially being the white Living Single or if it’s about black contributions to film and tv often being overlooked.
It’s so weird to me that Living Single erasure is a thing that can happen. Maybe it’s just having been raised by a single black mother but that shit was on non-stop growing up. It was so bad that when it went up on Hulu and that intro hit I instinctively started singing “In a 90s kind of world, I’m glad I got my girls.” I hadn’t watched the show in almost two decades.
Basically what I’m saying is, if you haven’t watched Living Single get on that. Seriously, it’s Black History Month, what are you even doing?
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