Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman says she would change transgender storylines if show was made today

'I think we didn’t have the knowledge about transgender people back then,' says Kauffman

One of the two creators of Friends has acknowledged that she would change the way the show approached transgender characters if she were to work on the series today.

Marta Kauffman spoke to USA Today in the lead-up to the 15th anniversary of the sitcom’s finale, which falls on 6 May.

During the interview, Kauffman was asked how Friends would change if it were written nowadays as opposed to the 1990s and early 2000s.

“I think we didn’t have the knowledge about transgender people back then, so I’m not sure if we used the appropriate terms,” she replied.

“I don’t know if I would have known those terms back then. I think that’s the biggest one.”

Kauffman then clarified that she was specifically referring to Chandler’s “dad”, played by Kathleen Turner.

While the character’s identity isn’t clearly defined throughout the show, some have speculated that Chandler’s parent (who was always shown wearing dresses and had a drag show in Las Vegas) might have been a transgender woman.

Kauffman, who co-created the sitcom with David Crane, said that she constantly finds elements she wishes she could change whenever she watches Friends.

She recounted watching the show in a hotel room about five years ago, adding: ”There was a lot I liked, and there was all that stuff I just couldn’t believe we let get in there.”

Click here to read our ranking of all of Friends‘s 236 episodes.