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Fans of the iconic 90s sitcom Friends have been going through a tough few days as the show has been receiving criticism on various fronts. Co-creator Marta Kauffman, who recently addressed the criticism surrounding the show's lack of diversity in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, has now said that she regrets the show's portrayal of Chandler Bing's transgender parent in a new interview.
Read further ahead to find out more details about Chandler Bing's parents and Marta Kaufman's views on the show's representation of the transgender community.
Friends creator Marta Kauffman opens up about show's portrayal of Chandler Bing's parent
In an interview with The Conversation on BBC World Service (obtained via Variety), Marta Kauffman admitted that she regrets how Chandler Bing's parent, Charles Bing aka Helena Handbasket, was portrayed in the sitcom. She said it was a ''mistake'' to refer to Bing's parent as his ''father.'' She further admitted that she did not ''understand'' pronouns at the time. Kauffman told the BBC that:
''Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn’t refer to that character as ‘she.’ That was a mistake.''
She mentioned that she likes to create an environment where there is a ''happy'' set and a ''happy'' crew. Kauffman also mentioned that she'd fired a man for making an insensitive joke about a trans cameraperson.
In the show, Chandler's parent Charles Bing is married to Nora Tyler Bing, but later divorced her after coming out as gay. Bing later went off to work as a drag queen in Las Vegas and adopted the stage name Helena Handbasket.
Last week, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Kauffman addressed criticism concerning the show's lack of diversity. She admitted that she's ''embarrassed'' by it, and that she ''didn't know better 25 years ago.''
A closer look at Friends plot and cast
Friends is widely regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of the 90s. The show focuses on the lives of a young group of friends in New York City. A synopsis of the series on Netflix reads:
''This hit sitcom follows the merry misadventures of six 20-something pals as they navigate the pitfalls of work, life and love in 1990s Manhattan.''
Although retrospective reviews have been more critical, the show continues to enjoy massive popularity around the world and is considered a pop culture phenomenon. It often appears on several publications' lists of the greatest sitcoms ever made.
The series features Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer in the main roles. Aniston essays the role of Rachel Green while Courteney Cox portrays Monica Geller; Lisa Kudrow dons the role of Phoebe Buffay, while Matt LeBlanc stars as Joey Tribbiani; Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer play Chandler Bing and Ross Geller, respectively.
Apart from the aforementioned actors, the series also stars:
- James Michael Tyler
- Maggie Wheeler
- Elliott Gould
- Christina Pickles
- Jane Sibbett
The series, co-created by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, aired on NBC for 10 seasons from 1994-2004. It also won several awards and accolades, including six Emmy Awards, a British Academy Television Award, among many more.
