Lisa Kudrow says Jerry Seinfeld told her ‘you’re welcome’ for Friends success

Lisa Kudrow recalled Jerry Seinfeld taking some credit for the success of Friends.

Friends first aired on NBC in 1994, initially taking the evening slot after Mad About You.

“The first season our ratings were just fine,” Kudrow explained in a new interview with The Daily Beast. “We held onto enough of Mad About You and started building.”

However, it was only after Friends reruns aired after Seinfeld that the show “exploded”, Kudrow said.

“I remember going to some party and Jerry Seinfeld was there, and I said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘You’re welcome.’

“I said, ‘Why, thank you… what?’ And he said, ‘You’re on after us in the summer, and you’re welcome.’ And I said, ‘That’s exactly right. Thank you.’”

Seinfeld’s controversial 1998 series finale drew in a goliath 76.3 million viewers, besting the Friends finale, which came six years later, by more than 10 million.

Kudrow recently revealed that she was the only member of the Friends cast who was asked to audition twice.

“I didn’t even realise until recently [that] I had a special audition for Jim Burrows because he was directing it,” she said on the Today show. “And I assumed all the actors did.

“And then I found out – like, I don’t know, four years ago – I was the only one.”