Erika Alexander Reminds David Schwimmer That 'Living Single' Was the Blueprint for 'Friends'

The actress took to Twitter to share her opinion on Schwimmer's recent comments on an all-black reboot of Friends.

Erika Alexander famously known for her role in Living Single took to social media to react to David Schwimmer saying there should be an all-black or Asian-casted Friends. 

Alexander who played Maxine Shaw, an attorney on the classic series reminded Schwimmer of Living Single. The show also starred Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, Terrence C. Carson, Kim Coles and John Henton. Her tweet read, “Hey ⁦David Schwimmer,⁦⁩ r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of Living Single? We invented the template! [You're] welcome bro.”

Social media users also began expressing the fact that the sitcom laid the groundwork for Friends. One user, Michael Harriot shared that Living Single was created by Yvette Lee Browser for Warner Bros. and that it came out in 1993, while the latter debuted in 1994. 

In a previous interview with Shadow & Act, Alexander touched on why she believed Friends had a more successful run than Living Single:

"If you were on a show with a Black cast you weren't seen as a show with a Black cast, which is how I like to see it. They saw you as a Black show. So they would often put you in a cultural ghetto. That would undermine any sort of ambitions that you might have to grow the show beyond its locked-in demographic."

When further expanding on working on the black show, she shared, “The difference between Friends and Living Single is one of marketing and skin color. What does Paul Mooney say? 'They have the complexion for the protection.’”

In an interview with Tamron Hall, Kim Fields who played Regine chatted candidly about a potential reboot. She reportedly said the entire cast had spoken about it with Yvette. "When Yvette asked, I said I would definitely be interested in seeing what that conversation is and being able to do it, Field shared. "But here’s the thing, with reboots you got to be careful because these characters are beloved and those storylines really meant something and they still resonate now. So don’t mess around, you got to get it right."