by Lisa Schwarzbaum

If I were Phoebe Buffay on Friends, strumming my guitar at Cafe Nervosa Central Perk, I would sing an ode to Lisa Kudrow, O Lisa Kudrow, the one Friend I would love to friend in real life! The elegantly funny, expressive performer — super-smart about playing less-than-self-aware women, and empathetic in her  portrayal of exasperated ladies — can currently be seen in the droll, way-too-overworked indie Paper Man, about a middle-aged novelist who can’t write. Actually, Kudrow mostly can’t be seen, since the movie is in such limited theatrical release. But when Paper Man comes to Netflix, where it belongs, I commend it to your queue: The story is labored (like a failed novel), but Jeff Daniels (as the struggling author), Emma Stone (as a local lass), and Ryan Reynolds (as an imaginary superhero) are delightful. And as the novelist’s surgeon wife, managing adult life chores while her husband wallows in a suspended adolescence, the glorious Lisa K does that thing she does best: She plays a woman whose conversation suggests there are far more interesting things going on her head than what might come out her mouth.

With an emotional palette chosen to suit the movie, the result is the creation of a character who is a serious, competent wife trying to make sense of a husband apparently regressing into childishness.  But shade her performance another way, and Kudrow becomes hilariously self-involved, blithely unreliable therapist Dr. Fiona Wallice in the tasty, bite-sized online comedy Web Therapy. Kudrow developed this genius little slice of web madness with Don Roos, the creatively like-minded filmmaker in whose features (including The Opposite of Sex and Happy Endings) the actress regularly appears. As reported on Deadline Hollywood, in an interesting loop-the-loop of mediums, Showtime has announced it will be broadcasting episodes of Web Therapy on cable TV next year. That’s great news for the army of fans who think of Kudrow as our pal, too.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lisa Kudrow says she was never really cut out to play naive young women.

Luckily, she hasn’t had to in a busy post “Friends” career that has seen her become a viable force as an actress and producer in television, Internet and independent film.

“Let’s face it, I was never a great ingenue to begin with,” said Kudrow, now 46. “I always knew I’d have to do either my own stuff or play interesting character roles.”

Kudrow gained fame playing ditzy blonde Phoebe on “Friends” for 10 years. By the time the show ended in 2004, the cast was earning a $1 million dollars each per episode.

This paycheck made Kudrow and her co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox not only the highest paid TV actresses of all time but gave them the luxury of choice in the future.

“That show did nothing but afford us opportunity forever after,” says a grateful Kudrow.

Kudrow’s latest movie is alongside Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone in the independent movie “Paper Man,” which opens in U.S. movie theaters on Friday.

“This was a better version of the (traditional) wife character,” says Kudrow. “I liked the idea of how one girl’s charming guy is a wife’s huge burden.”

GIVING BACK TO TELEVISION

Film work is just one facet of Kudrow’s busy professional life.

She recently executive produced and appeared in the genealogy TV reality series “Who Do You Think You Are?”. The NBC network has already picked it up for a second season.

It is based on the long running British documentary series of the same name where celebrities journey to trace his or her family tree.

“I’m really proud to have brought the show to the U.S. and that it’s my contribution to television,” says the actress, whose own episode was not without trepidation.

Learning about her Jewish heritage involved visiting an Eastern European concentration camp where her great-grandparents and others family members were massacred. It’s a trip she had avoided in the past, preferring to keep “an emotional distance because it’s too overwhelming to know that that kind of horror exists.”

The experience brought many feelings to the surface before Kudrow ultimately made peace with the reality of what happened to her family.

“What’s important is that I survived it and I’m here to carry on,” she said.

In carrying on her family name and heritage, the actress has made her own history in the entertainment industry.

During the “Friends” 10-year run, Kudrow got married, had a son, and starred in such films as “Analyze This,” and “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion” among others.

Today, her improvisational acting chops are showcased on-line in the web series, “Web Therapy,” which is now in its third season. Kudrow plays a not-very-professional therapist who conducts sessions via web cam.

Earlier this year, Kudrow reunited with “Friends” co-star Cox as a guest on Cox’s ABC television comedy “Cougar Town.”

“At first I wondered what that would be like because it wasn’t Monica and Phoebe anymore,” she says. “But we didn’t miss a beat.”

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Jennifer Aniston is a very wanted woman over in bestie Courteney Cox’s Cougar Town.

Not only did the hit show’s honcho Bill Lawrence tell our own Watch With Kristin that he’d love to snag Aniston for a guest gig, but now costar Busy Philipps tells us she’d welcome her, too.

“I hope she comes on,” Philipps told us at this weekend’s 31st Annual College Television Awards in Hollywood. “She’s lovely. I’ve hung out with her with Courteney. She seems adorable.”

And what kind of role would Philipps like to see Aniston tackle?

“I think it would be fun to see her be really mean,” Philipps said. “That was what Lisa Kudrow did a little bit. She was mean to Courteney, and it was fun for me to see because I’m a huge Friends fan. Anything [Aniston] would want to do I think would be great.”

Hey, if another Friends reunion doesn’t work out on Cougar Town, how about inviting someone from Dawson’s Creek? Philipps, who played Audrey Liddell on Dawson’s, says she recently spoke to former costar James Van Der Beek. “I just talked to him!” she said. “He called me to tell he’s having a baby…He’s going to be an amazing dad. I’m really happy for him.”

Which would you rather see—more Friends or some Dawson’s Creek on Cougar Town? Leave your comments below.

No other TV show has had quite the popularity of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and we still enjoy watching Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe just as much as we ever did.

The sitcom’s female actresses have all continued to act since the series finished. Jennifer Aniston has launched a film career since she let the sitcom, Courteney Cox has starred in films and her most recent project, the TV series Cougar Town, is proving to be a success and Lisa Kudrow has starred in several movies, even putting in a cameo appearance in Cougar Town.

All three women are now over 40 and looking fabulous. But who do you think is ageing the best? Is it Jen with her enviable legs? Courteney with skin to die for? Or Lisa with amazing, golden locks?

During the the series’ run, pop psychologists have “prattled” about the cultural impact of Friends, with the producers laughing, “It’s only a TV show.”

Aniston’s hairstyle was nicknamed “The Rachel”, and copied around the world. Joey’s catchphrase, “How you doin’?”, has become a popular part of Western English slang, often used as a pick-up line or when greeting friends.

The series has also impacted on the English language, according to a study by a linguistics professor at the University of Toronto. The professor found that the characters used so as an adjective more often than other intensifiers, such as very and really.

The professor believed that although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, usage on the series may have accelerate the change. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, ratings increased 17% over the previous season as viewers tuned in for comfort.

The Central Perk coffee house, one of the principal settings of the series, has inspired various imitations worldwide. In 2006, Iranian businessman Mojtaba Asadian started a Central Perk franchise, registering the name in 32 countries. The decor of the coffee houses are inspired by the one in Friends, featuring replica couches, counters, neon signage and bricks.

The coffee houses also contain paintings of the various characters from the series, and televisions playing Friends’ episodes. James Michael Tyler, who plays the Central Perk waiter in the series, Gunther, attended the grand opening of the Dubai cafe, where he worked as a waiter.

 As part of a museum exhibit at Warner Bros. Studios, Central Perk was rebuilt and shown on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in October 2008. Lisa Kudrow revisited the set for the first time after the series finale in 2004