The star has co-created and written new comedy Mr. Sunshine, about the manager of a U.S. sports arena, which debuts in America on Wednesday (09Feb11).

Perry admits he found the development for the programme gruelling, and has a renewed respect for the makers of Friends after learning how much work went into the show before he arrived for rehearsals.

He says, ""I've learned how much goes into making a television show, and there's a lot more than I thought.

""In my early 20s... I was mostly thinking about myself. I thought the first day of a project was the table read. I thought, 'Well, I'm here, so this must be the first day' - not knowing that a whole year of development, of driving across town to meetings, had taken place.""