Board 8 > Which show did you like more, Seinfield or Friends?

(+) Yeah! (+)

never really cared for either

They overlapped some years both but I think the majority of both aired before/after the other ran. It's probably different in the US where they come from, but here Seinfeld has never been all too popular while Friends has never stopped airing in primetime on big channels.

ctesjbuvf posted...

They overlapped some years both but I think the majority of both aired before/after the other ran. It's probably different in the US where they come from, but here Seinfeld has never been all too popular while Friends has never stopped airing in primetime on big channels.

What country is this? Seinfeld might be bigger in us

Love them both, but I prefer Friends

Seinfeld for sure

Seinfeld had occasional interesting episodes marred by an unlikable cast. Friends had the opposite. Neither were my cup of tea.

I did like how my favorite teacher senior year of high school looked like a brunette Lisa Kudrow.

friends at the time, seinfeld now

GranTurismo posted...

What country is this? Seinfeld might be bigger in us

Denmark.

It has been my idea in general that Frienda have gotten more international recognition of the two while it's opoosite in the US but I haven't really researched it.

Seinfeld never really hit for me. Like it's okay but nowhere near Friends imo

ctesjbuvf posted...

Denmark.

It has been my idea in general that Frienda have gotten more international recognition of the two while it's opoosite in the US but I haven't really researched it.

Friends was definitely bigger as it was airing than Seinfeld was in the US (both were massive hits though). I dont know for sure which is bigger now, though my gut would be to say Friends, based on how often I have seen kids wearing Friends apparel. You dont find many underage fans of Seinfeld these days. I think it would be correct to say that Seinfeld has had a larger cultural impact, however.

I've only watched Seinfeld

both were great but seinfeld is the best sitcom of all time so it

seinfeld was definitely the bigger cultural phenomenon as well in the us

Seinfeld hasn't had much (if any) exposure in the UK so I haven't seen a single episode. I think one of the streaming giants carries it at the moment though. Would the jokes would still land if I were to watch it?

However Friends was (and is) huge over here. I absolutely love that show.

andel posted...

seinfeld was definitely the bigger cultural phenomenon as well in the us

Ehhhh, I don't feel like you can say that definitively.

Seinfeld was definitely more popular at its peak (which mostly corresponds to Friends' first four or so seasons, so you can make direct comparisons between the two) than Friends was at its peak, but Friends was consistently popular for a longer time (all ten years it was on the air.)

Not sure how to judge the post 2004 period for them. For the first ten years, I feel like Seinfeld was on top. There was a period ten years or so ago when Seinfeld was still killing it in syndication, and Friends seemed to be on a bit of a downswing, popularity wise. Friends has really come back into the public consciousness the past five or so years though, so not sure how it plays out longterm.

I dunno, I don't really remember a time when you couldn't find a Friends rerun on somewhere on a daily basis.

Leonhart4 posted...

Ehhhh, I don't feel like you can say that definitively.

I think you can but I think a big part of that is the state of television as a whole slowly declining more than anything with the show itself

Seinfeld's series finale was a pop culture phenomenon and that's largely because it aired during 1998. I would say by the time 2001 to 2004 came around Internet had begun its rise and TV had begun to matter less. Friends was still a big deal don't get me wrong but it had like 70% the viewers Seinfeld's finale did and when you're talking over 20 million less viewers I think that puts it in perspective a bit.

Anyway I prefer Seinfeld. Friends is watchable but the plot is too mired in relationship drama to be that enjoyable.

Leonhart4 posted...

I dunno, I don't really remember a time when you couldn't find a Friends rerun on somewhere on a daily basis.

Like what channels are these reruns on?

Lopen posted...

I think you can but I think a big part of that is the state of television as a whole slowly declining more than anything with the show itself

Seinfeld's series finale was a pop culture phenomenon and that's largely because it aired during 1998. I would say by the time 2001 to 2004 came around Internet had begun its rise and TV had begun to matter less. Friends was still a big deal don't get me wrong but it had like 70% the viewers Seinfeld's finale did and when you're talking over 20 million less viewers I think that puts it in perspective a bit.

Anyway I prefer Seinfeld. Friends is watchable but the plot is too mired in relationship drama to be that enjoyable.

Yeah I kinda agree, but you find it watchable, I really dont

GranTurismo posted...

Like what channels are these reruns on?

TBS and Nick basically always had it on back when I had cable

Though Seinfeld too on TBS so kind of a wash

My point is that I don't think Friends really waned in popularity, but it's found a new audience in recent years among young people who weren't around when the show was airing, so it's gotten back into the spotlight that way.

People binge watching friends reruns doesn't really affect "cultural phenomenon status"

If you want to argue friends has had better staying power and might be as or more relevant in the now I mean maybe but I also think it's kind of small fry win compared to when each was airing.

I was referring more to Yesmar's post about how Friends dipped in popularity because I don't feel like it ever really did. Friends has been in constant reruns for 20 years because people watch them.

Yeah Seinfeld had very little exposure in the UK. When I did watch it I didn't think it was particularly close to Friends. I found the track between scenes oddly annoying and insistent and that put me off too.

People who watch TV watch them but TV viewership has been steadily declining for decades now. The splash each made while broadcast is way more relevant until people who were alive in the 90s start being a minority imo

I mean yes you can't really compare to what it was like when it was still airing

Maybe "relevant" would be the better word here because I don't think the show has ever stopped being relevant, and it'll continue to stay relevant as a new generation discovers it

Friends will be relevant until TV stops being relevant I agree

But so will Seinfeld and probably moreso just because at the time it was bigger

Both of them will be relevant forever just on their status at the time through memes and references.

I mean I don't consider myself a friends fan but me I pretty much always drop the PIVOTTT!! reference when helping people move stuff. And so do my friends

To me that kinda stuff just matters more than reruns on TV at the moment. But reruns existing do help because the newer generations will get said references easier. Once TV stops being a thing it'll be the beginning of the end for both but that may never actually happen-- TV may be at about bottom right now.

I wonder if people "get" Seinfeld as much if you didn't experience it when it was fresh and revolutionary

haven't seen Friends

can't stand Seinfeld

I think Seinfeld hasn't really aged and that's part of why it's a legendary sitcom. It doesn't date itself a lot with current events humor. Things like the Soup Nazi are just funny no matter what year it is.

I liked both when they were on. Seinfeld is still good but Friends is so painfully unfunny I can't believe it

Honestly? I don't think I've ever seen a full episode of Friends from start to finish. Maybe once.
Couldn't tell you much about it.

Meanwhile, I am pretty confident that I've seen all of the Seinfield episodes, and most if not all of them more then once.

Seinfeld is one of mankind's greatest achievements, Friends is just a really great show.

Seinfeld vs Frasier should be the real argument.

I have seen all of Friends before, a return or too since then. I can swear on my life I have seen every episode of Seinfeld at least 5 times, some over a dozen.

Seinfeld is definitely more timeless, you can put on literally any episode of Seinfeld and have no issues, even if it's a direct followup to a prior character plot. Hell, you can watch part 2 of a 2 parter and still be totally fine. Lots of Friends episodes fall completely flat if you don't know the "rich Friends lore".

As someone who watched Seinfeld recently it definitely has aged in many department, though it didn't make me appreciate it less.

Also not sure how much TV matters. At least here Friends has been extremely popular on Netflix and in recent years HBO max. It just moved platform.

Both mid

Friends doesn't respect its own lore! Ross has like three different birthdates mentioned in the show. I don't feel like you need to know too much to be able to drop in anytime. If you know the Ross/Rachel thing, then you're probably fine.

I feel like The Office is the sitcom that I couldn't enjoy until I watched it from start to finish and watched the lore develop along the way.

Friends is like a 4/10 and Seinfeld is a 10/10

Most Friends episodes are lucky to get a single laugh out of me. Seinfeld I'm usually laughing the whole way through

Randomly, The One Where They All Find Out is an amazing episode of Friends that maybe rivals some of the Seinfeld greats

That's generally considered one of the best episodes of Friends, if not the best.

Personally, I can respect Friends as a touchstone of pop culture, but it was never for me. I'm usually not big on TV shows that adhere to a status quo for very long periods of time. Seinfeld is an exception, and even then I'm not as big on it, and I didn't watch nearly as many episodes as other people.

Friends never really did it for me, but Seinfeld remains a favorite of mine. It's still great today. There's no series I've seen as often