According to a “60 Minutes”/Vanity Fair poll, “Seinfeld” was the funniest show on television; “Friends” was fourth. ), Over the last couple of months, however, I've been watching a lot of Friends. Instead, it reminds me of where I was when I had watched that episode for the first time. After all the issues get culled through, there's a safety net, where you have pals, and you play around in a fountain, and you get a theme song. The 2013 version of me still finds Seinfeld entertaining. It's televised comfort food. I hate the last episode of Seinfeld. (And its reliance on celebrity guest stars - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams among them -- is just as annoying today as it was back then.). by Hai_He Plays Quiz not verified by Sporcle . Senior Entertainment Writer, The Huffington Post, Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. (For whatever reason, Zoom was not remembered fondly or even at all at the University of Missouri in 1997.). Shrek Cristo. After the final episode of Friends aired the other night, it was immediately followed by the pilot. Friends v Seinfeld: Which sitcom is better? Lauren: Agreed, but we better stop. There are a lot of cool features analyzing the show's importance, but on a much less complex note, I'm wondering how someone could not like "Seinfeld," or, more precisely, like it less than another little show that was on around the same time. I think this is what people are talking about when they gush over "Friends." Lily: Totally. In 2013, people still pick their nose and masturbate. This is not an endorsement of Friends. In the early days, Seinfeld tried to have recurring plot lines, but that never quite worked out. Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. Friends is easily translatable and therefore more influential. In the blink of an eye, all of these characters were ten years younger. The amount of time today that Friends has been off the air is equal to the amount of time that The Dukes of Hazzard had been off the air when Friends debuted. Homer Bufflekill. Even now, 15 years after Seinfeld went dark ("The Finale" aired on May 14, 1998), it remains the most re-watchable show on television. It's a security blanket after a long day. Unfortunately, the 2013 of me feels sorry for Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Chandler, Monica and Tribbiani, who will forever be stuck on an endless loop somewhere between 1994 and 2004. Also the cast of friends is a younger looking group that people young and old can relate to. This. Part of HuffPost Entertainment. "Seinfeld" offers up a kind of cynical view of that version of adulthood that skewers the lesson-teaching nonsense of the traditional sappy sitcom, whereas, even in its more offbeat moments, "Friends" kind of runs with this moral about, well, friends being the most important thing. Three decades on from its TV debut, the effects of Seinfeld 's inspired take on nothingness remain quite obviously ingrained in the mainstream. Seinfeld doesn’t push the jokes with canned laughter and that makes all the difference. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote! I think that Seinfeld clearly held the edge during its original run and in syndication, where it was the higher rated show on NBC and subsequently … Seinfeld's biggest mistake with "The Finale" was thinking that we cared about what happened to Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. https://ew.com/article/2016/05/19/er-friends-seinfeld-top-10-ratings-1996 Is one REALLY better than the other? The Commentary. "Seinfeld" dealt with a lot of those same issues we saw on "Friends," but in a way that was was maybe more detached. That was startling to watch. Seinfeld vs. Friends: Breaking Down the Economics of Two Beloved ’90s Sitcoms. I watched this episode, too, which felt as every bit a relic of 1994 as the prior episode had felt a relic of 2004. It’s been 15 and 20 years, respectively, since the last two sitcoms, Friends and Seinfeld, capable of generating 20 million viewers on a weekly basis have stopped producing new episodes.However, the Friends vs. Seinfeld wars continue. 21. Predictable in the sense that all good television shows will eventually evoke nostalgia. I also realize this isn't a unique or particularly notable opinion to express, since most people who have seen the last episode of Seinfeld share it. 10 Answers. I mean, there are plenty of reasons that they emerge as the Coke and Pepsi foils of '90s sitcoms, but why we like one or the other boils down to a nexus of factors that probably says more about us than it does about "Seinfeld" or "Friends.". Newsletters may offer personalized content or advertisements. Lauren: So, then I think it boils down to what you need in order to process these tougher realities. In a lot of ways, it taught us how to cull through the moors of relationships. But it took me back to 2004, just a few months before I moved to New York City. Because I am lazy and it was late and I wanted to watch something that had the semblance of comfort food, I changed the channel to Nick@Nite -- which was airing a rerun of "Friends. ), and we also see other scenarios played to provoke feeling rather than laughter like later in the series when Monica/Chandler find out they can't have children. I like Friends better. They can be offbeat or have outright dark shit buried under the stuff that makes them great comic figures (like being kind of relieved that, say, your fiancee died via envelope). It was. There is as you say real warmth in it but it is reflective of our zeitgeist that our friendships are so shallow. Set in 1994, Jerry and his friends are about to meet his girlfriend's friends for the first time. Here in New York City, a local television station reruns two episodes of Seinfeld every night starting at 11 p.m. -- and I'm pretty sure something similar happens almost everywhere in the United States. As Friends hits its 25th anniversary, there’s something we’re all still trying to decide about the hit sitcom.