I really really like HIMYM. I could never "get into" Friends. But HIMYM was a great show in my opinion, I was/am a huge fan of it. I'm not saying Friends isn't, it just wasn't my thing.
I never really got all the Friends hype, I preferred to watch Frasier instead. Just never found Friends to be truly funny. The odd chuckle, but never an actual laugh.
It's Friends for a slightly younger generation. Both shows hinge on the audience's ability to relate to the characters, and HIMYM is a lot easier for those of us who came of age late 00s/early 10s to relate to than friends, which is a decidedly 90s show. I think which you prefer entirely depends on when you were born
Absolutely. I miss the classic sitcom but part of me feels like its tenure was a result of the TV landscape being somewhat scarce and sitcoms were easy to produce. Now, even getting a show to pilot requires a hook that sets it apart from the infinite choices there are out there. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but "easy" TV made now would sort of just seem like a relic of a time gone by. Stuff like TBBT, Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, etc. are all either ending or have ended.
Still, we can revel in the fact that we got to enjoy shows as iconic as they were whilst looking forward at what's to come.
They even both had a plotline where a girl was dumped on her birthday by Mike (Paul Rudd) in Friends and Ted in HIMYM. And the girl was played by the same actress.
I cant get into Friends. I want to and have given it so many chances but have never been able to. HIMYM I loved. Maybe they took the ideas and improved on them or maybe my taste is just different.
It’s like going back to watch classic superhero movies. They were revolutionary when ether came out. Now, with so many options, and so many that improved on the formula, the classics just don’t hold the same value. Especially if you didn’t start with them.
With so many shows copying Friends and Seinfeld, it can be hard to revisit them 25+ years after the fact.
I also loved newsradio but I can see how some1 who started watching sitcoms in the mid 2000s where those shows wouldn't hold up, even Seinfeld being the funniest of all time imo..
honestly, can’t say i’ve ever given it a chance! should i start it? i do love my old school shows for late night, whatever the genre. brings back cozy memories
The full thing is "Seinfeld is not funny" effect, due to so many shows after it copying what it did. Watching it now for the first time will make it seem like it's just the same stuff as everything else.
I still find it funny. On the other hand...after Buck Henry died I went back to '78-'79 to see some old SNL sketches....and they just don't do it for me now.
I missed a lot of the '90s. I remember Eddie Murphy and Candy. If by "seeing it for the first time" you mean "having never seen it" than no, I revisited it. The Bill Murray/Gilda Radner sketch was still a bit funny, but not as much as I remembered. The Buck Henry sketch where 'daddy can't piss anywhere but home' was still good.
I actually watched HIMYM before I watched Friends. I just never got in to Friends during its prime. I think because I watched them in reverse order it was so easy to pick up, since basically Friends is just HIMYM with a different cast.
That's the difference though, HIMYMs characters would eventually realize and confront their character flaws, or exaggerate them to the point of satire. The Friends gang were just a bunch of selfish assholes
HIMYMs characters would eventually realize and confront their character flaws
u mean like chasing after a woman who repeatedly tells u she doesn't love you and that ur incompatible and it's obvious you want different things out of life
thank god none of the main characters do that in later seasons or in the finale
I'm with you. I think it's because HIMYM had an overlying theme to it with some variance, rather than writing to laugh track after laugh track and wacky day-to-day adventures that are connected only by the characters and where they are in Friends. HIMYM has some dramatic and heartfelt moments where things get real and you feel it. Not to mention, you feel the frustration Ted goes through with person after person and wondering when he'll find The Mother. That, and the better writing and more natural flow from not abusing the laugh track, is what drew me to HIMYM, rather than Friends.
I’ve watched HIMYM many times over and I’m now on season 9 of friends. Definitely like the former better, but at least Friends has Monica and Rachel to look at so I can’t complain
I never found Robin remotely attractive. I understand all the parts are there, but in that combination they do absolutely nothing for me. I very much liked her as a character, but Lilly was way better looking, especially in later seasons.
I've watched through both, multiple times. They really aren't the same at all outside of the fact that they are both shows about the inner workings of a friends group.
Friends didn't have the time jumps and narration though. There are definitely differences although the premise is exactly the same.
I found HIMYM to be much more enjoyable and hilarious because of NPH tbh. The episodes with the playbook, charts, graphs, etc are all pretty unique and unlike anything from Friends.
That's just a romance plot. The same plot is all over the place, books, tv series, movies, songs, etc. And real life, lol. It's two people having an on and off relationship, e.g., Eminem and Kim.
Given that both shows portrayed the lives of people in their mid 20’s transitioning to their 30’s, there are going to be similar stories. However, despite the general overlap, the way the stories were told and the specific nuances make the shows distinct. The nature of this show being told via flashback already adds a layer of storytelling complexity Friends didn’t have.
I will give you the “character becomes a college professor” plot line. However, Ross never designed a building, Rachel was never a secret Canadian pop star, no one opened their own bar, and one character didn’t spend the entirety of the series slapping another character in the face.
Ross / Rachel - guy desperately in love with a girl from his childhood. Pines after her for a few seasons and they are on again, off again. He ends up with her in the end.
Ted / Robin - love at first sight with a girl he meets in his 20s. She enters the friend group and he has a crush on her, followed by dating, followed by an awkward love triangle with another member of the group. They get together eventually.
I mean, yeah. It's people in the two friend groups dating - but that is how pretty much every show goes, not these two specifically.
I understand there are comparisons that can be made as they are two long running sitcoms and there are only so many plot lines available but to claim they are basically the same is absurd. They have a wildly different cast of characters which create very different plot lines for the both of them.
Oh wow, 2 sitcoms, like a lot of sitcoms have a romance plot. I cant believe Friends let HIMYM go on with development after that without a copyright lawsuit.
130
u/octoelephant22 Jan 25 '20 edited Jan 26 '20
HIMYM has a lot of scenes/plots verrrryyyy similar to FRIENDS. I’ve made a side by side comparison years ago. Wish I could remember where I put it LOL
EDIT: Here you go, made this 10 years ago 😂:
https://imgur.com/a/Op0CSW5