How I Met Your Mother vs Friends

How I Met Your Mother vs Friends

  • How I Met Your Mother has a better cast

    Votes: 21 48.8%
  • Friends had a better cast

    Votes: 14 32.6%
  • Both cast were equally as good

    Votes: 9 20.9%
  • How I Met Your Mother has better comedic writing

    Votes: 28 65.1%
  • Friends has better comedic writing

    Votes: 14 32.6%
  • Both's comedic writing were equally as good

    Votes: 2 4.7%

  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
On the one hand I love HIMYM and on the other I was never a fan of Friends so the choices were pretty easy for me... and it seems I'm in the majority. Hmm, I must re-evaluate my position ;)
 
HIMYM, both cast and writing. I liked Friends quite a bit but in retrospect and in comparison to HIMYM I find most of it's characters either annoying or unlikeable...
 
I don't know yet. HIMYM appeals to me with all of its continuity porn, but it all hinges on how they end it. If I'm channel flipping, I'll still watch Friends if I see it's on, but I can't guarantee the same for HIMYM yet.

Also, Scrubs eclipses both, in terms of humour and emotional connection. Neither Friends or HIMYM made me tear up, but Scrubs managed it twice.
 
Friends hasn't aged that well for a 90s sitcom (compared with Frasier, for example). HIMYM obviously doesn't have that issue right now, so it's impossible to compare them fairly. I prefer HIMYM myself, though. I can watch that show all day, but Friends gets annoying after 2-3 eps in a row (maybe it's just because Comedy Central always seems to have the same episodes on every time I watch it on there?).
 
I don't know yet. HIMYM appeals to me with all of its continuity porn, but it all hinges on how they end it. If I'm channel flipping, I'll still watch Friends if I see it's on, but I can't guarantee the same for HIMYM yet.

Also, Scrubs eclipses both, in terms of humour and emotional connection. Neither Friends or HIMYM made me tear up, but Scrubs managed it twice.

Well.. as with most shows the early part of Scrubs was awesome but got less so as the show progressed (with some exceptions). But the first 3 or 4 seasons are better than both other shows combined mainly due to the comedy which was completed by some truly sad moments.

Plus they had the most awesome supporting characters ever.. Ted, Todd and the Janitor were just hilarious and i had stomach aches several times for laughing so hard :lol:
 
Friends hasn't aged that well for a 90s sitcom.

I would beg to differ on that. Friends is still fresh even though it's first season aired 18 years ago. I don't know whether HIMYM will still be that fresh in 18 years time.

I don't think that the cast of HIMYM has the closeness that the cast of Friends had. The Friends cast were being paid different amounts in season 1 and season 2 before they decided to enter into collective bargaining for equal pay. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer had their pays reduced to match the lowest paid cast members.

I read that Jason Segel plan to leave HIMYM after this season to further his movie career and the cast of HIMYM still get paid different amounts after 8 seasons.
 
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Friends hasn't aged that well for a 90s sitcom.

I would beg to differ on that. Friends is still fresh even though it's first season aired 18 years ago. I don't know whether HIMYM will still be that fresh in 18 years time.

I don't think that the cast of HIMYM has the closeness that the cast of Friends had. The Friends cast were being paid different amounts in season 1 and season 2 before they decided to enter into collective bargaining for equal pay. Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer had their pays reduced to match the lowest paid cast members.

I read that Jason Segel plan to leave HIMYM after this season to further his movie career and the cast of HIMYM still get paid different amounts after 8 seasons.

I wouldn't read too much into that. The Friends salary thing is pretty much unique and shouldn't be a benchmark on how close a cast is.

A much better gauge for me would be to watch the gag/blooper reels for each show.. when people mess up or goof around you can really see how comfortable they are with each other and having seen them all for each show (yeah.. i love bloopers reels :p) i can say that each cast seems pretty much comfortable and close with each other (and HYMIM is far more racy at times :lol:).

As a contrast watch the gag reels for Community.. especially the ones from the later seasons and see how they react to Chevy Chase. You can feel that the others are not really including him in their antics that much and try to keep a distance.. anyone who's familiar with the background workings of the show knows why that may be the case.
 
Friends and as proof I offer this:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCIrSW7QZfU[/yt]


And for bloopers I offer my all time favorite blooper:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQicfUjVVqU[/yt]
 
I also think there is a bit of the age of the cast that I can relate too. I'm approximately the same age as the characters and went through life a bit like they did. Finding my way and love with my friends.
 
I also think there is a bit of the age of the cast that I can relate too. I'm approximately the same age as the characters and went through life a bit like they did. Finding my way and love with my friends.
That makes sense. I'm 29 now and was in my early/mid-teens when Friends was at its peak, so that could be one reason I relate to HIMYM more.
 
I also think there is a bit of the age of the cast that I can relate too. I'm approximately the same age as the characters and went through life a bit like they did. Finding my way and love with my friends.
That makes sense. I'm 29 now and was in my early/mid-teens when Friends was at its peak, so that could be one reason I relate to HIMYM more.

I think that's my situation, too. I was a teenager when Friends was on the air. It's series finale aired my freshman year of college. The characters in HIMYM are right around my age and are dealing with issues that I can relate to a lot better.
 
I wouldn't read too much into that. The Friends salary thing is pretty much unique and shouldn't be a benchmark on how close a cast is.

A much better gauge for me would be to watch the gag/blooper reels for each show.. when people mess up or goof around you can really see how comfortable they are with each other and having seen them all for each show (yeah.. i love bloopers reels :p) i can say that each cast seems pretty much comfortable and close with each other (and HYMIM is far more racy at times :lol:).

As a contrast watch the gag reels for Community.. especially the ones from the later seasons and see how they react to Chevy Chase. You can feel that the others are not really including him in their antics that much and try to keep a distance.. anyone who's familiar with the background workings of the show knows why that may be the case.

It does matter. For the Friends 6 main cast members to collectively bargain for equal pay does show how close they were. You don't see that from the cast of HIMYM even after 8 seasons and especially after Jason Segel intending to leave after this season.

The gag reels of Friends do show how close they were, and they even closer than the cast of HIMYM. They were close as a family.
 
I didn't say it doesn't matter just that it is a unique situation that was never repeated on any other show (that i know of).

It speaks for the Friends cast and their integrity to have pulled this off (especially from those who were about to earn more than their co-stars). However just because they did that doesn't mean that the cast of Mother is not as close.. just using the Friends salary thing to say other shows don't get along as well is a bit disingenious.

Segel is leaving because it's been 8 years, his character won't evolve much anymore and he's getting bored apparently.. i can understand that reasoning and certainly don't believe it's due to a bad atmosphere at the set.
 
I watched the new movie Written by, directed by, and starring Josh Radnor "Liberal Arts" and I am not completely sure what genre I had just watched. It was totally Zach Braff, just whining on about how nonplussing the universe is for no reason... The Olsen Twins YOUNGER sister was trying to seduce him and he was poorly trying to talk himself out of going along for the ride.

She was legal, it just a question of not being pervy, and not being that guy.

Unlike her sisters, this one seems to know how to eat.

Mazel tov!
 
The sheer warmth and, well, friendliness radiating from the Friends cast when they were on top of their form was quite something to behold. Off the top of my head, episodes like TOW All The Poker, TOW the Football, TOW the Videotape, and TOW Everyone Finds Out remain brilliant entertainment. There are many, many more. The show worked beautifully when it gave something for each Friend to do, while pulling them all round a central activity. So I think when working as an ensemble the Friends cast is better. Individually, the Mother cast are probably better actors, I suppose, but that's not the same thing. I also don't really find any of the Mother characters interesting, apart from Barney.

Writing-wise, they're just very different beasts so it's difficult to compare. Friends is more zippy one-liner oriented, Mother has those too but feels generally a bit more situational (Barney's role excepted). I prefer the Friends style of comedy, though could understand why someone might prefer the Mother style.

But yeah, overall, I never really got into HIMYM whereas still occasionally watch my Friends DVDs. In fact, I might just do that later tonight. :)
 
I also think there is a bit of the age of the cast that I can relate too. I'm approximately the same age as the characters and went through life a bit like they did. Finding my way and love with my friends.
That makes sense. I'm 29 now and was in my early/mid-teens when Friends was at its peak, so that could be one reason I relate to HIMYM more.

I think that's my situation, too. I was a teenager when Friends was on the air. It's series finale aired my freshman year of college. The characters in HIMYM are right around my age and are dealing with issues that I can relate to a lot better.

I guess I'm kind of an anomaly. I'm the same age as you RojoHen, I was starting my freshman year of college when Friends ended, but even though my current experiences match better with HIMYM, I don't find it as relateable for some reason. I guess, I just have a hard time seeing the characters as real people, it doesn't feel authentic. With the Friends cast I never for a minute got taken out of the story of their lives, it seemed like it really could have been happening.
 
That makes sense. I'm 29 now and was in my early/mid-teens when Friends was at its peak, so that could be one reason I relate to HIMYM more.

I think that's my situation, too. I was a teenager when Friends was on the air. It's series finale aired my freshman year of college. The characters in HIMYM are right around my age and are dealing with issues that I can relate to a lot better.

I guess I'm kind of an anomaly. I'm the same age as you RojoHen, I was starting my freshman year of college when Friends ended, but even though my current experiences match better with HIMYM, I don't find it as relateable for some reason. I guess, I just have a hard time seeing the characters as real people, it doesn't feel authentic. With the Friends cast I never for a minute got taken out of the story of their lives, it seemed like it really could have been happening.

Well, part of HIMYM is that we're being told these stories by Old Ted. Things are bound to feel "off" or "unrealistic" from time to time. Every character is a bit over-the-top in one way or another, but I find many aspects of them far more similar to me and my friends than anybody ever was on Friends.
 
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