# Seinfeld or Friends? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2019, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204 "2019-08-25T07:43:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/1 "2019-08-25T07:43:09Z")
Which do you prefer between the two? Myself, I like both but have a clear preference for _Friends_. This is for people who like one or the other or both. If you can’t stand either, then please move along, nothing to see here. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/2 "2019-08-25T09:26:00Z")
Neither show appealed to me, but I absolutely can’t stand Jerry Seinfeld. So if forced to choose, I guess it would have to be Friends. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/3 "2019-08-25T10:01:29Z")
I like both a lot, though while Friends is probably more consistent, its jokes are extremely formulaic. Seinfeld does have more duff episodes, but watching the first few seasons lays down the backstory which the mid/late seasons play off, to great effect. So for a casual viewer Friends is better as each episode is comfortably similar, but Seinfeld is better in its entirety. Also, while both handle 20/30-somethings’ rites of passage, Seinfeld’s characters are full-blooded (if petty, mean, ridiculous, etc.). The Friends are all weirdly childlike and/or neutered. It’s hard to believe that even Joey actually follows through on his relentless sex-talk. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/4 "2019-08-25T10:29:20Z")
_ **Seinfeld** _, hands down. I watched the first five minutes of a \*\*\*Friends \*\*\*episode the other day (I was getting ready to take my cat to the vet and couldn’t be bothered to change the channel) and couldn’t believe how sophomoric it was: lame joke after lame joke, all followed by the most annoying canned laughter ever. It was a relief to get out of the house! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/5 "2019-08-25T11:16:37Z")
The shows were not in the same league. Friends was the Seinfeld Triple A affilliate. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/6 "2019-08-25T13:04:52Z")
I could never get into Friends, even though I was squarely in its target demographic. 100% Seinfeld for me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/7 "2019-08-25T13:12:08Z")
Love Seinfeld; never got into Friends. Different types of humor, and I vastly preferred the former. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/8 "2019-08-25T13:12:51Z")
Never cared for either. _Seinfield_ was pretty much unwatchable (especially when Jason Alexander was involved. Every time I give it another chance, I turn it off after five minutes. Even the most famous joke (Kramer’s "I’m out’) – which was very funny on paper – was botched in the execution. _Friends_, OTOH, could be funny, but never really worked as a whole. It was a decent time-waster, but not anything more. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/9 "2019-08-25T13:32:13Z")
_Friends_ was just stupid. _Seinfeld_ was supposed to be “revolutionary” because it didn’t have typical sit-com plot lines (which was good), but the jokes themselves were still typical sit-com jokes. (Seinfeld was a stand-up comedian, so it was pretty much the same old tired stand-up comedy style of jokes.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/10 "2019-08-25T13:52:42Z")
Seinfeld, no contest. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/11 "2019-08-25T13:53:34Z")
Could the poll _be_ anymore lopsided? I mean, _what’s the deal?_ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/12 "2019-08-25T13:58:48Z")
I liked _Friends_, couldn’t stand _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/13 "2019-08-25T14:13:18Z")
_Seinfeld_ was certainly the more innovative show conceptually, but the characters were such relentless assholes that I could never really get into it. Also, as someone said in another thread, that slap-bass thing they’d do for every scene transition quickly got to be like nails on a chalkboard. With that said, for me only the first four seasons or so of _Friends_ were worth watching. I completely lost interest around the time Ross got involved with the annoying British lady and Chandler hooked up with Monica. So, _Friends_ by a nose, although I’m really done with both of them. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/14 "2019-08-25T14:23:01Z")
‘Seinfeld’ for me, despite none of the characters being at all likeable. Great writing made for great humor. ‘Friends’ comes off to me as yet another cliche and inane sitcom. This: "\* I watched the first five minutes of a Friends episode the other day (I was getting ready to take my cat to the vet and couldn’t be bothered to change the channel) and couldn’t believe how sophomoric it was: lame joke after lame joke, all followed by the most annoying canned laughter ever.\* Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/15 "2019-08-25T14:27:36Z")
Seinfeld had some funny season and some very funny episodes. The fact the characters were not very likable leaves it out of my top sitcom grouping. I think Friends was stupid and dumb and never liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/16 "2019-08-25T14:33:21Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The shows were not in the same league. Friends was the Seinfeld Triple A affilliate. Agreed. This isn’t even a fair fight. A closer match-up would be Friends vs. Saved by the Bell. They’re kind of the same show to me. Zach and Slater are like Chandler and Ross. Kelly and Jessie are like Monica and Rachel. And Screech is like a Phoebe/Joey love child. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/17 "2019-08-25T14:41:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The fact the characters were not very likable leaves it out of my top sitcom grouping. I didn’t find the characters nearly as unlikable as everyone else has. Hell, I didn’t even notice they were unlikable until all the commentary I’ve read on the Dope many years after the end of the series. I guess what does that say about me as a person? 🙂 Then again, I love sitcoms like _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ where the characters are very obviously unlikable. I mean, I hang out with likable people, so, for me, it’s more fun to watch that which I am not as familiar with. But, seriously, I never really got the whole Seinfeld-characters-are-a-bunch-of-sociopaths thing. They had their quirks, but I never really found them particularly unlikable. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/18 "2019-08-25T14:57:21Z")
Seinfeld by far, they don’t even belong in the same conversation. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/19 "2019-08-25T15:21:23Z")
Ive seen every episode of _Seinfeld_ many times; some I’ve loved, others not so much. I tried to watch just one episode of _Friends_, but had to turn it off, it was just dumb. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/20 "2019-08-25T15:27:24Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > Could the poll _be_ anymore lopsided? I mean, _what’s the deal?_ I saw what you did there. 😉 For me, it’s _Seinfeld_ all the way. I could watch a rerun for the 100th time and still enjoy it. I’ve never watched even a single episode of _Friends_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204.md?page=2)