# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/41 "2019-08-26T05:11:25Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I think Friends has held up _much_ better because of its solid execution. Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow were comedically brilliant, and Jennifer Anniston and (the hated) David Schwimmer could reach down and put genuine emotion into the interminable Ross/Rachel story. > > Put it this way. The 10 best Seinfeld episodes are probably 300% better than the 10 best Friends episodes. But the 236 Friends episodes are better than the 173 Seinfeld episodes. > . . . I agree with this. Seinfeld had more dry wit, and more intellectual depth. Friends had more humanity, and more emotional depth. It’s apples and oranges. I happen to like both kinds of shows, but found Seinfeld vaguely exhausting, like I had to fight to stay in a good mood afterward. Friends put me in a better mood. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/42 "2019-08-26T05:26:56Z")
I liked \*Friends \*at the time, never liked \*Seinfeld \*(and absolutely \*\*\*loathe \*\*\*_Curb Your Enthusiasm_). Haven’t really seen much of either since. I also liked _Joey_, and _Episodes_, I think Matt LeBlanc’s comedy chops are undersold. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/43 "2019-08-26T11:31:35Z")
Love \*Seinfeld \*(the show \*and \*the comedian)and have really fond memories of watching \*Friends \*at the same time as everyone else and it was a fun thing to have in common. I think \*Seinfeld \*is the superior show in every way yet I find myself watching \*Friends \*reruns more often. Of course, I think they’re probably shown more often,but even when \*Seinfeld \*is on, I often pass it by. For the purposes of the poll, I vote _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/44 "2019-08-26T12:26:48Z")
I loved **Seinfeld** , watched every episode multiple times. I’ve never seen a complete episode of **Friends**. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/45 "2019-08-26T12:43:48Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > 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. This. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/46 "2019-08-26T12:47:29Z")
I’ve never seen _Friends_. When it first came on, I hated _Seinfeld_. A lot of it was because Jerry Seinfeld is such a horrible actor, always sniggering and glancing at the camera. I caught a few of the later episodes in reruns, and I found out the stories were actually pretty good. Even Jerry didn’t seem so irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/47 "2019-08-26T13:37:10Z")
I doubt that I could hang out with the _Friends_ for longer than 10 minutes. _Seinfeld_ and his cahoots, however, are very interesting and more in my league: Creative funny types looked down on by most people. ---
**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 26, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/48 "2019-08-26T13:40:18Z")
I will give Friends this: at the end of the final episode they used Jorma Kaukonen’s Embryonic Journey as the end credits rolled. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/49 "2019-08-26T14:27:55Z")
Friends, hands down. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/50 "2019-08-26T15:09:18Z")
Seinfeld, 100%. I have tried to watch Friends but it seems so flighty and vapid that I can’t take more than 5 minutes of it. The Seinfeld cast just resonates with me, the casting of George, Elaine, and Kramer is perfect. And I like the “show about nothing” vibe where it picks apart the little oddities in life. The way the plotlines often intersect at the end is great too. You can tell the writers really respected the old vaudville/sitcom/comedy standards but modernized and sometimes subverted them. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/51 "2019-08-26T15:19:30Z")
I have never been able to sit through an entire episode of _Seinfeld_. Within ten minutes, one or another of the characters is guaranteed to say or do something so annoying that I have to switch it off. _Friends_ is relatively inoffensive by comparison, but it was never brilliant. I used to watch it most weeks when it originally aired, but it hasn’t aged very well. I never watch the reruns. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/52 "2019-08-26T15:41:02Z")
I can watch 100 episodes of Seinfeld and never crack a smile. I can watch 100 seconds of Friends and laugh out loud multiple times. Friends by a mile. I’ve never actually understood the love for Seinfeld, it had just as many sitcom tropes (crazy characters, catchphrases etc.) as every other show, yet somehow it’s just vastly different. I always attributed it to that stuck-up better-than-yous watched Seinfeld (this board of course excluded :p), your average Joe watches Friends. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/53 "2019-08-26T16:35:34Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I always attributed it to that stuck-up better-than-yous watched Seinfeld (this board of course excluded :p), your average Joe watches Friends. I’m not sure about that. When Friends was on I thought it was the whitest, most yuppie show ever. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/54 "2019-08-26T17:08:46Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I always attributed it to that stuck-up better-than-yous watched Seinfeld (this board of course excluded :p), your average Joe watches Friends. > [@control-z](#): > > I’m not sure about that. When Friends was on I thought it was the whitest, most yuppie show ever. Both of them were white as white can be, but at least _Friends_ had Aisha Tyler show up in a handful of episodes as a girlfriend for both Ross and Joey. Friends was full of yuppie self-absorption. Seinfeld was full of hipster smugness. Take your pick. I liked them both, but I can look back and say that now. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/55 "2019-08-26T17:22:30Z")
_Friends_ is a good sitcom; _Seinfeld_ is a great one. I’ll watch either when aimlessly flipping channels. The difference is, I’ll watch _Friends_ if absolutely nothing better is on. But if an episode of _Seinfeld_ shows up, I’ll just go with it without bothering to search further. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/56 "2019-08-26T17:58:08Z")
I enjoying sitcoms and stand up comedy, but funny is a tricky thing. For example, I am shocked at how funny M.A.S.H. was at first, and how obsolete it seems to me now. I prefer _Seinfeld_ to _Friends_, although I have never been a great _Seinfeld_ fan. On the other hand, _Friends_ doesn’t make me laugh - I don’t feel it is a sitcom. I have watched _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ occasionally - I find it compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/57 "2019-08-26T19:57:09Z")
Mrs. Wheelz is an absolute Friends _nut._ Therefore, it’s on a lot at our house. You’d think I’d get sick of it, but somehow I don’t. I’ll watch an episode I’ve seen dozens of times already and still enjoy the writing and the performances. That says a lot, I think. Seinfeld was one of my favorites when it first aired, and I’ll still watch an occasional episode and enjoy it. But if I watch too many in too short a time, I find that I really need a break from those characters. So Friends wins by a nose. Incidentally, I’m surprised by the number of people here who love one and loathe the other. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/58 "2019-08-26T20:05:16Z")
I’ve seen every episode of _Seinfeld_ multiple times, and it still makes me laugh uncontrollably. Best comedy on TV ever. I’ve seen _Friends_ occasionally, and it’s a mediocre sitcom. I’ve never understood the appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/59 "2019-08-26T20:09:05Z")
The best Seinfeld episodes are the stuff of legends, but overall Friends is better. Moreso, I can’t watch Frieds reruns without much problems, but Seinfled is now unbearable to watch. ---
**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 26, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204/60 "2019-08-26T22:58:10Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I’ve seen every episode of _Seinfeld_ multiple times, and it still makes me laugh uncontrollably. Best comedy on TV ever. I don’t know if I’d go so far as GOAT, but I’ve certainly watched _Seinfeld_ more and more over the years than I did when it was on in first-run. For me, it’s aged wonderfully. I still find it as funny, if not funnier, than I did back then. Perhaps some of that is 90s nostalgia, I don’t know, but the humor still works for me, and it’s exactly up my alley. It’s one of the few sitcoms both me and my wife could agree on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-or-friends/839204.md?page=4)