I like them both very much, but Seinfeld’s first season or two were pretty uneven, and I found Friends to be consistently funny from start to finish.
Seinfeld by a mile. I’ve never watched an entire episode of Friends. I am kind of a fan of Matt LeBlanc though, he was great in Episodes.
I like 'em both, but if I were on Death Row and had to choose, “Seinfeld” is my choice.
Seinfeld. Friends is just an average cliched sitcom that hasn’t aged well.
Voted for Seinfeld. There’s lot of great quotes still in use (“I’m out!” “Moops” “Not that there’s anything wrong with that”) but I can’t think of too many from Friends.
1000% for Seinfeld. (I admit I loathe Friends more than any other tv show I’ve ever seen, and that includes Fox News.)
Seinfeld, by a mile. It was the I Love Lucy of the nineties.
Friends is 100% raw sewer garbage.
Seinfeld isnt the best, but it is at least in consideration for top 10 best shows ever.
Friends.
I loathe Seinfeld. Friends was a solidly executed if unoriginal sitcom.
Seinfeld was so innovative for its time and there have been many shows that wanted to be like it, that I think sometimes people forget how original it was at the time.
That said Jerry Seinfeld, even from the beginning of the show, and as a person seems like an arrogant prick, but there was something about him I always found funny.
I’m convinced that Curb Your Enthusiasm was what Seinfeld always wanted to be, but being on basic cable and the time period couldn’t be that risqué.
Larry David is one of the funniest guys ever in the context of just his contrarian nature, way of speaking, and whole manner, though he was never an exceptional stand-up comic, I doubt he really had much interest in stand-up. After watching Curb Your Enthusiasm I’m convinced that Seinfeld’s whole schtick was really sort of lifting from Larry David’s personality, even though George was the character that was supposed to emulate him.
I don’t think Friends deserves to even really be in contention, it’s just a cliched, pap, filler kinda show, Everyone Loves Raymond is a similar sort of bland, unoriginal show, where every episode feels the same.
I voted Seinfeld for many of your reasons, but I think (a) Friends preceded Raymond, and I never identified with Raymond. He was married, inlaws, blah-blah-blah. Despite not living in NYC, we accepted that we didn’t live in NYC, but had many of the same issues. Brothers and sisters. Work. Significant others. It was the single life, and as they started to pair off, we did, too.
Seinfeld wins versus Friends, because it appeals to Gen X and Boomers. Everyone loves Raymond is beloved by Boomers, and Friends is definitely Gen X.
This thread inspired me to go back and start watching Seinfeld again. I’m up to S2E2, “The Pony Remark”. Early in the episode he’s talking to his father about his softball game, and when I saw this, I just had to hit pause and grab a screenshot! 
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.
Well, I’m a Boomer, and I prefer Friends. ELR is not beloved by Boomers; Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts are what Boomers loved about ELR.
Seinfeld is one of the best sitcoms ever made, as a whole.
Friends is disposable garbage with no actual humor.
I find it hard to believe that a comparison is even being made. Seinfeld (the show) was revolutionary, while Friends was a poorly executed shameless wannabe. I still rewatch Seinfeld occasionally, though not every episode was stellar, and I find some of the supposedly highly rated early shows to be stilted and annoying. But they really got into their stride after a few seasons. I just tend to avoid the occasional shows during the height of their popularity where they sometimes become annoyingly self-important, as if some quip on the show is going to launch a new cultural meme. I do know what you mean about Jerry Seinfeld, though. Something about him really grates on the nerves. Yet somehow on the show, his lackadaisical attitude, practically wallowing in his inability to act and snickering at his own jokes, somehow just made it funnier.
My thoughts exactly.
I may be mistaken, but I’m detecting an ever-so-slight preference for Seinfeld. A good show, but it was no Friends.
That’s good. Because Friends is sewer garbage.
I’ve found Friends and Seinfeld both to be the comfort food of television. Like choosing between meatloaf with mashed potatoes or pepperoni pizza with a pitcher of Coke. Both remind me of happy times from my youth, both offer memories of satisfaction that are greater than the reality they deliver when consumed today, and neither leave me wanting more. Neither can be judged too harshly nor dwelt upon for too long.
And with that, it’s Seinfeld by a country mile.
Dunno, but for me, Friends may feel fresher, because apart from a single episode watched in a Kuala Lumpur hotel room in 1999 (before the TV set literally blew up and we were left without one), I’d not watched it before returning to the US three years ago.
I never missed either one when they were on, and I hated the last seasons of both. So it’s hard to differentiate. But the way the Friends cared for each other showed. They weren’t just foils for each other’s set-up lines the way the Seinfeldians were. They felt like real people. The scene that came to mind was the group of them diving on Rachel to put the drops in her eyes.