If Himym would've been 5-6 seasons without the moneymaking garbage that came in the last seasons, it had a chance to beat Friends. Maybe it's just for nostalgic reasons, but I liked Friends from start to finish.
You've got camels and berserks, what else do you need in life. Now, the question here is then: Camels or Berserks.
I have never watched Friends, so can't vote. HIMYM was really good in the beginning, but definitely too long in the end, and the very end is too depressingly realistic for my liking.
The question was Friends vs How I met your mother, not "what is the the best comedy series/sitcom".
So mentioning any other show than those two seems a bit odd (but Scrubs would win easy Kappa).
For me I like both equally.
I've never watched Friends entirely from beginning to end, only ever random episodes on the telly, (pretty sure I've watched 90% of the show by now anyway 11 )
HIMYM I did watch back to back (binged watched first 4 seasons in 1 week ) and I agree that the last 2-3 season were very dreary.
When I grew up in the 90's Friends was huge yet I never watched any episode. I didn't get why the show was so popular but then the TV channels I had access too were only broadcasting the show dubbed in French (you read right: dubbed - the French dub everything).
When I was finally able to understand English and to stream TV shows online to bypass the limitations of my country TV channels, I discovered HIMYM. I fell in love with the show real hard. I binged the first seasons like crazy to catch up with the show. The last seasons were quite painful though...
A few years later I got Netflix and I could finally watch Friends in a proper fashion. For a long time I didn't want to watch it because I felt that it would test my loyalty towards HIMYM. I disregarded Friends because I had been told that HIMYM was better (you know... on 9gag). Yet I proved myself wrong when I started to watch Friends. I could understand the jokes. I was around the same age as Ross and the gang. I could really relate to some of what they went through. I still do. And when the show ended, I honestly cried. I cried not only because the last scene was sad, but because I wanted more. I was sad there would be no more episodes to watch and that I had to "say goodbye" the characters that had become my friends, somehow. I cried at the end of HIMYM the first time around but that was only because I liked the ending, period. When I rewatched HIMYM though, the ending really frustrated me.
I think that how we perceive those sitcoms really depends on our life experience. I would say that HIMYM is a bit more "childish" because Teddy and his friends keep acting like teens in some aspects: smoking pot, binge drinking, playing lazer-tag, etc. I liked the Robin-Ted couple at first because I thought that they had a good dynamic. However when I discovered for myself what a truly healthy relationship was, they baffled me (the Ross-Rachel dynamic is not much better by the way).
A classic for me remains The Big Bang Theory. I liked the characters from the start. I like Chuck Lorre's work in general (Two and a Half Men before Charlie's death is damn enjoyable). I get all the criticism around BBT. I understand all of the controversy. However I can't help but laugh and have a good time with the characters. I also feel they'd be my friends. I ranked amongst the "geeky loosers" at school. It doesn't bother that they make me laugh the way they do. I'm kinda depressed nonetheless by the Leonard-Penny long-term dynamic. But I think that sitcoms quite poorly describe relationships in general. That is not specific to BBT, we have that in Friend and HIMYM too (except for the Teddy-Tracy couple, that is nothing but brilliant!). However, now that Young Sheldon is being broadcasted, and considering the quality of that spin-off show, I'd say that BBT is officially outdated.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.