September 26, 20195 yr Seinfeld was never really big over here (UK) from what I remember, wheres Friends was HUGE. From what I've seen of Seinfeld the characters are incredibly irritating wheres in Friends they really balance each other out. Don't think they would be as lovable if they were all like Monica or all like Ross etc but the mix just works really well. As I said in a previous post on Seinfeld’s lack of success in the UK... I've heard people say Seinfeld is too "American" or it's too "Jewish", and they're such lazy assumptions! It's no more American than say Friends, Cheers, Frasier, Roseanne, Will & Grace or any other American sitcom for that matter. Poor scheduling by the BBC was the main reason why it never really took off in the UK. Seinfeld did have success in other countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. I'm convinced Seinfeld would have been very popular here if it was aired on Channel 4 and was given a good time slot like all the other big American sitcoms had in the '90s. And this is how Bal described the genius of Seinfeld... You could do worse than it! It's very eccentric and absurd at times and the concept is 'mundane everyday events turned up to the extreme/on their head' but it's hilarious and witty and very smart with its humour. It also lends itself to a fair few ideas that appear in Friends. Not the most loveable of casts but that's the point! They are everymen, people next door; flawed, useless, deranged at times - VERY relatable. A wittier, more eccentric and 'alternate' Friends. what is a seinfeld? Seinfeld is an American live-action sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld for NBC. The show stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, and mostly focuses on his personal life with a handful of friends and acquaintances, including best friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), friend and former girlfriend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and neighbor across the hall Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Seinfeld is set predominantly in an apartment building in Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. It is often described as being "a show about nothing", as many of its episodes are about the minutiae of daily life. Seinfeld was produced by West-Shapiro Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment and ran from 1989 to 1998. In syndication, the series is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. It was largely written by David and Seinfeld with script writers who included Larry Charles, Peter Mehlman, Gregg Kavet, Carol Leifer, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan O'Keefe, Charlie Rubin, Marjorie Gross, Alec Berg, Elaine Pope, and Spike Feresten. A favorite among critics, the series led the Nielsen ratings in seasons six and nine, and finished among the top two (with NBC's ER) every year from 1994 to 1998. Seinfeld is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms of all time. It has been ranked among the best television shows of all time in publications such as Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and TV Guide. The show's most renowned episodes include "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Parking Garage", and "The Contest". In 2013, the Writers Guild of America voted it the No. 2 Best Written TV Series of All Time (second to The Sopranos). E! named the series the "Number 1 reason the '90s ruled", and quotes from numerous episodes have become catchphrases in popular culture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld
September 26, 20195 yr you showed so much promise with brit in your sig :( Not a fan of Seinfeld, Kye? (I don’t actually understand these type of people tbh) :lol: Not that there’s anything wrong with that...
February 21, 20205 yr Friends, the greatest sitcom EVER and rivalled ONLY by Will and Grace, is BACK!!! :cheer: :cheer:
February 21, 20205 yr Well, it's a reunion special with the cast discussing it rather than an actual new episode.
February 21, 20205 yr Yes, but it will take place on the actual set! That's how Will and Grace came back - and it would still be on the air if not for Debra falling out with and coming for Meghan. Friends is basically BACK!
February 22, 20205 yr Ranking Friends and Will & Grace as the two best sitcoms though :mellow: :wacko:
February 22, 20205 yr Hard to really care about this considering five of them reunited a few years ago for some tribute show and they've all discussed Friends to death for fifteen years. David Schwimmer literally just got asked about it AGAIN on This Morning last week, while Jennifer Aniston played a 'quotes' game about it on Graham Norton a few months ago too. Them being questioned about Friends has been pretty relentless and I feel like we've heard everything a million times already.
February 22, 20205 yr I feel like Friends is actually more popular in the UK these days than in America. I've started listening to a Friends podcast and they always talk about the fact that when Friends finished in the US, that was it, it dtopped airing regularly until Netflix brought it back - whereas in the UK it kept airing for like a decade on E4 and now still airs on is it Comedy Central? Its a very comforting show tbh if you can look over the bits that haven't aged as well.
February 22, 20205 yr I feel like Friends is actually more popular in the UK these days than in America. I've started listening to a Friends podcast and they always talk about the fact that when Friends finished in the US, that was it, it dtopped airing regularly until Netflix brought it back - whereas in the UK it kept airing for like a decade on E4 and now still airs on is it Comedy Central? Its a very comforting show tbh if you can look over the bits that haven't aged as well. Friends has always been repeated regularly on NBC since syndication, and is currently airing on Nick at Nite, PHL17 (Pennsylvania and New Jersey), MTV and TBS. That said, you’re probably right about it being more popular in the UK than in the US. Friends has always been the biggest import from America, in terms of cultural impact and ratings. In the US, it’s more even. There was more competition back in the ‘90s. Arguably, the likes of Seinfeld, Cheers and The Simpsons had more cultural impact and bigger ratings than Friends did in its peak. I agree though, Friends is a very cosy show. That’s why it has such massive appeal, despite some of its shortcomings. Edited February 22, 20205 yr by Seinfeld
February 23, 20205 yr Im really looking forward to the reunion, in a way i hope they never do a new episode as i think it is such a huge legacy show that it could never match the original run.
April 17, 20214 yr I sometimes watch one of the later seasons and always think of it as 'fairly recent' then I remember they were filmed in like 2002 and 2003 and it's 2021. :lol: Even the likes of Season 4 and 5 seem like they were much more recent culturally and fashion wise than the late 90's in which they were filmed. When you see Season 1 and 2 you notice how old fashioned everything is, though.
May 24, 20214 yr Is it an actual episode? The main cast revisit the sets of the original show (such as the Friends apartments, the Central Perk coffee shop, and the Friends water fountain), meet with guests who appeared on the show as well as celebrity guests, do table reads and re-enactments of older Friends episodes, and share behind-the-scenes footage. HRXVQ77ehRQ
May 24, 20214 yr In a way im glad its not a new episode as i just dont think it would work for some reason, i still rewatch Friends and i often feel like its in the now so i am happy to have it that way, from the clips i have seen of the reunion it looks good and there is plenty to look forward to.
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