Wildly Uncanny Similarities Between 'Friends' And 'Seinfeld'

It was the sitcom that defined the 1990s – a hip series about New York Gen Xers that had millions of fans tuning in at its peak. When you read that sentence, we’re guessing you immediately thought of Friends. But we could equally be describing Seinfeld – a show that predated Friends by five years. And on closer inspection, it seems that Friends may have “borrowed” from its predecessor in more than a few ways. Don’t believe us? Well, just take a look at these 20 examples of when things were just a little bit too similar.

20. Their characters both hang out at similar spots

Just to be clear, we’re not saying that Friends is a carbon copy of Seinfeld. Though the latter series’ creator certainly seems to think that way! During a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jerry Seinfeld called Friends a version of his show only “with better looking people.”

But this observation isn’t just reserved for the actors on screen. In both shows, the characters have their own similar hangouts where they can relax and unwind – Monk’s Café in Seinfeld and Central Perk in Friends. And as Seinfeld rightly pointed out, it seems that only one of these venues was designed with aesthetics in mind.

19. Both shows have unreasonable neighbors

“Hello, Newman.” Has there ever been a line uttered with more contempt? For eight seasons of Seinfeld, Newman shares a hall with Jerry and their mutual disdain for each fuels some of the show’s best moments. So, that being the case, it makes sense that the cast of Friends have a character like Newman, too.

Living below Monica and Rachel’s apartment is Mr. Heckles – a belligerent curmudgeon who constantly exasperates his neighbors with exaggerated complaints of noise. Like Newman, Heckles serves only to boil the main casts’ blood. But alas, he doesn’t have the same impact as his Seinfeld counterpart and – spoiler alert – is killed off after only four episodes.