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There will always be a kind of rivalry between Seinfeld and Friends. The two NBC sitcoms were very popular in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and in fact became some of the most popular of all time in the genre.
The two shows also overlapped on air for about four years between 1994 and 1998. That was when the final episode of Seinfeld aired, with Friends carrying on the mantle for about six years after that.
Both series are rated 8.9 according to rankings on IMDb. The Office – yet another sitcom on NBC – is the only one with a higher rating on the website (9).
Given their respective popularity, it is not at all surprising that Seinfeld and Friends were two of the most expensive sitcoms to film in history. The older show cost around $2 million per episode, while Friends took the day in that regard, with a budget of around $10 million per episode.
Seinfeld creator, comedian Jerry Seinfeld even once claimed that Friends copied his show. While there is no evidence to back that up, there are some things that make the latter inherently superior to Seinfeld.
What Did Jerry Seinfeld Say About ‘Friends’?
There are two instances of Jerry Seinfeld implying that Friends was pretty much a rip-off of Seinfeld. The first one was as far back as 2003, when he featured in an episode of the talk show On the Record with Bob Costas on HBO.
“Has Friends been on?” Seinfeld asked his host during the interview. When Costas answered in the affirmative, the comedian retorted: “Really? So they managed to steal it without seeing it!”
He would later reiterate the sentiment in 2016, albeit in a much more subtle and complimentary way. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Seinfeld suggested that Friends was basically the same concept as Seinfeld, only with a cast of more attractive actors.
“We thought, ‘They wanna do our show with better-looking people. That’s what they’re doing here.’ And we thought, ‘That should work!’” he said.
Friends and Seinfeld definitely follow similar storylines, as they are both about a group of best friends going about their lives in Manhattan, New York City. Their stylistic approaches were somehow different, however, with Seinfeld more focused on a satirical voice.
How Close Were The Cast Members Of ‘Seinfeld’ To Each Other?
One could imagine that after nearly a decade of working together, the cast of Seinfeld would be very tight-knit. As it turns out, on a personal level the actors from the show reportedly never really got to bond as friends on a personal level.
This is according to Jason Alexander, who played the character George Costanza. In his opinion, while there was not necessarily any bad blood among his colleagues, their relationship just wasn’t that deep.
The actor made the observation during an appearance on an Australian talk show called The Project on Network 10, as was reported on the Daily Mail.
“We were never social friends, we were work friends. We had very different lives,” Alexander revealed. The one colleague that he got to be close to away from the set of Seinfeld was Julia Louis Dreyfus, who portrayed the character Elaine Benes.
“Julia and I got pretty close because we were both the married ones, and when my wife and I were having my babies, she was having her babies. So we bonded over that stuff,” he continued.
The Cast Of ‘Friends’ Remain Close To This Day
Jason Alexander insisted that as soon as Seinfeld came to the end of its run on NBC, the cast members practically went their separate ways and barely stayed in touch afterwards.
“We hung out with each other at the show. We were workmates,” he explained. “After nine years, when the show ended, we kind of went, ‘Oh, bye, see ya!’ [Now] it’s the birthday emails, but we don’t call each other and go, ‘Oh, let’s have dinner!’”
It is in this that you could say Friends stands out heads and shoulders above Seinfeld. Unlike their counterparts from the older sitcom, the cast of Friends were not only close while they filmed the show, they have remained so all these years later.
Most prominently, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox enjoy a very tight and fun friendship. Aniston is the godmother to Cox’s daughter Coco, while Cox was the maid of honor at her friend’s 2015 wedding with Justin Theroux.
The cast of Friends constantly post about each other on social media, and demonstrated their close relationships once again during last year’s special reunion episode.
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