These two programmes must be the most popular comedies in recent years, both are about a group of people, their friendships and relationships, who meet up in key locations and go through various life scenarios.  There is a synergy amongst these two groups of people and when you delve into these two television programmes a bit deeper, similarities are uncovered:

Smelly Cat versus Soft Kitty

These are songs which are sung in the series, both about cats.  Both feature on and off throughout the entire series.

Ross and Rachel versus Penny and Leonard

Two beautiful women and two nerdy boyfriends.  Ross secretly had a crush on Rachel since she became friends with Monica at school, he chased after her in the initial series but she was oblivious to this, likewise, Leonard liked Penny from the moment he saw her and she wasn’t aware either. Both Ross and Leonard were doctors with PhDs and both Penny and Rachel worked as waitresses, Penny in the Cheesecake Factory and Rachel in Central Perk. Both couples went to Las Vegas and were married, even though Rachel and Ross were divorced not long after.

Gunther versus Stuart

Both are background characters and both work in places where the characters frequent, (although the girls from the Big Bang Theory don’t visit the comic shop as often as the girls from Friends visit Central Perk!). Whilst Gunther had a huge crush on Rachel, Stuart has shown interest in all of the girls from the Big Bang. They are both slightly depressing characters, Gunther being a failed actor and Stuart forever struggling with his comic shop.

Both shows have the perfect seat

When Rachel moves in with Joey, she asks him to move his recliner to which Joey says, “It is the exact equal distance from the bathroom to the kitchen and it’s at the perfect angle so you don’t get any glare coming off of Stevie!” 

And Sheldon has his reasons for his spot: “In the winter, that seat is close enough to the radiator to remain warm, and yet not so close as to cause perspiration. In the summer, it’s directly in the path of a cross breeze created by opening windows there and there. It faces the television at an angle that is neither direct, thus discouraging conversation, nor so far wide as to create a parallax distortion. I could go on.”

The Jealous Girlfriend

In Friends, Ross met and fell for Emily who took a dislike to Rachel, forbidding him to have contact with her, unfortunately Ross says Rachel’s name at the alter making matters a whole lot worse.  Then we have Priya in the Big Bang Theory who goes out with Leonard and changes the way he looks and also forbids him from seeing Penny.

And a few quick one liner similarities:

• Both Monica and Penny have no idea about their partner’s jobs.
• Howard/Rojesh and Chandler/Joey bromances.
• Both Penny and Rachel aren’t very good cooks.
• Bernadette once tried to seduce Howard when she was sick, as did Monica to Chandler when she had a streaming cold.
• Fat Monica versus Fat Leonard, Raj and Stuart.

 

Quote: What computer do you have? And please don’t say, “A white one.”

Sheldon Cooper