Top 10 Sitcoms About Friends That Aren't "Friends"
"Friends" isn't the only sitcom about friends. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most memorable TV situational comedies surrounding friendship that are reminiscent of the TV Show “Friends.”
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00:00 So, um, Italian it is?
00:03 Italian!
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorable TV situational comedies
00:12 surrounding friendship that are reminiscent of the TV show Friends.
00:16 That's so sweet.
00:19 Thank you.
00:20 Number 10. Happy Endings
00:23 Happy birthday!
00:25 Hello!
00:28 I haven't been this happy since my bat mitzvah.
00:30 Can you sit down?
00:31 Don't mind if I do skis.
00:34 Set in the Windy City, this short-lived sitcom tells the story of Alex, Max, Penny, Brad, Jane, and Dave.
00:42 The show kicks off with them trying to figure out how to navigate their friend group's dynamic after one leaves the other at the altar.
00:49 You told me yourself that you don't even know if you still love him, and that he let himself go, and that...
00:54 that the sex was bad.
00:57 Hey, man! My nana's here.
00:59 With its interesting structure, lovable characters, and engaging storylines,
01:03 there was hardly a dull moment among this friend group throughout the show's three seasons.
01:08 Several attempts to reunite the original cast and revive the show, to some degree, haven't panned out, which is a shame.
01:15 Look, I'm sorry. I had to change the news cycle, like how I told everyone Penny was 53.
01:19 Oh, come on! No gasps on that!
01:24 We definitely miss seeing this eclectic bunch of friends on our screen, but we have our fingers crossed we haven't seen the last of them yet.
01:31 Number 9. The Big Bang Theory
01:34 Oh, baby, baby, don't get hooked on me.
01:40 I don't know what your odds are in the world as a whole, but as far as the population of this car goes, you're a veritable Mac Daddy.
01:48 Raj, Howard, Sheldon, and Leonard initially make up the core friend group of this sitcom,
01:54 which makes it interesting when a girl with average intelligence and above-average looks moves in across the hall.
02:00 She befriends the socially awkward geek squad, introducing them to the real world bit by bit as they grow from friends to family.
02:07 How do you know these things?
02:09 I go outside and I talk to people.
02:13 This show is chock-full of geniuses, which is what makes the addition of normal people and even those with slightly less than average intelligence interesting to the friend group.
02:23 We love watching them eat Chinese food on the couch, play video games, attempt social interactions, and grow into a heart-warmingly complex friend group.
02:33 I want you to know, in my way, I love you all.
02:42 Number 8. Will & Grace
02:44 To my Will, you are my hero and my soulmate, and I'm a better woman for loving you.
02:53 Grace is a straight interior designer living with her gay best friend, an attorney named Will,
03:01 and their friend group is rounded out by Jack and Karen as they all live their lives in NYC.
03:07 The relationship between these four makes for particularly funny and emotional moments.
03:12 Will and Grace in particular showed us what true platonic love looks like,
03:17 as they help one another to figure out what they want in their lives outside of their rock-solid friendship.
03:23 Okay, I know that I was a little freaked out before about waiting for Mr. Right, but it's a fantasy.
03:30 I mean, what am I waiting for? Some guy to ride up on a white horse?
03:35 We couldn't have been more ecstatic that this show was revived in 2017,
03:40 and we got to see that even years later, this friend group was exactly where they were supposed to be, together.
03:46 You ready for this?
03:48 100% no.
03:50 You're gonna be great. We are gonna be great.
03:55 Number 7. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
04:04 Anyone could be taken down at any moment, so, you know, no, I'm not happy right now.
04:09 Who could possibly be happy right now?
04:11 Who's ready to party? Time's up, time's up, time's up.
04:16 We don't know if we'd love or hate being friends with the gang at Paddy's Pub,
04:21 but we love watching them be the delinquent ne'er-do-wells that they are.
04:25 Dee, Mac, Frank, Charlie, and Dennis all bring their own individual personalities and quirks to the table.
04:31 He's into it. He's into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys wanna go grab some margaritas by the pool?
04:36 I do. I'm ready for some booze.
04:38 Me too.
04:40 They're all able to balance one another out perfectly, which helps them create a perfectly chaotic friendship.
04:50 Filled to the brim with dark humor and absurd scenarios, like inventing their own board games and selling their own gasoline,
04:57 everything about this show is humorous, fun, and way, way out there.
05:02 And the main friend group is no exception.
05:05 This is really unsafe, dude. Do not blow that fireball.
05:09 Whoa!
05:11 Wow. Okay, wow. I take back everything I just said. That was amazing.
05:15 Number six, the Golden Girls.
05:17 Oh, I'm sorry. I know it's awful, but I have this incredible sweet tooth.
05:21 What is it?
05:22 Cheesecake.
05:23 What kind?
05:24 Chocolate.
05:25 I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
05:28 Sometimes the best friendships in our lives happen during our golden years,
05:32 and Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia, and Rose are proof of that.
05:36 Through divorce, widowing, and happenstance, these four end up living under the same roof while in the later halves of their lives.
05:44 I'll just be baggage there. I know a place where you're needed.
05:48 Where?
05:51 Here. Rose, stay with me, honey.
05:56 This unconventional group of friends makes younger generations hope they can hold on to their close friends for life.
06:02 And they, of course, are totally relatable to the older generation who still holds their close friends tightly.
06:09 Their tight embrace in the finale, where they know it's time for the core four to split apart,
06:14 tells us all we need to know, and we thank them for being our friends.
06:18 Now we have a flight.
06:21 You'll always be my sisters.
06:26 Always.
06:29 Number 5. Cheers.
06:40 We've seen many shows about friends in which the group spends a majority of their time in a bar,
06:45 but this is one of the ones that does it best.
06:48 Afternoon, everybody.
06:49 No!
06:51 How you doing, Norm? What do you know?
06:53 Not enough.
06:54 Set in a bar in Boston, we're introduced to an island of misfit social drinkers who enjoy nothing more than sitting around with their friends,
07:01 having a beer, bonding through life's ups and downs.
07:04 Sam Malone runs the bar alongside colorful staff and endearing patrons.
07:09 Time goes by so fast. People move in and out of your life.
07:15 You must never miss an opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.
07:20 Watching this show feels like catching up with old friends who are with you through laughter and tears,
07:26 and reminds us that the simple things in life are the most important,
07:30 because don't we all just want to go where everybody knows our name?
07:34 I tell you, I'm the luckiest son of a bitch on Earth.
07:41 Number four, How I Met Your Mother.
07:43 Premiering a year after Friends ended, How I Met Your Mother has five main characters instead of six,
07:49 and took place in a bar rather than a coffee shop.
07:52 Oh, please. What does Carlos have that I don't?
07:55 A date tonight?
07:57 Oh, that's a tapery one. Play it again.
08:00 A date tonight?
08:02 I'm not sure I like her.
08:04 It also gives us as many laughs and tears as the friendship sitcoms that came before it.
08:09 Set in 2005, but told as a flashback from 2030,
08:13 Ted is on a quest for love while telling his future children about how he met their mother.
08:18 That was not the signal.
08:20 Yeah, Ted, we're not on you anymore.
08:22 To my fiancé.
08:24 To the future.
08:26 Do one hell of a night.
08:30 We're also introduced to his friend group, who go through their own trials and tribulations in love and life.
08:37 With endless running gags and emotional life lessons, we're sad this show had to end,
08:42 but happy we got the nine seasons we got.
08:45 And that, kids, is How I Met Your Mother.
08:50 That's it.
08:52 That's it.
08:53 Number three, New Girl.
08:55 I need everyone to shut up and answer one simple question.
09:01 You sons of bitches ready to party?
09:06 While Jess and the boys may have been brought together under somewhat unfortunate circumstances,
09:11 it's clear that their paths were supposed to cross.
09:14 After Jess finds her boyfriend cheating on her, she's forced to move out
09:18 and find Nick, Schmidt and Coach looking for a roommate.
09:21 I'm hitched to the time of my life.
09:25 And I owe it all to you, girl.
09:28 What time is it?
09:29 The time of my life.
09:32 While quirky and lovable, she doesn't instantly fit in with the group,
09:35 but she, along with her best friend, Cece, eventually grow close with the crew in the loft.
09:40 Romances bloom, friends turn into families, and countless good times among this crew are shared,
09:46 reminding viewers that making friendships with those you might not have much in common with
09:50 can yield the best relationships of all.
09:53 Oh, come on, please go faster. I gotta tell my best friend I'm in love with her.
09:56 Take a shower first. I never seen anyone sweat so much.
09:58 You take a shower. You smell terrible. You smell terrible.
10:02 Hey, Miller.
10:06 Number two, Seinfeld.
10:09 He's always bragging about his vertical leap, so I bet him 50 bucks that he couldn't touch the awning.
10:14 So what happened?
10:15 He didn't come with it two feet of the thing.
10:18 She's waving at him.
10:20 This show about nothing was actually a show about everything when it came to depicting
10:24 true friendship shared among like-minded individuals.
10:27 Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer run into mishaps, awkward situations,
10:32 and humorous encounters throughout the show's nine seasons,
10:35 and we love every chaotic minute of it.
10:38 Hey.
10:39 Oh, you look, uh, relaxed.
10:43 Well, it is Sunday night, and you know how I like to unwind.
10:48 They have trouble navigating the eccentric and bizarre people that tend to run amok
10:52 in a place like New York City, and they see each other through every misstep and snag in their lives,
10:58 whether it be romantic, career, family, yada, yada, yada.
11:02 I met this lawyer. We went out to dinner. I had the lobster bisque.
11:05 We went back to my place, yada, yada, yada. I never heard from him again.
11:11 But you yada yada'd over the best part.
11:13 No, I mentioned the bisque.
11:15 The jury is still out on whether or not they were actually good people,
11:19 but they were certainly good for each other.
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11:37 Number 1. Living Single
11:40 You know, this sounds like that drought you had in '89.
11:43 Oh, that's my match. Devon.
11:49 Devon.
11:51 This sitcom definitely gives Friends vibes, but it came out one year before Friends and ran alongside it until 1998.
11:58 Both center around 20-somethings navigating big city living,
12:02 while looking at relationships, friendships, and everything in between.
12:05 But this show differs from Friends in a lot of ways.
12:08 Paints a portrait of the young African-American against a changing urban landscape.
12:13 My magazine gives voice to a community that might not otherwise be heard.
12:20 Tackling relevant societal woes, this show dives deep into issues like race in the '90s
12:25 and the dynamics of female friendship.
12:28 While it wasn't the cultural phenomenon Friends was,
12:30 it was culturally significant in a way Friends could never be,
12:34 cementing it as one of the greatest sitcoms of its era.
12:37 The only thing that has not changed is the love I have for all of y'all.
12:42 Cheers.
12:45 What's your favorite Friends-centered sitcom? Let us know in the comments.
12:49 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:59 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
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