Friends was Seinfeld with ‘good looking people’

‘That was a pretty good idea,’ the comedian said
Jerry Seinfeld has joked that NBC created Friends to duplicate the success of his classic sitcom Seinfeld — but with better-looking actors.

The co-creator and star of the eponymous sitcom, 72, was performing Tuesday at the third Netflix Is a Joke festival in Los Angeles when he asked the crowd to guess his all-time favorite TV show .

“My show came on — ’89, ’90.

Friends came on a few years later,” the comedian said.

“I think NBC was watching my show and went, ‘Hey, this is working pretty well.

Why don’t we try the same thing with good-looking people?’ And that was a pretty good idea.

I think that kind of worked.”
Seinfeld debuted on NBC in 1989, starring Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards.

The seminal comedy, about four single friends living in New York City, went on to win 10 Emmys during its nine-year run.

In 1994, NBC launched Friends , featuring Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc.

The 10-season series similarly followed a group of six friends as they face love and life together in Manhattan.

It went on to win a total of six Emmys.

Kudrow has previously spoken about how Seinfeld paved the way for Friends .

“The first season, our ratings were just fine,” Kudrow said in a 2022 interview with The Daily Beast .

However, it wasn’t until Friends reruns aired after Seinfeld that the show “exploded,” she noted.

The Comeback star recalled that Seinfeld once approached her to take credit for Friends ’ success.

“I remember going to some party and Jerry Seinfeld was there, and I said, ‘Hi,’ and he said, ‘You’re welcome,’” Kudrow said.

“I said, ‘Why, thank you… what?’ And he said, ‘You’re on after us in the summer, and you’re welcome.’ And I said, ‘That’s exactly right.

Thank you.’”
“She was also the one who, when we were first shooting the pilot, would say: ‘Listen y’all, I did Seinfeld .

They help each other all the time.

If you think I could be doing something funnier, tell me.

You’ve gotta tell me.

We need to help each other out,’” Kudrow said on a 2025 episode of the Fly on the Wall podcast, adding that Cox’s advice “set a tone which carried through the whole ten years for us.”
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies