I absolutely adore both comedy series, and before I watched 'How I Met Your Mother', I strongly believed 'Friends' is the best comedy series that could possibly be. However, times changed, I changed, and what I wanted from a comedy show changed as well. While I acknowledge that 'Friends' lines haunt every other sentence that comes out of our mouths, I believe in many ways 'How I Met Your Mother' has surpassed 'Friends' in the type of humour it conveys, the structure of the show, story-telling and character development. According to Richard Briggs, 'Friends' was filmed 'in front of a live studio audience' which made the performance of the characters and the whole perception of the show seem very theatrical. Don't get me wrong, I love theatrical performances, but watching 'Friends' now makes me realise that it does not really appeal to the more 'memorable, thematic episodes' that we are used to when watching a series nowadays. 'How I Met Your Mother' offers this in a whirlwind of different scenes, flashbacks, and storylines that may not really appeal to every viewer (and may tire some too), but it is certainly interesting to watch structurally, and creates more suspense. Take, for example, the 'Gouda' episode where Lily throws a housewarming party gone awry. Everything is a mess, and the episode beautifully and hilariously unfolds through flashbacks and interconnections 'Friends' could not offer. This permeates the structure of the whole series, as illustrated in Barney's scheme to propose to Robin, Barney's bachelor party, and of course, the story of how Ted met Tracey. Another point of contention between the fans of the two shows is character development. In the 'Friends' series, you cannot really feel that characters mature and develop throughout the seasons. Ben Sherlock also notices that Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, Monica and Ross fundamentally stay the same, and Chandler, even though he gets married and starts a family, is 'still Chandler'. We do not see any real change in the way the characters perceive things, and apart from the slow immersion of Rachel into the real world of work, sweat and tears, these loveable characters do not develop as prominently as the characters in 'How I met your Mother'. Therefore, I agree with Sherlock when he says that the characters in 'How I Met your Mother' are 'constantly reassessing what they want in their lives and trying to be better people', including Barney who changes his womanizing the moment he has a baby. Lily sums it up saying ‘I have officially seen it all’ when Barney reprimands two girls in the bar who make a pass at him. This reflection of the viewer's thoughts is part of the well-established rapport we build with the characters throughout the seasons, both because they are so well-developed and because of the humour and the 'call-backs and in-jokes' that Marie Loveland correctly connects with the impression that we are indeed part of the gang. This is built through a beautiful combination of happy and sad moments that give the series an interesting, empathetic twist. And to the fans who insist that the Ross and Rachel romance cannot be surpassed, I only have to stress the amiable closeness and development of Lily and Marshall as one of the most beautiful couples I have ever seen in a show. Works Cited Briggs, Richard, 'Couch Critic: 'Friends' vs. 'How I Met Your Mother' — it's time to settle this' <https://eu.thespectrum.com/story/entertainment/2015/12/24/couch-critic-friends-vs-how-met-your-mother-s-time-settle/77761840/> [accessed 14 January 2021]. Loveland, Mariel, 'The Real Reasons Why 'How I Met Your Mother' Is Better Than 'Friends' (2019) <https://www.ranker.com/list/why-himym-is-better-than-friends/mariel-loveland> [accessed 14 January 2021]. Sherlock, Ben, '7 Things Friends Did Better Than How I Met Your Mother (And 8 HIMYM Did Better)' (2020) <https://screenrant.com/friends-how-i-met-your-mother-compared-did-better/#:~:text=Both%20Friends%20and%20HIMYM%20have,HIMYM%20has%20Ted%20and%20Robin.&text=Every%20Ross%20and%20Rachel%20development,the%20end%20of%20the%20series.> [accessed 14 January 2021].

I strongly believed 'Friends' is the best comedy series that could possibly be

I am not a particular fan of 'How I Met Your Mother' and I used to be such a fan of 'Friends'. However, I found out the concept of 'Friends' was taken from a show called 'Living Single' which had an all black cast. From then I haven't been able to watch 'Friends' as it was a show that was a 'whit rip-off' of an all black show, with 'Friends' also having no representation of different races. Due to this I believe that 'How I met Your Mother' is better than 'Friends'.

I had to choose neutral primarily because I haven't seen either. But I have been meaning to but I'm too busy working my way through dozens of other TV shows. I'm sure they're both are great.

I completely agree with the assessment that HIMYM Is a better show than Friends. Apart from the fact that the humour and directorial set-up with the live audience feel a bit dated in Friends (which is unavoidable with most pieces of entertainment, especially comedy), the very structure of it is indeed quite static. We do not really see progress over the many years we follow these characters, apart from specific cases e.g. Rachael. The humour itself I believe is much more witty and quirky in HIMYM, but that is maybe personal preference. Finally, and that is definitely an issue of taste and not a criterion to like or not to like a show, the HIMYM characters are much more likeable, even with their flaws. Yes of course, we do not need to like characters the same way we like people in real life, but come on, the way the Friends characters treated each other sometimes amazed me: screaming and freaking out over the smallest stuff going not the way Monica liked in her apartment, the horrible emotional abuse in the Rachel and Ross romance, and most prominently for me, the endless bullying of Ross because he was scientist?! Like, here is a guy that is smart, a palaeontologist, who has studied prehistoric creatures, who literally spends his time studying damn dinosaurs - how is that in any way uncool, unless you are a weirdly insecure person that can't handle your friend having special interests, and won't hesitate to treat them bad for them? In fact here is a nice article connecting the way Ross is treated in the show with the trend towards anti-intellectualism in the US, and in the West in general - maybe an exaggerated idea, but I do agree that it shows some of the conservative features of Friends https://gen.medium.com/how-a-tv-sitcom-triggered-the-downfall-of-western-civilization-336e8ccf7dd0 I actually like Friends, but in no way do I like it more than HIMYM. :)