Jerry Seinfeld has stirred up fresh debate over two of television’s biggest sitcoms after taking a playful but pointed swipe at “Friends” during a live appearance in Los Angeles.
The comedy icon joked that NBC copied the formula behind “Seinfeld” and easily replaced the solid with more attractive stars.
His remarks quickly reignited the longtime comparison between the 2 legendary series.
Jerry Seinfeld made the eyebrow-raising comments while appearing on the “Netflix Is a Joke” festival on the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
In the course of the event, the comedian reflected on the huge success of his own sitcom before joking that NBC borrowed the identical formula when creating “Friends.”
“Here’s my theory on Friends,” Seinfeld said, per Variety. “ My show got here on ’89, ’90. Friends got here on a couple of years later.”
He then delivered the road that immediately got fans talking online: “I feel NBC was watching my show and went, ‘Hey, that is working pretty much. Why don’t we try the identical thing with good-looking people?’”
The comedian doubled down on the joke by adding, “And that was a fairly good idea. I feel that type of worked.”
Although the remark appeared lighthearted, it quickly reignited old arguments amongst sitcom fans who’ve spent many years debating which show had the larger cultural impact.
Jerry Seinfeld Jokes About Watching Himself
The subject surfaced after Seinfeld asked audience members to guess his all-time favorite television series.
One fan shouted out “Seinfeld,” prompting the comedian to poke fun on the suggestion.
“Seinfeld? I’m Seinfeld. Why would I watch Seinfeld?” he joked.
He then compared the concept to admiring yourself within the mirror daily.
“Would you go as much as your bathroom mirror and go, ‘That is incredible. I like this show. I’m in every episode.’”
Seinfeld never actually revealed what his favorite show was, though he acknowledged that fans guessing “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Breaking Bad” were on the best track.
The legendary comic co-created “Seinfeld” alongside Larry David, who later went on to create and star in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The NBC sitcom premiered in 1989 and ran until 1998, becoming one of the vital successful comedy series in television history.
The show followed 4 single friends navigating life in Recent York City and starred Seinfeld alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards.
Its final episode became a television event, drawing greater than 76 million viewers in the USA alone.
‘Friends’ Became A Cultural Phenomenon Too
While Jerry Seinfeld’s comments sparked laughter, “Friends” built a television empire of its own after premiering in 1994.
The beloved sitcom followed six close friends living in Manhattan and quickly became a world obsession throughout the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.
Jennifer Aniston led the solid as Rachel Green alongside Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, and the late Matthew Perry.
The sitcom ran for 10 seasons and continues to generate huge audiences many years after leaving the air.
In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked “Seinfeld” because the third biggest sitcom ever made while placing “Friends” at number 38 on its list of the 100 best sitcoms of all time.
Still, the financial success of “Friends” stays staggering.
The solid famously negotiated their contracts together, boosting their salaries from $22,500 per episode in the course of the first season to $1 million each by the show’s final years.
In 2021, the celebrities reunited for an HBO Max special and reportedly earned around $2.5 million apiece for the nostalgic return.
Lisa Kudrow Reveals ‘Friends’ Still Makes Tens of millions
Lisa Kudrow recently revealed that the cash tied to “Friends” never truly stopped flowing.
Talking to The Times, the actress admitted the show still generates enormous residual payments yearly through syndication and streaming deals around the globe.
In response to Kudrow, the solid continues earning roughly $20 million annually.
She also reflected emotionally on revisiting the series after Matthew Perry’s death in October 2023.
“After Matthew died I watched the show again. Before, I only saw what I did incorrect or could have done higher, but for the primary time I really appreciated just how great it was,” Kudrow explained.
Lisa Kudrow Pays Emotional Tribute To Matthew Perry
Kudrow credited the show’s success to the chemistry between the solid members and the creative team behind the scenes.
“Because there was a genius at work. And whatever any of us do in the long run, we are going to never experience something like that again.”
Kudrow also praised her co-stars while remembering Perry’s unforgettable comedic timing.
She said, “I felt I did OK, but Jennifer and Courteney? Amazing. David and Matt? They’d me laughing so hard. After which Matthew – he was just beyond us all.”