Top 10 Sitcoms About Friends That Aren't "Friends"
#10: “Happy Endings” (2011-20)
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Set in the Windy City, this short-lived sitcom tells the story of Alex, Max, Penny, Brad, Jane, and Dave. 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. With its interesting structure, loveable characters, and engaging storylines, there was hardly a dull moment among this friend group throughout the show’s three seasons. Several attempts to reunite the original cast and revive the show to some degree haven’t panned out, which is a shame. 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.
#9: “The Big Bang Theory” (2007-19)
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Raj, Howard, Sheldon, and Leonard initially make up the core friend group of this sitcom, which makes it interesting when a girl with average intelligence and above average looks moves in across the hall. She befriends the socially awkward geek squad, introducing them to the real world bit by bit as they grow from friends to family. 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. We loved watching them eat Chinese food on the couch, play video games, attempt social interactions, and grow into a heartwarmingly complex friend group.
#8: “Will & Grace” (1998-2006; 2017-20)
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Grace is a straight interior designer living with her gay best friend, an attorney named Will, and their friend group is rounded out by Jack and Karen as they all live their lives in NYC. The relationship between these four makes for particularly funny and emotional moments. Will and Grace in particular showed us what true platonic love looks like, as they help one another to figure out what they want in their lives outside of their rock solid friendship. We couldn’t have been more ecstatic that this show was revived in 2017, and we got to see that even years later this friend group was exactly where they were supposed to be – together.
#7: “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)
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We don’t know if we’d love or hate being friends with the gang at Paddy’s Pub, but we love watching them be the delinquent ne’er-do-wells that they are. Dee, Mac, Frank, Charlie, and Dennis all bring their own individual personalities and quirks to the table. They’re all able to balance one another out perfectly, which helps them create a perfectly chaotic friendship. Filled to the brim with dark humor and absurd scenarios, like inventing their own board games and selling their own gasoline, everything about this show is humorous, fun, and way way out there, and the main friend group is no exception.
#6: “The Golden Girls” (1985-92)
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Sometimes the best friendships in our lives happen during our golden years, and Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia, and Rose are proof of that. Through divorce, widowing, and happenstance, these four end up living under the same roof while in the later halves of their lives. This unconventional group of friends makes younger generations hope theft can hold onto their close friends for life. And they of course are totally relatable to the older generation who still holds their close friends tightly. Their tight embrace in the finale when they know it’s time for the core four to split apart tells us all we need to know, and we thank them for being our friends.
#5: “Cheers” (1982-93)
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We’ve seen many shows about friends in which the group spends a majority of their time in a bar, but this is one of the ones that does it best. 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 having a beer, bonding through life's ups and downs. Sam Malone runs the bar alongside a colorful staff and endearing patrons. Watching this show feels like catching up with old friends who are with you through laughter and tears, and reminds us that the simple things in life are the most important. Because don’t we all just wanna go where everybodhy knows our name?
#4: “How I Met Your Mother” (2005-14)
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Premiering a year after “Friends” ended, “How I Met Your Mother” has five main characters instead of six and took place in a bar rather than a coffee shop. It also gives us as many laughs and tears as the friendship sitcoms that came before it. Set in 2005 but told as a flashback from 2030, Ted is on a quest for love while telling his future children about how he met their mother. We’re also introduced to his friend group, who go through their own trials and tribulations in love and life. With endless running gags and emotional life lessons, we’re sad this show had to end, but happy we got the nine seasons we got.
#3: “New Girl” (2011-18)
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While Jess and the boys may have been brought together under somewhat unfortunate circumstances, it’s clear that their paths were supposed to cross. After Jess finds her boyfriend cheating on her, she’s forced to move out, and finds Nick, Schmidt, and Coach looking for a roommate. While quirky and loveable, she doesn’t instantly fit in with the group, but she, along with her best friend Cece, eventually grow close with the crew in the loft. Romances bloom, friends turn to families, and countless good times among this crew are shared, reminding viewers that making friends with those you might not have much in common with can yield the best relationships of all.
#2: “Seinfeld” (1989-98)
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This show about nothing was actually a show about everything when it came to depicting true friendship shared among like-minded individuals. Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer run into mishaps, awkward situations, and humorous encounters throughout the show's nine seasons, and we love every chaotic minute of it. They have trouble navigating the eccentric and bizarre people that tend to run amuck in a place like New York City, and they see each other through every misstep and snag in their lives, whether it be romantic, career, family, yada yada yada. The jury is still out on whether or not they were actually good people, but they were certainly good for each other.
#1: “Living Single” (1993-98)
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This sitcom definitely gives “Friends” vibes, but it came out one year before “Friends” and ran alongside it until 1998. Both center around 20-somethings navigating big city living while looking at relationships, friendships, and everything in between, but this show differs from “Friends” in a lot of ways. Tackling relevant societal woes, this show dives deep into issues like race in the 90’s and the dynamics of female friendship. While it wasn’t the cultural phenomenon “Friends” was, it was culturally significant in a way “Friends” never could be, cementing it as one of the greatest sitcoms of its era. What’s your favorite friends-centered sitcom? Let us know in the comments!
