Seinfeld-Men, Friends-Women

Jimmy Todd

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So there was an interesting discussion among some friends and the subject of women's shows vs men's shows came up. Someone had said that Friends has more of a female fan base, while Seinfeld is more of a show and its type of humor that appeals to men. Several in the group agreed. Anyone see truth in that and why that might be, or as George Constanza said once, "I don't think we're supposed to be talking about this."
 

Emelee

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I am a white straight girly woman and definitely prefer Seinfeld.

However, I think that a majority of women will choose Friends over Seinfeld and a majority of men will choose the opposite. Friends is a much more girly series. Seinfeld is more equal, but with more men in the cast. 3 men, 1 woman. I think for sure that attracts more men. Friends has a female perspective as Rachel and Monica are pretty much the only 2 main characters while the others feel more like major supporting characters.
 

Jimmy Todd

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I am a white straight girly woman and definitely prefer Seinfeld.

However, I think that a majority of women will choose Friends over Seinfeld and a majority of men will choose the opposite. Friends is a much more girly series. Seinfeld is more equal, but with more men in the cast. 3 men, 1 woman. I think for sure that attracts more men. Friends has a female perspective as Rachel and Monica are pretty much the only 2 main characters while the others feel more like major supporting characters.
Good point
Interestingly, while Elaine was the only female lead she always held her own and never played second (or fourth) fiddle.
 

Jimmy Todd

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But that's cool.

It's not cool for a straight guy to prefer FRIENDS (or to watch FRIENDS at all). Like it was very uncool of Ross to watch every MURDER SHE WROTE episode.
Interesting observation about what's "cool" and for whom it's cool. They even did an episode on Seinfeld about that. Jerry wouldn't admit to his girlfriend that he watched Melrose Place, even going so far as to take a lie detector test. He flunked.
 

DallasFanForever

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I’m a guy and I definitely preferred Seinfeld. Friends, at the risk of making some of you angry, was never my cup of tea. I just couldn’t get into it whereas I would never miss an episode of Seinfeld when it was on.

Thinking of the people I know, it does seem that most of the guys preferred Seinfeld. I can’t think of many women I know that liked it though. I would say that most of them definitely preferred Friends.
 

Jimmy Todd

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I’m a guy and I definitely preferred Seinfeld. Friends, at the risk of making some of you angry, was never my cup of tea. I just couldn’t get into it whereas I would never miss an episode of Seinfeld when it was on.

Thinking of the people I know, it does seem that most of the guys preferred Seinfeld. I can’t think of many women I know that liked it though. I would say that most of them definitely preferred Friends.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
 

Rove

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I'm on the Seinfeld bandwagon. Friends is the type of show which has appeal to first timers but as someone who watched it the first time around the humour doesn't carry well. Seinfeld - much like MASH - will forever be a classic because whenever I come across an episode - despite watching it previously a zillion times - I'll find myself sitting down and watching it again. I recently rewatched an episode where a naked woman across the building from Jerry had the guys worked up so a competition between the 4 was created on who could hold out the longest, that is, "Who is the master of their domain?" Just utter brilliance.
 

Jimmy Todd

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I don't think I've ever watched a full episode of Seinfeld. Is it super-funny, like "hahaha" funny?
Sometimes it's laugh out loud funny and sometimes the humor is a bit more subtle.
A big part of the appeal of the show for me is how it reflects real life situations and "rules of conduct." There are so many times when a character says or does something outrageous or socially questionable and I think, "You know, he's got a point."
 

Emelee

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Sometimes it's laugh out loud funny and sometimes the humor is a bit more subtle.
A big part of the appeal of the show for me is how it reflects real life situations and "rules of conduct." There are so many times when a character says or does something outrageous or socially questionable and I think, "You know, he's got a point."

I often find the main 4 perfectly normal and all characters around them weird. The main 4 behave like I would, or would like to.
 

Mel O'Drama

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I don't think I've ever watched a full episode of Seinfeld.

Same here. I feel as though I might really like it, but I've never been able to get past that "boing boing" sound of the intro.





Oh, and here's one woman who doesn't like Friends on principle:
 

Seaviewer

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It's not cool for a straight guy to prefer FRIENDS (or to watch FRIENDS at all). Like it was very uncool of Ross to watch every MURDER SHE WROTE episode.
Well, I'm a very uncool straight guy and I would give Friends a slight edge but I'm not really a huge fan of either of them.
 
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