The Big “Friends” Theory

[tw33x]

Has anyone ever noticed how similar The Big Bang Theory is to the tv series “Friends? 

Here is what I have noticed... 

 

Ross was in a high end job 

Rachel was a waitress 

Leonard is a scientist 

Penny is a waitress 

 

Ross and Rachel pined after each other for years before going out with each other and broke up like 4 times. 

Leonard had a pathetic crush on Penny for a long time before he asked her out and they broke up a lot 

 

After breaking up with Rachel, Ross then got with another women whom was foreign and told him to not speak to Rachel anymore

After breaking up with Penny, Leonard got with a foreign woman whom told him not to speak to Penny anymore 

 

Ross and Monica’s dog died and Ross was distraught as he was told the dog went to “A Farm” as a child. 

Leonard’s mother also never told him about his dog dying until it was revealed much later on. 

 

 

Chandler and Joey had a strangely close but adorable relationship just like Raj and Howard do. 

 

Chandler married Rachel’s best friend, Monica 

Howard is with Penny’s best friend, Bernadette. 

 

Joey is a hopeless romantic, things never go his way with women in the sense where he can’t keep a relationship and he lives alone with a pet duck and chick.

Raj is hopeless with women, he can’t seem to keep a relationship either and lives alone with his dog.

 

Joey although American is also Italian meaning he’s the only one that’s technically foreign in his social group.

Raj is Indian and the only foreigner in his social group.

Also Joeys best friend, Chandler does something with Joeys sister. 

One of  Raj’s  best friends (Leonard) sleeps with his sister. 

 

Then phoebe is the strange outcast one that dates very strange men. 

Amy dates Sheldon whom is also strange. 

Not only that but Amy Is what I say the outcast of the social group, just like Phoebe. Even though they would both be sorely missed if they were to no longer be in the show. 

 

 

Gunther (Awkward man in Coffee shop) where they hangout in friends has a crush on Rachel.

Stuart (Awkward man in comic book store) where they hangout in Big Bang has a crush on Penny. 

 

Phoebe makes a picture and Rachel hates it 

Then when caught trying to get rid of it she says the reason is because it makes Monica jealous 

Amy gives Penny a painting and she doesn’t like it and when she is caught with the painting down she says it’s because it makes Bernadette jealous 

 

 

 

It’s not just me. This show is very similar to Friends but I love them both. 

 

What have I missed out? Have you noticed any other differences?

[Tensor]

There are several posts around that compare the two shows.   There is also a site called TVTropes, where you can see that lots of shows have various similar situations.  

Most of those situations go back to the 1930 and 1940s radio shows, along with the 1950 and 1960 television shows.   A majority of the situations in Friends have their origins in those radio and television shows.  Chuck Lorre is a fan of of early television producer and writer, Sheldon Leonard (note the name).  He was one of the executive producers on The Dick Van Dyke show and there are situations in The Big Bang Theory that can be traced to that show, among other early ones.  

Most all situation comedies have very similar situations.  The comedy, comes from how the characters react to those situations.  You might also want to consider that while Penny and Rachel were waitresses, their personalities are different.   For instance Rachel is spoiled (Her father got her a boat when her pony was sick), while Penny had no where near that kind of money.  The two characters tend to react differently to the same situation.  And there's a comment that Rachel never had to work for what she had, something Penny has had to do.    

[JohnPhD]

Yes the structural similarities are there, but within the class of sitcoms based in an apartment block in which relationships become increasingly important, I think the differences are more significant. Firstly, I think KC is a much better actress in that sort of role than Jennifer Aniston, and in Penny has created a truly loveable character it is possible to care about. Penny and Leonard is the only sitcom couple I have ever "shipped". But I don't think Penny corresponds 1-to-1 with Rachel: Penny is basically a good, kind person, in which she is more like Phoebe (who incidentally briefly dated a physicist). Phoebe is nothing like Amy. And Leonard is the most nearly normal male character whose POV we're invited to share. In Friends that's Chandler, not Ross.

I always wondered how Friends was developed. I suspected that Ross and Rachel were originally intended as a pair of grotesques for us to laugh at, but the programme makers learnt to their surprise that a lot of the audience actually cared about their relationship, and adjusted the writing to appeal to that segment.

[bfm]

8 hours ago, JohnPhD said:

Yes the structural similarities are there, but within the class of sitcoms based in an apartment block in which relationships become increasingly important, I think the differences are more significant. Firstly, I think KC is a much better actress in that sort of role than Jennifer Aniston, and in Penny has created a truly loveable character it is possible to care about. Penny and Leonard is the only sitcom couple I have ever "shipped". But I don't think Penny corresponds 1-to-1 with Rachel: Penny is basically a good, kind person, in which she is more like Phoebe (who incidentally briefly dated a physicist). Phoebe is nothing like Amy. And Leonard is the most nearly normal male character whose POV we're invited to share. In Friends that's Chandler, not Ross.

I always wondered how Friends was developed. I suspected that Ross and Rachel were originally intended as a pair of grotesques for us to laugh at, but the programme makers learnt to their surprise that a lot of the audience actually cared about their relationship, and adjusted the writing to appeal to that segment.

It was actually supposed to be very different. Initially the main romance was supposed to be Monica and Joey. Rachel was supposed to be with Chandler. I'm not sure when they changed that but it (at least the Rachel-Chandler thing) was prior to the pilot that started Ross and Rachel. The chemistry between Schwimmer and Aniston was strong so they became the central couple and were offered more money for the second season (they refused and the cast demanded equal pay). Also, when they wrote Monica and Chandler's night in London it wasn't supposed to go further than that but it made for a strong reaction among the audience so they started to go with it and the rest is history...

Edited December 15, 2017 by bfm
typo

[JohnPhD]

15 hours ago, bfm said:

It was actually supposed to be very different. Initially the main romance was supposed to be Monica and Joey. Rachel was supposed to be with Chandler. I'm not sure when they changed that but it (at least the Rachel-Chandler thing) was prior to the pilot that started Ross and Rachel. The chemistry between Schwimmer and Aniston was strong so they became the central couple and were offered more money for the second season (they refused and the cast demanded equal pay). Also, when they wrote Monica and Chandler's night in London it wasn't supposed to go further than that but it made for a strong reaction among the audience so they started to go with it and the rest is history...

That's very interesting information. Does similar "feedback control" apply to plot development in all sitcoms with story arcs, including TBBT?

[Capt. Hilts]

On 12/15/2017 at 9:27 AM, JohnPhD said:

I always wondered how Friends was developed. I suspected that Ross and Rachel were originally intended as a pair of grotesques for us to laugh at, but the programme makers learnt to their surprise that a lot of the audience actually cared about their relationship, and adjusted the writing to appeal to that segment.

Gee, wonder how they figured out what the audience cared about....Folks here don't think television producers do market research!