If there is a sitcom that came to define the way the genre is executed in the modern-day, it would be NBC's Friends. On IMDb, the David Crane and Marta Kaufmann creation is ranked as the second-best sitcom of all time, only behind Adult Swim's Rick and Morty. A similar list of 100 on Rolling Stone placed Friends at number 38. That report did hint, though, that the series could have ranked higher had it been judged as an overall show, not just as a sitcom.
The Big Bang Theory debuted on CBS in 2007, about four years after Friends' final episode. The Chuck Lorre series effectively picked up the mantle from its predecessor, eventually enjoying similar success over the course of its own 12-year run. But fans are now starting to believe that this might be no accident.
In making comparisons between underlying plotlines on both shows, they suggest that Big Bang - intentionally or otherwise - appears to have borrowed quite a few ideas from Friends.
Endless List Of Parallels
A drawn-out conversation around the subject surfaced on Reddit about a year ago, with fans digging up a seemingly endless list of parallels between the shows. For starters, both stories are based around a group of somewhat socially awkward friends in their 20s, including some with a background in scientific fields. At least this can be explained from a genre perspective, as sitcoms will generally revolve around fixed characters in limited locations.
It is when you dig deeper into the respective storylines, that fans begin to see some more eerie similarities. A particular one revolves around an intra-clique romantic relationship that sprouts relatively early on either show, before then taking a very similar route of evolution.
In Friends, Courteney Cox played Monica Geller, a chef by profession who was referred to as the 'mother hen of the group.' She started dating Chandler Bing from within the group of friends. They got married in the Season 7 finale of the show. While there had been other weddings before then, it was the first serious one that also lasted the distance for the rest of the show.
Most Stable Couples
This plotline appears to be replicated in Big Bang, with Melissa Rauch mirroring Monica as Bernadette Rostenkowski. Her love interest, Howard Wolowitz is played by Simon Helberg. As in Friends, Bernadette and Howard's wedding in the Season 5 finale was the first of the group, and also stayed strong to the end of the show.
Another similarity between 'Mondler' in Friends and the Rostenkowski-Wolowitz couple on Big Bang is the mold that their individual families took: Monica and Chandler had two children - adopted twins Jack and Erica Bing, and so did Howard and Bernadette - firstborn daughter Halley and later on, a son called Neil.
Both these couples were generally the most stable among their friends, with no notable split occurring between them throughout the respective stories. On the other end of that spectrum were Ross Geller and Rachel Green on Friends, mirrored by Leonard Hofstadter and Penny Teller on Big Bang. David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston played the former couple, while the latter were portrayed by Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco respectively.
A common thread here is how often these two pairings fought, broke up and then ended up together again.
Translated Feelings Into Real Life
Aniston and Schwimmer have both since admitted that on top of their on-screen romance, they shared crushes for each other in real life. They never dated officially, though, at least not to any extent that either of them has admitted.
Galecki and Cuoco similarly translated their TV feelings into real life, but went one step further: For two years between 2007 and 2009, they went out with each other before the relationship 'ran its course' and they eventually just remained as good friends and colleagues.
Both Penny and Rachel were the two characters who had the most romantic involvements on their respective shows as well. Perhaps this explains why their central relationships were often so rocky. Apart from Leonard, Penny was involved with six other men, including comic book store owner Stuart Bloom. Rachel was even more diverse, with up to 14 other partners on top of Ross.
In the end, both the Hofstadters and the Gellers got married twice each in the course of their corresponding storylines. Joey and Raj, as well as Emily and Priya, are other characters who fans have also drawn parallels between, in what seems to be a bottomless pit of comparisons between these two classic sitcoms.
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