Seinfeld and Friends

[bradleyy]

Seinfeld and Friends were the two most popular shows in the US, how come only friends ever took off here in the UK and not Seinfeld?

[Ouisch]

"Seinfeld" is something of an acquired taste; you either love it or hate it.  I'm wondering if it was too New York or too American to appeal to Brits?

[littleoldme]

Many critics over here seemed to rave about Seinfeld, but then critics do tend to have these sheep-like qualities sometimes :O). I must admit to never having really 'got' Seinfeld myself, but then I've never really 'got' Woody Allen either (probably in a minority of one there).

[sunflower68]

I do think a lot of it was down to scheduling.  Friends always had prime time; they used to put Seinfeld on at some odd time of night where it was never seen.

[gluff]

"Seinfeld" was a classic piece of sitcom which explored a lot of those "What if" sort of situations that jump into your mind when you are bored or come up with a wierd idea out of nowhere and think "Na! go away".It took the viewer into places where odd things happen and exploited them and made the viewer think that "next time,i will do that".Kramer used his mind like it should be used,with lots of imagination.George just wanted to impress people but didn't use his imagination enough.Elaine had imagination but didn't have the confidence to carry out her ideas and Jerry was the soundingboard off of which the other three gained approval or not.It was a great mix.Next time you are at the supermarket deli counter insist that you have th exact amount of cheese that you want,not the guess that is usually served up,i did this a couple of weeks ago it was so funny that a bloke fell over(not hurt but happy). Woody allen is a genius,we should all think like him,well maybe not.

[MidgetMomma]

What about other great US shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens? They are both right up there with Seinfeld.

[RogK]

The simple answer, bradleyy, is that Seinfeld was on at midnight! In fact, Friends doesn't hold a candle to Seinfeld, and nor does much else - except Larry Sanders and Curb Your Enthusiasm. All three shows are a class apart.

[PatTheRat]

I blame the bbc. If Seinfeld has been shown on Ch4, at a half-decent time it wouldve been an absolute smash hit. However, BBC2 picked it up, and showed it sometimes, then not others. And it was always on at around midnight. Another example is the simpsons.....BBC2 had the rights to around 12 series of the simpsons but never had the nerve to put it on prime-time, and constantly removed it from its schedules for tennis, darts etc.