Friends

Series Similar to Friends

If you enjoyed Friends, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. The Office

   2005 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.5), also on NBC.

   Steve Carell stars in The Office, a fresh and funny mockumentary-style glimpse into the daily interactions of the eccentric workers at the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company. Based on the smash-hit British series of the same name and adapted for American Television by Greg Daniels, this fast-paced comedy parodies contemporary American water-cooler culture. Earnest but clueless regional manager Michael Scott believes himself to be an exceptional boss and mentor, but actually receives more eye-rolls than respect from his oddball staff.

2. Seinfeld

   1989 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.3), also on NBC.

   Seinfeld is the story of a fictionalized version of stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, his life in New York City and his quirky group of friends who join him in wrestling with life's most perplexing, yet often trivial questions. Often described as "a show about nothing," Seinfeld mines the humor in life's mundane situations like waiting in line, searching for a lost item, or the trials and tribulations of dating.

3. Parks and Recreation

   2009 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.1), also on NBC.

   Parks and Recreation is a comedy series based around the main character Leslie Knope (a bureaucrat) in the parks department of Pawnee.

4. That '70s Show

   1998 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8).

   Crank up the 8-track and flash back to a time when platform shoes and puka shells were all the rage in this hilarious retro-sitcom. For Eric, Kelso, Jackie, Hyde, Donna and Fez, a group of high school teens who spend most of their time hanging out in Eric's basement, life in the ‘70s isn't always so groovy. But between trying to figure out the meaning of life, avoiding their parents, and dealing with out-of-control hormones, they've learned one thing for sure: they'll always get by with a little help from their friends.

5. Frasier

   1993 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8), also on NBC.

   Frasier is a half-hour comedy series set in Seattle, which chronicles the lives of an eloquently pompous radio show host Dr. Frasier Crane, his brazen radio producer Roz and his competitive, high-brow brother Niles.

6. 30 Rock

   2006 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8), also on NBC.

   Multiple award-winning comedy 30 Rock is told through the comedic voice of Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Tina Fey as variety show producer Liz Lemon. The series also features two-time Emmy and three-time Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin as top network executive Jack Donaghy and Emmy nominee Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, the unpredictable star of Lemon's hit variety show, TGS with Tracy Jordan, Lemon constantly has her hands full, juggling corporate interference from Donaghy and off-the-handle star antics from Jordan, all while attempting to salvage her own personal life.

7. Cheers

   1982 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8), also on NBC.

   Cheers takes viewers back to the Boston bar where everybody knows your name. As former baseball star Sam Malone and his colleague Diane Chambers fight their mutual attractions, they cater to their regulars including Norm Petersen and Cliff Claven. Talking about their problems, laughing at each other's flaws and trying to be there when someone needs them, the gang are joined by naïve farm boy Woody, bitter waitress Carla , troubled psychiatrist Frasier and his wife.

8. Community

   2009 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.3).

   Community is a smart, exuberant comedy that is consistently ranked as one of the most inventive and original half-hours on television. This ensemble comedy centers around a tight-knit group of friends who all met at what is possibly the world's worst educational institution - Greendale Community College.

9. WKRP in Cincinnati

   1978 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem.

   When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Jan Smithers, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.

10. The Dick Van Dyke Show

    1961 · Comedy · ended

    Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8).

    The Dick Van Dyke Show centers on the personal and professional lives of Rob Petrie, a writer for the fictional "Alan Brady Show". The non-stop laughs revolved around Rob's relationships with with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, and producer Mel Cooley. At home, we also got to chuckle (and sometimes cry) over Rob's antics involving his wife, son, and neighbors.