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Friends’ Perfect Replacement Show Is Actually Better Than The Iconic ’90s Sitcom

September 6, 2025

While Friends is often celebrated as the best ’90s sitcom, How I Met Your Motheris a great replacement and, dare we say it, a more compelling show. Both series inspired many comedies with large casts of young adult characters dealing with life, love, work, and family, but trying to have fun along the way, from New Girl to Happy Endings.

Friends and How I Met Your Mother are both about good friends supporting one another in a big city, and they have other similarities, too. Both shows feature unforgettable catchphrases, from Barney Stinson’s (Neil Patrick Harris) “legen…wait for it… dary” to Joey Tribbiani’s (Matt LeBlanc) “How you doin’?“ It’s definitely impossible to watch the latter without thinking about the former.

How I Met Your Mother Is The Friends Of The 2000s

How I Met Your Mother is a smart 2000s version of the 1990s sitcom Friends because it dives into the same topics in a funny and heartfelt way. Even two of the main settings are basically the same.

Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his pals spend time in the apartment he shares with Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), just like Monica Geller’s (Courteney Cox) and Rachel Green’s (Jennifer Aniston) place is a key hangout locale. HIMYM also has more than a few scenes at McLaren’s pub, just like how the Friends group loves Central Perk.

HIMYM also had an epic love story, but Ted and Robin Scherbatsky’s (Cobie Smulders) long-term romance is arguably more intriguing than Ross Geller’s (David Schwimmer) and Rachel’s. It can be tiresome to constantly hear about Ross and Rachel “being on a break,“ but it’s sweet seeing Ted and Robin’s relationship shift from romantic to platonic and back again.

Ted and Robin’s arc speaks to the changing, exciting nature of life and how you never know what’s going to happen, and also proves that sometimes, the adage that it’s all about timing can actually be true. You understand why it takes them so long to be together for good, and their relationship is more than typical sitcom hijinks.

Why How I Met Your Mother Is Even Better Than Friends

Ted and Tracy under a yellow umbrella in the rain In How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is the superior sitcom because of itsmoving and detailed plotlines. It balances its goofy moments with thoughtful episodes about grief, loss, insecurity, and anxiety. Marshall is a particularly well-drawn character and more than just comic relief.

You can’t forget HIMYM season 6, episode 13, “Bad News,” when Marshall’s dad dies. Rather than just sharing this information, the series shows you a countdown, which drives home Marshall’s sense of fear and dread that something is wrong. This was an especially smart way to tell this story that, sadly, many have experienced.

Marshall’s unemployment is also full of clever details that make this storyline more compelling than any job-related plot points on Friends. In season 4, episode 2, “The Best Burger in New York,” he gives himself pep talks in the mirror and then says he wants to just wear some comfortable, large underwear.

When Marshall becomes fixated on finding the amazing burger he once had in NYC, the show takes the challenging experience of job hunting and makes it fun. You can see yourself in Marshall and understand his desire to enjoy some comfort food and forget his troubles.

HIMYM also has a more creative and interesting narrative device than Friends, and its storytelling structure sets it apart. Instead of following the traditional sitcom formula of A, B, and C plots, Ted shares the story of how he met and fell in love with the mother of his children.

Even though many fans were upset with the tragedy in the HIMYM series finale, this is an excellent way to explore Ted’s backstory and enduring belief in true love. How I Met Your Mother is a charming watch, and even though Ted has a few frustrating moments, you root for him the whole time.