The 1990s was stacked with amazing shows that helped change the game forever. Some of these shows need a reboot, some of them need a rewatch, and others have been forgotten about. No matter where these shows stand in the pack, it is clear that they helped make the 1990s a memorable decade for TV fans.
To this day, Friends is one of the most popular shows of all time, and it continues to dominate the small screen. As great as the show was during its prime, there has been a growing voice from people who have noticed that the show bears an insane resemblance to Living Single. Some have even called Friends a ripoff.
Let's look at both shows and see what folks have had to say.
'Friends' Is An Iconic Show
Friends is largely considered an iconic piece of TV history, and it remains one of the most popular shows to ever grace the small screen.
Starring names like Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc, Friends was an instant success that helped take NBC to another level. The network was already huge with show like Seinfeld on board, and Friends was just icing on the cake once it took off with audiences.
The stories, characters, and lines from the show all remain as solid as ever, which has kept the show relevant long past its original run. Few shows ever get as big as Friends, and even fewer remain as popular.
As great as this show is to many, there was a show that debuted the year prior that seems to be one of the most underrated shows of all time.
'Living Single' Is An Underrated Series
1993's Living Single might not have the same type of legacy as Friends, but anyone that has given it a watch can attest to how great the show is.
For 5 seasons and over 100 episodes, Living Single was doing great things on television. While it did not attract the same type of viewership as Friends did, the show still had an amazing run on Fox, which was still a developing network that had a lot of potential during that time.
Living Single should have received far more love than it did in the 1990s, and fans have discussed the show at great length over time. One thing that fans can't help but notice is the fact that Friends has a lot of similarities to Living Single, leading some to believe that Friends was little more than just a ripoff.
There Is No Denying How Similar 'Friends' And 'Living Single' Are
So, was Friends just a ripoff of Living Single? Well there are certainly divided opinions on the matter, but there is no denying that there are a number of similarities between the two shows.
Odyssey did an incredible job of highlighting the similarities between the two. It's genuinely shocking how similar they are, and in the author's eyes, the folks behind Friends stole a lot from Living Single.
"It was the gentrification of Black art. They took a script about a group of young Black professionals who shared a Brooklyn brownstone and some laughs and moved it to an apartment filled with white people in Manhattan and I honestly can't think of a more overt act of television plagiarism," they wrote.
Friends actor, David Schwimmer, had talked about an all-black reboot of his show, and many were quick to point out that Friends was essentially an all-white reboot of Living Single. This incident generated a lot of discussion around Living Single's place in TV history and the fact that there would be no Friends without it.
Interestingly, Queen Latifah, who starred on Living Single, talked about how her show influenced NBC's decision to greenlight Friends.
"It was one of those things where it was a guy called Warren Littlefield that used to run NBC, and they asked him when all the new shows came out, they said, ‘If there’s any show you could have, which one would it be?’ And he said ‘Living Single.’ And then he created ‘Friends,'" she said.
This is quite telling, as executives from other networks saw just how brilliant Living Single was. Friends might have taken off in a way that Living Single never did, but people are starting to acknowledge the influence that Living Single had on '90s television.
So, was Friends just a ripoff of Living Single? Well, many people certainly think so. At this point, there is no denying that Friends owes a major thank you to Living Single for paving the way.
