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Originally posted by stoopidjenna
How exactly have the Cosby Show (why is this show being compared?) and Seinfeld had more impact than Friends?
Friends has directly influenced a lot of sitcoms after... HIMYM, New Girl, Happy Endings, and even TBBT has shifted towards a similar format in recent seasons.
Seinfeld certainly has had an impact of its own, and it can easily be argued that it actually opened the door for Friends. But Friends had much broader appeal which the above shows and many others clearly tried to mimic.
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Sitcoms were dead in primetime. Cosby essentially brought it back. Not to mention all of the copycat shows that followed. Heck, even the shows that WEREN'T copycats (Roseanne, Married With Children, The Simpsons) were marketed as being the anti-Cosby.
Seinfeld was pretty much the first successful sitcom to diverge from cleanly constructed plots. It's called "a show about nothing" for a reason, and all those random moments and pop culture references are still copied by shows like Family Guy.
Friends was good and a popular show but definitely not bigger than Seinfeld or The Cosby Show. Not in impact and not in ratings.
The fact that more people here know about Friends than Seinfeld/Cosby less to do with impact and more to do with the fact that the many users here aren't old enough to vote.