The 1990s had Friends, and the 2000s had How I Met Your Mother. Both sitcoms followed the lives of young twenty-somethings looking for love in New York City. But whereas Friends was a traditional sitcom, How I Met Your Mother was narrated from the perspective of an older Ted Mosby (the younger version played by Josh Radnor) as he tells his kids the story of how he met the love of his life. Nevertheless, there were plenty of similarities between these two shows.
And the most apparent one comes from the romances between the cast. Each of the main characters falls in love several times during their respective shows, even with each other. But which romances were better by the time both shows ended?
Friends' Romances
The main romance of Friends was the will they/won't they between Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). For ten seasons, Ross and Rachel made up and broke up several times keeping fans on their toes if they would ever get back together. In contrast to this rocky relationship was the much more stable love between Monica (Courtney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry), a romance so strong that it eventually led to marriage. Another long-lasting relationship of Friends that eventually led to marriage was the relationship between Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Mike (Paul Rudd).
Then there are all the short-lived romances throughout the show. Ross' love life is the most chaotic, with three failed marriages, including the infamous "Take Thee, Rachel" moment with his second wife Emily (Helen Baxendale). Monica's relationships prior to her marriage to Chandler weren't as chaotic, but her romances with Richard (Tom Selleck) and Pete (Jon Favreau) ultimately ended badly. Rachel's brief flings with Joshua (Tate Donovan) and Tag (Eddie Cahill) had their moments, as well as Phoebe's brief romances with scientist David (Hank Azaria) and police officer Gary (Michael Rappaport). Joey (Matt LeBlanc) has had plenty of romances, including one with Rachel herself. One of his most notable was the brief love triangle involving him, Chandler and Joey's girlfriend Kathy (Paget Brewster). And, of course, who could forget Chandler's least favorite girlfriend and one of the show's best running gags, Janice (Maggie Wheeler).
Both the long and short-term romances in Friends led to several of the show's best moments and most memorable guest stars, despite many of them becoming forgettable after they left the show.
How I Met Your Mother's Romances
Since the series revolved around Ted's love life, he had many different suitors that could have potentially been the mother he was narrating about. These include his brief romances with Stella (Sarah Chalke) and Zoey (Jennifer Morrison), as well as with the actual mother at the center of the story, Tracy (Christin Milioti). But Ted's most prominent romance in the show was his romance with Robin (Cobie Smulders), his first girlfriend and eventual best friend.
While Ted was searching for the mother of his children, Ted's friend Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) was busy using his playboy status to sleep with as many women as possible. Once he abandoned his ways, he struck up brief relationships with Nora (Nazanin Boniadi) and Quinn (Becki Newton). But he eventually fell in love with Robin as well, leading to a love triangle between the three that persisted for nearly the whole series before Barney and Robin decided to get married, much longer than the Friends love triangle. When Robin wasn't deciding between Ted and Barney, Robin was striking up brief romances with her news co-anchor Don (Ben Koldyke) and her therapist Kevin (Kal Penn). And then there's Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel), the most stable relationship on the show. Despite a brief breakup, the two get married, have children and stay devoted to each other all the way to the end.
While not every romance on How I Met Your Mother is as funny as the ones in Friends, they excelled at dramatic storytelling way better than the '90s sitcom did, which made them slightly more memorable.
Which Romances Reign Supreme?
Both Friends and How I Met Your Mother feature one stable relationship that leads to a marriage, a love triangle between three of the main characters and several smaller relationships in between that make the two sitcoms very similar. Though How I Met Your Mother's central romantic mystery does provide an interesting narrative hook that helps it stand out compared to Friends, the show itself ruins that concept with its controversial series finale that squanders Ted's relationship with Tracy after building it up for several years. Even the relationship between Barney and Robin ended on a sour note.
On the other hand, the relationships in Friends all had satisfying payoffs when the series finale rolled around. Monica and Chandler finally had children, Phoebe got married to Mike, and Ross and Rachel admitted their love for each other after several years of anticipation. This gives the romances in Friends an edge over How I Met Your Mother, as the satisfaction of seeing the main characters happy and in love at the end of Friends leaves a much better lasting impression than the somber nature of the end of How I Met Your Mother.