Similarities Between The Shows "Friends" and "How I Met Your Mother"

The On-Again-Off-Again Relationship. Plus a third friend who got involved.
In Friends it’s between Ross and Rachel. They get together and then they fight, got together again and broke up. It’s happened so many times I just can’t count how many times they became an item and how many times they broke up. There was also an instance when Joey got involved with Rachel. But that didn’t work out. In the end, Rachel ends up with Ross.

In How I Met Your Mother, the on-again-off-again relationship is between Ted and Robin. Ted is pretty hung up with Robin but he has to admit that it’s not meant to be. It has also been known from the first episode when Ted is narrating to his kids that she will one day just end up as “Aunt Robin”.

Barney got involved with Robin in some episodes in season 4 and they ended up getting married.

What’s his job?
Nobody knows what Barney’s job is even though there are lots of scenes of him in his office. If asked, he shrugs and doesn’t answer.

For a time in the earlier episode of Friends nobody knew Chandler’s job. There was even a question in a trivia game between Monica/Rachael and Joey/Chandler; Rachael answered “transponster” to the question “What is Chandler’s job” which made them lose the game because as Monica said “transponster is not even a word!” It was later revealed that it was “Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration” before he quit and pursued a career in advertising.


Professor and Traits.
Ted and Ross are professors even though they had different career paths in the beginning of the shows. Ted is an architect while Ross is a palaeontologist working at a museum. They later became professors teaching in their own chosen field.

Both Ted and Ross are highly intellectual and have annoying habits of correcting people’s grammar. They’ve also been known to bore anyone when they give their “lectures” on Architecture and Paleonthology respectively. Their friends have always joked about falling asleep or making funny noises whenever they ever mention anything remotely “intellectual.”

Difficulty getting Pregnant.
Married couples Monica and Chandler of “Friends” and Marshall and Lily of “How I Met Your Mother” are trying to get pregnant. But in some episodes they have trouble and seek out professional help. Monica and Chandler soon found out that that they can’t bear a child. They finally decided to adopt and by the end of the series they have themselves twins.

Marshall and Lily soon got pregnant in season 7.

Womanizer has childish qualities.
Barney for “How I Met Your Mother” and Joey for “Friends” are known to be womanizers who can get any woman they want. What’s weird is, they both have childish qualities that’s weird for any “macho” guy. Not only their selfishness in sharing food, but Barney’s love for laser tag and high-fives and Joey’s pet duck and chick would sometimes make you wonder if they’ve got issues that made them who they are.

The Head Scratcher.
When Phoebe talks about his past when her mother committed suicide or when she was still living in the streets, the group is either appalled or doesn’t know what to make of the information. The same way with Robin. When she talks about her childhood, acts according to her accustomed life or mentions anything Canadian, her friends would find it unusual. They even make fun of her because of it. Among the groups, it is Phoebe and Robin who are often misunderstood.

Both shows are different but in some ways also similar. Maybe it’s because I love one, that’s why I love the other. If you do enjoy watching one of them, then I’ll recommend that you watch the other, as I’m sure you would love it too.