Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

I know a lot of people who would say that Friends is the greatest sitcom of the 1990s, that it reflected a market that hadn't been look at before and made it okay to not entirely know where you are going in life when you are in your mid twenties and early thirties and that you could still have a laugh. All of these things are true but to me the two greats of the 1990's were Seinfeld and Frasier.

Both comedies were the product of people who clearly loved what they were doing and were not focussed on trying to make every line be a none stop gag reel. Some of the greatest moments in both shows were where you may not laugh but actually take a step back and think "woah".

Seinfeld produced some of the most basic comedy shows for my money such as the episode where they are stuck in the shopping mall car park and cannot find there way out or the very famous episode based around the idea of being in line at a restaurant and constantly being brushed aside. Everyone can relate to this.

Frasier on the other hand was much more highbrow but still had wonderful comedy moments and wonderful writing but it also helped that the cast (especially Hyde-Pierce) were on top of their game. The first season and indeed a lot of the beginnings of the show itself I don't think took a step wrong, you knew what was coming at times but it just didn't matter because it was so funny.

Who gets your vote?

Re: Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

Frasier by a mile. I've never been able to see what's so good about Seinfeld. :shrug:

Personally, I prefer Friends to either, it's one of my all-time favourite programmes, but Frasier's gag rate is phenomenal and, unlike Seinfeld, they're funny, too.

Re: Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

Seinfeld by a mile. :)

It's still funny and relevant today, whereas Friends and Frasier are both hit or miss.

Re: Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

Fraiser for me because of Kelsey Grammar.

Re: Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

Seinfeld was funny and seemed to break new ground. Never watched Frasier. BTW, ever notice that virtually every sitcom has a dumb or crazy guy.

Re: Frasier vs Seinfeld
 

Seinfeld. Easy.

Giddyup.

Of the three sitcoms you mentioned, "Frasier" definitely tops the list for me. (I also love the show "Cheers".) The characters are great. The writing is great. And they did such a good job of casting Niles and Martin that you can almost believe that they're actually related.

"Friends" is a great show too. The characters are all likable, and the show is very funny, but IMO it's just not as good as either "Frasier" or "Cheers". It just seems like a lot of new shows are trying to copy that show, and be the next "Friends", but most fail miserably because they're just not funny. The only "Friends" ripoff show that I really liked was "The Class', which unfortunately aired for only one season in 2006.

I've never been a fan of "Seinfeld". I just felt that the characters were so self-centered that I never really cared what happened to them, and I actually enjoyed seeing bad things happen to them.