@Kenrick Eason, uh, brother those shows are even more popular today then they were back then and are funnier now as the people who grew up with them are adults and get the humor better. Not many shows today, especially black comedies are gonna be classic like these shows
Hell even Drew Carey said this in a TV Guide interview back in the mid 90's. When I read it, the water I was drinking went in the wrong pipe and made me choke a bit because I thought to myself "WOW, a white man called out the creator of "Friends" of stealing the idea of "Living Single"?!!!
In actuality! Living Single WAS based on quite a bit of reality. I was living in NY in the 90s in area of Brooklyn that was VERY nice, middle class. I was working at a funeral home in Harlem. All my friends were up and coming professionals. Now we are all in out 50s and 60s having done will in the 90s and moved on. The 80s and 90s NY for blacks was GOOD. Plenty of work and opportunities.
I've always like Drew Carey. He's just a real one. Even on the price is right he don't be sugar coating shit. He be looking at the people all types of crazy lmao not to mention he always Used to cut MiMi's ass so hard 😂😂😂 and Mimi would cut ass right back pure comedy. Let alone when Wayne Brady, Drew Carey and the rest of the crew get together, they are absolutely HILARIOUS.
Rachel Clark -The black and white and grey. I’m grey. Friends & Seinfeld might be considered too white for some, but it’s far from the truth. Most people choose based on race. I go for any kind of funny - varying humor
@@Kassy_1234 I never liked Friends and I'm a big Seinfeld fan. Living Single was funny. Period. Never felt Friends but also never thought of it as the white Living Single...that's interesting.
Everybody knows that friends jacked living single and of course all the money was put on friends, however living single had all the better talent imo, Hollywood is stone cold racist, nothing new
Same here, I'm more of a Living Single Guy and yes, I watched some episodes of Friends out of my curiousity, I mean I LOVE Jennifer Aniston, but I didn't find the show all that funny and I thought the show was overrated, IMO My family and I LOVE Living Single and every Thursday Night, Living Single, Martin, The Crew during the 95/96 Season which was also WAY better than Friends and New York Undercover which my dad and I liked WAY better than its sister show Law & Order (my mom is a Law & Order Fan), in fact, Dick Wolf created L&O, Undercover, Nasty Boys and Players and he also Co-Produced Miami Vice
All races can enjoy living singles but friends is definitely for the white folks. We cant make the show too black, then they'd cut us short. Hence shows like Roc or south central. And yet married with children, Seinfeld, freinds etc got about 10 years each...
That's all they do is steal from us. Love everything about us, creatively and in the entertainment space, but _cain't_ stand the people. _Friends_ came in w/ they lil' corny behinds and made hand over fist. I'm talkin' hundreds of thousands to millions. Meanwhile, the cast of _Living Single_ had to fight in order to have clean dressing rooms. They were sabotaged. Black artists are treated so poorly. They'd never treat Jennifer Aniston poorly. If she had an issue, it would get resolved w/ rainbow sprinkles and smiley faces. I've seen _Friends._ That show was hella corny. Not funny whatsoever. All the cast members were corny. Some of them kept speaking through they nose too. It's like _Dang, what's wrong wit 'em?_
“EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT WE DID” WE DEFINITELY DO!!! LIVING SINGLE IS THE BLUEPRINT!! Overton was DEFINITELY one of my FAVORITE characters on the show!! 👏🏾👏🏾🥰🖤
In actuality! Living Single WAS based on quite a bit of reality. I was living in NY in the 90s in area of Brooklyn that was VERY nice, middle class. I was working at a funeral home in Harlem. All my friends were up and coming professionals. Now we are all in out 50s and 60s having done will in the 90s and moved on. The 80s and 90s NY for blacks was GOOD. Plenty of work and opportunities.
Nothing like it at all. Black comedies in general have fallen off quality and actual humor since Tyler Perry's mediocre sitcoms. Shows like this or Martin or The Steve Harvey Show, Moesha, The Parkers, Girlfriends, The Wayans Bros, Roc etc don't exist anymore.
I preferred living single over friends.. Characters were way more interesting. Im boring Canadian white though, so I found friends was even more boring.
@@cheenjoopearl She doesn't have to like ANYTHING black in order to have "soul". I know black people who can't dance so I guess they have NO "soul" according to YOUR comment.💯
@@great159 "so I guess they have NO 'soul' according to YOUR comment" No sweetheart, that was you...emphasis on "I guess" and then in the first clause of YOUR comment to emphasize YOUR point when YOU said, "She doesn't have to like ANYTHING black in order to have 'soul'. For future reference, leave me out of your public need to argue with yourself. Thank you.
Hell he’s exactly that! Our family gets together & he’s still the life of the party my Uncle John, my mom (his big sister) & cousins definitely throw down on a card table 😂 he like watching sports, very much info family, still does comedy shows etc… Don’t know if he wants to pop back on television but who knows lol.
It was a term that was coined by black Americans, that gained popularity through hip hop. But I have seen other ethnic groups use this term to for their own individual cultures. For example Mexicans for Mexican culture, Irish for Irish culture, Koreans for Korean culture, etc. Its just synonymous with Black Americans because it was originated by us. As long as you use the term to describe your individual Culture, not your skin color, I dont see a problem with other ethnicities using the term "Culture."
I have to admit, I did catch a few episodes of friends once Living single went off the air. I never really got it ( I was sick and laid up). I couldn't relate. They lived in a very expensive part of town and only two had decent jobs. They seemed quite silly to me. Now living single was relatable. Most of the cast were college-educated, The maverick, (Max) had her own place. One had his own business. Even Synclair was in school and had a job at the same time. They covered "real things and were actually funny. I can remember just about every line in every episode. I still DVR the reruns. No favorite episode can be mentioned because I can't choose just one. The one when they had the cat funeral, the one where Regine fed the dog chocolate, the one when they sent the dear Jon letter, Regine got caught on the roof with her boyfriend,,,,so many..sorry for the long post, but we are in Quarantine.
*THAT'S WHY YOU WAS REMOVED FROM BROADCAST!* *Professional Black People!* Great Articulation From All! T.C. A 100% Image Very Rarely Seen Of Young Black Men. The Positive Influence Of His Part As "OVERTON" AN ENGINEER, Was Another Positive Image Not Seen. Can't have those images on when they *Shifted To HIP HOP!*
Joshua Marcus millenial girlfriend? Hope u wasnt 12 when living single came out, Boy u robbin da cradle? U make her sound like yo pet, stay off them school yards lol
@larry smith hadn’t even thought of Martin. You make a compelling point. But if you go that route. Technically everybody’s copying Three’s Company. Martin is a very different show compared to Living Single. mainly because the show is focused on one (Martin) central character. Where Living Single revolves around several main characters and more serious themes. Albeit I’d argue that Martin and Cosby Show paved the way for LS
@Craig Carson nothing alike? Are you for real?! LOL literally the same shows with different races: Six twenty something friends living in New York. That doesn't sound like the same damn show? smh go ahead and kiss their behinds if you want to though.
kendall rivers Exactly friends was literally a Duplicate copy of Living Single, i began saying that it was literally a white version of it, but they were too similar that I realized Friends just copied off Living Single!!
26 years later, I have never seen one episode of Friends, however, I believe I have watched every episode of Living Single countless times. Still one of my favorite shows. Talented cast that can never be duplicated!
You didn't miss anything I watched a few seasons and saw nothing special. Just a bunch of white people acting goofy or overdramatic on television. Except that time they tried to sucker black folks into watching the show by having one of the characters date a black woman.
@Jihad Da God Maybe because you can watch Friends reruns they are on every other damn network while Living Single is only shown on one network on weekdays when no one is really home another example of how racist shit is
THANK YOU ALL BLACK PEOPLE !!!!!!!!!! I thought it was just ME - I tell people ALL the time and I don't care if they get mad "They ain't MY FRIENDS" - NEVER seen an episode and NEVER wanted to!!!! Some of US Black Folks actually like US and we can just watch US and be happy. Add seinfeld, sex and the city and 99% of these corny white shows to MY list of NEVER seen them and NEVER want to !!!! I'm old school so I own ALL 5 seasons of Living Single on DVD and I watch em over and over and over !!!! '
I been said friends copied off of living single I been said that shit smh....just how two and a half men copied off of the Wayans brothers smh think about it
Living Single was, in my opinion, one of the greatest sitcoms ever!! I still regularly stream the series on Hulu and unlike so many of it's predecessors and successors, the show holds up just as well today as it did back in the early 90's. For years I've heard rumors of a series re-boot and since this is the show's 30th anniversary, there is no better time than the present!! I'd love to see it happen, or at the very least an updated reunion show featuring all cast members (Queen Latifah did not appear in the reunion special). Because of my love of Living Single, I actually attempted to watch "Friends" but I just never could get into it. It always pissed me off that even though "Friends" was nothing but a direct attempt to rip off a FAR SUPERIOR show and in my opinion, as well as many others, failed miserably at doing so, in terms of quality of content, it still reached the level of success that it did because of the way it was advertised, promoted, and supported. Even with the popularity of Living Single and the success in the ratings for Fox, the show never got anywhere near the same attention or support from the network. Though the shows were on different networks, (Living Single was on the FOX Network and Friends was on NBC), both were Warner Brothers productions. The final nail in the coffin for Living Single was the network moving them from Sunday nights, which had been their home from the beginning, to put the show on Thursday nights in direct competition with the very show that stole their premise
He is speaking the absolute truth!! Everyone who grew up watching Living Single knows they were the blueprint and the others COPIED! Even today, I still love the show!!
Living Single was great. The title song by Queen Latifah was super lit and made you want to watch the show. "keep ya head up, what?!!! keep ya head up, righhhhhttttt?" 💯💯🔥🔥
off topic, but...a lot of young people don't know "Cruel Intentions " -with Sara Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillipe was based on "Dangerous Liasons -with Glen Close and John Malcovich"
I didn't know Friends copies Living Single. I never watched an episode of Friends, so I couldn't name a character or tell you what the show was about. I never knew of any similarities of the shows, but this is not new. The mainstream has been copying us and then claiming it as their own for years now.
I never watched Friends or Seinfeld while they originally aired,because of Martin & Living Single. I watched Seinfeld later,but Friends was too corny. I never could get into friends.
Seinfeld is my favorite show of all time - buuuut Friends sucked. I never watched one single entire episode of it. And Living Single is one of my favorites for sure. Great show, great cast.
Living Single was the show, I watch it today. I love intro song and New York background, man I miss the black shows. We now have to pay to watch them. Those was the days
YES basically I use to watch full house, Family matter , Girlfriends n the fresh Prince. Living Single n friends never appeal to me because I was still a child.
Yeah it was like a grown up Full House minus the kids. I loved Full House as kid tho yet I cannot explain why. Then years later my little sister also became addicted to Full House too with it's reruns. It's got some weird intergenerational power over kids that I predict our kids will probably be watching Full house too lol.
Imma keep it a buck, I'm black AF, grew up in projects, the whole nine and to be honest..Friends was just better in my opinion. Ok, they got copied, hellooo, that's Hollywood, do they want credit for being the first.. or the better show. Sure imma get some "hate" coming my way via @s..me myself, I dont subscribe to Tribalism, no matter who's starring in it, I want to be entertained first and foremost. And I was just entertained by Friends more.
Yep. Same. I bought the series and still watch it whenever it comes on. Friends is funny. And I love Living Single too but those last two seasons...naw🤷🏽♀️
I liked both myself. I felt more of a chemistry on Living Single than friends though. But too be honest I think it would be been an interesting pairing if they did Sinclair and Phoebe
Living Single will NEVER be forgotten no matter how many years pass. The young black kids in the 90's when internet didn't exist🤣sat in front of a TV tuned in to see the next Episode of Living Single (And ready to sing the intro with their siblings, friends, and family).
When I was young I always new friends ripped off Living Single, but I loved Jennifer Anniston. I never watched either of them, but Living Single was groundbreaking. It was a sitcom centered around a group of friends with no true main character. That model was used by friends, that 70s show, to an extent, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and basically every good sitcom since Living Single.
Living Single was the first show I can remember, past or present, that had an ensemble cast. Everybody had an important role and it was great. My kids even watch right now and its so nostalgic for me to watch with them ❤
I loved the professionalism of these actors, I deeply admired the friendship of Kyle and Overton who demonstrated real life brothers like those of my own family. And I loved the ladies who were as real as the summer sun. You were excellent ladies and gentlemen and. TC Carson's singing voice blew me away!!!
Let us be real honest Living Single stole from the Golden Girls, like common the females in Living Singles are exact copies of Golden Girls. The only thing Living Single did was add Overton and Kyle which in turn Friends stole the concept of. So that's the real story. I have never been a fan of Friends but I know my Living Single and my Golden Girls love me both shows and seen the resemblance. True fan of both speaking.
@Luciferus Oh how it thrills me to know that just below my comment are comments saying the exact same thing, but instead there on how it was Friends that stole from L.S. I wonder if you had the same energy to let them know what you told me. Thing is, I can see your point but it's so filled with contradiction that I can't take it seriously. How can someone steal something that is a basic human interaction. Yet, in every L.S. topic the "Friends" situation always seems to be there. I took the time to go through some of the comments that represent my theory. Guess what I found, you nowhere to be found. If you believe you have the gall to try and call me out, please don't sound so hypocritical when you do. You finding yourself trying to show me my misstep yet refuse to show others who are saying the same as me but in a slight right step theirs. That, is "genuinely absurd."
@Luciferus So, your argument back is that, one I didn't speak on the topic at hand. Something that I did do, I even said that I saw you're point so, hilariously disproven. Two, that perhaps English may not be my "first language," wow what a come back. And thirdly, if not the prior, than I am "full of shit." I gave you facts and examples while putting you on the spot for being a hypocrite. And the best you got to combat (you like how I used that) my argument with is shitty insults. Usually, I say 'do better,' but I believe this is the best you got. I hope this wasn't too much for you to read much less comprehend.
They all copied off of Martin! Martin ,Tommy , Cole , Jenna , Pam , and Shanene! 3 men and 3 women! Martin was about to be cancelled so they replaced Martin with Living Single! 3 men and 3 women the same concept!
1 of my favorite episodes was Overton's & Sinclair's wedding. Love the song Kyle aka TC and khadisha sang aka Queen Latifah, loved her wedding gown too.
1st Love Living Single and Friends both are great shows but, Living Single is funnier. 2nd Friends was a spin-off of Mad About You that was a hit on NBC a year before Living Single. So in other words, after two years, they gave Lisa Kudrow her on show based on Living Single and goofy character ain't Hollywood great...lol
@CulCre You're incorrect. Friends wasn't a spin off of Mad About You. Ursula came on Friends after the fact. Lisa Kudrow's own words: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e3H9NnU0pwA.html
John you are family to me!!! I grew up watching Living Single!!! Also, every thing you've done!!! Just know you got a fan forever in me!!! I know they got it on demand and other media options but I have to buy it cause its more than just a show it's CULTURE!!! 😎😎😎Shalom
Friends might have “borrowed” from “Living Single”, but “Living Single” borrowed from Golden Girls. Khadijah was the fall, ever so slightly masculine woman like Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Regine was the man-hungry one like Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Synclair was the sweet but ditzy one like Rose (Betty White).
