Living Single vs Friends 

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99.9% of the people who claim Friends is NOT a rip off of Living Single, haven't watched a single episode of Living Single.

I loved both shows...BUT...Living Single was truly groundbreaking...Both shows should of been shown on separate nights...That is America for you...

Something that wasn't mentioned in the video, the characters personalities are the same as well. The goof, dumb one Overton/Joey. The eccentric one Synclaire/Phoebe. The boujee one Regine/Rachel. The career centered serious one Maxine/Monica. They all fit into the parallel character archetypes. The whole structure is the same, they slightly changed the details enough to be seen as different.

So they definitely stole the idea, but clearly the network got behind them and invested more in Friends. Some cast members were earning about a million an episode at one point. I can only imagine what they were paying the writers. I think that they took the concept of a black show, threw in white characters and funded it's massive success (the "Elvis Method").

Im not an american so we never actually got Living Single, first time I'm hearing of it.

They didn't try to they did rip off living single.

The biggest difference between the 2 shows is this... On Living Single, the main story synopsis is about 4 single women/ friends and their lives and relationships... it’s about the women...and women’s views and experiences... the 2 male characters, as popular as they are, are actually supporting roles. On Friends, it’s about the Men and the Women characters equally... 6 leads, no supporting roles. Both are funny shows with talented casts. And yeah, in fantasy world, a crossover episode would have been really fun to watch.

It's crazy because I've never heard of Living Single until this year. I'm Black British and I only recall seeing black shows like The Fresh Prince,The Parkers, My Wife and Kids, All of Us, Cosby Show, Bernie Mac and Different Strokes growing up the the 90s, 2000s but never Living Single.

They had Seinfeld we had Martin

I loved watching Friends but they did rip off Living Single. They gave Friends a white cast, larger budget, and bigger salaries. They also did the same thing with 227 and The Golden Girls.

They should have did a crossover episode lol

The fact that people still are 'asking if' , 'Friends' bit off of 'Living Single' , is just amazing to me. The shit is obvious AF. It's not a rumour it's, just history.

I was a Living Single fan from the start, and I remember very clearly when Friends debuted and all the buzz around it. I was in college at the time and all of my classmates were going on and on about Friends. I just remember thinking "But Living Single pretty much has the same premise, why aren't people raving about it?" Even when Friends got moved to the same night and time slot as Living Single I still remained loyal to Living Single, although there was one time I thought "Let me see what all the hype is about." and watched Friends instead. I wasn't impressed and ended up regretting missing that night's episode of Living Single. 🙄

I watch Living Single every week to this day. Between this and A different World, I finally felt like it was okay to be my "nerdy" self

Both shows were great. But while NBC nurtured Friends even when the show was getting low ratings and being moved from one slot to another (NBC even ran an ad where the cast wondered if more people would watch if they took their clothes off), Living Single was a victim of Fox programming which is typified by short-sightedness, rebranding, and abrupt cancellations (which became a 90s TV joke trope). This practice persisted well into the next decade, where potentially great shows were pulled off the air even before they could find a target audience.

Living Single had that strong urban vibe which made it easier to dismiss...Friends had an all white cast, major network backing, and multi million dollar salaries...not surprised.....I preferred Living Single...

The two series may have had overlapping storylines. But Living Single had that raw humor that kept the audience's attention and showed each character's individual personality every step of the way. Also, the characters on Friends seemed too dramatic and self-deprecating at times, whereas the characters on Living Single were each determined to be themselves and win mates who respected them for who they were. Such a key element of adult life right there. In short, I far prefer Living Single--in multiple ways.

Living Single is FAR greater and the original.

Living single was WAY more realistic when it came to chemistry and acting.

"Living Single" was definitely robbed.

Does anyone find it weird that the colours of the dots separating the letters in the ‘Friends’ logo are the similar to the ‘Living Single’ logo colours?

Checking this out right after the David Schwimmer backlash

Much prefer Living Single. While there were silly moments, as a whole, it was more realistic than Friends. Plus, we had the bonus of occasionally getting to hear the wonderful singing voices of T C Carson and Queen Latifah

Like my girl Max said "Friend's had the complexion for protection!" FACTS!!!!!!!!!

Living Single was on the air a almost two year before the other show. They even stole Living Single plot lines.

Before the name “Living Single” was chosen one of the options for the title was “Friends” the president of NBC said if he could have any show he would have Living single. And friends was born

I still to this day get annoyed that friends get more attention than Living Single. All of these clothing a what not with Friends on it.... 😒😒😒😒😒 Friends was cool and all but I mean lord 😒

Friends also ripped-off some of the Living Single plot line, remember when kyle and max start fooling around again and try to cover it up, but their friends start playing detective and find out one by one. Tell me that isn't the exact same thing that happened when monica and chandler started messing around and tried to hide it

I remember when Friends came out. I was so furious that the Living Single producers weren't able to sue NBC for ripping them off! I never have watched Friends to this day because I am tired of them taking the credit for our ideas!

Honestly they should’ve had a crossover

Living Single was waaay funnier.

I didn't realize how much Friends stole from Living Single until I watched some episodes from Season 1 of Living Single. They lifted storylines, story ideas, how scenes were set up, dialogue bits even how the actors physically positioned themselves in scenes. I thought the creators of Friends said it was based on their lives not taken from another series.

I still watch Living single.

If we want to call copying inspiration then fine, but to me this is plagiarism.

They didn't just rip off the character structure but whole scenes! Halloween episode s2e8 of Living Single Overton and Sinclair prank Max by Overton being thrown down the stairs. Season 7 on friends Ross pranks Rachel by falling down the stairs after teaching Ben pranks. S2e6 Sinclair gets upset with Overton for joining a night class she was attending. Friends S5e9 Phoebe gets upset with Rachel for barging in on her literature class. Slight change in script, Overton was rocking it and Rachel wasn't taking it seriously. Nonetheless there are many scenes straight stolen and slightly tweaked to not exactly plagiarize Living Single.

The definition of can I copy your homework

I love both shows so much. Creating a new version was fine, but putting it against living single on the same time slot and day was foul. Fans could have enjoyed both shows every week on different days instead of choosing which one to stick with

I do believe it was an exact duplication if the phenomenonal show "Living Single" and race played a part . Living Single did not get the same marketing and support of their copy. If it did, I would have watched both but since it didnt and was cancelled I never watched an episode of "Friends"

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

I liked Living Single better than Friends. But I ended up watching Friends more because it was on a whole bunch of channels. Living Single was only on my local FOX TV station, and once they stopped showing it, no other station did. I didn't have cable.

I loved Living Single, but I always thought Friends was corny. Seinfeld was cool though 🤷‍♂️

I watched "Living Single" religiously. I tried to watch "Friends" and hated the characters.

Living Single all day, never cared for friends plus Maxine Shaw Attorney at law is my girl lol

I honestly always preferred living single over friends! I just thought it was funnier and had a lot more of a nostalgic, heartwarming vibe!

TEAM**Living Single!!! From the 90's til now. Still watching 2020!!!

It’s really messed up that I didn’t know about this. Ok one sure to watch living single now, they totally got ripped off!

I loved Living Single because it featured 4 African American females in lead roles, which had never happened on television. Living Single arrived at the end of the Golden Girl series, which was groundbreaking for spotlighting older women on television, which had never happened before. The formula is there - four women: one sensible, another a romantic, another trusting and another cynical. I always said the GG was the forerunner for SATC and Living Single advanced Friends. Friends was funny too...loved Ross, Chandler and Joey. For me, they were the show. The ladies had their moments, but the guys were my focal point (it also last 5 years too long). Fact is, no matter who we are, OUR stories overlap because they are stories of family, friendship, love and hurt. Living Single was first and will always be THE hit for me. Even as I watched Friends, I would see an episode and say, "oh wow, they did that on Living Single." And, I did the same for SATC, whenever a storyline popped up, I'd say "they did that on GG." And, for the record, I saw a lot of Lucy & Ethel in Laverne & Shirley. Like I said, the human experience includes everyone.

"Perhaps it was inspiration", no MA'AM, it was a carbon white copy of the original. You failed to mention L.S. had cameos from ALL ethnicities but Friends was in NYC and there were NO black people...none. How believable was that?

You call inspiration....I call it exactly the same.

Its so exhausting to watch mediocre Caucasian platforms and people succeed off of stealing from true black talent ❗️

Living Single all day every day

I don’t know how to feel about friends now that I have watched this. They completely stole the idea and the saddest part is that living single never received recognition as much as it should have, while on the other hand we have friends which is widely popular even in random villages less known countries. I have watched friends about 6-7 times and this is my first watching moments of living single and that’s because I heard the name on tiktok!

Iv’e been trying to tell people Friends is basically a white wanna be tv series of Living Single. Living Single will ALL WAYS BE THE ORIGINAL. I will always have love for the cast of Living Single.

The pilot for living single was shot in the Winslow's home from Family Matters. I thought they were in the same universe

Ahhh ☹️ Living Single didn’t come to the UK so missed out on that show at the time. I am going to have to check this. I remember when Friends came to the UK on Channel 4 back in 94 It was something new and different but I guess now it wasn’t. it is a real shame a UK TV channel never bought Living Single to show here

When they took Living Singles off I didn't switch over to watch friends because they weren't funny to me and some of the characters were just plain stupid and boring. So yes IT WAS A BIG RIPOFF. I loved Living Single. All friends did was copy everything Living Single did. And of course Erika was right but it was mostly they had too much melanin. Friends was actually quite corny to me.

I mean Friends was good.... But, Living Single is my jam. I've been rewatching on Hulu. I'm so over Friends.

Living single was funnier too me . 🤷🏽‍♀️

#livingsingle for life!

But why was living single cancelled if it was extremely succesful? And in mid season... I don t get it. It feels like it was cancelled just so they can introduce friends

they have the complection for protection - Maxine Shaw attorney at law 🤣

I love friends and i had no idea that it was a rip off. I had no idea living single existed

They even stole the colorful title style. Damn if this isn't a big fat lawsuit.

The only reason Friends was created was because a guy named Warren Littlefield, who ran NBC at the time admired Living Single. He created Friends with the intent of it being Living Single, but also probably competition with Fox. I think peoples perception of he stole something is not true, especially since he acknowledged how he liked Living Single. I think it was about the lineups more so, what did Fox have to offer, and NBC. All competition really.

And you can't compare Kyle/Max's love hate relationship to the Ross/Rachel drama filled birth of the "we were on a break" thing lol

Living Single is definitely the funnier of the two shows, not to mention the ORIGINAL show. Friends(and even Sex & The City) is nothing more than a Whitewashed, Watered Down version of Living Single, and no one can debate this because Queen Latifah even said in an interview that the creator of Friends admitted that they wanted the show on record, then a year later Friends was born. The only reason why Friends was more successful was due to it being a White cast, bigger budget, bigger pay, and bigger and more aggressive marketing. I love Living Single, I love the cast, the characters, always thought they were innovative in not only the terms of Black people being represented but also HOW Black people are represented on tv. I was sad to hear the Network originally wanted the show to axe the Maxine Shaw character, which would have been a dud because Maxine Shaw is one of the most dynamic characters on the show, the show wouldn’t have been the same without her. I believe that there was a complicit bias in not only the airing of the show(them giving Living Single the same time slot as Friends), also the media reception of Living Single compared to friends, one tv critic reviewed Living Single as being about “Hoochie Mamas” even though the show was about professional working class Black Women in New York City. Living Single deserved WAAAAAY better in terms of its showtime, marketing, and pay, but this happens with a ton of Black sitcoms.

Some? Are you serious??😡😡😡😡 This is not a conspiracy. This is not theoretical. It is a fact that it ripped off living single. I am appalled and very disappointed you would even write/say that. It adds to unnesecary speculation.

Hell yeah it was a complete rip-off

Well for those who say black people don’t create anything or that we are lazy. This is more proof that we are remarkable 👊🏾

Living Single's 5th season was cut short as well! I havte that they did that!!

I can watch friends and get a few laughs, but honestly, living single was and is sooooo much better in my opinion

I grew up watching Friends and I loved the show. Still watched it when it was on Netflix. I had no clue Living Single existed and how Friends ripped off of it until Jay-Z's "Moonlight" video. I was so disappointed and angry that a show I loved ripped off of a Black sitcom. It made a lot of sense too as to why Friends had no minority main characters, and if there were, they played the minor characters or were just there for a few episodes but didn't have as much screen time. When I try to explain all this to people, they get angry at me for trying to bring up race and politics into it. It's sad that a show I grew up watching didn't represent me or POC/minorities and ripped off of a Black sitcom and was one of the main reasons the original show Living Single was cancelled. More support, more money, more coverage of a ripped off show = cancellation of the original show that it stole the idea from.

May sound rude... But I don't care Still love friends Yet to see living single If I'd be mad at anyone then that'd be be the creators

This is how I see my two favorite shows Living Single: 😂😋😄☺💜💜💜💜💜🙄😭😁😜😝😛😢😍😍💔🙋🏿🙋🏾🙋🏽🙋🙋🏻🙋🏼 (Realistic, Adoring, Blunt, Straightforward, Fun, Comedy) F.R.I.E.N.D.S.: 😢😢😝😝😝😂😂😂😭😭😭😳😳😳😳😥😥😥😥😥😥😩😩😩😫😫😫😖😖😖😕😕😕😐😐😐😐🙋🏼🙋🏻🙋🏻🙋🏻🙋🏻🙋🏾💔💔💔💔 (Soap Opera, Fiction, Crazy, Fantasty, Cringeworthy Comedy, Sugarcoating, Back and forth on and off relationships, etc.)

Just wanted to add a correction to your video. At 1:27 you claimed it was the first time in history that 4 black women led a tv show. However, that is incorrect. 227 was the first show to do so.

Crazy you have so many views and only 6 subs the video was so good!!!

Living single hands downnnnnnnn

When “Living Single” came out in DVD. I watched the entire season, they were amazing. I ❤️ Erika Alexander.

I'm Mexican and i loveeeeee both shows. To hell with that statement saying that living color is for blacks and friends for whites, i'm like wtf!?

Never thought about it, but after listening to interviews from TC Carson, John Henton, and others from the cast plus this video it is obvious. The sad thing is that NBC didn't even try to hide it. Damn.

Living Single was my Golden Girls. They really need to get together and bring back a Black Golden Girls before it's too late.

It was a white wash rip-off Regine and Rachel both into fashion both roommate with their childhood friend Sinclair /Overton and Phoebe/Joey They are more of the air head/ less intelligent members of the group Joey and Sinclair are both actor/actress Max and Joey would both eat all their friends food Max and Phoebe both have their own home we hardly see because they always at the girls apt. Overton/Kyle and Joey/Chandler both live in an Apt together in the same buildings as the girls both have one roommate that make more then the other because they have a corporate type job Khadijah and Monica are both kinda of control freaks their might be more but this all I can think of right now

LIVING SINGLE WAS BETTER ABD FUNNIER‼️‼️‼️

Living Single is still the best! I never got into Friends...

Living Single does not get enough credit

They should have did a crossover episode if they do another show like this do it with mix people of every race

Living Single deserved a better developed last season and it wouldn’t have hurt to explore the character’s development in a full 23 episodes. There was no proper send off they forced two random characters at the end that moved in, Regine just disappears after she gets engaged, and Kyle and scooter barely comes back in the last episodes. I had to write my own personal ending for each of the characters because I feel it ended so abruptly and they didn’t give true justice to the storylines they started off with. This show and the fans deserved better.

Because its facts, living single did it first

Sure it was a rip off , even to the point of having the show cancelled. I spoke to some of the Living Single cast members they were surprised when the show was taken off the air.

Let me speak truth to silence... Living Single was the SHOW, but in that era they were saying that black shows/black full cast, were not crossing over too various nation's... So Friend's was born. I believe that's the hurtful low down dirty truth to why Living Single went off the air. What a shame... Take down one to lift up another. NEVER watch Friend's till this day...

I liked both show. the real problem is that the tv network people didn't give living single the same respect.

I prefer living single

Strong beautiful black woman I've never heard a white woman say that about themselves I wonder why

So friends kept taking concepts and stories from living single...

Wow. Never realized they were so similar...just never really thought about it. But as a young black teen I watched w/my parents, Living Single and Martin and sometimes New York Undercover, I think it was called, after those 2 shows. I really didn't discovered Friends until after Living Single was cancelled.

Anybody who says that friends wasn't a complete rip-off of living single probably has too much damn mayonnaise in the words of charlamagne tha God!

When I found out they canceled Living single just to bring friends on. I was you low down dirty 😆

Watching this reminds me of how much I enjoyed Living Single. I related to Sinclair the most,😆

I'm black I watched them both didn't know they were suppose to be pit against each other till now