Okay so I don’t know what else to say other than it’s cool how there are three majorly successful sitcoms depicting three different phases of a young person’s life: Seinfeld (30-something), Friends (20-something), That 70’s Show (Ages 16-17 until about 20, each season is half a year with 8 seasons taking place from 1976 to the last second of 11:59PM, December 31, 1979.
That 70’s Show would come first, then Friends, then Seinfeld. But their order of release goes back in time with overlap, Seinfeld airing from 1989 to 1998 with Friends premiering in 1994, and That 70s Show in 1998, just in time for Seinfeld to end. There was then a 6 year overlap between Friends and That 70s Show, as the former ended in 2004, with the latter ending in 2006.
Any other interesting facts? I feel like there are cool tidbits within the way they overlapped, airtimes, etc., and maybe even connections to be made on parallel universes and crossovers or whatever.
But yeah. 3 of the most acclaimed sitcoms, Seinfeld often regarded as the greatest of all time, with main characters at different stages in life. Teens 20s 30s. I know I am not considering a bunch of shows. But just wanted to share this
And yet somehow they line up as awkward teens → messy 20s → jaded 30s, like an accidental trilogy. Now I kinda want a 40s follow‑up where everyone’s just tired.
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kirby20001 day ago
+2
Shrinking?
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True-Mall17551 day ago
-10
this is actually pretty neat when you think about it. never noticed how they basically created this weird backwards timeline thing where the shows aired in reverse chronological order of the characters' ages.
the overlap periods are interesting too - like friends and that 70s show running together for 6 years means people were watching both teenagers and twenty-somethings deal with completely different problems at same time. probably why so many people have strong opinions about which decade was better for growing up in.
makes me wonder if writers were consciously trying to capture these specific life phases or if it just worked out that way. either way, good catch on the pattern.
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