One might think the most heated debate that came out of the tv show Friends was whether or not Ross and Rachel were on a break. Though the true dispute of the century, came later with the release of How I met your mother, a sitcom that like Friends followed a group of 30 somethings living in New York  City (in very broad, unspecific terms). As an unbiased judge who has watched and re-watched both shows over a hundred times, I will attempt to settle this historic debate. Both Friends and How I met your mother Fanatics have agreed to fight for the greatness and superiority of their shows, to see fair and square who wins the title of the Ultimate sitcom.

Referee– Now let’s meet the contestants:

On Team Friends we have Bianca who’s so obsessed with the show she named her dog Joey.

On Team HIMYM we have Maya who has watched every episode at least 3 times and some more than 10.

The fight has been broken into 6 rounds. Winning one round will get you 10 points. At the end the points will be tallied to see who will win the title of “THE ULTIMATE SITCOM”

Round 1: Characters

HIMYM throws the first punch, and it hits hard

M: Our characters are more realistic. I feel like some of the friends characters aren’t very real.

Uh-oh

Friends hits back

B: HIMYM characters are basically worse versions of the ones in Friends

ouch

B: Marshall and Lily are clearly Chandler and Monica and Robin and Ted are Rachel and Ross (we were on a break?) and Barney is a more sexist and less deep version of Joey.

That has to hurt

B: And they have no Phoebe (need I say more?)

No you do not.

Round 1 goes to Friends

Round 2: Couples

HIMYM keeps it simple

M: I love Lily and Marshall. They are the cutest couple ever.

Friends takes the hit

B: I admit Marshall and Lily were pretty cute

But not without a fight

B: Can we acknowledge the fact that the couples in Friends actually ended up together?

All in all, Marshall and Lily make this a HIMYM win

Round 2 goes to HIMYM

Round 3: Guest appearances

HIMYM tries to hit but misses

M: J.LO and Katy Perry

Then Friends gives them an uppercut

B: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, George Clooney… and whoever played JANICE.

Making it an obvious win for Friends.

Round 3 goes to Friends

Round 4: Jokes/gags

Friends throws a punch and gets HIMYM in a chokehold  

B: There are just so many… I know they know we know they know. WE WERE ON A BREAK! Are you planning on divorcing anyone today? Plus, we have CHANDLER.

HIMYM can’t get loose from the chokehold and tries to elbow Friends from behind

M: Robin Sparkles and the slap bet.

But they miss, Giving Friends the win.

Round 4 goes to Friends

Round 5: How everyone met

Friends goes for the uppercut but HIMYM dodges and they end up falling

B: I still wonder how they all met Phoebe

HIMYM advances with speedbag punches

M: My favorite is how Barney and Ted meet. Barney randomly starts talking to Ted, a then stranger, and decides that he is going to teach Ted “how to live.”

With a final elbow strike, HIMYM wins the round

Round 5 goes to HIMYM

Final round: Last episodes

Team friends starts off strong with an right cross and subsequent hook

B: The HIMYM episode doesn’t even compare to the beautiful, chaos and laughter that was “The Last One”

They have HIMYM pinned to the ground HIMYM taps out

M: I hated the last episode. I hate it now and always will. Ted and Robin do not belong together, that is very well established in the show. Even though they have a strong connection, they don’t work. This is shown over and over throughout the seasons, yet in the last episode they end up together. Also, killing Ted’s wife in the last episode was just ridiculous to me.

Friends with no doubt, wins this round, securing 50 points. And the overall win

Final point count – Friends: 80 HIMYM: 20

The match has ended and Friends has been unofficially, officially crowned “The ultimate sitcom”.