#4: How I Met I Your Seinfeld

When I watch SEINFELD I often think about the sitcom, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. These two shows have several similarities, on and off the screen. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays and they drew from their friendship in creating the show. The main character, Ted, is based on Bays and two other characters, Marshall and Lily are based on Thomas and his wife. This is similar to SEINFELD in the sense that the creators also based characters off their own lives as well.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER has many characters that play parallel roles to the characters in SEINFELD. Ted resembles Jerry as he is the main character and has his act together more than anyone else on the show. Robin is similar to Elaine because although she has a stable career, she just can never seem to have a steady relationship. She will date people but then always find a reason to break up with them. Barney can be compared to both George and Kramer. He is like George because he is manipulative, a liar, and very self-centered. But, he is also comparable to Kramer because he is eccentric and viewers never know what he is going to do next.

Although HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER may be a bit more confusing to jump in the middle of, both shows are self-reflexive. There are several flashbacks in most episodes and there are some reflexive comments that are thrown in as well. The show does not really try to teach many moral lessons, it is just a narrative sitcom about a man looking back and telling his kids how he met their mother.