Since I have been watching a lot of Nick at Nite lately, I have been re-watching many of my favorite Friends episodes from yesteryear. Friends was such an all around great show, even when some of the storylines lagged, there was something endearing about each episode. Sometimes it was just a great one liner from Chandlier or a new Phoebe-ism, but nonetheless, every episode was great for one reason or another.

I feel very much the same way about How I Met Your Mother. Since the beginning of it's airing, it has been compared to Friends, even has been called a Friends knockoff. Is there anything wrong with that? My DVD library is certainly big enough to fit BOTH series in it, why is that a problem?

So then I thought, why not take this one step further and have an old fashioned HIMYM VS Friends smackdown. Part one of this series will be character vs character. Let's start with the easiest comparison, in my opinion, Rachel VS Robin.

Rachel was my favorite character on Friends. I enjoyed watching her journey from spoiled brat to a single mom that could financially support herself and her child. Rachel was the character that was most often lusted after by men, those on the show and off. This is where I think her comparison to Robin truly lies. Robin has slept with both Ted and Barney. Even Lily has sexual fantasies that involve her. Rachel slept wtih Ross and was lusted after by Joey. I think it was even noted that Phoebe would pick Rachel for a lesbian encounter over Monica once.  I was always thankful that the Joey/Rachel relationship never went anywhere, I don't think Ross could ever get past it. Therefore Ross and Rachel would have never gotten their happily ever after that they received in the finale. Since we have been told by the narrator that Robin is not the mother, it was a little easier to digest that she would have serious relationships with two of the other main characters in the group. I have not been shy about my unjustified dislike for the character Robin, I don't know why but most of the time she just gets on my nerves. Winner of this round: Rachel by a landslide.

Next in the ring is Barney VS Chandler. These two characters both are the king's of the one liners. Chandler's wicked tongue could make anyone else look stupid. However, there was no denying that Chandler did not do well with the ladies. He was often the butt of many jokes and it was a little surprising when he was able to get Monica. Barney on the other hand has no problem in the ladies department. He has bedded more women than any character on either show and that includes one, Mr. Tribani. Barney is so legend... wait for it... dairy, that he even has his own blog and book series. The Bro code is actually sold on Amazon.com, go figure. Barney's interesting vocabulary of made up words have definitely found their way into the mainstream, I have even heard my own mother use a Barney-ism. Winner of this round: Mr. Stinson.

So far we are tied folks, this is going to be a fight to the death. Next round is Ross VS Ted and Monica VS Lily, stay tuned  !