Friends will forever be seen as the quintessential primetime sitcom. During its run, it was by far the most popular show on TV, and paved the way for countless other shows copying the format to match its success. Show like How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory definitely succeeded, but both made the format their own. New Girl however, had great success sticking almost too close to the format set by Friends. New Girl and Friends aren't carbon copies, but there are more than enough similarities to prove where New Girl got its inspiration.