F.R.I.E.N.D.S & How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) are my favorite sitcoms and their reruns all over the world only indicate their popularity. Fans of these series would have thought at some point in time, who’s the better character, Barney or Chandler? Both are considered to be amongst the best sitcom characters ever. In this article I’m trying to provide my views and be as unbiased as possible, as I myself, am a fan of both.
Barney Stinson, played by Neil Patrick Harris, revolutionized the conversation styles of youth. I don’t remember calling anybody ‘bro’ before HIMYM. He has thousands of pranks up his sleeve and he won’t mind playing them on his friends. He has innumerable ideas to woo women and somehow, his silly plans work! He forcefully makes Ted call him his best friend, again, incalculable times. Barney is somebody whom you’d find absolutely stupid at times and shrewd other times. He might bully his friends all the time but when needed, will be the first to help. His relationship with Robin shows us his emotional side and at times, it’s really difficult to watch him in pain. There are a few scenes when he first realizes that he has feelings for Robin and Neil has aced them. It is at this point in the series, where, despite being the most important character, Ted dwindles away and Barney takes the driving seat and never looks back. I feel we need to thank Neil for giving us ‘bro-code’, ‘challenge accepted’, ‘suit up’, high-fives, ‘self-five’, ‘legendary‘ and so many other youth centric terms. Credit has to be given to Neil as he has portrayed this character in the best possible way.
Chandler Bing, played by Matthew Perry, is considered as the lord of sarcasm. There’s even a page on Facebook named ‘Sarcasm’ and has Chandler as its profile picture. Chandler has to be one of the funniest characters in the history of television. Anybody who’s watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S has tried to act like Chandler at least once. I can almost guarantee that. His sarcastic one-liners crack me up almost every time I watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Chandler is at his sarcastic best in the first few seasons where he finds it extremely difficult to converse with women and ends up being single. This is in stark contrast to Barney. Also, Chandler does not necessarily have the flashy words like Barney, but he makes up for it by having a very sardonic dialogue delivery. Chandler falling for Monica is one of the best parts of the series and I believe it was at this time in the series was at its peak. The character grows and matures as the seasons progress and one is totally satisfied with his condition at the end of the series. The same cannot be said about Barney. Also, Chandler is somebody whom we can relate to as the character is more practical, unlike Barney’s.
Overall, there are a few sections where Barney scores and scores big. Barney winking while narrating his playbook is the highlight of his character. As a fictional character, he almost beats Chandler. But the Monica-Chandler chapter is something that is way better than Barney-Robin. As a person, Chandler is much more trustworthy and in my opinion, altogether, is the better character!
One Response
In F.R.I.E.N.D.S T4 EP 18, Phoebe is chosing a name for the baby and Chandler starts to act like he didn’t want his name anymore, so he is trying to choose another name for himself. In the end of the episode Joey says that he would do a good ”Barney”, and that’s how they made Barney.