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Quick question: Is the New York of sitcoms supposed to present "good housing"? The two most famous New York sitcoms that come to mind (namely Seinfeld and Frien

Quick question: Is the New York of sitcoms supposed to present "good housing"? The two most famous New York sitcoms that come to mind (namely Seinfeld and Friends) present rather small and basic apartments, people using in-building shared washers and driers, doesn't look any better than the ridiculously small apartments we have in Paris.

pm90 10y ago
It should be pointed out that Friends was criticized a lot for showing larger apartments in NYC for what people like the protagonists could typically afford.
gambiting 10y ago
Some of us grew up in this sort of flat: https://www.gumtree.pl/a-mieszkania-i-domy-do-wynajecia/krakow/kawalerka-30m2-nowa-huta-1000pln-25min-do-centrum/1001927106570910968641609 https://www.gumtree.pl/a-mieszkania-i-domy-do-wynajecia/krak... So yeah, compared to that, the flat they had in "Friends" was incredibly spacious.
stephancoral 10y ago
Idk what Seinfeld you're watching, but all the apartments in it are massive
elboru 10y ago
Yeah I think New York was a bad example, but as someone outside the US I have always been fascinated by the US concept of suburbs (showed in a lot of movies and series), big yards, green gardens, big trees, family friendly environments were kids can play outside without any major worry.
unprepare 10y ago
Seinfelds apartment seems pretty huge to me, and i dont live anywhere near as expensive as New York http://img00.deviantart.net/15bd/i/2013/039/8/f/jerry_seinfeld_apartment_floorplan_by_nikneuk-d5h2sse.jpg http://img00.deviantart.net/15bd/i/2013/039/8/f/jerry_seinfe... similarly the main apartment in friends seems pretty large http://pre14.deviantart.net/3e01/th/pre/i/2016/036/8/8/friends_apartment_s_floorplans___version_2_by_nikneuk-d8flr3a.jpg http://pre14.deviantart.net/3e01/th/pre/i/2016/036/8/8/frien... - note that this diagram is for both the girls apartment and the guys apartment across the hall, so we are looking at two apartments here quick credit to the artist of these diagrams, they have a ton of other shows on their deviantart page[1] [1]http://nikneuk.deviantart.com/gallery/ http://nikneuk.deviantart.com/gallery/
- ido 10y ago
  "friends" were indeed huge for such young people...however Seinfeld in-show was supposedly successful enough to buy his father a cadillac as a birthday present, so I can more readily accept that he could afford a relatively spacious 1 bedroom apartment in 80's/90's NYC (remember that the city used to be a lot more affordable back then).
galdosdi 10y ago
It's funny how many replies you're getting from new yorkers pointing out that seinfeld/friends actually had much larger than average apartments. The fact that all those years later you still think of them as "small" means the cinematic trick worked! But why did Seinfeld/Friends engage in this trick? My guess: Seinfeld/Friends was aimed to appeal to a mass american audience, which is why I imagine they had such large apartments -- they wanted something that still looked "small" to middle americans and outer suburban dwellers, but it still obviously had to be much larger than real manhattan apartment sizes, because filming in a realistic 350sqft apartment set (1) would have been awkward to even shoot (2) would have seemed so small as to be hard to believe or at least steal the scene focus when the apartment is supposed to just be a backdrop.

pm90 10y ago

It should be pointed out that Friends was criticized a lot for showing larger apartments in NYC for what people like the protagonists could typically afford.

gambiting 10y ago

Some of us grew up in this sort of flat: https://www.gumtree.pl/a-mieszkania-i-domy-do-wynajecia/krakow/kawalerka-30m2-nowa-huta-1000pln-25min-do-centrum/1001927106570910968641609 https://www.gumtree.pl/a-mieszkania-i-domy-do-wynajecia/krak... So yeah, compared to that, the flat they had in "Friends" was incredibly spacious.

stephancoral 10y ago

Idk what Seinfeld you're watching, but all the apartments in it are massive

elboru 10y ago

Yeah I think New York was a bad example, but as someone outside the US I have always been fascinated by the US concept of suburbs (showed in a lot of movies and series), big yards, green gardens, big trees, family friendly environments were kids can play outside without any major worry.

unprepare 10y ago

Seinfelds apartment seems pretty huge to me, and i dont live anywhere near as expensive as New York http://img00.deviantart.net/15bd/i/2013/039/8/f/jerry_seinfeld_apartment_floorplan_by_nikneuk-d5h2sse.jpg http://img00.deviantart.net/15bd/i/2013/039/8/f/jerry_seinfe... similarly the main apartment in friends seems pretty large http://pre14.deviantart.net/3e01/th/pre/i/2016/036/8/8/friends_apartment_s_floorplans___version_2_by_nikneuk-d8flr3a.jpg http://pre14.deviantart.net/3e01/th/pre/i/2016/036/8/8/frien... - note that this diagram is for both the girls apartment and the guys apartment across the hall, so we are looking at two apartments here quick credit to the artist of these diagrams, they have a ton of other shows on their deviantart page[1] [1]http://nikneuk.deviantart.com/gallery/ http://nikneuk.deviantart.com/gallery/

ido 10y ago
"friends" were indeed huge for such young people...however Seinfeld in-show was supposedly successful enough to buy his father a cadillac as a birthday present, so I can more readily accept that he could afford a relatively spacious 1 bedroom apartment in 80's/90's NYC (remember that the city used to be a lot more affordable back then).

galdosdi 10y ago

It's funny how many replies you're getting from new yorkers pointing out that seinfeld/friends actually had much larger than average apartments. The fact that all those years later you still think of them as "small" means the cinematic trick worked! But why did Seinfeld/Friends engage in this trick? My guess: Seinfeld/Friends was aimed to appeal to a mass american audience, which is why I imagine they had such large apartments -- they wanted something that still looked "small" to middle americans and outer suburban dwellers, but it still obviously had to be much larger than real manhattan apartment sizes, because filming in a realistic 350sqft apartment set (1) would have been awkward to even shoot (2) would have seemed so small as to be hard to believe or at least steal the scene focus when the apartment is supposed to just be a backdrop.