It went unnoticed, but Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory 3 years earlier played almost the same role in the Friends universe

Aside from the fact that both series are sitcoms about a group of friends, it turns out that The Big Bang Theory and Friends have something else in common, and to a significant degree. Not only the actor Simon Helberg himself, but also the fact that the characters he played in both series could just as well pretend to be the same person thanks to numerous similarities.

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However, Simon Helberg did not star in the Friends TV series itself, but in its not entirely successful spin-off Joey, which ended after just two seasons. In it, he starred as Seth Tobin the nerdy engineer and rival of Michael, Joey's nephew. He didn't last long in the series, appearing in only four episodes over two seasons, so many of you may not remember his character. However, he was a sort of “prototype” of Howard Wolowitz from TBBT.

What do they have in common? They are both nerdy aerospace engineers with an interest in Star Wars and Star Trek. That's not the end of the similarities, however, as Seth and Howard also share a similar housing situation, with one living with his grandmother and the other with his mother. They also both have a creepy attitude toward women and are thinking of building a realistic robot woman, and have questionable material on their computers. So you can see that they have quite a bit in common.

However, it's worth noting that Seth is a much more arrogant person than Howard, in that he resembles Sheldon more, so there are also differences between them. In addition, Howard, as one of the main characters of The Big Bang Theory, has had room to grow, which has resulted, among other things, in a change in his attitude toward women.

However, if we focus on the characters early intentions, one gets the impression that Simon Helberg, in moving from the Friends universe to TBBT, took Seth with him, changed his name and began his adventure with a new pack of friends.

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