How I Met Your Mother

[G-Man]

How I Met Your Mother has probably been discussed here already at some point. So, what's the OTF view?

I didn't think I'd like it, but I was wrong. Obvious weaknesses aside — it's quite derivative and has a laugh track — it's very funny indeed. Moments of mawkishness are quickly subverted with an unexpected gag or resolution.

There are some great setpieces. The Tiffany-style videos the Robin character did in her youth are very nicely executed. The gag that the '80s didn't come to Canada till the mid-90s — doubtless inserted as a caveat — is one of the best jokes in the show, I think.

The whole show hinges on the Barney character, of course. Doogie Howser has become a fine comedian: his timing and delivery are exquisite, and his physical comedy is brilliant.

[Wyatt Earp]

How I Met Your Mother

I've never heard of it. Is it a series? Are you sure it's shown in the UK? If not, then demographically, it's less likely there'll have been a thread on it.

Who's Doogie Howser? Is that a real name?

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

I've mentioned it before, it's one of my favourites around at the moment.

It's not that funny but very watchable and enjoyable (which seems to be the best you can hope for in the post Friends/Frasier/Seinfeld era of mainstream US sitcoms).

Neil Patrick Harris (who played Doogie Howser and is Barney in this) is the obvious star as G-man says.

[Wyatt Earp]

How I Met Your Mother

What channel's it on?

[Wyatt Earp]

How I Met Your Mother

(Mind, if it's not funny, then fuck it. Comedy should be funny.)

[matt j]

How I Met Your Mother

I watch it, though I'm a full season behind. It's reasonably funny, but the two 'mains' (Robin and Ted) are pretty weak most of the time. If it wasn't for NPH I think the show would collapse.

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

It's on BBC but they give it the usual US sitcom treatment of showing it without any publicity at no fixed time and around midnight on a Tuesday. i think they've also switched it between 1 and 2. They treat it as filler in the schedule like they did 'Seinfeld'.

It is funny, it's just not of the quality of the recent Golden Age of US sitcoms. 'The Big Bang Theory' is the same.

[Ek weet nie]

How I Met Your Mother

I'm a lukewarm fan. I remember mentioning it on the Current Watching thread. It does a remarkable job of succeeding despite having a poor comic actor in the lead. He's too annoying to be an effective straight man also. To echo the others, Neil Patrick Harris makes this on his own. Marshall and Robin can be funny too and occasionally Lily. I do like how well constructed the universe of the show is. They get the flashbacks and continuity just right.

[Wyatt Earp]

How I Met Your Mother

Harry Truscott wrote:

'The Big Bang Theory' is the same.

Oh Christ, I have seen that. It's fucking useless.

[Incandenza]

How I Met Your Mother

It's got some great talent in it--NPH, Jason Segel ("Freaks & Geeks," Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and Alyson Hannigan--but because it's on CBS, I won't watch it. Not that I have any sort of boycott against CBS, it's just that there's something about the network that gives me a weird vibe. I only ever watch it for "60 Minutes" and March Madness. I know this sounds completely irrational--and again, considering that Alyson Hannigan is in it, especially irrational and against my interests--but I can't help it.

[Hofzinser]

How I Met Your Mother

Not a fan of Scrubs then, Harry?

(Or, indeed, Everybody Loves Raymond, which has also now ended but postdated Frasier, Friends et al.)

[Disco Child Ballads]

How I Met Your Mother

I can't say I ever found Everybody Loves Raymond remotely funny.

And if we're talking about good current mainstream US sitcoms, then 30 Rock is worth a mention.

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

Hofzinser wrote:

Not a fan of Scrubs then, Harry?

(Or, indeed, Everybody Loves Raymond, which has also now ended but postdated Frasier, Friends et al.)

I love 'Scrubs', in fact I meant to mention that it was the only one of the current mainstream sitcoms that live up to it's recent predecessors.

'ELR' is OK but no more (it is however the sitcom that reminds me of my own family life the most) and '30 Rock' is good but both lack the really big regular laughs that you still get from watching Frasier / Friends / Seinfeld.

[Ek weet nie]

How I Met Your Mother

Scrubs has just finished it's eighth season, it gets bracketed with those sitcoms by a lot of people.

[WOM]

How I Met Your Mother

I do like Big Bang Theory, but really in a 'not much else in the three-camera sitcom tradition on' sense. Two and A Half Men is similar. Good, but not Seinfeld-good. People kept telling me to watch The New Adventures of Old Christine, but it seriously sucked ass. I still don't get 30 Rock.

[G-Man]

How I Met Your Mother

There are few laugh-out-loud comedies these days. much of it is knowing sort humour with insider jokes at which you laugh because, thank goodness, you got it. Which is fine and why I like 30 Rock, Arrested Development (RIP) and Entourage.

How I Met Your Mother is in many ways retro, combining the sensibilities of Friends and Seinfeld. I can't think of any recent TV series that has given me such a great laugh at HIMYM's second season. The "Swarley" episodes and the one where Barney stages a deliberately bad stage play were proper funny. But, of course, hinging on Barney.

HIMYM has also been clever in using the web. In one episode, a disgruntled one-night-stand of Barney's in acase of mistaken identity puts up a website exclaiming that Ted (the main guy) is a jerk. That site went up in real life. Then a site went up, ostensibly by Ted's ex-girlfriend, proclaiming that Ted isn't a jerk. I don't think that was mentioned in the show at all.

[erwin]

How I Met Your Mother

Accidentally caught the very first episode of 30 Rock today ... and it was knockout. It's machine-gun quick - would probably need a good couple of viewings to get all the detail.

Must say I've been underwhelmed by How I Met Your Mother, though can't put my finger on it.

[WOM]

How I Met Your Mother

So, because of this thread, I watched HIMYM tonight.
Underwhelming is how I'd describe the experience, too.
I also watched something called Rules of Engagement with Patrick Warburton (Elaine's boyfriend Puddy on Seinfeld). It was worse than shit.

[Hofzinser]

How I Met Your Mother

Just the trailers for Rules of Engagement make me angry. I've never attempted to actually watch a whole episode.

Going back to Everybody Loves Raymond for a second, the first few times I saw it (and I only ever caught snatches of it as I wasn't motivated to tune in for a whole episode) I was distinctly underwhelmed. However, the missus really liked it so I ended up being force-fed a few episodes in their entirety and it's ended up really growing on me to the point that I now like it an awful lot and find it very funny.

I find this with a lot of American sitcoms actually - I recall it taking a few episodes before I really grew to love Seinfeld, Frasier, Cheers and Scrubs too. I don't know if it's because a lot of the humour is derived from the quirks and traits of the characters so until you get to know the chracters, and their associated in-jokes, a lot of the humour and charm of the shows is lost.

[Wyatt Earp]

How I Met Your Mother

Scrubs? I must be in the "learning to love it" stage. And I'm having learning difficulties.

[hobbes]

How I Met Your Mother

I love Scrubs. It's wonderfully silly and very seldom pushes up a moral. And when it does it tends to pop it straight away with a self-deprecating gag.

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

'HIMYM' appears to be running almost from the start at 7pm nightly on E4 commencing tonight.

I say "almost" as they are starting with what appears to the be the second episode of Season 1 and neglecting to show the pilot.

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

Ah, actually it's at 7:30pm and checking the website there appear to be complaints that it's a bowdlerised version to fit that timeslot which is going to hobble it quite a bit.

[Kid A]

How I Met Your Mother

Harry Truscott wrote:

'HIMYM' appears to be running almost from the start at 7pm nightly on E4 commencing tonight.

I say "almost" as they are starting with what appears to the be the second episode of Season 1 and neglecting to show the pilot.

They showed the pilot last Friday.

[Ray de Galles]

How I Met Your Mother

That was clever scheduling wasn't it?