i know i'm one of the only people on ilx who watches *how i met your mother* on a regular basis, but did anyone else see the robin sparkles episode? where robin didn't want people to know that she had

should i watch this show? what's its deal?

Via Youtube, i found out that Robin played a hottie artist/sculptor on The L Word. A show I still have never seen.

scott, you are right abt this show. it is cute! and pretty funny!
(i wish it weren't in traditional sitcom form but hey)

i like this show

these kids are alcoholics

whoa so weird b/c i watched a bunch of episodes this week and was going to revive this thread
i laughed out loud several times! - the barney runs a marathon one, the fiero one, etc
i like that they hang out in a bar

my gf loves this show, and it is pretty charming. I'm glad NPH got an Emmy nom.

if John Larroquette got 4 Emmys for Dan Fielding, NPH is due.

I really only watch this show because Jason Segel is a comic genius. There are some funny jokes and scenes but the standard sitcom format of the show is a tremendous drag on it. The laugh track pains me so much. It's watchable now, but it could be just so much better without the cruft. Also, they get points for putting Martin Starr in an episode.

http://slapcountdown.com/

The last episode I saw of this show - where they go to Atlantic City so that one couple (sorry I can't remember their names) can get married- was pretty disappointing. It was all zany plot twist and no point, and not very funny. The Robin character depresses me because she's not bad looking, but she seems to repel any attempt to script her some sex appeal. The Doogie Howser guy is pretty much the best thing about this show.

That episode is terrible but in general I like this show.

they should bring back becker

I have never heard of any of this but am roffling majorly to to "i'm gonna rock your body to Canada Day" line

3rd season premiere was ok, but this week was great. all the plot strands were awesome: hippie robin making out with normal robin, barney with a southern accent, ted's anti-new jersey rant, marshall's over-the-top death letter and the flashforward.

enjoyed the "broda" world of warcraft crazy girl episode of mother. (i know they are just taking the flashback thing from Friends - what with the hairstyles and all - but i always like them. and the flashes of the future too!)

but does anyone like the nerd show after how i met your mother? i do. and, come on, david and darlene getting it on after all these years! i hope mother gives it enough of an audience to last.

last night i watched this for the first time. NPH is so great! would watch again A+++++

one of the flashback kids is a former student of mine

watched the nerd show for the first time last night. it was ok but I miss New Adventures of Old Christine.

isn't christine coming back though? they could ditch that david spade show and i wouldn't mind. mother/nerds/charlie harper/christine would make me happy.

I'm assuming it's coming back. It better. J L-D is hottt.

I believe Christine is coming back as a mid-season replacement in a few months (after, I hope, The Big Bang Theory is cancelled).

last night's ep was probably the best this season so far. HIMYM is already starting to get a little too self-conscious and deliberate with its coining of catchphrases and stuff, but the whole Hot/Crazy Scale bit was still gold.

I had to explain the significance of "the Vicki Mendoza line" to my children last night after it made me laff and laff until I almost barfed.

I noticed they played GBV's "I Am A Scientist" in one of the dorm flashback scenes.

I like the show too, it's the new Friends. And like that show it'll probably wear out its welcome after a few seasons but continue on because the ratings are high.

i like ted mosby more than ever

Are the Friends comparisons superficial? Young people in NY - but the show has more depth in the characters and in the way its written. Attention to backstory is almost Lost-esque.

Also, everyone seems to have a soul, where all the Friends could have been the spawn of Satan. Maybe I'm just blinded by my hatred of Matthew Perry.

i don't think the characters on friends ever ate sandwiches

Well, besides Phoebe.

Milo is right that the HIMYM characters have more depth, but it does seem it fills the same niche, just with better writers.

for some reason i thought slap bet countdown was last night?

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/slapbet_countdown/

LANCE HARDWOOD, SEX ARCHITECT

john cho was great

Re this show and "Friends": does anyone else remember that episode where they try hanging out in a Central Perk-ish coffee shop instead of a bar and can't stand it?

That was a lot of risque material for early prime time. Guess they figure the kiddies don't even know how to find CBS.

Wow, Mancuso is so ripe for parody, he isn't even safe on his own network. Another fun episode.

also: didn't realize they've had the same girl (wendy?) playing the bar waitress since the pilot.

kind of awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhXsJjVdj1E

oh man, that was excellent

That makes me so happy!!

what happens here? I have no volume at work. I pretty much love this show and NPH.

NPH and Jason Segal sing a duet from Les Miz ("Confrontation"?)

is this show on in the UK at all? i've seen some episodes during transatlantic trips this year, and have become fond of it.

ty n/a

I DID NOT HATE THE USE OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE BIG STAR SONGS DURING THE CLOSING MOMENTS OF LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE. that's how i know i like this show. cuz if a lesser show had used a song like thirteen to be "touching" i might hate them for it. cuz i am an infant like that. that whole scene was total cusack territory. but it worked somehow.

britney was an awesome guest star. she should come back.

and, so, it looks like that doctor is the mother of how i met your mother.

i realize i am probably talking to myself here...

You mean this whole time, they haven't said who the mother is?

That's like Lamont not showing up until Season 4 of "Sanford & Son".

oh it's back!

no, at the beginning of every show they show the future and you see dude's future kids and bob saget's voice telling them about his life and how he met their mother. but you never knew who the mother would be. but i think this woman is her. they bumped into each other at a club on st.patrick's day on the premiere episode.

rrrobyn sparkles x-post

anyway, on the first show, future dude/bob saget told his kids that their mother was at that club that night and they didn't meet. but he bumped into this woman for a brief second and i think it was the doctor lady from last night's episode.

haa

this show is single-handedly keeping the traditional sitcom alive - (i'm not counting 30 rock in that genre) - and maybe the traditional sitcom should die but not until this show is over
xpost

This show is really clever at times. Maybe I'm a dolt, but the whole mustache thing was super funny to me.

I've tried to like this. It's just so...sitcommy.

scott the doc's almost definitely not the mom but almost definitely was gonna be the mom until alicia silverstone pulled out of the ep - her from scrubs is only gonna be on a few eps (cuz she gotta go work on scrubs).

just because shes the mom doesnt mean shell be in a ton of episodes from now on, though!

Also Scrubs is off the air after this season.

There is a god.

still liking this show a lot

last week's was pretty good, until The Moral of the Story (drunk Ted is a dick) ending

the doogie howser moment at the the end of the show tonight was so so classic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v607/just3apples/brotp/114finalmoments.png

so gonna happen

Barney ep tonight = good. Who doesn't love continuity whoring on this show! Kind of a cop-out with the ending, though.

the 20 (!) minute song at tedmosbyisajerk.com is a future dementia classic.

WOW WHAT A SONG!!!!!

kudos for that!

Amazing. Hard to believe that CBS gave the green light on that. It almost something you'd put on a mixtape next to Brainticket, "Diary Of An Unborn Child", and Jandek's acapella material.

I checked the tag information at http://www.tedmosbyisajerk.com/audio.mp3, and the artist is tagged as The Solids, who do the HIMYM theme song I believe.

ok, the song starts out good and then graduates to amazing about 3/5 of the way in, when it's just her mumbling while a sax squawks

omg. Around 16:00, it becomes totally batshit crazy insane amazing. This is going on my top 10 songs of the year list.

THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF ROBIN SPARKLES!!!

show has been killing it post-strike

video wasn't as good as the first one and neil patrick harris is right that the show shouldn't resort to so much stunt casting, but, still good.

the full video on myspace was funnier than the snippet on the show. the melody is very much "i think we're alone now".

i think the stunt casting is currently needed to prop the ratings up. Himym hasn't been renewed for next season as of yet.

death metal puppy montage was the a+ moment

also a fan of punchy

looking forward to the episode of awkwardness to follow

Good stuff, though I am getting a little annoyed by the stunt casting. Whatever it takes for the show to survive, I guess. They should've given us more Alan Thicke!

I was a bit disappointed by the video too, but it was really impossible to live up to "Let's Go to the Mall". Also it is funnier if you watch it complete, off the website.

Will Bobin pick up enough mileage to the season finale? I just hope next season we don't see a bunch of silly filler episodes as both of them go dating their separate ways to start off... still, this season has picked up, but it seems impossible at this point to catch up with last year's quality.

love this show

i thought it really brought the lolz last night, moreso than it has recently.

great show.

as much as i like 30 rock, this is more consistently funny and on point.

wtf, tvguide.com told me that CBS was running Big Brother in HIMYM's timeslot last night so I let my girlfriend was Bones and missed a new episode! not trusting that fuckin' site ever again.

was=watch

i thought it really brought the lolz last night, moreso than it has recently

Yeah, it was one of the better eps, definitely.

I love the way they set up these things for the future. So we know that Robin and Ted will be living together this time next year (assuming the show isn't cancelled) in the apartment, probably after Marshall and Lily move out.

The extender arm reaching back through the window to get the $20 was classic.

http://wwwimage.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/images/content/blog/bro_code.jpg

I've never seen this show, but I keep seeing it -- sans audio -- on the overhead screens on American Airlines' flights. And every time I see it there, I think (a) Wow! That's Doogie Howser, M.D. and the sidekick girl from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, (b) lots of fast camera movement here, and (c) this show seems plucky!

Anyway, I've been meaning to watch an episode. You know, with sound.

Virginity 2: Electric Boogaloo

"theeeirrrr....meat is delicious" nearly made me choke on my food

Renewed!

Last night's episode was pretty bad.

Yeah, definitely the weakest in a while. Still really glad it's safe for another season, though.

^Ditto.

http://joshreads.com/images/07/07/i070716famcirc.jpg

"watchin'"

Just got into this show, about 15 episodes in? Madly in love with it. Maybe I am anti-hype but I feel this show should be much more successful, or is it really successful and I never noticed? Can't wait to get to the Britney episodes!

was cheering for nph last night on the emmys, but alas.

He was robbed because hollywood likes to reward balding fuckwits who resemble themselves.

fine - the show only gets better in season 2. and season 4 starts tonight!

Yeah season 2 really is the best of all three. Season 3 has some of the best episodes but some of the worst too. The 3 or 4 episodes from after the break, starting with the one in which Britney stars, are awesome. Cant wait to go home and get new episode!

Ep 1 of season 4 was OKish I guess. Not great but there were a few laughs to be had. Barney completely out of character until that "inspiring" speech on bimbos. Ted as boring as usual. The Metro News 1 has horrible headlines. Marshall was fun popping up everywhere asking "what are you doing?" I still dislike Dr Eliott whatever her name is in HIMYM. I hope it gets better.

Totally agreed Jibe (S2 = best, S3 = not good but decent at times, Ted Moseby usually sucks) Marshall and Lily are always good (code word) but the episode was just ok. I like Eliot from Scrubs, but this relationship really isn't working... and I'm not sure how intentional it is (it seems clear they're setting up some kind of crash, plus she does have that final season of Scrubs to do) but her and Ted don't really have any chemistry. But then most of these Ted SUPER ROMANCE storylines kind of suck anyway. But I have more hope than I did when S3 started.

Metro News 1's horrible headlines aren't far off at all from real NYC news station bumpers.

It sucks that NPH didn't win, but it's almost balanced out by Zeljko Ivanek actually somehow winning for Damages. (and athough he is bald, I doubt he resembles most of the voters)

It was good! Okay, it wasn't amazing, but it did surpass my (admittedly low) expectations.

I like what they're doing with Barney, in that a.) it is satisfying for the character, b.) it is quite sweet and c.) whilst still one of the most consistently funny parts of the show, Barney could eventually become stale, and I like that the writers are trying to add more depth. Also glad they didn't cop out on the cliffhanger, which I only really expected because of loads of other shows.

Indeed, no chemistry at all between Ted and Eliot. Some crazy people on the internet believe that she is indeed the mother because of one tiny detail (a frame that was seen in both Stella's flat and behind the kids to whom the story is being told) but that's so not gonna happen.

You've got to be kidding me about NYC's news station bumpers being as awful as Metro News 1's. "Dental floss is poisonous, after the break we will give you the tooth"?

Barney was good as usual. He and lily and marshall hold the show far more than ted does. I agree that seeing him change character was enjoyable as he indeed ran the risk of becoming stale. His "its gonna be de - wait for it - lightful" was O_o but fun.

I'll third Ted and Eliot, but poor Ted. Always difficult to be the straight lead amongst the eccentrics and still be interesting.

But he can be interesting... I usually find him OK when he is single. It's almost as if everytime he gets in a serious relationship he turns boring.

the show is very realistic in that sense

hamburger talk = FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY!

best ep in a while. even with regis.

can someone please find all the burger lines on the internet for me? thanks! i found some:

Lily: This burger is so good, its like Christmas in my mouth. Meat Christmas.
Ted: Its like an angel from heaven landed in the kitchen of McClaren's... where the chef killed it and ran it through the meat grinder.
Barney: I love this burger so much I want to sew my ass shut.

Robin: "I just want you inside of me!"

hahahaha!

also, million dollar heads or tails was lovely too.

fun episode. and i think you guys above were a bit too harsh on the season opener. I am still laughing at "you got laid off a question mark?"

Ted: "Oh my god... I'm never brushing my teeth again, unless it's with a toothbrush made from this burger."

Lily: "I think I just had my first Burgasm."

Barney: "I want to take this burger out to dinner, and maybe a movie... Then take it back to my place, put on a little Terrence Trent Darby, and then I will just... fool around a little bit. Nothing serious, just take it slow, you know?"

Lily: I want to get tiny fitted sheets for this burger and just crawl into this bun and get all cozy and lie there.

barney: this feels so good. I'm worried I'm gonna get this burger pregnant.

marshall: if he does get that burger pregnant, i have dibs on the delicious burger babies.

How big is your underpants radius?

underpants radius:self-esteem level, a classic proportion

tonight's episode: classic. i love how they can throw in all the goofy intervention stuff (plus barney's old man routine) and still have it make sense to the overall plot continuity.

R2 Sweet Tooth!

college-aged ted reminds me of high school big hoos

omg this is on again!!

i love this show by the way and talk about the characters as though they were real friends of mine

aw

holy whoa 5 new episodes!

barney as old man was great; surprisingly good makeup too for a sitcom.

http://www.amazon.com/Bro-Code-Barney-Stinson/dp/143911000X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224353398&sr=8-1

Stella character's existence is totally vindicated. It might just be the alcohol, though.

i dunno, i feel like they progressively made her character less funny and harder to like as they slowly pointed toward her inevitable exit from the show. good episode, though.

^somewhat agreed, but we did get some great episodes out of it (especially that anti-NJ one) at least. I loved that false-future joke tonight with "if only I had let her talk to Robin" with the two completely different kids!

I resisted this show for so long...it just seemed a dumbed down version of friends and did not have the spark or click that I wanted it to have. Every once in a while I catch an ep and it's still just ok as far as I am concerned, yet since there is no real ensemble sitcom of its genre, it works. Two and a half men however has grown on me. The humor is dryer, more edgy and a bit dark and a bit risque without being raunchy.

The hamburger ep was pretty funny for the most part, but I felt it got a little ho hum yawn toward the 20 minute mark.

i just saw the episode with barney blogging to the doogie howser theme and nearly died omg.

http://foxshop.seenon.com/foxshop/layout/himym_splash4.jpg

http://foxshop.seenon.com/foxshop/layout/himym_splash3.jpg

http://foxshop.seenon.com/foxshop/layout/himym_splash2.jpg

The humor is dryer, more edgy and a bit dark and a bit risque without being raunchy.

are you fucking kidding me? do you even watch two and a half men? it's probably the most raunchy sitcom ever.

http://foxshop.seenon.com/foxshop/layout/himym_splash1.jpg

http://foxshop.seenon.com/img/product/resized/00076834-090251_400.jpg?k=cdf6d55c&pid=76834&s=catl

the bit about Ted's dadjokes kept making me think about me and slocki

me too :/

kind of a lame episode, this show needs to cut back on the emotions

i didn't laugh as much last night as i usually do but i don't mind the wussy stuff in this show when they balance it right

Drunk baby Lily was just enough to put it in the "win" column for me.

ugh no

embarrassing

it was silly, but I lol'd. Lolling at HIMYM seems to have an inverse ratio to the screen time for Sarah Chalke, so I'm happy at recent developments. With Hannigan really preggers I am all ready for BABY TIME. It's been a while since we've had a sitcom baby and I trust these guys to find a fresh spin on it.

Glad this show is doing better in the ratings than Heroes. Not directly competing schedulewise, but this and that Big Bang Theory (which I've never seen) are even tying with Dancing With The Stars for the 18-49 crowd now.

i thought robin had all the best lines last night. um, not that i can remember any, but maria and i were laughing pretty hard.

i watch big bang theory every week. i dig the nerd jokes. like, they were playing klingon boggle last night, and it was entertaining.

big bang theory has gotten better they more they focus on the tall skinny OCD guy, he's super funny

yeah i grudgingly have come to respect Big Bang Theory, their joke-a-minute approach is pretty consistent.

Robin's kinda been quietly becoming one of the funniest people on HIMYM for a minute, it's like it took them a couple years to figure out how she can bring the lols.

i am so in love with robin.

robin complaining about marshall and lily not wanting her to shoot beer bottles on the roof is my kinda robin moment. "oh, the neighbors are complaining, oh, you almost hit me..."

whoever wrote that episode last night was smoking some serious reefer. it was a mess. but i still dug it.

yeah it was a little more scattershot than usual, but funny anyway.

better than last week

plus, meadow soprano love never dies. um, at last for me it doesn't. it just grows stronger.

and this was pretty great:

"The world absolutely needs Woo Girls. If there were no Woo Girls, there would be no 'Girls Gone Wild,' no bachelorette parties, no Las Vegas poolside bars. All of the things that you hold dearest, Lily, would be gone."

"Those are none of those things --" Lily tried to interject, but Barney continued. "The souvenir shot-glass industry would collapse; so would the body-glitter industry -- and, the stretch Hummer rental industry. Tiny cowboy hats would be worn only by tiny cowboys. And when 'Brown- Eyed Girl' would come up on the jukebox, all you would hear ... would be silence .... and 'Brown-Eyed Girl.' But who would 'woo,' Lily? Who would 'woo'? Would you? Would you ... 'woo'?"

I loved that part.

"Maybe she only observes the High Holidays like Mardi Gras and Spring Break. Maybe she's just a cultural Woo."

i don't watch this show very often but i liked this:

-this is great, we're like madmen!
-yeah, we're totally like Mad Men!
-i'm going to go downstairs and slap a secretary's ass.
yeah, that's totally what they would do on that show.
-...what show?

That Dr. Seuss moment between Robin and Lily was pretty amusing, I have to admit.

i definitely never expected myself to LOL at such a corny rhyming joke--but i did.

This one was my favorite episode of this season. Just completely solid all the way around.

Agree 100%. Naked Man was AMAZING.

best episode since slapsgiving yo.

yeah i laughed a lot

this has gotten a lot better since they ended ted's engagement. more laughs, less emo. robin is getting especially good, i was cracking up at her being turned by violence in tonight's episode

Agreed, I love Robin becoming more cartoonish and slutty in the last several weeks (crazy dad, woo girls, naked man). (especially the sluttiness)

robin and ted being single = more laffs for sure

(this is probably always true of every show ever though. more tension. more desperation. more humiliation. more hilarity.)

shes pregnant! in real life. robin.

but i thought willow was pregnant? it's gonna be barney's isn't it...

both of them are pregnant at the same time

I really hope they don't decide to make Robin pregnant in the show because of her pregnancy. At least Lily and Marshall it kind of makes sense for them, but it would be a real show momentum-killer for Robin to have a kid.

plus they'd get all emo about it

it is gonna be barneys obv. and have some epiphany bullshit.

okay, it's official. it's robin's world, the rest of them just live in it. she totally made that episode last night.

I liked Marshall's karaoke rendition of "Let's Go to the Mall".

That was great!

yeah pretty weak episode except for robin

i saw the band love is all the other night and their drummer looks like a skinnier, swedish version of ted

I want to karaoke "Let's All Go To The Mall" IRL.

Robin is going to be in the new Broken Lizard movie.

the best part of this episode was Barney's holiday songs: "with her boobies I will play"

I love when Robin gets all Canadian. Best part was her sitting outside with no coat on, eating ice cream, when Marshall approached in short sleeves, carrying a slushie. I wore a tank top and shorts to work today!

Marshall accidentally leaning on the light switch and all other Canadian joeks A+

Everything else...... booooooring. Ted's sister isn't going to become a regular is she?

lol @ these.

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/081217/Phelps-Olympics_l.jpg

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/081217/Sex-City-Met-Mother_l.jpg

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/081217/Sarah-Palin-McCain_l.jpg

Ha, good stuff.

jonas brothers one is extra good

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/081217/Jonas-Brothers_l.jpg

was there an episode last night? I missed it if so. now for some quotes because people on the FRIENDS poll don't believe this show is better.

Marshall: I think we're going to wait on the baby thing. I mean I love babies. Babies rule. Pudgy arms and stuff. But, uh, they make you old. Kinda like this anchor weighing you down to one spot... forever.
Claire: I'm three months pregnant.
Marshall: (surprised) Not awkward, guys. Not awkward if we don't let it be awkward.
(nervously smiles, then walks away)

Barney: Ted, tonight we're gonna go out. We're gonna meet some ladies, it's gonna be *legendary*. Phone-five!
(pause)
Barney: You didn't phone-five, did you?
(pause)
Barney: I know when you don't phone-five Ted

Barney: For the first time...EVER...the three of us are single at the same time. I've dreamed about this day, boys, and it is going to be LE-GEN-DARY. Together we will own this city. Any time a girl wants to get back at her ex-boyfriend, we'll be there. Any time a girl wants to...solve her father issues through promiscuity and binge drinking WE WILL BE there. Any time a bachelorette party drives through the city in a limo, sticking their heads out the sunroof, shouting "WHAT'S UP NEW YORK!!", we will be what is 'up' New York! Gentlemen, we are about to embark on... Oh man, you guys did it, didn't you?!

Barney: Ted, I'm going to teach you how to live.
(Ted looks skeptically at Barney)
Barney: ...we met at the urinal.
Barney: Lesson one, lose the goatee, it doesn't go with your suit.
Ted: I don't have a suit.
Barney: Lesson two, get a suit.

Lily: If you died, I'd just come back and haunt your penis.

Ted: If you want to figure out who it is, why don't you just start by checking your list.
Barney: My list?
Ted: Dude, do not pretend you're not the kind of guy who keeps a list of all the girls he's slept with.
Marshall: I have one. It's called my marriage license.
Lily and Marshall: *high five*

Marshall: Breakfast isn't girly! Lunch isn't girly! How can brunch be girly?
Ted: I dunno. Nothing girly about a horse. Nothing girly about a horn. But put them together and you get a unicorn.

i love this show but i don't know that those quotes are really going to convince anyone of anything

well go on, don't just hate, help fight the good fight

hey some of those are good like maybe 30 Rock standard (i'm only a few eps into that tho)

my favorite parts are the moments of absurdity where the show breaks away from friends-esque sitcom conventions, like the robin sparkles stuff, the episode where robin (seemingly successfully) tries to communicate telepathically with lily to tell her not to open the package with the dildo in front of her family, and the founding fathers inventing the bro code, but this stuff doesn't really translate well into quotes

I've never heard a word spoken on this show, but I've seen maybe 10 episodes on American Airlines flights. It looks funny. Maybe it's even funnier with audio.

Gary Unmarried, OTOH -- which is also broadcast on AA flights -- looks atrocious.

Barney: The stripper at Stuart's bachelor party was a 15.
Ted: She was 15?
Barney: No a 15. Like in blackjack.
Ted: ... As in not sure whether you'd hit it?
Barney: Exactly!
Ted: Nice!

nice one Roz!

I definitely agree n/a, I am just being pushy because I am upset with myself for missing this show for the last few years - although the two month four-season catchup binge was fun too. Win-win!

I didn't notice at the time but reading through quotes I realize this scene is a direct SImpsons ripoff:
Marshall: Hi, we need a marriage license but we need to skip the waiting period because we're in love.
Clerk: Aaww..I'm gonna waive this waiting period right now!
Lily: Really!?
Clerk: Is what I would say if I could waive the waiting period but unfortunately only a judge can do that.
Lily: Oh, so can we see a judge?
Clerk: Absolutely!
Lily: Really?
Clerk: Is what I would say if there was any chance of you seeing a judge today, which there isn't.
Marshall: [clenched teeth] Why are you doing this to us?
Clerk: Because you're on CANDID CAMERA!
Robin: Really?
Clerk: Is what I would say--
Marshall: You know what, we get it.

i can't believe that this show explained for me why i don't like brunch!

my favorite parts are the moments of absurdity

Those, yes. But there's also lot more heart to HIMYM than other similar sitcoms (particularly friends). The characters read like multi-dimensional people who actually give a damn about each other rather than just a source of situations for punchlines. Taking Robin to a bar to ease her loneliness (real talk) sets up Canada/Minnesota jokes aplenty and they feel more organic for it.

yeah i don't really care about heart

milo OTM. You really come to enjoy the characters (though Ted's romantic loneliness is always kind of a sore point, the other four are very likable) and a lot of the situations feel much more relatable than most sitcoms, like that whole episode they spend trying to find one specific burger joint, or that whole NY vs NJ thing.

(Barney has referred to prostitution as the world's oldest profession)

Marshall: Really? The world's oldest profession?
Barney: Yes! I bet that even cavemen offered cave-hookers an extra fish for putting out.
Marshall: Is that so? Then that would make 'fisherman' the world's oldest profession. Kaboom! You've been lawyered.

marshall's hamburger speech

An entertaining episode, but I'm afraid the whole Barney/Robin thing has officially become annoying...

I want a crossover episode with Big Bang Theory.

is that show seriously any good? looks terrible.

Almost as good as Big Bang Theory.

Big Bang Theory is... uh... not good.

the conversation with the tv store clerk was a winner.

jordan, you are wrong. stay away from our thread.

it's way better than Big Bang Theory!

(excellent episode, excellent writing, excellent editing)

the tv smashing

just to be clear i'm talking about big bang theory, guys (i love himym)

OH SHIT I'M SORRY.

cross-reference this episode with this thread:

people who poop first thing at work in the morning

BBT is mildly entertaining, but is not even remotely in the league of HIMYM.

HIMYM pretty consistently has some truly excellent comedic writing and acting. BBT, no.

The sledgehammer through the wall bit cracked me up.

i lol'd about 10x this episode. that's an average of 1 lol every 2 minutes. find me another show that delivers that many lols.

30 rock is close.

the bit about “super hot lady” and his wife explaining why she was famous (Kim Kardashian) = too funny. Good for her I guess for agreeing to do that quick spot!

This show rarely makes me do more than smile, while BBT reminds me of all of the science nerds who lived in my dorm, most of whom are now professors, and all of whom were as idiosyncratic as the BBT guys.

I also laugh more at 2 and a Half Men than I do at How I Met Your Mother.

invoking 2 and a Half Men = suggest ban worthy

BAN DAN for bad taste in sitcoms

Jon Cryer should be tried in front of some sort of comedy war crimes tribunal.

real talk all the CBS monday night shows (i'm pretending Worst Week doesn't exist) are worthwhile and while i personally think HIMYM is tops i'm comfortable with people expressing any preference of one over the other.

HIMYM has definitely grown on me outside of Barney (who is/was always awesome), but i still don't think i would make a point of watching it if he weren't on the show. i've no use for any of these other CBS sit-coms. I'd rather watch reruns of King of Queens than the lot of them.

i dunno...Barney is on every episode (even times like last night when he's supposed to be off), but while the other characters get funny lines less consistently they can all be pretty hilarious. Marshall/Lily is one of the few sitcom couples that i think is actually funny as a couple, works well as a comedy team in the context of the show.

Worst Week makes no sense but is still pretty lolsy at times (yesterday's vagina episode being a great example)

marshal & lily are great

big bang theory is pretty painful imo but random reruns have convinced me that king of queens and 2.5 men had significant lulz

i didnt realize that there was a new episode on last nite and i forgot to record it

xpost i dont think you can untangle any of the characters really the show is so great in large part because of the chemistry/group stuff. this show is less "joke-y" than something like 30 rock the best bits rely pretty heavilily on the dynamic of the way the characters relate to each other

basically a large part of what i love about this show is how well it nails the teasing, relatable, in-jokey way that i talk to my friends its not all just set-up/punchline so a show w/just barney-type lulz would feel way flat and forced

i love this show by the way and talk about the characters as though they were real friends of mine

― max, Saturday, October 18, 2008 10:40 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ this is sort of sad but himym has reached that friends level where a lot of the jokes can coast on an assumed knowledge of the characters, like they dont have to explain marshall and lilys relationship or robins masculinity, and while it can make for lazy writing it makes the show stronger i think and why would i need real friends anyway

i think 2.5 men is still on. i was trying to find the thread where ethan reps for the non-charlie sheen guy as a comedy genius but no luck.

The annoying POS kid on 2.5 Men is kind of hilarious.

max what show reiterates developed character traits every episode as if every viewer is watching for the first time?

i would stop watching that show

a show w/just barney-type lulz would feel way flat and forced
i pretty much agree with this, it just took me a while to care about the rest of them. I guess it was already sort of a Big Deal when I started watching, and I was all wahtever. I really like the two girls, Segal somewhat less and the main dude the very least.

i think 2.5 would have been sort of ok if they had found someone other than Cryer. Maybe.

i think 2.5 men is still on. i was trying to find the thread where ethan reps for the non-charlie sheen guy as a comedy genius but no luck.

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Tuesday, January 13, 2009 2:04 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"hey malkovich, heads up!" ::throws can at malkovich's head::

oh man that thread

at the risk of ruining your masturbatory fantasy, no he did not hit on me.

― chicago kevin, Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:55 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

pwnd me

― chaki, Thursday, December 13, 2007 3:01 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

way to masturbate, dorito breath

― and what, Thursday, December 13, 2007 3:10 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

masturbate.xls

― chaki, Thursday, December 13, 2007 3:12 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

for the record i do not hate john but we have a history of not getting along online and in real life (see the party at juila's, the thirsty thursday at bar on buena, etc etc).

- chicago kevin, Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:23 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Link

is the john in question john malkovich??????? if not gtfo my thread u siccening little fagbabies

― cankles, Monday, December 17, 2007 6:54 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

max what show reiterates developed character traits every episode as if every viewer is watching for the first time?

what is family guy?

srsly fuck family guy

lol ethan i was just coming back here to c/p half that thread

i love shows where schlubby guys get hot chicks. its like my life.

― chaki, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:39 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

one of chakis finest performances

Jon Cryer should be tried in front of some sort of comedy war crimes tribunal.

― Nicolars (Nicole), Tuesday, January 13, 2009 1:43 PM (1 hour ago)

lol all of you were on his jock when he was Ducky

Actually, I have never seen 2 and a half men and my hatred of him dates back to that movie.

Oh come on, everyone wanted Andi and Ducky to end up together! It was meant to be!

(it is sad that I feel the need to add this but yes I am joking and Ducky should be killed messily)

you're mormon???

― and what, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 2:20 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

My father is. I'm not.

― Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 2:22 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I was actually raised Catholic.

― Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 2:23 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so is jesus satan's brother or what

― gff, Wednesday, December 12, 2007 2:30 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^ lol primaries!! remember this shit??

big bang theory is awful but i have to give it props for having a thoroughly unlikeable main character in sheldon and keeping him thoroughly unlikeable instead of cutesying him up by giving him emotions. of course the show still sucks because he is a totally unrelatable cockface and the jokes suck and it's hammiest show ever and it had a charlie sheen cameo last week

Missed the end of the last episode before Christmas, did you? (For those who didn't see it, Penny gives Sheldon an Xmas gift which is a napkin from her restaurant signed by Leonard Nimoy. Unable to think of an appropriate gift in return, Sheldon hugs her.)

it started as him & leonard both being the main characters, but then people loved sheldon's aspie antics so they gradually started pushing everyone else to the side and making it sheldon & friends.

Missed the end of the last episode before Christmas, did you? (For those who didn't see it, Penny gives Sheldon an Xmas gift which is a napkin from her restaurant signed by Leonard Nimoy. Unable to think of an appropriate gift in return, Sheldon hugs her.)

― ^likes tilt-a-whirls (Pancakes Hackman), Tuesday, January 13, 2009 2:57 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this sounds like xkcd the show

the show annoys me by being so accurate w/ its sci fi fanasty nerd refs

it annoys me by sucking really bad

and being on before a show i like

hated bbt so much at first because it was all "lol nerds" but now kinda like it mostly because it's all er, "lol nerds".

i dont want nerds to be 'in on the joke'

The last two episodes of BBT (which make up 100% of the episodes I've seen) revolved around Howard and Raj.

the dude from roseanne hasn't aged a day.

now, I'm willing to say How I Met Your Mother is the Friends of today.
BUT, and this is a big BUT - HIMYM is AWESOME while FRIENDS is PUTRID CRAP HANGING FROM A DEAD OBESE MAN'S DECREPIT TOENAIL.
The comparison is that it's a real life comedy sitcom about friends and sex (usually). The sex scenes in Friends we're all uncomfortable because all the characters we're hard to relate to since they acted out the lowest forms of life, personality, and humor. Meanwhile, I can watch How I Met My Mother with my family (which includes a little sister who started watching it around age 14 I believe) and not feel uncomfortable because the humor is class act and the sex is taken a little more seriously. Personally I just hated seeing Friends and their sexcapades just because I hated them so much and even I was maybe 15 at the time and just found it unrealistic and disturbing (because I hated the characters - and only sort of liked Joey Phoebee and maybe Channler.)

is that you talking or an amazon user review?

u havent met captainlorax before?

channler

gotta be a sock

i have never understood people on ilx comparing me to a sock when I speak my mind (how is anyone pulling my strings)? you gotta drop your sock fetishes at the door.

Phoebee

yes i'm a horrible speller - all I got for grammar nazis and people who get annoyed easily by bad spelling is lyrics to this song in my defense (where you fascist critics would be the person singing the lyrics and I would be the hot girl he's talking about).

She wrote out a story
About her life
I think it included
Something about me
I'm not sure of that
But I'm sure of one thing
Her spelling's atrocious
She told me to read
Between the lines
And tell her exactly
What I got out of it
I told her affection had two F's
Especially when
You're dealing with me
I usually notice
All the little things
Once time I was proud of it
She says it's annoying
She cursed me up and down
And rolled her R's
(Her beautiful R's)
She says I'm caught up
In triviality
All I really wanna know
Is what she thinks of me
I think my love for her
Makes me miss the point
I miss the point
I miss the point
I miss the point

lorax i just want u to know u were a serious contender for poster of the year 2008

where you fascist critics would be the person singing the lyrics and I would be the hot girl he's talking about

cpt lolrax wat episodes of big bang theory did u write???

ok thanks max, no hard feelings yall. How I Met You Mother is an awesome show BTW.

i like BBT and HIMYM. at some point last season, BBT was actually funnier than HIMYM but the two together are a great way to spend a monday night.

lorax 4 prez

i like big bang theory a lot. i like nerds and the cast is good. i loved the rival killer robot dude last night! hahahaha. i like two and a half men too though. that show is a laugh a minute. and i like cryer cuz there are few people willing to be so humiliated/humiliating on a weekly basis. he's basically playing a really horrible person. bad dad, vain, weak, greedy, unattractive, etc, you name it, he's a big bummer. and yet he can be funny too.

i liked friends too. i watched that show from beginning to end.

but this thread needs more MOTHER talk!

last episode brought home the obvious truth that there is NO WAY IN HELL those two could ever be roommates. it's rilly rilly implausible even by sitcom standards. how many people could live with their exes like that? unless your ex turned out to be gay or something. in any case, the roommate sex stuff was still funny. and barney loving robin is getting old to me. they need to move on. barney's attention span isn't that long to begin with.

The whole Chuck Lorre view of wacky gendercapades is kinda creepy if you think about it. But let's not!

Even though I hate that the Barney/Robin storyline is still going, the rest of it was actually really funny the more I think about it. CRTs really DO have better black levels, it's true.

this old robey video reminds me SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much of robin sparkles! it's crazy. and robey was from canada, no? i think she was. she was my hero on the old friday the 13th t.v. show. she was awesome. this is a little more risque than a robin sparkles video, but still...

tell me i'm lying:

finally started watching this on dvd. <3 this show.

looooool NPH is ridiculously awesome:

At last night’s fan event for How I Met Your Mother at the TV Academy in North Hollywood, NPH made a dash for the bathroom in the middle of the panel discussion (proving even his two preggo costars, Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders, are better at holding it).

Bad luck for Neil though, since Jason Segel remembered his buddy still had his mic on. Over the crowd’s laughter, we fans could hear that Neil took a tip from Jack Donaghy and gave himself a little pep talk, saying, “Wake up!” before a publicist bolted in to tell him he was not alone.

Onstage, Segel exclaimed, “This never happens in real life!” to which Josh Radnor replied, “It’s like an episode of 30 Rock.”

http://evilbeetgossip.film.com/2009/01/28/neil-patrick-harris-keeps-his-mic-on-in-the-bathroom/

http://www.mysteriousdrx.com/

last night seemed a little weak but i lolled at barney's video, and "i dance...more than you know"

it's nice that Lifetime has reruns of HIMYM now, although they only seem to run 2 episodes every Monday, and it's kinda disorienting to watch a couple old eps before the one. it's kinda reaffirmed to me that the show's pace and timing have gotten much quicker and sharper, the old ones feel sluggish sometimes.

omg mysterious drx website so perfectly 1997

MEAL PLAN = RACISM

also lol @ lily being pregnant with hot dogs

I have to admit, it amused the hell out of me that they'd so blatantly do that after having every other shot of her in the episode sitting down or behind something.

yeah, i just wanna see if they can pull off doing it all season after their 'lily/marshall don't want a baby' ep.

ive said it before but college ted = big hoos aka the steendriver

i forgot to mention how much i enjoyed the christine baranski as leonard's mom episode of big bang theory last week. the one that aired after obama's speech. she was perfect. loved the exchange that went something like this:

sheldon: "what are the odds of two people as exceptional as ourselves being brought together by someone as workaday as your son?"

leonard's mom: "are you being rhetorical or would you like to do the math?"

*pause*

sheldon: "I'd like to do the math!"

(paraphrasing from memory)

call me crazy but child actors were way better in the eighties!!

didn't laurie metcalf play leonard's mom before?

she played Sheldon's mom

So every show I see basically cements my feeling that "The Big Bang Theory" = "genuine belly laughs" while "How I Met Your Mother" = "arched eyebrow with internal 'oh how amusing' monologue with one outrageously funny scene" (last night's episode, it was Robin's bike ride back to the station, particularly the flip).

i dunno, i get belly laughs from both shows, although HIMYM generally seems to work harder for them with intricate setups.

i actually lol more at HIMYM than at 30 Rock, i think.

BBT seems pretty lame, but i haven't really given it a chance (i've probably seen 1.75 episodes).

i think the last episode (barney's fake family) was pretty much as good as a 30 rock episode but himym's lows are actually pretty rubbish and mushy, whereas lows in 30 rock are 'i laughed but wasn't distracted enough to hear the next joke'.

we need a separate thread for shitty chuck lorre sitcoms but only if we can embed an audio file of a loud over-the-top fake laugh track that repeats every ten seconds

^ only way to recreate the chuck lorre sitcom-watching experience in thread format

okay massive lolz at complaining about the laugh track in other sitcoms on a "How I Met Your Mother" thread

there's a machine that can do that for you

and chuck lorre owns 400 of them

I wish somebody had a clip available of the bit from this weekend's "Family Guy," with "Two and a Half Men" being filmed in front of a live ostrich.

I keep imagining the ostrich saying a half-hearted "ha" various custos-isms.

"at" various custo-isms, particularly my own, gah.

cartoons and one-camera sitcoms getting snooty about shows that use laugh tracks are the worst.

HIMYM doesn't actually use a fake laugh track - they shoot and edit the episodes, then show them to a live audience and record the laughs.

There was supposed to be a new episode last week, but it got pre-empted for Obama's speech, weird that it didn't get bumped to this week.

So it didn't actually show in America? Bloody hell is your tele scheduling rubbish. It's on torrent sites already, I just assumed that's because it would have been broadcast.

Ugh, stupid CBS. I did some looking and realized the Nielsens moved sweeps to March, that probably explains why they're just running repeats for their whole Monday block, though the other networks haven't done that. Sweeps were moved because the Digital TV required switch was supposed to happen now, but even THAT got pushed to June by Congress recently.

i'm almost done with season 2, and it really bothered me that barney stole ted's moving truck when JUST LAST EPISODE they established that barney cannot drive AT ALL

lol never noticed that.

seriously, i don't understand why people are such massive pussies about laugh tracks...after years of TV watching i honestly am hardly even conscious of it at all...it's like someone who lives by the airport for 20 years, they don't notice all the jets...

i *really* find it hard to believe that people can't just tune it out, unless you know, they've never watched TV before or something, but honestly this seems like some "OH did I mention I don't OWN a TELEVISION" or "OMG BACON CORNDOGS" style frontin' IMO

When it's overdone (too much for the joke, or attached to a line that wasn't really a joke at all) I notice it, and then can't un-notice it.

I've also heard that live shows sweeten the laughter, often because the scene used is the last of multiple takes, so the audience won't be laughing much by then. And to keep it at a consistant level throughout the show.

i honestly don't notice laugh tracks either

I don't, unless it's the one they used on multiple 70s/80s sitcoms with the guy with the honking "A-ooga!" laugh. That one's distracting.

i don't feel like i normally notice it, which is why i remarked on its use on chuck lorre shows like two and a half men and big bang theory - if it stands out to me, they must be doing something extra with it. like they put it on full blast for the lamest jokes and leave it running for longer than other shows. dunno, just seems extra obnoxious on those dealies.

Probably because those shows are plenty extra obnoxious on their own! (and the crapitude effect is magnified) Okay, I hate to add more Lorre talk on this thread, maybe someone should just start another one for all that stuff, people can reminisce about hating Dharma & Greg and how he composed the TMNT theme song.

how come no one told me about the one with a threesome involving winnie cooper & kim kelly O_O

on the season 3 dvds, jason segel gets intentionally wasted before his commentary track and spends it sexually harassing one of the (male) writers (getting naked + putting a box of condoms on the table, etc.)

dopest fukkin show yet imo

The Robin/kid angle was pretty funny this time, way better than the last time they tried this (i think it was early season 3, she was dating some single father or something).

how come no one told me about the one with a threesome involving winnie cooper & kim kelly O_O

best thing about this episode:

What wow, how do I totally not remember that scene at all!

ha, pretty sure that was an outtake

yeah but it's totally the best outtake ever!

It is! I also love how the audience reaction changes as they can't believe that they're actually going with this angle (which sadly they did not).

the barney's family ep was a little bit too much of a wacky sitcom setup for me but still good. i lol'ed @ dramatic ted.

haha ted being into brecht was lol v. much in character but this whole episode was beyond lol for me i thought it was brilliant and im bummed that no one else seems to think so

who didn't think so? was hilarious. the theme music!

i liked it

my so-called friends who were just like "eh s'ok". yah the "too wacky sitcom" shit was next level metajokery with the theme music and the runner about catch phrases and the sundae bar!!!

i mean i have like 1000-word type of posts to say about what a ridic episode this was and like why this show is better than 30 rock but no one even cares enough to repost one-liners

xpost

i liked that the Barney thing with movie villains was almost a throwaway gag that they barely came back to later.

i care :(

i basically agree with jordan; schticky conceit rescued by strong barney and ted moments. karate kid joke was good

Daniel-san is pretty lame.

i love it whenever they have dorky college ted, as in directing the christmas play in this episode

thought this was a fantastic episode

the college flashbacks are hilar--i enjoy that they get around the censors by saying "we were so drunk" and then having them act stoned instead of drunk

ive said this before but college ted = high school hoos

also, i kind of hate her, but at the same time, allison hannigan could get it, in a major way

oh def

the college flashbacks are hilar--i enjoy that they get around the censors by saying "we were so drunk" and then having them act stoned instead of drunk

― homie bhabha (max), Tuesday, March 3, 2009 2:38 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

clearly if they were using that as a getaround they'd use the sandwich gag again

CLEARLY

clearly, the new actually

i'm just saying a) i am skeptical of your theory and b) the sandwich thing is one of my all-time favorite bits from the show

fyi i totally thought of the joke biters thread when they did that karate kid joke

one the biggest laughs for me was the reveal/end of the lily calls marshall's mother scene

haha yeah definitely

im skeptical... of ur butt

that's what was so great about theater ted, he was regressing to dorky/pretentious college ted.

"the game is the game"

pretty weak episode imo

yeah but the PANTS STORY!!! kidding. creepy gun-losing robin was fun though.. and did the episode REALLY end with ted re-dating laura prepon?

"She was the heiress to the Massengill fortune."

donna was pretty lame, but barney interrupting the flashback was pretty good, also "it's like, let's all eat baloney sandwiches and be racist"

"It's like, let's all eat baloney sandwiches and be racist"

xp!

i only laughed at that after i googled "massengill"

that line is perfectly timed to become the new bord description if nothing else
xxp

The four worst things that could happen (plus one): (1) Supervolcano. (2) Asteroid hits the earth. (3) All footage of Evel Knievel is lost. (4) Ted calls Karen. (5) Lily gets eaten by a shark.

i am totally OK with a Prepon arc if she continues to provoke Marshall/Lily hilarity

wow a girl on Livejournal has assembled an insane but fun list of callbacks from the last ep. I wish I had this kind of attention to detail. I didn't notice Scooter in the restaurant as a waiter, for one..

Barney's wearing the purple and black tie that Wendy tries to give him in the flashback later in the episode. (So presumably he went back for it!)
Ted's ex-girlfriend Karen is a reference to lots of eps (How I met everyone else-phone call, Arrividerci Fierro - breakup) but (FAIL!) Marshall never commented on the break up in Arrividerci Fierro as if he didn't like Karen
SHHS Senior Prom - Shaker Heights Hight School - Ted mentions he is from Shaker Heights, Ohio in I'm Not That Guy when they're reading the bio for Ted Mosby, Porn Star. (bthew - Lily says "Bus to Providence" but that's a joke, because Providence is a ghost town, in Ohio!)
Lily's hair in the first Karen flashback is the same as when she meets Scooter for lunch so presumbaly it's around the same time (and what's with Scooter's hair? Yuk). Yet (FAIL!) no mention is made of Scooter's Umpire Career - which presumably he's just given up on? (ref to Best Prom Ever and Something Borrowed, of course!)
Robin's lunch with The Iron Man is a reference back to The Platinum Rule, as is Barney's lunch with Wendy.
Karen's pretentiousness and red-wine drinking ("it's a pinot noir, it's pretty strong! Cut it with some cranberry juice...) totally explains Douch-Zombie-Ted and why he was so rubbish at being pretentious and got over that phase so quickly when they finally broke up (How I met everyone else).
Barney spends a LOT of time staring at Robin during this episode. they should run a "barney staring" clock at the bottom of the screen. Glad to see the writers haven't forgotten. Also, he makes a dig about Ted still living with his ex as if worried they will backslide again (Benefits)
You see Marshall eating the bowl of fruit before Lily complains that's why she has to paint him naked, but (FAIL!) the gang already know the reason she painted Marshall naked (for life class, in Columns!) But hey - at least we now know the exact date of the new dart incident! Feb 5th 1998! Big win for the timeline.
Blauman (see in the Company gym with Billson) is DEAD according to Barney in The Chain of Screaming after resigning and trying to pee on the conference table. FAIL!!!!!!!!!! No one has ever called Barney out for blatently lying about that.
Has Marshall's Evil Kenival love ever been mentioned before? (possible FAIL!)
Waiting the appropriate amount of time before Marshall and Lily tell ted they hated Karen - reference to the Backslide Window in the Bro Code!!
Ted says Marshall wore a rasta hat and asked everyone to call him MJ smooth! A reference to Marshall's look after coming back from Amsterdam in Miracles
Scooter's belief that Lily loves waiters causes him to actually BECAME a waiter (you see him later in the Ted/Karen lunch scene). But (FAIL!) I'm surprised Ted didn't recognise him given that he tried to stop Lily's wedding! (Something Borrowed) And are they trying to say that restaurant really hasn't changed it's table cloths in the intervening 10+ years?!?!
Robin's snub-nosed 38 police special - glad to see that Robin's gun-nut-ness is a proper running theme of this season (Not A Father's Day, Naked Man, etc)
Barney's "A hug is just like a public dry hump" sent my mind straight to The Possimpible. But I'm dirty like that.
Not continuity - but "Ted, I want you to go outside and bite the curb" is probably referncing American History X. Which made me smile.
Robin's sleeping pill problems - Hockey game dream (nice) and also "Falling asleep while eating ribs" is a direct callback to her lying/giggling in The Bracket!
Theodore Evelyn Mosby!!! A refernce to How Lily Stole Christmas.
Lily fancying Marshall's calves is a reference to Brunch.
Karen comes into the bar at 2am. Nothing good happens after 2am Ted!

I like the show, but no one should be spending that much free time on it.

I'm amused by it, amused and a little scared, but the showrunners really do put a ton of thought into the continuity of this show.

which is why that barney not being able to drive vs. barney stealing the moving van thing bothers me way more than it should

Haha yes the Barney driving paradox is one of the show's biggest flaws. I admire people who remember that Marshall uses his shins to turn Lily on at that brunch when they're broken up.. I only usually dedicate that kind of love to LOST. Reading some comments on the LJ page has me suspecting this girl writes fanfic and that's why she has this crazy encyclopedic knowledge of the show... 0_o

oh and the bit where Barney said he'd only "give something" to Marshall if what Lily "gave him" was great.. so great

The calves callback and Lily's hungry look was great!

btw did jason segel gain a mess of weight? or maybe i only noticed now because he was shirtless whenever he wasn't pantsless in this episode.

hes always been kinda chubby at least the hair is better

as i think i've mentioned in this thread before, Lifetime plays HIMYM reruns on Monday nights now, and it's definitely noticeable to see Segel in season 1/2 and then in a new episode that he has gained wait...i wouldn't say "a mess" but a visible amount yeah.

gained waits

http://www.wiretotheear.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/tom_waits.jpg

were it so easy to lose wait

Isn't the Barney driving incident set way back in the past (its about their memories of the car) + his first experience driving, thus there being a time+reason for potential driving lessons inbetween?

I can't believe I cared enough to think about that.

the wire reference was great. the episode was great. how could anyone in this thread say otherwise?

what wire ref?

"the game is the game"

― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 12:46 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lily: she's gots to get got
robin: the game is the game

btw prepon is so hot

i dunno man i thought she was looking a little plastic

yeah the ep was so good. robin's sleep-NHL announcing made me unreasonably joyful.

the pacing was Dirty Rockish in the constant joeks without caring if the audience absorbed them or not.

Yeah, I think Prepon is hot, but she didn't look so great in this episode for some reason. Maybe it was because the character was a douche and they played it down.

Great episode, again.

I've assumed that while Barney can't really drive, he was able to manage driving the one block from Ted's apartment to the back of Maclarens. I don't think it's that much of a stretch.

way to keep a running gag behind the draggy emotional part in the last ep. some oldschool lucy sitcom homage right there.

totally.

also, i hate myself for think about it this hard, but backing a track into an alley is sort of an advanced driving maneuver.

I actually thought the Lily relationship-breaking retcon stuff was actually pretty well done, because it was plausible that her character would do that sort of thing (both intentionally and unintentionally breaking up Ted's relationships).

It could easily just be my interpretation, but I feel like the show is more and more acknowledging that Ted is an annoying jerk, and he dates mostly annoying women, and this acknowledgment is a good thing for the show.

yeah...i think the show is building on the idea of Ted as not just a not always sympathetic character but an unreliable narrator (with some of the gags based on his distortions of the truth, like "sandwiches" and Robin's exaggeratedly old boyfriend) in a way that lets them layer stories and characterization in a neat way. i had a weird little epiphany recently where i thought, maybe Barney isn't actually as broad and ridiculous as he seems on the show, but if somebody's telling their kids about a crazy friend they had when they were younger of course they're going to make him sound even more over the top than he really was.

last two posts otm.

such a good episode. love the way they kept the three storylines - ted and lily, barney and marshall and the nightshirts, robin on tv in the background - all in one setting.

That some dude post = an awesome version of this for me:

srsly my favorite show on tv. i love 30 rock but there is not a bit of sentimentality in that show, it's all slapstick. this show is a joy to watch for other reasons.

^^^^^^^^

& bonus points for pseudo-Big Lebowski homage (flying in the sky, listening to The Man in Me)

http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/ha_ha_ha_i_can_t_believe_how

it's funnier than that onion article

rules of engagement is funnier than that article

srsly my favorite show on tv. i love 30 rock but there is not a bit of sentimentality in that show, it's all slapstick. this show is a joy to watch for other reasons.

+1. this show is mad deep imo - chars inhabit a world so much more fully than in 30 rock feel like these dudes are my neighbors whereas 30 rock is always on tv. used to think that 30 rock had better jokes but now i think that its just that himym is on a next level like two episodes ago the runner about barney cheering for the villian in movies is a bite of a thrown off gag about kenneth thinking the kids in footloose were evil but a) himym's was funnier and b) that joke in that episode had all sorts of sly resonance to ideas abt the viewer and interpretation in context.

not tryna be sum sitcom theory dbag or anything and the show is mostly awesome cuz it brings lulz but yah it has something extra 30 rock doesnt imo

i would like to give a brief shout-out to big bang theory on monday. sheldon drinking his first cup of coffee and the whole episode were a hoot.

i love how you just won't start a big bang theory thread

Love that they are just refusing to make Lilly pregnant. This episode w/ loose pajamas and magazines in front of her working, it will great if they can carry on getting away with it.

is cobie smulders pregnant now also, y/n?

y

the best was having lily stand behind a giant globe

the hot-dog eating contest!

Oh, that one's gotta be the winner!

i wonder if theyre gonna be done shooting before the babby is due

It'll likely be close - according to wiki both actresses are due this spring. The weird thing is it really seemed like they were going to write in Hannigan's pregnancy, when they did that "one year later" bit a few months ago and they showed Lily not drinking the expensive liquor with everybody else. (Though personally I'm still hoping they avoid doing any pregnancy/children storylines at all in the show.)

In Entertainment Weekly they said they filmed the finale back in January because of the pregnancy.

but I feel like the show is more and more acknowledging that Ted is an annoying jerk, and he dates mostly annoying women,

i think this actually makes him more relatable to me

i cd write a whole essay abt the show but the real selling points on it 4 me are:

1) arresting & original narrative structure both along the axis of the entire series & w/in specific episodes (i.e. every dam show does something new & interesting w/ how it tells the story & the way it locates its arc)

2) recognizable, relatable characters (i.e. not totally corny/embarrassing depictions of what its like being yung in nyc--yes i cringe @ the wilco refs but i cringe when i hear real life 30 yr olds talk abt wilco too)

3) the way those 2 things overlap (i.e. the way that ted tells his stories & relates his characters is both realistic AND narratively daring--like those episodes where he tells 1/2 the story and then is like "oh wait i forgot tell u abt this other thing" and that other thing is the final 1/2 the story--or the goat)

yeah...the way they set up Ted and his relationships is generally more realistic and internally consistent than the Seinfeld-style "male protagonist's girlfriend of the week has this quirk or this flaw that will have comedic payoff x," which enriches the character whether or not he's being more or less jerky at the moment.

xpost

i had completely erased wilco refs from my memory

lol there are at least 2 including ted trying to have a threesome--winnie cooper is all "wheres that wilco cd you said we shd to listen to"

i do like the fact that for better or worse the corny music beds/references seem kind of like sincere representations of the creators' tastes and not just product placement, and there's as much 'classic' college rock (the Replacements, the Pretenders, Big Star) as there is contemporary lol indie.

besides, ted def seems like a wilco kinda guy.

well yeah i actually thought wilco worked there--it didnt really seem like it was trying too hard, and wilco is pretty big, and honestly, i bet ted loves the shit out of wilco

xp ya--the dude i know who reminds me of ted exactly is a wilco fan, so

lol they also refd the breeders & sonic youth in one episode

yah u three are otm the music refs in this show (including ted breaking up w/ a girl because she listened to creed which was lol) seem v. in character. its not stuff id listen to but i dont mind it and found the scene that had "here comes the regular" playing over it kind of moving

wilco isn't really that obscure, it would be worse if they were dropping crystal stilts and a place to bury strangers references

more lol that the creed cd belonged to marshall! xp

wilco isn't really that obscure, it would be worse if they were dropping crystal stilts and a place to bury strangers references

could be! helped make your post terrible at the very least

dont think anyone was saying wilco was obscure

srsly enough about the use of other people's music - this show rules just for giving us "let's go to the mall" and "ted mosby is a jerk".

i actually found ted yelling at lily pretty riveting! like, in a dramatic acting kinda way. can't say i am riveted by too many sitcoms these days.

yeah i agree scott, i didnt really rate that actor but i was totally impressed w/ his performance in this ep

the more i think abt it the more i loved that episode i was sitting here loling at future lily yelling BRIDGE! but they got a lot of emotional/character stuff done as well

"i see your bridge and raise you three bridges"

btw it's kind of surprising that the dude who plays ted hasn't shown up in any terrible romantic comedies yet

the best part of the bridge sequence was they were mixing the red-backed and the blue-backed cards together, in a totally absurd using multiple decks of cards kind of way.
xpost

most shudder-worthy music moment was the belle and sebastian thing imo

also worked imo. that girl really seemed like a belle and sebastian type with the soft toys and candles and such.

yeah but like they had cds propped up there that wouldn't have been released at that time and i was like wtf guys this doesn't make sense

i dont remember the belle & sebastian thing

haha oh ok - yeah i wouldn't know about that. chalk it up to future ted getting the dates wrong again or something.

xp max, the girl who beat ted up after he broke up with her (twice) on her birthday was a belle and sebastian fan.

I think he dated a girl who was obsessed with.. chickfactor? I do remember the LOL-gigantic pile of B&S cds all stacked up on top of each other

'we rule the school' was the song that was playing, unless i'm remembering it very very wrong.

how have i missed so many episodes!

oooh I think you're right Gukbe! All I remembered was a slow tempo :)

It feels like to me they've toned down a lot of the musical references (probably to save the annoyances of inevitably cutting them from the DVD releases, which is really weak in this day and age - most shows have that locked up before broadcast now) but I have to admit I smiled when they used a song from Terror Twilight at the end of one of the first season eps.

(also I agree, I think they just have good taste in general, it's not a cynical ploy)

the fact that they've used 2 Pavements songs and they've both been from Terror Twilight is imo something that put them in a corny overload danger zone

xpost

is the music different on the dvds?

they make up for the corniness with cheap trick and bon jovi.

What, because Terror Twilight is such a cultural touchstone? Would it be worse or better if they used "Cut Your Hair" or something like that? I think the creators/musical director just liked that album... corniness be damned, I guess. Either way the reference is fairly appropriate for characters who got out of college around that time (same with that more plot-critical B&S ref).

^^ A lot of songs are cut from the DVDs. For some reason they'll pay for the TV broadcast rights but not for the DVD rights. This comes up a lot in older TV shows to DVD - Freaks and Geeks was notoriously held up for years as they painfully acquired rights to every song in the show - but for a new show in this age it's kind of stupid they didn't clear them beforehand. I haven't seen any of the DVD sets in a while, so maybe they stopped doing it after season 2 or 3, I don't know.

jesus christ

Nhex i did not mean to hurt your feelings, it was an offhand comment and I did not think through the way it would impact you emotionally

jesus christ

(@ 80% of thread, not Nhex)

was it arguing about b&s or pavement that put it into corny overload danger zone for you, will?

i thought i posted a slight retraction on the belles comment, but apparently not. thinking back, that incident must have taken place around the early noughties (right?) which would have been pretty otm for that time iirc. still think there was a continuity error tho.

also, insanity about the music licensing.

let's change the subject. marshall removing the chewbacca head to do the voice? awesome!

rewatching the naked man. must be the season peak.

i really felt bad that they weren't watching Robin's show.

i really felt that bad that we didnt get to watch robin's show. its a must for dvd extra imo

still think the season (and maybe show) peak was barney's family

lol @ lily knowing a bit too much about barney's porno fantasy.

some dude: Sorry, maybe that did come off touchier than I wanted it to.

^ I am so hoping this turns out to be from Ted Moseby: Sex Architect!

where is the “touchier” quote coming from? I don’t recognize it? maybe just a brain fart…

he's referring to the whole exchange re: Terror Twilight

oh look, you are some dude!

sorry, bro

many many xposts, but there was nothing pseudo about that Lebowski homage. Totally full-fledged.

well, there was no bowling alley/pins! I don't think they even turned in the sky like the Dude does..

please

hey if Barney had started referring to his dick, johnson, or his rod - fine

yes they should have had a giant flashing message at the bottom that said BIG LEBOWSKI REFERENCE (WINKY FACE)

i guess they basically already did but come on

hey man I was first to mention it on this thread anyway or should I make THAT blink? damn bbcode

just make a .gif about it

maybe I will!

I met a Wooooo! girl last night.

In five years, will this show be as irrelevant as Friends is now? Assuming we agree that Friends feels irrelevant now.

if we're talking about cultural relevance, HIMYM was never popular enough to enter any Friends-type conversation on those terms, and if we're talking about i dunno.... social relevance? i suppose unrealistic singles-in-NYC sitcoms are bound to become even less realistic over time, but does it really matter?

HIMYM has been a perpetually-in-danger-of-cancellation show, so, yeah, the question is moot. That said I never thought Friends ever had any kind of realism or social relevance, it was a fantasy through and through. HIMYM is at least a little closer to being realistic (though I grant that most of us don't live in giant apartments and are friends with playboy wall street types and news anchors), I suppose that's pretty debatable anyway.

I don't know if it'll have any cultural relevance in a few years but really I don't care all that much as long as it keeps making me laugh. And anyways it's not like it's a big TV show that everybody watches is it? There isn't that much of an audience for the show (I'm guessing, I don't live in the US) so most people have no clue wtf I'm talking about if I mention a sleeping cravat do they?

Yeah, until this thread started I felt like the only person who even watches this show. It's been on the verge of cancellation nearly every year.

word. i only know like one other person who watches it irl.

do people really care how "relevant" the shows they enjoy are?

n/a OTM, I don't see how that matters in terms of how one can enjoy a show like this (also I'd argue that "Friends" is a bad example since it seems that it gets funnier to me as it becomes more irrelevant; now that it isn't being held up as THE PINNACLE OF MODERN COMEDY I have space to find things in it that make me laugh).

Episode tonight (at half an hour earlier? Did they cancel Big Bang Theory?) is really lol.

WTF? I hate it when they pull this shit, now I have to torrent it *grumble grumble* BBT is far from cancelled, hell, it already got renewed for two more seasons while HIMYM is, yet again, kind of on the bubble.

I never said either show was realistic. First of all I made the comparison not because of popularity but because they're both about supposedly average 20-somethings doing what supposedly average 20-somethings do. Whether or not the show was fantasy, Friends was rooted in 90's culture and it feels dated even now. I think HIMYM is a lot more honest about how its characters fritter away their time while dealing with their major life/relationship issues like Friends never was, ie. drinking heavily, taking drugs, sleeping with strangers, etc. And in that way think that makes it kind of timeless. Fuck your semantics.

I was going to be all "wtf no one brought realism into this" but then I reread the thread

http://canadiansexacts.org/

yeah if you're going to show two episodes, one old and one new, why would you show the new one at the wrong time and the old one at the right time?

to test it as a lead-in

a lead-in to itself?

to see how well it stands at 8 without the Big Bang Theory lead-in or the Two and a Half Men follow. My guess is that they had to shell out a lot of money to Chuck Lorre and co. to keep the shows there (also there were budgetary disputes) and, despite HIMYM getting solid ratings, are looking to see what corners can be cut. I can't imagine HIMYM being in any real danger though, so maybe they're just testing the waters for a restructure of the night.

The dopey logic is that not everybody realized the time change, so it probably isn't an accurate estimate. Fuel for the fire if they want to can something though.

This is all total guesswork and might have no bearing in reality.

Count me as one of the many who tuned in at 8:30 and was sad :( I would have watched it at 8, had I known.. thanks a lot, programming geniuses!

this one left me a little cold, but i was kind of distracted while watching it. the last scene w/robin's canadian seduction was pretty great.

if you're lazy to t0rrent, you can stream the episode here.

CBS are playing some weird game with HIMYM - they've ordered four new episodes but no official renewal yet, which would allow the writers to get a headstart on a fifth season without actually confirming that there will be one.

now i'm not sure why they would do that unless they were planning to renew it anyway so i think there's some kind of deal-making going on behind the scenes but concerning what exactly it's not clear. it would be bullshit to cancel next season though, when they already have 88 episodes in the can by the end of season 4 - that only leaves 22 before the show goes into syndication (at 110 episodes). my guess is there's nothing to worry about for now, but it is weird that CBS hasn't decided to give it an early renewal like they have with BBT and 2 1/2 men.

in that recent av club interview jason segel said that the actors are contracted for like four more seasons (not that that means anything in terms of the network though).

cancelling it now would be pretty stupid as they would not have time to do a proper 'mother' story. they finished filming in january right? so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

plus, i've always assumed it does well enough (britney, segel must be bringing in the apatow crowd etc.) to take enough time as it needs.

I think the early renewal for BBT and 2 1/2 Men all came down to that budgetary issues that caused difficult negotiations. I imagine they had to give the multiple seasons to both for Lorre (similar to the Simpsons/Futurama thing from however many years ago). But now they know they have to keep BBT (they would have anyway, but I reckon they didn't bet on that kind of renewal) to keep 2 1/2 men, which is the big one for them. So with the recession affecting ad sales etc..., and now being stuck into a very expensive multi-year deal, they could be getting a little nervous. That's worst case scenario thinking though.

Really don't think HIMYM is in trouble, but you never know. I remember it was pretty close to being cancelled after the first and second seasons, especially as one of the CBS execs said he didn't think it was funny and didn't know why anyone wanted to keep it on air. Still don't think the lack of an early renewal means anything. BBT/Men was a special case.

so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

i don't think tv networks really care about this sort of thing at all

still bitter about Models Inc. after all these years

the ridiculous thing is that HIMYM has pretty much had its best average ratings ever this season, and Big Bang Theory's ratings are only slightly better.

but BBT is tied to the moneymaker.

i know...you made good points, i'm just saying it's silly for all those conditions to give two shows with similar performance such different chances of renewal.

yeah Gukbe's prob right about it being budget issues and the Lorre connection (they should cut Charlie Sheen's paycheck though - dude rakes in 800k per ep, holy shit).

i mean it's no million-dollar Friends paychecks but then again 2 1/2 men is nowhere close to being as big as Friends was at its peak.

god i cant think of a better and easier job than being a sitcom actor

really CBS's whole monday night is solid right now and i feel like they'd be screwing up a good thing by messing with it at all...Rules Of Engagement is corny, but i'm a massive Warburton stan so I can at least watch it, whereas I turned off the TV and ran away whenever Worst Week came on.

the fact that HIMYM has increased its ratings so much despite being a highly serialized show is impressive, and you would hope that they would realize that means they have a growing (and fairly rabid) fanbase. I don't think it's going anywhere. They don't generally announce this stuff until April or May anyway.

"god i cant think of a better and easier job than being a sitcom actor Charlie Sheen."
xpost

still bitter about Models Inc. after all these years

I still want to know what was going to happen to Carrie Ann Moss's character.

so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

i don't think tv networks really care about this sort of thing at all

― meat of beef (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 March 2009 14:55 (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

In shows that don't make it past a pilot or first season sure, but in shows that has, as Gukbe nicely puts it, a fairly rabid growing fan base, and quite a bit invested in it (namely Segel who's star keeps growing etc.) I think pissing a lot of people off by just ignoring the premise of the show would be a bit ridiculous. But I guess yeah, they might not care at all.

bigger question: who did the sniper shoot??

xpost

xpost don't forget obsessive whedon fans - apparently a lot jumped on the show after NPH's turn as Dr. Horrible, if they weren't already watching it for Alyson Hannigan.

rabid fanbases don't count for much though if the ratings don't match (RIP arrested development, veronica mars et al) but luckily in HIMYM's case, they do.

never underestimate network execs:

A scene directly relating to the identity of the mother, involving Ted's future children, was filmed near the beginning of season two for the show's eventual series finale.[5]

my money's still on wendy the waitress.

wasn't the execs idea though. it was the creators' - they were scared that the kids would grow up too quickly before they could end the show. they've also said that if they had to, they've got no problem going the full 8 years before revealing who the mother was. xp

do people really care who the mother is?
i don't.

i never even think about it.

its going to be robin

it won't be robin

its going to be robin

that would be such a cheat considering that the narrator (lol @ ted turning into bob saget) refers to "your aunt robin" when talking to the kids like 1000000x

i don't really care who the mother is at this moment but i think having that mystery is one of the things that make the show so much fun - like the sandwiches ep where we see Lily, Marshall and Ted smoke up in the future and ted idly wondering where his wife was.

that would be such a cheat considering that the narrator (lol @ ted turning into bob saget) refers to "your aunt robin" when talking to the kids like 1000000x

― meat of beef (Jordan), Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:09 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ya i hate 2 break it 2 u but... its going to be robin

i will bet you 10 suggest bans that it won't

Ted would not marry a woman that's into the Old King Clancy.

considering how much the writers are into subverting expectations and putting odd twists on plots, i feel like it's not giving them very much credit to say "it'll be robin duh".

ya... its gonna be robin, tho

Not only does he refer to her as Aunt Robin, I think he actually says at the end of the first episode, "That was NOT your mother."

max u mad and wrong

ted ends up with robin but, and this is the twist part, the kids aren't ted and robin's, they're just these two other kids.

yeah i can totally see the narrator turning out the be barney

nah it's barney's kids and the narrator is their uncle ted. and how he met their mother.

ted is their dad, but maybe he divorced their mother and married their aunt robin. that's as far as i go.

but doesn't the narrator sometimesrefer to "uncle barney?"

i'm hardly a fanatic (HIMYM runs a distant third to 30 Rock & the office in my sit com rating system. tbh, they're the only three on the list), but the fact that this is dangerously close to being canceled and Big Bang Theory & 2.5 Men are "hits" pretty much sums up everything wrong about America

I'm just glad to get American imports at the moment. Big Bang Theory is still pretty much better than any English comedy right now, unless Two Pints suddenly figured out how to be great or something.

i wouldn't say i hate them. hell, i usually watch them without protest. even so...

I think someone theorized it way earlier in the thread, but I like the theory that Ted marries Robin in his 40s or something, maybe after the kids' mother dies or leaves. Robin can't be the mother of his kids but there's got be a reason why the whole series starts with and focuses on her.

Oh that Alan Thicke.

a heavy apron
a basketball
a whole rack of basketballs
an acoustic guitar
what seemed to be a burlap sack?

(gentleman's agreement, huzzah!)

Bunny Colvin!

maybe he refers to all his friends as "aunt" and "uncle" because the big twist is they find out they're all secretly related and have a big incestuous family together

great episode, teen wolf was a+

i was at work late, missed this :(

I feel like Murtaugh these days.

great episode, teen wolf was a+

+1

feels kinda weird how on the nose this show is @ depicting lyfe tho

so what's the difference between peanut butter and jam? alyson hannigan going on maternity leave, apparently.

I CAN'T PEANUT BUTTER MY DICK UP YOUR ASS!!!!

sorry...

o snap

I missed the opening gag - I see it must have had something to do with peanut butter - so did a debate over these two foodstuffs send Lily away for four weeks?

Robin looking SOOOOO pregnant, oh man.. Episode overall was a little disappointing, they should get rid of Ted and not let Barney ever say "Wait For It!" again.

barney told ted & marshall a dirty joke, they told him not to tell it to lily because it's "boy funny", he told it and "we didn't see lily for four weeks".

pretty lame episode imo, i only really liked how flippantly they got rid of lily and "a hot guy telling you when you can and can't pee? that's the dream!"

it felt like most of the jokes were broad/dumb in a different (worse) way than they usually are.

Last night's was the worst ever by a mile. I love the show and it was weird to be struggling to get through one.

Maybe it was a sneak preview of season 7 or something.

It just felt like filler that did some things that are kind of important (finding out marshall knew; ted's business) that had to be done and didn't really have any jokes. Shame fantasy guy didn't get more screen time tho.

the show is self-aware enough that it will probably jump the shark by having barney jump a shark.

i swear i've heard that joke IRL, i think the punchline is something about how a dog will lick peanut butter off your wang or something

i think the show is self-aware enough to know that doing the 'lol jump the shark' thing literally would be pretty lame

but by that point it would be a lame show, so you see

It's weird because I absolutely love Robin/Cobie but when they do these generic Friends-style Robin-sluts-it-up episodes, it generally doesn't work that well. I still enjoyed the ep, though - Barney's frustration was excellent as always, and the Sports Guy angle was pretty good. Wolverine claws!

i cringed but i laughed also. robin having trouble breaking up with people was funny.

went back and watched the murtaugh ep, the teen wolf was cheap but i laughed so hard

(lol at "the teen wolf" and "a teen wolf")

also, bunny colvin!!!

the show is self-aware enough that it will probably jump the shark by having barney jump a shark.

what would be totally amazing and unprecedented is if they had Henry Winkler aplaying a recurring character and then showed him jumping a shark for no reason in one of the late episodes

maybe it's the martini talking, but the jesus speech is totally awesome.

yeah nph went hard in that episode (nh)

no patrick homo

NPH did a good job on that one, overkilling it - Cobie's reactions helped.

The whole "three day rule" thing is such a sitcom cliche but as usual the rest of the cast made the episode enjoyable nonetheless. The guy who played Stan was great!

Stan is freaking killing it. Dude is a genius.

I think Stan was on the short-lived Knights of Prosperity, which also featured Christopher's AA sponsor from The Sopranos who was "great at forging documents." I liked that show, should've gone longer.

i miss lilly :(

lol'd so hard at robin's "it seems like we keep coming back to the 'three weeks to live' idea" stuff

"what are we doing?"
"i think ... we're trying to have sex with ted"

I think Stan was on the short-lived Knights of Prosperity, which also featured Christopher's AA sponsor from The Sopranos who was "great at forging documents." I liked that show, should've gone longer.

― Jouster, Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:53 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ah yeah good eye, i kept wondering where i knew him from

he sang the theme song too

man, this season is not doing well. hopefully just a temporary setback though.

before the reveal at the end i was like "just don't be the chick from scrubs, nooooo"

the "dirtiest-sounding presidents" chart was like the only funny thing in the episode.

thought the whole callback to the intervention banner was great, plenty of funny moments.

kinda happy to have the whole mother reveal over with, it'd be lame if they just kept drawing it out for the entirety of the series. and chick from scrubs wasn't that good in her original arc but if they start letting her character actually be funny she could probably fit in with the cast well.

still not convinced this isn't yet another fake-out

this episode was worth it alone for the charts, though. the charts!

yeah, you're probably right...still more of the season left for them to throw in a twist or leave the question hanging for another summer break.

yeah, i bet it turns out it's a fakeout by next week

this episode was worth it alone for the charts, though. the charts!

Yep, as soon as they did the "pie chart of the best bars, bar chart of the best pies" I thought, "ILX joke!"

no way shes the mother

oh good, there's more of the season? I thought that was our cliffhanger - will she LEAD Ted to the right person, or is she the right person? I hope it's the former :(

2 more episodes

in 2 weeks "The story of the Goat is continued."

only lolled @ charts really have 2 say this whole episode seemed like a necessary evil

The problem is a lot of the past episodes have felt like 'necessary evil' episodes. At this point I can't wait for her-from-scrubs to lead him to the mother/barney-robin to happen, just so its out the way and they can get back to pure joeks.

That said I really liked the episode: Cecilia and Pie-Bar charts/Intervention call back/1 dollar every day for a million days/weather clown all gold.

Miss Lily though lol at 'i'm pregnant' being pretty meta at the start of the episode.

it always makes me kind of happy to see dan castellaneta get to show his face in something

who is Cecilia? I couldn't place the name

me either. was she the one chick who marshall tried to smash when he and lilly were broken up?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x25ntu_simon-garfunkel-cecilia_music

too many ted episodes this season

oh shoot, I'm a dumbass - my boyfriend pointed out that reference while we were watching it and I re-spaced

oh thx

this is way dorky to admit but my wife nicknamed her car Cecilia so we sing that song all the time and cracked up hardcore at that bit

they're all Ted episodes

i mean obviously there are some episodes heavier on Barney or Lily, etc., but they're all pretty heavy on the friggin narrator

and they keep going from "ted is kind of a douchebottle" moments straight to trying to make us care about the mother thing

xp

well yeah except it feels as if there's been much more episodes this season that's just heavily focused on ted with some slapstick-y stuff happening with the rest. xp

I don't think there has been many stories to tell with the other characters though. Marshall's finally got some stability, Lily can't be in the show, Robin did the whole job search and Barney's close to have his big stable lol bromance.

So it's all been on 'got left at the alter, lost his job, started his own company etc.' ted.

Even before that though we got some good ones, like the NY vs. NJ and especially the burger joint hunt (pretty sure that was before?). Overall this season's been way more solid than the last one, which kind of mired aimlessly for a while while they did nothing with Robin or Ted besides have them on generic date episodes.

why is lily gone?

she either has food poisoning or is pregnant

i think she got offended by a joke? that barney told?

The presidents list had some nice touches -- bush appearing twice, clinton at the bottom in particular.

Plus the fish callback was cute.

I didn't like that NY vs NJ episode, personally.

are you from new jersey?

Marshall's speech in the NJ episode was killer

elbows

This thread as a sitcom.

no mother :(

If the mother equals the end of the show, I don't want to meet her, and if the mother means the show can drop that concern and just focus on bringing us good episodes, bring her on. Is anyone really going to cry that the show lacks credibility if we meet the mother now rather than later?

That out of the way, I was kinda disappointed by Barney's tickets subplot. Seemed like potential for awesomeness that wasn't realized.