How I Started Watching...

About two years ago, my beautiful bride moved in with me, and before she did, I got a bunch of DVDs for us to watch. She was a big fan of House, so I got a season of it. Also 24, Psych, and Chuck. And, since we both liked Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan, I got the first season of How I Met Your Mother.

HIMYM, as it's known by people who don't want to type "How I Met Your Mother" a hundred times in one article, is the first live-action sitcom I've been into since... I don't know, Cheers? It's one of three that we watch regularly, and it's definitely my favorite.

I really don't remember how I felt after watching the pilot episode of HIMYM. I'm sure I liked it, because within a week or so, we'd gotten the next season, and the next as soon as it became available - in spite of the sticker on the package that proudly touted Britney Spears's guest star turn. More on that in a few. We've been watching it ever since. I'd say we watch it religiously, but I think we might be watching it more cultishly. I watch HIMYM like some people watched LOST - which, this season, has been curiously apt.

Anyway, back to my early impressions of HIMYM. It was a decent if occasionally unremarkable ensemble. Alyson Hannigan can make all the shitty spoof movies and stupid teen comedies she likes - she used to be Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Neil Patrick Harris I had only recently gotten into because of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, but he was great as relentlessly straight Barney. Cobie Smulders as Robin filled my quota for hot Canadian chicks, but she really didn't get a lot to do for a while. Hannigan's on-screen fiance, Marshall, was played by Jason Segel, and it took a while to warm up to him. And the central character, Ted, as portrayed by Josh Radnor, was a little bit of a cipher. In the framing device for the show, Ted is played by Bob Saget, who is never credited and never seen.

By the way, at this point Jason Segel is one of my favorite actors. It probably started about the time he first slapped Neil Patrick Harris so hard Harris spun on his way to the ground. But it might have been when they were cuddling in cheerleader outfits. It might also have been the first season finale, where he has a dialogue-free scene that is still a startling moment of honesty from a guy I'd written off as a "schtick" actor. I don't know. In any case, Marshall Erickson is one of my favorite characters in TV, and Segel one of my favorite actors.

You know what, I had said I'd talk more about Britney. Fuck that. She was terrible. Her last couple of episodes, where she was more paired up with NPH's Barney, were the best of her run. She wasn't a prominent guest star, but she was there, and that was nearly bad enough. She was introduced during Sarah Chalke's run as Ted's love interest, Stella. Sarah Chalke (the blonde doctor on Scrubs) is cute and fairly funny, but it was the strike year, and I don't know if her part would have been more organic (or at least entertaining) if that pressure hadn't existed.

As a side note, other love interests for Ted have included Jennifer Morrison (the blonde doctor on House) and Anne Dudek (the blonde "cutthroat bitch" doctor on House.) I just hope we don't get Katherine Heigl as the mother. *SHUDDER*

Further to the side, it still kind of boggles my mind that the same Jennifer Morrison was Dr. Cameron on House and the homely, none-too-bright murder victim in "Stir Of Echoes." And she's also the same Jennifer Morrison that's credited as an associate producer on a lot of the first season of Glee.

Back to HIMYM and my LOST reference earlier. I wasn't kidding, by the way. And no, I'm really not stretching it. Like LOST, How I Met Your Mother is about destiny and, to a lesser extent than LOST, the interconnectedness of the characters and their stories. Like LOST, HIMYM isn't afraid of non-linear storytelling. Like LOST, HIMYM will occasionally pause over a moment of subtle beauty, and without the dramatic and beautiful backdrop of Hawaii. Like LOST, my favorite character is a time traveller (yes, really. It's a minor thing, though.)

Like LOST, Jorge Garcia has appeared as a somewhat clueless, probably stoned guy who everybody loves and who apparently was "stuck on that island" for years. It wasn't that funny in the moment, either. There are even smoke monster gags in the Garcia episode.

And, like LOST, this sixth season features a church as a primary location. The church here isn't an abstracted metaphysical place that represents some sort of gateway into an unspecified afterlife, but it is the scene of the titular moment. Sometime in the next eight to ten episodes, Ted is going to meet the mother of his children, and the series's days will be numbered.

There's a lot more I could say about the series. The most recent episode ("Bad News") alone is something I'd like to talk about, and I probably will. It'll be its own entry, though, so you can skip it if you like.