Have you met Ted?

[jlh]

Seriously, and I'm willing to say this particularly as Arrested Development is no more, How I Met Your Mother is the best half-hour comedy on television. It's certainly the only one on my TIVO. Five episodes so far and they've all been really fun.

2.01: "Where Were We?" The first episode back, with in-love Ted and Robin and never-in-love Barney spending the summer helping was-in-love Marshall get over Lily was brilliant, especially when Ted yelled at Marshall, then softened it by pointing out what a shell of his former self Marshall had become.

2.02: "The Scorpion and the Toad" The return of Lily was also well done, particularly watching Ted and Robin trying to maintain their friendships with both sides of this former couple. But Lily wreaking revenge on Barney, on Marshall's behalf and without understanding the details of the situation was my favorite bit.

2.03: "Brunch" This one was a little silly with the Mom and Dad plot but the Lily and Marshall subplot was well done. That said, finding out why the older Ted feels the need to tell this endless story to his kids was cute, as was Marshall turning Lily on with his calves.

2.04, "Ted Mosby, Architect" I LOVED the subtle trickery; looking back I should have known that Barney was impersonating Ted all night, as introducing himself as "Ted Mosby, Architect" is more Barney than Ted, not to mention that Marshall would never be able to so easily lie to Robin on Ted's behalf. The reference to Ted's eventual success was also a nice touch.

2.05: "World's Greatest Couple." Now, is this Lily and Barney, lying for their mutual benefit? Or Marshall and Brad, defying convention to go to Alannis Morissette, brunch and Mama Mia? Or Ted and Robin, who spend the episode laughing at everyone else?

Seriously, people, you should be watching this show.

Comments

[adjudicated.livejournal.com]

I have HIMYM in my Netflix queue. Would you suggest, though, continuing to watch via DVR, even though I haven't yet seen the first season? (One season or two, so far?)

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Continue to watch. There will be some resonances you won't catch, but really there aren't a ton of things you "need to know" that aren't kind of clear from things that people say anyway. There's only been one season so far; they're in their second season.

[chromodynamics.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. I thought the half-hour comedy sitcom was dead after Friends, but HIMYM might bring back the genre.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

It gets stale and then something good comes along and brings it back again: Cosby, Seinfeld. The ones that are horrid are what poor HIMYM was surrounded by last year, namely all those CBS shows with ugly men and mysteriously hot women (though ABC shows them as well). I mean, what the hell? And how did this show end up on CBS anyway? (It's actually a good thing, as only CBS has a night of well-watched comedies, but still.)

Anyway, I love how HIMYM is so clearly a post-Friends show, in that it isn't a Friends clone, but was influenced by how it, and Seinfeld, advanced the form. (Will and Grace, IMO, was a throwback to a sort of zany 50s sitcom but with a lot of gayness thrown in. Farce-as-sitcom, really, plus an over-reliance on guest stars.)