Okay, so the presence of Alyson Hannigan led this Joss Whedon fan to check this show out. I thought it was mildly amusing, and slated the Tivo to pick it up. After a few shows now, I find myself really enjoying it. Somehow, even though it’s set in 2005, it’s reminding me of my life and my circle of friends circa 20 years ago, in the mid-to-late 80s. Not identically, of course; it’s the nostalgia of life in one’s 20s that’s appealing to me. I knew a Barney. I knew a Marshall & Lily. I think at least part of me was Ted, at least at times. And I knew a handful of Robins, over the course of time.
I’m liking the show’s comedy turns, and the way they have been showing events that prolly happen in every 20-something’s life at one point or another. I like the characters and the actors playing them. I even mostly like the cheesy framing montage with the Bob Sagat voice-over, which the show could really do without.
So. Anyone else watching this at all? Liking it? Feeling nostalgic?
I keep trying to get Mostly Missus to watch this, and as such have most of the episodes floating around my Tivo hard drive.
I tuned in out of boredom on the first episode (“Geez, nothing on until Monday Night Football. Let’s see if Doogie’s new show sucks.”). Turns out it doesn’t suck. It’s funny, it’s fresh, and I’ll be damned but this show deserves to stay on a while. I was genuinely surprised, and I’m going to keep with it.
(Note to self: who was that one-night-stand girl on tonight’s episode?)
I really enjoy this show. I’m another Whedon fan who tuned in to check out Alyson Hannigan’s new show, and I was completely surprised to see Neil Patrick Harris – and even more surprised to discover how much I love his character!
I like the episode and a half I’ve seen but I can never remember to watch it because I don’t watch TV except at work and always forget it’s even on until an hour or two after it’s over. Like tonight. Again.
I was cleaning out a stack of old Newsweeks from September 9 2005, and one of the articles was about the return of the sitcom. After mentioning Arrested Development’s ratings problems, they listed these three shows as worth watching:
Everybody Hates Chris
My Name is Earl
How I Met Your Mother
I totally agree with all three. Remember, this was before any of the three aired for the season, so I’m surprised how much I liked each of these three shows.
Yes, Danica McKellar is hot. And watch for daughter Lyndsy Fonseca as a rising star…
It’s an interesting hybrid of the multi-camera and one-camera sitcom styles; it’s
shot like a multi-camera and its plotting is fairly traditional, but it’s fond of storytelling techniques that are more suited to one-camera. It started off a bit shaky – only Neil Patrick Harris (though why anyone who’s seen Undercover Brother and/or Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle should be surprised that he’s a terrific comic actor is a mystery) and, to a lesser extent, Alyson Hannigan really stood out in the first few episodes. However the rest of the cast has gotten much better lately and they’ve cut back on the kids (the only time I’ve seen them in the last 3 episodes is the killer joke that ended the Thanksgiving episode) and throttling down the gimmick to beginning and ending V.O. I’d say “The Duel” is probably the best sitcom episode I’ve seen in a show not named Arrested Development since about season 8 of Friends.
Either way, I agree with your assessment on this show being a hybrid. It has the conventional familiarities to make it successful enough to stay on the air, but enough of the zaniness to make a sitcom snob like me get into it.
The show suffers from generic sitcom-itis at times, and has too many “trying too hard to be like Seinfeld” moments, but overall, there is enough quality to make it a weekly appointment viewing.
I only started watching it because my neighbor’s step brother is one of the creators. But I am glad I did.
I will say I wonder what they are going to do with Marshall’s character. It is the only character that I still don’t see much of a role for:
Ted- Protagonist who is a single guy looking for love.
Robin- The romantic will they/won’t they girl.
Lilly- The Denmother who reacts to the male shenanigans.
Barnie- The Fonz…err…comic relief who rejects conventional love.
What about Marshall? What does he add? Is he basically the friend who accepts conventional love. While necessary for the concept of the show, not a terribly interesting part.
I wonder will they begin to play Marshall as the angel on Ted’s shoulder, while countering with Barnie as the Devil? So far, it seems Marshall supports the Barnie way for Ted.
It was great to see grown-up and still-cute Winnie again, but damn them for making her character a one off (she never called Ted again.) I saw her name in the program description and when they kept her identity secret until the last five minutes or so, I thought that maybe she’d become Ted’s girlfriend for awhile and maybe, just maybe his wife, but alas.
I’ve seen an episode each of it and My Name Is Earl. Neither did much for me, but at least they don’t actively annoy me like Everybody Loves Raymond did. (Side benefit of TIVO: I’m no longer watching the tail end of shows I don’t like while waiting for my show to start.) I haven’t seen any episodes of Everybody Hates Chris, though. I need to give that a shot.
I saw her name in the program description and when they kept her identity secret until the last five minutes or so, I thought that maybe she’d become Ted’s girlfriend for awhile and maybe, just maybe his wife, but alas.