TeeVee: What You Should Be Watching
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is a situation comedy on CBS, Mondays at 8PM.
It's coming into it's 5th season this fall with it's first 'Best Comedy' Emmy Nomination along with Neil Patrick Harris' second or third 'Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy' Emmy Nomination for his role as Barney Stinson.
The show is about Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor) recounting to his son and daughter, the stories of what led him to meet their mother. The show is most commonly compared to 'Friends'. Here are the similarities and differences:
1. Similarities: Both based in NYC. Both about a group of friends. Both are comedies. AND I really think that's about it.
2. Differences: Well, maybe not differences, but I say upgrades. I think 'HIMYM' is a hipper, younger, funnier show than 'Friends' and here's why.
They hang out at MacLaren's Bar instead of Central Perk (coffee shop).
They have a NYC cabbie, Ranjit instead of the Rachel-obsessed coffee manager, Gunther as their quirky reoccurring character.
Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) and his one-liners, bro-codes, rules and theories far out weigh the stale Joey bachelor-ism.
Robin (played by Cobie Smulders) & Ted's struggle to be friends or lovers is much more believeable than Ross & Rachel (I know some hardcore fans of Friends will disagree)
Marshall (Jason Segel) & Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) relationship is much more believable with it's ups and downs, puke-worthy cuteness and real-life situations compared to that of Chandler and Monica's.
The use of pop-culture and real-life references. This is perhaps my favorite part of HIMYM. Each episode something is happening that I can relate too, which wasn't always the case with Friends. And by pop-culture references I mean integrating movies (big ones are Star Wars, The Goonies, Field of Dreams, Ghosbusters) and music (one in particular springs to mind 500 miles by the Pretenders)
SO if you're NOT watch How I Met Your Mother. You should be! You can catch NEW episodes the night after the Emmy Awards (Mondays at 8PM on CBS in September) OR reruns, Mondays at 7-8PM on Lifetime and 8-9PM on CBS.
