Tuesday, March 9, 2010

How I Met Your Mother

A friend of mine recommended this show to me and, though he rarely takes my recommendations to heart, I certainly trust his taste.  Thanks to my ridiculously awesome brother, I am now in possession of four seasons of it and so far I'm loving it!  At first I was skeptical...I am NOT a fan of canned laughter.  It really makes the jokes less funny for me somehow.  Its like I think if they have to put a laugh track in, then the joke wasn't good enough to stand on its own.

However, after the pilot episode I got over it.  This is one of the smarter written sitcoms I've seen, though it isn't exactly a genre where there's a lot of competition (seriously, I challenge you to sit through a whole episode of Two and a Half Men).  Its got one of my favorite people of all time: Neil Patrick Harris, and the other actors are great too.  The character of Marshall, played by Jason Segel ("I Love You, Man") is great, as is his fiancee, the always adorable Alyson Hannigan (Willow of "Buffy" fame).

Its also a show that chronicles the romantic misadventures of a father recounting to his children how he met their mother (the show title doesn't leave you guessing).  Its a show for anyone that's ever been the single friend watching his best friends get married while he feels single, constantly worried that it won't ever happen to him, but also strangely hopeful that it will.  What is great is that you know it eventually happens to him; its a love story told in reverse.  You know there's a happy ending, so you can enjoy all the pitfalls along the way.

It made me wonder, wouldn't life be great if we could live it like that?  If all of these experiences we slog through now, all the heartaches, the disappointments, the comedic mishaps...they're just stories you're telling your kids that have grown humorous with the distance of time and the wisdom of perspective?  I'd still prefer not to have canned laughter for mine, but...its a nice thought.

Why do I bring this up now? I just watched episode 12 of season 1, The Wedding, where this guy calls off his wedding because he wants to be single again.  He wants his freedom, to be able to do what he wants.  Being in a couple is hard and he's not sure if he wants to do it.

Ted, our protagonist, needs him to go through with it for his own selfish reasons (he is planning on taking the girl of his dreams as his 'plus one').  He asks his friend Marshall, the engaged guy, to talk him into it.  Marshall says something very profound.  He says not to marry her.

Marshall: Being in a couple is hard. And committing, making sacrifices; it's hard. But if it's the right person, then it's easy. Looking at that girl and knowing she's all you really want out of life, that should be the easiest thing in the world. And if it's not like that, then she's not the one. I'm sorry. 


I love that quote, it sums up exactly what I lacked the eloquence to explain in my last post.  Its moments like this where I realize the show has both wit and soul...a rare thing on network television.  Funny and thoughtful... Maybe that's why I'm enjoying it, we have so much in common!


As a sidenote: Neil Patrick Harris is awesome.  Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, and, surprisingly, James Franco, are my current favorite people in Hollywood. 

4 comments:

  1. I'll have to watch that! If you like it, then its got to be good. Love ya!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its so cheesey but I love it. Love you too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooh, I love James Franco. But probably for different reasons than you. ;) Great post. I've never seen that show but have always heard good things about it. If you lived closer I'd ask if I could borrow the DVDs when you're done. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha! I finally made it over to your blog after you commented on mine! Love it, I've been missing France so its a good little pick me up!

    ReplyDelete