How I Met Your Mother

[mippy]

As I only seem to want to watch things from pre-2010 in lockdown, and I'm too tight for Disney+, I gave this a go. It's very very soapy in a way that long-running US sitcoms don't become until nearing the end, some aspects haven't dated well (although E4 have been showing early TBBT episodes from the same time and it doesn't quite reach that low), and I end up wanting to shake Ted and ask why the fuck he's so obsessed with getting married at twenty fucking seven, but....it's really quite likeable.

Previously the only thing I knew about it was how much everyone HATED the finale, so interested to hear if it wears out it's welcome quickly.

[JamesTC]

I didn't mind the finale.

[An tSaoi]

The audience laughter is mixed very low. I wonder if the creator's wanted it to be audience-free, but the network insisted on laughter, so the makers tried to minimise it.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

My sisters often had this on on E4 back when I still lived with my parents. I remember it being alright, very backgroundy but not actively shit. Neil Patrick Harris was quite funny and the other characters were there as well.
Although I did catch an episode a while back, I think quite late in the show's run, where for some reason all the dialogue was done as an extended rhyming poem that lasted the entire episode. That was absolutely fuck awful and made me want to die. I haven't seen the finale but it can't possibly be worse than that.

[An tSaoi]

It's a top candidate for "Sitcoms where the main character is the most unfunny one".

[Jerzy Bondov]

I hated the finale so, so much. I won't go on about it because you'll expect it to be even worse than it actually is, and come in here saying it wasn't too bad, but it's one of the worst things that has ever happened in the history of humanity.

[olliebean]

I watched it last year, struggled with how obnoxiously self-centred Ted was and how hilarious I was expected to find Barney's serial sex-pestism.

[DrGreggles]

Never seen this. Sounds shit.

[Chollis]

It's a top candidate for "Sitcoms where the main character is the most unfunny one".

All of them seemed incredibly pleased with themselves but Ted is probably the most unlikable central character in any comedy I can think of.

[Jerzy Bondov]

It's a great premise but it's not suited to a long running network sitcom. As soon as he meets the mother, the story is over, so they have to stretch it out as much as possible. They're doing 22 episodes a year for nine years or whatever it was, so you end up with Ted ostensibly telling his kids the story of how their parents met but really it's mostly about how he had top banter with his mates, and all the other women he shagged. Which is fine. It's a funny idea and they do acknowledge it. But the finale, rather than make a joke about how silly it's all been, tries to come up with an explanation. And it's fucking rubbish.

[Gulftastic]

I tried with this show, but it never stuck. Never as clever as it thought it was. The writing was fuck awful at times.

[paruses]

Was the American Pie character as much of an annoying dead weight around her fairly decent-seeming husband's neck as she seemed on the handful of occasions I saw the programme? To be fair he might have been a total bell too and I just dropped in at the right/wrong moment for each character.

[Wet Blanket]

I liked the first few series when it was a kinda sorta tiny bit edgier Friends and Barney was straightforwardly a bastard, but like most American sitcoms it quickly descended into soapy territory. I bailed before the final series but looked up how it ended. As mentioned above the writers really wrote themselves into a corner with that set up. I wonder if they always had the ending envisaged, only for the show to run too long for it to work anymore. 

[Jerzy Bondov]

As mentioned above the writers really wrote themselves into a corner with that set up. I wonder if they always had the ending envisaged, only for the show to run too long for it to work anymore.

I'd be stunned if this wasn't true. They also made the mistake of somehow pulling off the impossible task of casting someone as the mother who could actually live up to the build up, and who actually had chemistry with the heinous Ted, and then totally wasted her.

[An tSaoi]

As mentioned above the writers really wrote themselves into a corner with that set up. I wonder if they always had the ending envisaged, only for the show to run too long for it to work anymore.

I believe so. I heard they shot the ending with the future kids a few years before the show actually ended, possibly because they were getting too old, and then they had to stick with it even when events overtook them.

I always thought it was strange that Ted censors discussion of weed ("We were eating sandwiches"), but is happy to tell his kids about all the women he and Barney fucked. For some reason, Future Ted has the same sensibilities as American network television content standards.

[Utter Shit]

My wife and I invested a huge amount of time into this show but finally fucked it off when Ted and Robin got together for about the fiftieth time. I think there were only a couple of series left so maybe we should just push through but that relationship quickly became one of the least interesting in TV history for me.

Just had a look, we sacked it at episode 17 of season 7, so there are two and a bit seasons left...worth sticking with?

[Pranet]

I was watching this one day when, as an adult, I realised I had nits. That's what I think of whenever this show is mentioned.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I always struggled with this as I hate Ted with a passion, and then didn't bother with the final season bar the very last episode and everything suggests that was no bad thing.

When I saw this thread I presumed it was posted because of the announcement of the sort of sequel series How I Met Your Father which initially was proposed, then the network decided against it, but out of the blue Hulu have now decided to make: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/how-i-met-your-mother-sequel-hilary-duff-how-i-met-your-father-1234956885/ - I doubt I'll bother with it unless reviews are positive though.

[An tSaoi]

Why did they call the first remake 'How I Met Your Dad'? Surely it should be 'Father'. At least the new version has the obviously correct title.

[Jerzy Bondov]

My wife and I invested a huge amount of time into this show but finally fucked it off when Ted and Robin got together for about the fiftieth time. I think there were only a couple of series left so maybe we should just push through but that relationship quickly became one of the least interesting in TV history for me.

Just had a look, we sacked it at episode 17 of season 7, so there are two and a bit seasons left...worth sticking with?

Finale spoilers:

Spoiler alert

if Ted and Robin is what made you stop watching you will hate the finale

[close]

[Famous Mortimer]

Much like Jerzy, the ending was awful, and retrospectively ruined large portions of what had come before.

Also, wasn't the first "HIMYD" going to star Greta Gerwig? There's a bullet I bet she's glad she dodged.

[mjwilson]

I think the finale is really dragged down by

Spoiler alert

their insistence on leaving Ted meeting the mother till the last possible moment, so they end up cramming ridiculous amounts of plot into it. So not only do Robin and Barney get married (already a pretty unbelievable premise) but they have to split up too. And there's just no time to spend with the mother. I think the basic idea of the "the mother dies, Ted ends up getting together with Robin" could have worked if (a) the show had been a couple of seasons shorter (b) they had not been quite so precious about keeping back the moment when Ted meets her.

[close]

[amateur]

For me the issue with the finale is that it removes any pleasure in rewatching.

These are no longer characters I wish to spend any time with, even in isolated moments.

Barney's appalling misogyny, which sort of works when he's a kind of alpha-prick, is especially jarring when you're meant to have any kind of sympathy for him. Seemed a bit much by season 4-5 and is unwatchable in 2021.

[dissolute ocelot]

As a sitcom the few episodes I saw (which always seemed to involve a wedding) were moderately clever and often funny, and all the cast has been great in other things (Harris, Segel, Hanngan, Smulders), but there's just something repellent about it. I never cares about any of the characters, a lot are kind of annoying, and I'd rather watch Big Bang Theory for never ending soapy tomfoolery and mild humour. Although BBT took a lot of time to appreciate its modest qualities so maybe I just haven't been forced to watch enough. There's a goal for retirement.

[BritishHobo]

They really fucked themselves over by

Spoiler alert

spending about five seasons telling everyone that Ted and thd mother is the greatest love story of all time, really building up this grand thing with the yellow umbrella, and Cindy, and the wedding, and so on. They clearly made a decision around the time they introduced Stella, to begin hyping and foreshadowing 'the mother' much more, and in retrospect that was a mistake. Their ending only works up until the end of season 2, which is the last point where you're more invested in Ted and Robin's relationship than you are in a mother you haven't met yet. Every step they took after that took you further and further away from caring about Ted and Robin, and invested you far more in Tracy, who was absolutely lovely, and perfect for Ted.

[close]

My general thoughts were I absolutely loved it up until the very patchy season 5 (which was a definite 'how do we keep this going?' moment, the type of which you only see in US sitcoms), seasons 6 felt like a refocused return to form, but then it started to drop off again, and 8 and 9 were very obnoxious. If they hadn't announced season 9 as the last, I would have quit at season 8.

It's a shame, because in its early years especially, I thought it was really creative with its use of flashbacks and narrative, and using the framing device to allow episodes to wrongfoot you about what's going on.

I loved Ted at the time, and Barney. I do have the fear that if I watch it back, I will immediately realise they're awful awful cunts, and that Barney especially is a skeevy pickup artist scumbag. That said, I always thought he was a character who the show stopped understanding. In the first few seasons he wasn't cool - they all thought he was a fuckin nerd and they used to take the piss and puncture his bullshit. By the end the show had fully bought into his hype and seemed to think he was the coolest guy alive. They lost their own way.

[BritishHobo]

I think the finale is really dragged down by

Spoiler alert

their insistence on leaving Ted meeting the mother till the last possible moment, so they end up cramming ridiculous amounts of plot into it. So not only do Robin and Barney get married (already a pretty unbelievable premise) but they have to split up too. And there's just no time to spend with the mother. I think the basic idea of the "the mother dies, Ted ends up getting together with Robin" could have worked if (a) the show had been a couple of seasons shorter (b) they had not been quite so precious about keeping back the moment when Ted meets her.

[close]

Definitely. They fuck it from the off, with

Spoiler alert

the old lady going 'oh maybe that's your wife over there!!!!' And then they do this batshit thing where Ted and Tracy's relationship seems to be an afterthought to Barney and Robin's drama, as if it barely matters in the show's universe. I could tell something was off when voiceover Ted essentially goes 'oh yeah we just didn't bother getting married for ages'. Fuck off! In Ted's ultimate love story he'd be married by the end of the first week - and definitely before the kids come out. I remember the meeting itself being absolutely lovely, to the point of it feeling even more like 'why haven't you spent so much more time on these two?'

[close]

[olliebean]

As a sitcom the few episodes I saw (which always seemed to involve a wedding) were moderately clever and often funny, and all the cast has been great in other things (Harris, Segel, Hanngan, Smulders)

I notice one glaring exception from your list of cast members there. I don't think I've seen Josh Radnor in anything else, but honestly, if you actually watch him in this he's pretty awful. Most of the time he only has the one, fairly vacant, facial expression. And the more you watch the character (though this is more to do with the writing than the acting), the less you want any of the women he dates to end up saddled with him.

[BritishHobo]

See, I always found Radnor a really affable presence, I think that's what helped me overlook the more overbearing aspects of Ted's character. I'm aware my liking of Ted is a properly fringe opinion though.

[mjwilson]

Definitely. They fuck it from the off, with

Spoiler alert

the old lady going 'oh maybe that's your wife over there!!!!' And then they do this batshit thing where Ted and Tracy's relationship seems to be an afterthought to Barney and Robin's drama, as if it barely matters in the show's universe. I could tell something was off when voiceover Ted essentially goes 'oh yeah we just didn't bother getting married for ages'. Fuck off! In Ted's ultimate love story he'd be married by the end of the first week - and definitely before the kids come out. I remember the meeting itself being absolutely lovely, to the point of it feeling even more like 'why haven't you spent so much more time on these two?'

[close]

I realised while I was writing my post that

Spoiler alert

I couldn't even remember the mother's name, so little do they use her

[close]

.

[Mister Six]

The audience laughter is mixed very low. I wonder if the creator's wanted it to be audience-free, but the network insisted on laughter, so the makers tried to minimise it.

I loathe this show, and I think that's a pretty big part of it. It's not the worst comedy ever made, but it's the worst comedy Mrs Six periodically re-binges, and my frustration at the incredibly weak scripts (which weirdly combine unbelievable cartoon behaviour with dialogue that seems to be going for a kind of naturalistic "hey, this is how regular people joke around" vibe) is exacerbated by the dead air after gags, or minimal, awkward canned laughter.

Big Bang Theory is another show of hers that I'm not a massive fan of, but the typically OTT US audience reactions do a lot to carry the mood of the show, and create a kind of heightened reality that accommodates the big performances, whereas the broader delivery of Harris, Hannigan and Sigel comes across desperate and contrived when it's delivered to the hushed tittering of a moribund virtual audience.