How I Met Your Mother is back for a second season on CBS this year. I had previously stated that this was the pilot because I’d never even heard of this show. Initially I rendered my opinion on this show after having watched only about five minutes or so of it, having turned it off because, well… it just seemed lame. I was taken to task for rendering an opinion on the show without having watched the entire thing by a couple of commenters, so I have forced myself to watch the rest of it.
From what I can gather, the idea of the show is a dad telling his 20 year old (or so) son and daughter 24 years from now about how he met their mother, and presumably the exploits of him, their mom and his friends.
Why did I initially last only five minutes? For starters, the cheesy laugh track. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve watched a sitcom… do they still use laugh tracks on all of them? Anyway, what really makes them stand out is when they crank up the laughs on lines that just aren’t that funny. You only see his kids sitting on the couch, sitting there listening to the story when they’d rather be somewhere else.
But that’s only the start… They cut to showing him (the dad) along with his friends and the future mom and it’s obvious that the producers are trying to make this the next Friends, which as far as I can tell, it ain’t. The main reason I turned it off was that here he was narrating the story of how he met their mom to his kids and there is plenty of talk about them having “hooked up” and the fact that when you find someone you care about that “you spend a lot of time in bed”.
This is his idea of telling his kids (for posterity) how he met their mother?
Anyway, during the rest of the 30 minute episode (which felt more like an hour), one of the characters is wallowing in self pity over his girlfriend of nine years having dumped him (hint: maybe he should have married her after, oh, three years?). We are dragged through his 67 day “road to recovery” as his friends try a variety of things to snap him out of his funk.
Oh, by the end of the episode, the dad had also narrated to his grown kids about how part of the attempted recuperative process involved going to strip clubs, which I thought was a lovely touch.
Sorry, but I don’t find that funny no matter how you slice it.
About the best thing this show has going for it is Neil Patrick Harris (of Doogie Howser fame) as an ascerbic, jerk of a character, but he’s fun to watch. Unfortunately he’s not onscreen all the time, and I found the rest of it pretty weak, with an attempt at “heart” at the end.
My opinion stands, based on both the humor (or lack of it) and the premise of a dad narrating the tawdry details of his single life to his kids.
Thumbs down from me.
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Um for starters this was the first episode of the SECOND seasson. It is not a new show this year. The intro of the kids is something that was cut last year about 3 episodes in, and I think the only reason they brought it back was that A) it was the first episode of the season and B) they poked fun at the fact that this story has been going on for a year.
This show is not trying to be the next friends at all. It is its own show. The best part of the show are the Barneyisms (played by Neil Patrick Harris). As far as the laugh track, it is actually a studio audience. What they do is film it, and show it to an audience and record the laughs there. So unlike Friends which was shot live in front of an audience, they film the entire episode, and then will cut scenes based on the audience reaction.
I would highly recomened finding the first season and watching it before you watch this season. While the first season did have its lower points of dragging out the same plot line (Ted trying to get Robin), it was a story that anyone who has ever liked someone could relate to.
Normally I can see your point of view (doesn’t mean I agree with it) Vic, but in this case all I can think of are two little proverbs. Don’t judge a book by its cover and If you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all.
Oh and before I forget in the very first episode the guys were all out doing whatever and Barney turned to them and said “This is so going in my blog!” You can find his blog at barneysblog.com
Heh, thanks for pointing out this is the second season. Shows how much attention I pay to sitcoms. The laughing sound I heard was most definitely a laugh track, BTW.
As far as “don’t say anything at all”, does that mean if a critic sees a movie he considers bad, he shouldn’t review it?? Are there no negative reviews of sites on your site?
Always appreciate your comments, Brent!!
Best regards,
Vic
You shouldn’t review (negative or otherwise) a show you HAVEN’T ACTUALLY SEEN! You admitted that you only watched 5 minutes. It is irresponsible to give a postive or negative review.
And, that not knowing that this is the 2nd season…what kind of reviewer are you?
Um, I don’t know… I give up.
Oh yeah, I’m a reviewer that does this just for fun and not for pay, and if I sit down to watch something and I’m not finding it any good, I don’t feel obligated to sit through the entire thing.
My experience is that if a book/movie/TV show stinks during the first 10 minutes or so, it’s most likely that it doesn’t get any better.
Have a nice day.
Vic
There are negative reviews on TWR, however those sites are almost always read from first post to last post with only a few posts skipped over. To give a bad review you have to have endured the entire item being reviewed, be it a book, a movie, a tv show, a cd, a play, anything. As a critic it is in your right to give a bad review, but you need to be able to critique the entire process. The phrase you can’t judge a book by its cover comes into play here.
Vic,
Looks like everybody has been ganging up on you lately; did you kill a kitten or something?
Seriously, I didn’t like that show either, and I’ve never sat through a full episode of it myself. Even if you found that the first 10 minutes sucked and the last 20 minutes were a brilliant masterpiece (which I have yet to see happen), it would still be the kiss of death for TV execs because the rule for any entertainment media is that you have to capture the audience’s interest as early as possible and keep it there. What I have always appreciated about your reviews is that you don’t approach them from an “academic” standpoint like the professionals do; you approach them from the standpoint of a “gut reaction” to the show/movie by an everyday person who wants to be entertained. It’s much easier for normal audiences to relate to your reviews than to the “professional” ones.
Now remember, Vic, whatever you review, you have to watch the whole thing, no matter how much physical pain it causes you. That’s the discipline required of the life you have chosen.
Brian
Heh, thanks dude. Actually I know that YOU have sat through some painful movies in order to write a review, so I guess I should expect the same of myself.
Vic
“My experience is that if a book/movie/TV show stinks during the first 10 minutes or so, it’s most likely that it doesn’t get any better.”
–Yeah. It’s why I never finished watching that terrible King of the Rings movie, either.
Heh… You didn’t like how LOTR started?
Caught me right from the first frame.
Vic
I have to say that I stumbled upon this blog, now the day of the premier of the 3rd season, while excitedly logging on to view barneysblog.com (a witty and entertaining site)and the slapbet countdown (one of the most amusing plot extensions I have ever seen in a sitcom). I am also a viewer who has never visited any TV website, but was so inspired by Barney’s elusive comments during the show regarding his blog and my own piqued curiousity.
Unfortunately, you must have an attention span greater than that of the modern child to understand the inside joke since you would have had to have seen 3 previous non-consecutive episodes to fully appreciate the extent to which “How I Met Your Mother”‘s writers will take their humor. The main episode you must watch to “get it” is the Robin Sparkles episode should you care to enlighten yourself.
I feel saddened that you have only watched one episode, but more importantly that you missed the very FIRST episode. I have seen every episode since day one, and the main plot element that you missed was the narrator beginning the first episode with the statement, “Now, kids I’m going to tell you the story of how I met your mother…”
AND ENDING the first episode with, “… and THAT is how I met your Aunt Robin,” to which the children, shocked, exclaim, “What!” He then states something to the effect of, “These things take time. It’s a long story.”
In that it is now the 3rd season and I am recalling this from memory, I feel it is a credit to the show that it made such an impression on me in this world of cookie cutter programming. I feel the show is a truly original twist in sitcom writing.
Sure, the idea that their father might be telling them more graphic details of dating to which the show alludes seems out of line. However, plenty of episodes have had the narrator (father) break in and deliberately fast forward over details to edit for his children and for comic effect. The other point I would make is that, as a parent of teenagers and a high school teacher, I might frequently discuss themes and lessons of dating with teen friendly terms that, while they may have seemed graphic while watching the 3rd person objective point of view of the TV show, would have probably been presented in a very appropriate manner in the “left to our imagination” and unobserved 1st person narrative of the father.
In other words, have a little imagination! Life is not so serious that everything must be black and white and taken so literally! You don’t have to like the show, but it strikes me that you mock what you don’t understand.
Theresa, thanks for your thoughtful comment.
You know, it’s funny how a post that I considered almost as an afterthought has generated so much controversy. Maybe there is something to the show, but honestly I haven’t been a fan of sitcoms for a very, very long time. Most of the time they just strike me as fairly stupid and almost always demeaning to whatever semi-authority males happen to be on the show.
Best,
Vic