HIMYM – Regular Guy

What I Watched, 9/24/13

brian — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:42:53 +0000

I tweeted yesterday that I was excited for the premiere of the final season of “How I Met Your Mother” against my better judgment. The show, which I have been with since it premiered, had really started to get on my nerves. I’m not the only one bugged by the constant fakeouts, unnecessary tangents and downright bad writing from creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. (And I’m not even getting into the recent Daily Beast video which showed that Ted was basically telling his kids what a slut he was.)

But they bought a ton of goodwill when the mother appeared in the end of last season’s final episode. They had always said we wouldn’t meet her until the final episode of the series, but the surprise addition of Season 9 forced that to change some. Now, only Ted won’t meet her until the spring even though some flash forwards (like one at the end last night) will bring them together during the season.

The scenes between the mother and Lily last night showed how the writers can(hopefully) bring some fresh ideas to the table while working off the existing traits of the main characters. The small difference between the name of the cookie and one of Lily’s favorite insults put something extra into the meeting between the two women. Plus, the actresses showed really good chemistry.

But those moments and the final scene with Ted and the mother (one year hence) provided most of the good parts. The desk clerk had some good stuff, but I continued to be annoyed by Barney and Robin. They don’t seem like a good fit to begin with and plot lines like “are we related?” make absolutely no comedy connection for me. Marshall’s escapade entertained me a little, but mainly because Sherry Sheppard is rarely not funny. I did love the fast, old guy at the rental car counter.

A decent start to a season I don’t think many people wanted to see.

The List

brian — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:49:50 +0000

I started to think about something the other day when I posted something about “Jersey Shore,” aka the greatest television show ever created. I have enjoyed watching The Situation so much, I decided he ranked among the top five people I wanted to have a beer with.

I remember a guy I went to college with telling me that he couldn’t really trust a guy until he sat and had a beer with them. I tend to agree. Even if you don’t drink, the casual attitude at a bar really lets you learn a lot about a person. Plus, a beer takes somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes to drink at a casual pace, so that’s plenty of time to get to have a substantive conversation with someone you find interesting.

The only problem with that declaration was that I don’t recall ever considering what four other people would make the list (inspired by a great storyline on “Friends”). That changes right now. Without further ado, my top five in no particular order:

The Situation, formally known as Mike Sorrentino. He has burst onto the scene with his bravado and humor from “Jersey Shore. He has blown me away with appearances an appearance on The Tonight Show and a Funny or Die video which slayed me.
Peter Buck, guitarist for R.E.M. He was the driving force in the rock return of Accelerate,the band’s most recent album. He plays in several other groups, including The Baseball Project, and is a total music geek. To top it off, the humor and insight of the liner notes he sometimes contributes to the band’s projects would provide for lots of conversation.
Bill Lawrence, creator of “”Scrubs.” My man crush on the man behind one of my favorite TV shows is well known. We almost went to college together. I could have been his right-hand man. Plus, he provides the most refreshing interviews I have ever read. Easily a two-beer conversation.
Jason Segal, “How I Met Your Mother” and Judd Apatow movies. He just seems cool.
Rhett Miller, singer, guitarist from the Old 97s. Ever since I saw him play earlier this year, I have had a slight obsession with the band’s music. A writer and terrific performer, I would love to swap stories with a guy who wrote a line “My name is Stuart Ransom Miller, and I’m a serial lady killer.”

That’s the list, for now. Like all endeavors in this vein, I will probably think of someone else later, and I reserve the right to change things. I also disqualified people like Tim Quirk and Charlie Todd, who I have interviewed for my dear, departed podcast.

I’m Torn

brian — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:59:45 +0000

I hate it when my favorite TV shows make me question my loyalty to them. I would never give up on “How I Met Your Mother,” but the news I saw this week has me shaking my head.

Britney Spears will guest star on the May 12 episode, the second time she has appeared on HIMYM this season.

I know she helped give the show an million viewers above its average when she appeared earlier this month, but do you need to sell out again? Neil Patrick Harris spoke out against the worries of stunt casting, then backtracked, which makes me worry that things like this will happen more often.

“Scrubs” is one of my favorite shows, and they have had to endure stunt casting a lot. They have made the most of it a lot of times, but really have delved into some unnecessary story lines just to please the folks at NBC who thought that the guy who played Jack on Will and Grace needed a role that might help him not be typecast as a gay character.

This isn’t the first time HIMYM has put a female into the mix, but this is the most high-profile and the one with the most potential to sidetrack things. Hopefully the storyline with Britney will advance the plot and not just bump up the viewers because of endless promos.

Personally, I’ll be more psyched if Sarah Chalke returns as Ted’s girlfriend (and the boss of Britney’s character).