Tag Archives: How I Met Your Mother

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Last episode creates real-life HIMYM experience

How I Met Your Mother has ended after nine long years. It was a crazy journey, and one that ended quite controversially.

The show has gone down a windy road full of situations that were relatable and situations that seemed completely implausible. For every tragic moment about the loss of a loved one, there were several moments involving robots fighting wrestlers. But sometimes, even the craziest moments of our favorite shows can come to life.

In the most amazing instance of life imitating art, I found myself in the role of the gang in the season 2 episode, “Monday Night Football.”

In the episode, the gang realizes at the last minute that they will be unable to watch the Super Bowl live. Still, they all want to experience the game as everyone else did: with all of the thrill and uncertainty of a live viewing. To accomplish this, the entire gang had to find ways to avoid every spoiler that could come their way. No news, no talking to anyone, and no televisions that might give away the results.

Replace the Super Bowl with the series finale of How I Met Your Mother, and you will understand my Monday night experience.

I was called in to work at 8:30 p.m. on the night of the finale. With How I Met Your Mother running from 8 to 9, there was no way I could catch the show. Even worse, I work at a CBS affiliate.

Prior obligations held me up until 8 p.m., and immediately upon arriving at CBS, I had to keep myself occupied and away from television for half an hour. That’s pretty much impossible inside a television station. Then, when the finale was over, I had to preface every conversation with, “No spoilers!”

Co-workers had tears in their eyes and wanted so much to talk about the finale. All social media was off-limits until after I could finally watch the show. And to top off the wonderful humor of my night, the news did a segment on the How I Met Your Mother finale.

In a scene practically identical to Robin’s in “Monday Night Football,” hearing that How I Met Your Mother was in our rundown caused me immediate panic. I begged the producers not to run the story, but with no such luck. I fell just short of putting hands over my ears and shouting nonsense to drown out the sound of spoilers.

Luckily, the conversation on-air remained vague, and I was able to make it home, spoiler-free, to watch the finale of a show that took me on a journey: a show that made me feel wonderful and terrible — that was relatable to me, while still reminding me of the sitcoms of my childhood.

The final episode of How I Met Your Mother was difficult for many of us to watch. All shows naturally have a difficult time wrapping up all of their stories in a way that is acceptable to the fan base. The creators of How I Met Your Mother made the task even more difficult by using the finale as an epilogue of sorts, to show where every member of the gang would end up. Unfortunately for this fan, their journeys were unsatisfying. Spoilers ahead.

An entire season was built around the wedding of Barney and Robin. After years of development and tremendous growth, these characters finally felt like they were gaining a measure of happiness and closure. Barney and Robin were each other’s perfect foils: a man and woman who loved each other, warts and all, and brought out the best in each other. The last two seasons of the show were dedicated to showing fans why Barney and Robin deserved to be together. But that doesn’t matter anymore, because they will only be together for three unhappy years.

Ted’s journey has always been the center narrative of the show. The final season was dedicated to the tragedy of Ted and Robin. Ted had spent years imagining a world in which, against all odds, he and Robin would somehow end up together. The idea that he was wrong, and his need to find love was so strong that it was distorting his judgment, made the show better than any other traditional sitcom of the day. Ted’s difficulty in moving on from an unhealthy and unhappy relationship was something every one of us could relate to. But he had to move on because there was still something better out there for him. There was someone waiting for him who would love his calligraphy hobby, his long-winded stories, and the way he pronounced “renaissance” faire. It was a lesson in patience and self-respect. By not settling for a poor match, Ted was able to finally find a woman who wasn’t perfect, but was perfect for him. Ted was able to accept the love he deserved.

But that doesn’t matter anymore because they will only be together for 10 years. Robin is the happy ending. By shifting to the ending that saw Ted and Robin back together, the show abruptly changed from one about false hope and overcoming preconceived ideas about our future to one that said, “Yeah, you totally will end up back together.” Was Tracy, The Mother, just a consolation prize? And is Ted going to spend the rest of his life with a woman who doesn’t even appreciate his interests?

Despite my misgivings, I am thankful for what Carter Bays and Craig Thomas gave to us. Even when the show was not at its peak, it was still enjoyable. The creators of How I Met Your Mother created a television classic that was unafraid to take risks, a show that knew how to play with the classic sitcom formula in a way that felt both familiar and unique. I may not be happy with the ending of the show or its final message, but that is only because I am able to relate to it so well. We’ve all had a Robin in our lives that we just can’t shake. And we all hope one day to find our Tracy. We need to appreciate every single second we get with those we love and remember why they were so special even after they’re gone.

How I Met Your Mother reminded us that love stories are often messy, and happy endings are only a matter of when the story cuts off. If nothing else, the show will always be relatable, even in the most obscure and seemingly impossible situations.

After all, I never thought I would ever need the Sensory Deprivator 5000, but it certainly would have made last night a lot easier.

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HIMYM favorite episodes: ‘Slap Bet’

After nine seasons, the final episode of How I Met Your Mother airs in the United States on Monday, March 31. Curiata.com is reliving the series this week by looking back at our favorites of the 208 episodes.

Chuck Cunningham and Judy Winslow vanished. Cory Matthews aged three years in one season. Jerry and Elaine dated for one episode and it was never mentioned again. Sitcoms are notorious for shaky continuity. Perhaps the writers believe these fictional characters only exist to make us laugh, so continuity should be no issue.

But How I Met Your Mother shows us why continuity is important. Besides creating an amazing narrative story that transcends the simple sitcom formula, it also creates a web of jokes that make the show appreciably better to longtime fans. Many shows make callback jokes, but rarely does a show dedicate an entire episode of its final season to a gag started seven years prior. And no show has done it in a way that feels relevant quite like How I Met Your Mother.

The perfect example of this is the season 2 episode, alternately called “Slap Bet” or “Robin Sparkles,” the second title originally being dropped to withhold the secret reveal. The two different titles give away exactly why the episode is so important. It created two strong running jokes that would be referenced straight through to the finale.

Spoiler alert! Robin Scherbatsky was a Canadian pop star in the 90s. And an awesome one at that. She even rapped.

The Robin Sparkles reveal is one of the funniest moments in any sitcom. “Let’s Go to The Mall” was my ringtone for a time. And who can forget all of the later jokes this reveal spawned? There was the time when Robin Sparkles made mathematics quite erotic. Alan Thicke certainly enjoyed it. Then there was the absolute classic Behind the Music joke about Robin as Alanis Morissette, including, surprisingly, the first Full House reference, when Dave Coulier made his always-awesome “cut it out” joke. None of these late series jokes would have been possible without the foundation laid out in season 2.

Then, of course, there is the Slap Bet. After a series of events involving a wager over Robin’s past, Marshall gained the right to slap Barney five times, any time, for the rest of their lives. After gaining three at a later date, Marshall ended up with eight slaps, often doled out in episodes dedicated entirely to the impending slap. Remember “Slapsgiving”? Or “Slapsgiving 2”? Or “Slappointment in Slapmarra” from the final season? Maybe it’s best we don’t remember much from the final season, except for the final slap, delivered to Barney at the altar on his wedding day.

Even without acknowledging the later impact of this episode on the series, the episode is fantastic in its own right. The episode showcases the comedic gold-mine combination of Marshall and Barney, while going far in establishing who Ted and Robin are as individuals and as a couple. Robin’s reserve conflicts harshly with Ted’s openness about who he is. It’s difficult for Ted to accept the secrets Robin wants to keep, though his goodhearted side ultimately wins out, and he accepts her decision. Robin, too, grows, deciding that her past should be known by the people she loves, no matter how terrible, or bubblegum pop-ish, it is.

Continuity is difficult to maintain, but when done right, it can create a rich history to build upon and add anticipation to the big moments of the show. How I Met Your Mother has mastered this craft and I’m sure the finale will show us why it’s been worth the ride.

Best Line:
Ted: You’re afraid of the seven dwarfs?
Robin: Just Doc. He’s creepy. I mean, he’s got a medical degree. Why is he hanging around a bunch of coal miners?

Best Cutaway:

Mother Lore: None.

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I know, you know … It’s hard to say good-bye

Good-byes are never easy. For fan*s, saying good-bye to a favorite television show can be especially difficult. You come to love these characters and then, suddenly, they’re gone. And not every canceled series gets a theatrical film like Serenity or Veronica Mars. More often, you will never be able to see your favorite characters starring in new material again.

Fan*s are used to heartbreak. We’ve survived the cancellation of Firefly, and we’re stronger than ever. That doesn’t make it any easier to say good-bye when a beloved character dies, or our favorite shows get canceled, or the creators decide it’s just time to end the run.

While this has been a good year for fan*s as far as shows returning from the dead — Veronica Mars opened in theaters last week, a new season of 24 will be starting in just a couple months, and NBC recently announced a revival of Heroes — we’ll also be saying good-bye to several long-running series.

We all know How I Met Your Mother will be ending its run in less than two weeks. After nine years of listening to Ted’s story, we’ll finally get to see how he met the mother. However, there are several other shows ending within the next month or so that also happen to be favorites of mine.

One of my favorite supernatural dramas, Being Human, originated in the United Kingdom and was followed by an American adaptation that premiered in the United States several years ago. The show follows a ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire trying to live together and have a normal life. The original BBC version ended its run last year, after a complete cast changeover. One of the original leads went off on a quest to the Lonely Mountain, and the other two leads left the series shortly after that. Syfy recently announced this season would be the last for the American adaptation, which, after a rocky first season, had found its legs and was able to develop a mythology independent of the original series.

Syfy has also announced the cancellation of Warehouse 13, which will commence its fifth and final season (of only six episodes) next month. Warehouse 13 follows U.S. Secret Service agents who seek out historical objects with often dangerous powers. Warehouse 13 and Being Human are among the last of a generation of original Syfy series that began with Eureka in 2006. The network has been adding more reality TV and imported Canadian series to its schedule and cutting back on their original scripted entertainment.

Side note: Keep an eye out for Australian import The Almighty Johnsons, which stars Dean O’Gorman from The Hobbit and should start airing on SyFy sometime in late 2014 or early 2015. It’s a great show about reincarnated Norse gods living in modern-day New Zealand.

However, my sadness over the departure of the series I’ve mentioned so far is nothing compared to how much I am going to miss the USA dramedy Psych. For the uninitiated, Psych is about two best friends who run a “psychic” detective agency, the catch being that Shawn Spencer isn’t a real psychic. He uses his eidetic memory and powers of deduction to solve cases in over-the-top and hilarious ways. His best friend and partner in the business, Burton “Gus” Guster, spends his days working for a pharmaceutical company and deals with Shawn’s shenanigans in his free time. The show stars James Roday as Shawn and DulÇ Hill as Gus.

Shawn and Gus will be solving their last case this Wednesday with the Santa Barbara Police Department. While brainstorming ideas for this column, I thought of a lot of ways I could commemorate the end of Psych — a countdown of my favorite episodes, favorite guest stars, favorite nicknames Shawn gave Gus — but I had a really hard time restricting myself to one of those topics, or even being able to list my favorites — there’s just so much about this show to love.

Over the years, Shawn and Gus have solved a number of unusual cases. Some of my favorites included a mummy, dinosaur bones, a spelling bee, an American Idol-like music competition, and even the investigation of a sea lion’s murder. But some of Psych’s more bizarre cases — and their best episodes — are tributes to other pop culture icons.

“Tuesday the 17th” was not only an homage to Friday the 13th but slasher films in general. The episode was directed by Roday and remains one of my favorites to this day. “Dual Spires” was a tribute to cult favorite Twin Peaks and another one of the series’ greatest achievements. The episode guest stars many of the former Twin Peaks cast — Ray Wise, Sherilyn Fenn, Dana Ashbrook, and Sheryl Lee, among others — and follows the investigation of a body found on the lake shore of a quirky town. Just before Christmas, Psych debuted “Psych: The Musical,” a two-hour musical special complete with numerous returning guest stars and original songs.

Last season’s “100 Clues” was an homage to the 1985 film Clue, and also included three of that movie’s cast members, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, and Lesley Ann Warren, along with a guest appearance by Curt Smith of the English new wave band Tears for Fears (not his first appearance on the show). The episode also allowed viewers to vote on the ending of the episode, choosing who they wanted to be the murderer. The U.S. East Coast and West Coast each chose its own ending.

Psych has had a lot of great guest stars over the years, beyond the Twin Peaks and Clue cast. Cybill Shepherd plays Shawn’s mom in several episodes, and Ernie Hudson and Phylicia Rashad have appeared multiple times as Gus’ parents. The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kristy Swanson, first made her appearance in an episode centered around vampires, and she currently recurs as Detective Carlton Lassiter’s wife. William Shatner has appeared several times as Detective Juliette O’Hara’s father. Other guest stars have included John Cena, Jane Lynch, Judd Nelson, Stacy Keibler, George Takei, Danny Glover, Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Jaleel White, Ally Sheedy, and the list goes on.

I have been a fan of this series from day one. Some people may think it’s strange to get emotionally attached to a TV series, but let’s face it, fan*s do it all the time. Psych is one of those shows I could count on to cheer me up no matter how bad I was feeling at any given point in time. During the summer I spent working a job I hated, the silliness of Psych and Glee kept me going.

I struggled for a while with how to write this column. I knew I wanted to say good-bye to Psych, but it quickly became clear that I’m just not ready. Saying good-bye to a favorite TV show is like saying good-bye to a good friend: the truth is, we’ll never truly be ready to say good-bye for the last time. Fortunately, with shows like Psych, we’ll still have DVDs we can pop in the player to help us remember the good times. And, if we’re lucky, this won’t really be the last time we see Shawn and Gus.

Thank you, Psych, for introducing me to the delicious flavor of Quatro Quesos Dos Fritos, but most importantly, thank you for all the memories, the laughter, the tears, the tears from laughter — thank you for all the good times.

I’ll always think of you whenever I spot a pineapple.