How I Met Your Mother - General Discussion

[SmithW6079]

And I ship both Ted/Robin and Barney/Robin, but watching Sandcastles in the Sand last night, I definitely would have preferred things work out between them, even if I didn't think they necessarily needed to get married (another sitcom trope).

I liked Barney and Robin, and TPTB totally missed the boat to make them an unconventional couple.

[Commando Cody]

I am almost finished re-watching this. I'm about halfway through season 9 at this point. I forgot how much I enjoyed this show - up to a point.

 

Since I watched straight though on Netflix, I don't recall what season I was in when things started to change for the worse. I never liked Robin much to begin with. I always thought she was the weakest character on the show. It must have been around season 6 or 7 when she turned into a total shrew. I couldn't understand why Barney or Ted still wanted her. I never thought the screaming at Patrice was funny. It was just Robin being a horrible bitch. 

 

Even though I wanted Barney and Nora to end up together, I thought Barney and Robin were much more compatible as a couple than Ted and Robin. I knew finally meeting the mother was going to be a crap shoot, but I really did like her. The show runners did not have enough sense to change their end game. Robin had more in common with Marshall than she did with Ted. Other than Ted just wanting Robin, there wasn't any more substance to it than that. 

 

I thought the ending was total waste of nine seasons. 

[Primetimer]

Maybe the Scotch represents everything Robin really is. Or, maybe it's just everything that Robin wishes she could be.

View the full article

[biakbiak]

I am reminded that Robin used to be messy, real, smart and funny and then they kept trying to make her be someone Barney would fall in love with by talking more about scotch, cigars and strippers and devolve into a messy cartoon character that I stopped caring about her. I mean it happened to all the characters but I felt Robin fell the furthest because she was originally so awesome. 

[WendyCR72]

14 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am reminded that Robin used to be messy, real, smart and funny and then they kept trying to make her be someone Barney would fall in love with by talking more about scotch, cigars and strippers and devolve into a messy cartoon character that I stopped caring about her. I mean it happened to all the characters but I felt Robin fell the furthest because she was originally so awesome. 

So odd how people see things so differently, because at "Zip, Zip, Zip", I thought Barney/Robin were a far better match than Robin/Ted. And I think if the writers had any creativity or balls, Robin/Barney could have been an unconventional couple that did not need a piece of paper but chose to live an oh, so fabulous life together.

And while it has been said that Robin/Barney never fit, the jaded part of me after that still hellacious finale makes me wonder if their demise was by design so as to make their obsolete ending with the kids work...

[biakbiak]

Oh I don't think Robin was better with Ted, I wish she had ended up with neither. I was talking about Robin as a character not how she was in a relationship and I think they changed her in order to fit this ideal for Barney and then the failed to write that complaining and ruined the character.

[SmithW6079]

On 8/18/2016 at 9:07 PM, WendyCR72 said:

So odd how people see things so differently, because at "Zip, Zip, Zip", I thought Barney/Robin were a far better match than Robin/Ted. And I think if the writers had any creativity or balls, Robin/Barney could have been an unconventional couple that did not need a piece of paper but chose to live an oh, so fabulous life together.

And while it has been said that Robin/Barney never fit, the jaded part of me after that still hellacious finale makes me wonder if their demise was by design so as to make their obsolete ending with the kids work...

I agree that Barney and Robin were the better couple, and that if the creators had any balls, they would have let them be be non-traditional. The episode where Lily forced them to admit they loved each other and be conventional was the one that cemented my hate for that character. 

The creators really fucked them both. What was the point to break them up, put them back together, then have them divorced in the series finale? 

[Chaos Theory]

For whatever reason I needed something to do and I watched a couple episodes of the final season and there were things about it I did like.   I think it finally came down to my issue with comedies in general especially long running ones and the need to make characters "funny" instead of real.  The Big Bang Theory (one of the other few comedies I watch) has done this as well.  Instead of writing Robin consistently the show often went for cheap laughs which made her look weak and pathetic.  I liked Robin and Barney as a couple and thought if the show kept up with that the show would have made more sense.   

[wknt3]

"Jason Segel on the Possibility of a 'How I Met Your Mother' Reunion"
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jason-segel-a-how-i-938666?utm_source=twitter

Doesn't seem to be all that new or surprising, but it's been picked up in a lot of places and fueled some rumors that there was some sort of active work going on.

[Chairperson Meow]

On ‎9‎/‎8‎/‎2014 at 3:34 AM, Jac said:

I don't even have a problem with the mother dying, because as it has been pointed out, shit happens, what pisses me off is that Ted appears to have learn nothing in the space of virtually his whole adult life. The perfect end for me would have been the mother dying and Ted moving on with a non-Robin person. That would have been growth. Or Tracy and Ted live happily ever after because as much as I've grown to dislike Ted over the years, I love Tracy.

I'm rewatching now, and I think what makes me angriest about it all is that we see Ted romance these women- Stella, Robin, Zoe, Karen, etc- that we're told literally via the title of the show and from the first episode that aren't the "love of Ted's life".  We meet The Mother, finally and she's awesome.  We see her fit in with everyone in the group separately and together.  But we don't see Ted romancing her.  We waited 9 seasons just to see Ted do a grand romantic gesture for Robin.  I think a better ending would  be the grand romantic gesture he did for Tracy. 

[RandomWatcher]

Damn, Alan Thicke died

 

There is no Growing Pains thread.

[Cquen82]

^ Agreed, the writers were all over the place with Robin's character and her personality in general. Maybe they had no idea what to do with her between the beginning of the show and the preplanned ending.

[Cquen82]

How Your Mother Met Me was one of my favorite episodes too. Tracy's character deserved some attention after all those years of making us wait. I wish they had have spent less time on Barney and Robin's wedding and more time on Ted and Tracy, not to mention how they should have scrapped that BS ending.

[Cquen82]

Lol what a great episode. I love when Carl the bartender calls out that there's a phone call for Swarles Barkley, I laughed my ass off at that. Lily and Marshall apart was also a plot line that I really enjoyed, not because I didn't think they were perfect together but because they were too perfect and didn't have enough storyline sometimes. It made it interesting to see single Marshall!

[Loandbehold]

8 hours ago, Cquen82 said:

Lol what a great episode. I love when Carl the bartender calls out that there's a phone call for Swarles Barkley, I laughed my ass off at that. Lily and Marshall apart was also a plot line that I really enjoyed, not because I didn't think they were perfect together but because they were too perfect and didn't have enough storyline sometimes. It made it interesting to see single Marshall!

I'm watching the episode right now and, as I read your post, Carl was letting the bar know that there was a call for Swarley.

[VintageJ]

If they were not going to let Barney sand Robin stay together, i would have loved to see Nora come back for Barney. I loved Nora.

[Commando Cody]

I wanted Barney to end up with Nora. 

[MelissaFirefly]

I wanted Barney and Robin to stay together. It kind of made me mad that they split them up like an after-thought.

[MelissaFirefly]

I wanted Barney to end up with Nora. 

Nora was basically his mother...not a good fit.

[MelissaFirefly]

So, in 2005, Ted was 27.  This means he graduated high school in 1996.  This lines up with him, Marshall, and Lily being freshmen in 1996.  However, later, Marshall says that he was most outgoing in high school his freshman, sophomore, and senior years, then it shows he was a junior in high school in 1996.

Then Scooter.  In the episode of Lily and Marshall's wedding, his name is Bill.  The episode where they're all trying to convince each other that they're bad-asses, Lilly calls Scooter Jeff.

Any other inconsistencies that stand out to anyone else?

[Commando Cody]

I didn't get that impression and I liked them together. 

[LizDC]

One How I Met Your Mother Star Thought the Finale Was a Big Let Down for Fans

[BBHN]

Quote

I absolutely hated the ending and I will never watch the show again.  I can imagine that Craig Thomas and Carter Bays thought they were sooooo clever when they planned to end the show with the same stupid blue french horn image from the end of the first episode.  I think they planned that very early in the run of the show, probably over a couple of doobies ("You're the best bro", "No, you're the best bro.  We are so smart.  This is gonna be epic!"), and it would have been a great idea if the show had lasted 3 or 4 seasons, but it didn't.  Instead, they managed to destroy in one episode something that took 9 years to build.  They turned a story that was supposed to be "How I met your mother" into "How your dead mother was not the love of my life.  She was actually just a baby receptacle so that I could have the 2 kids I always wanted, because the real love of my life can't have kids.  And now your mother has conveniently died so I can be with my one true love your Aunt Robin".  I hope they lose millions of dollars in syndication revenue.  Yes, I am bitter that I wasted so much time on this show.

A bit late to the party, but total agreement.

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 6/12/2017 at 4:40 PM, BBHN said:

A bit late to the party, but total agreement.

I am even later to the party but I agree 100% that the ending was.....yuck.  So it goes like this:  "Well kids I totally had a thing for Robin.  Thing is, Robin didn't want kids.  So your mother came along.  I knocked her up, twice, then decided to marry her.  But then I got lucky....SHE DIED!  Now I can bone Robin all the time!  I get my kids AND Robin!!"

I could not stand this ending and I had friends tell me, in a loving way, that I needed to move on!!!  LOL!

Edited July 18, 2017 by Mrs. Hanson

[pineapplesalsa]

Ted wearing a wedding ring when the kids were babies even though he and Tracy didn't get married until they were older

Stella said she lost her virginity to a guy in college but she had been dating Tony since high school (and they had lucy in high school or right after correct? If not then this might kinda make sense)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Here is the place to discuss past or future projects of HIMYM's cast and crew!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Neil Patrick Harris discusses his new book "The Magic Misfits" and his new film "Downsizing."

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Josh Radnor discusses his new show Rise:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I know Billy Zabka was a guest star, not a cast member, but I felt like Barney Stinson would be super stoked about the new Cobra Kai show. He would also be enraged about Ralph Macchio's presence.

 

Ha, here is a clip about Ralph and Billy talking about their appearances on HIMYM:

Edited May 3, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[idiotwaltz]

I had watched this show live up to Season 5 or so, amd recently rediscovered it on Netflix. 

I’ve always thought Season 2 was the best, but the first 4 seasons were generally pretty good. By the time I stopped watching I had lost interest and having just watched Seasons 6 to 9, I kind of hated every single character by the very end. (Except the Mother, who wasn’t on the show long enough to be turned into a complete asshole.) 

The jokes stopped being funny and in particular Barney’s schtick became insufferable. By the time I stopped watching the first time, I had lost interest in Ted’s search for The One (I hate this term) so I didn’t like the ending, but I didn’t hate it as much as most fans. By the time I watched the finale, it was like I was watching a completely different show with characters I disliked. 

It makes me feel ancient is that this show premiered in 2005, which was 13 years ago. The first few seasons hold up really well for a show that was filmed a decade ago. 

[VintageJ]

On 7/20/2018 at 1:10 PM, idiotwaltz said:

I had watched this show live up to Season 5 or so, amd recently rediscovered it on Netflix. 

I’ve always thought Season 2 was the best, but the first 4 seasons were generally pretty good. By the time I stopped watching I had lost interest and having just watched Seasons 6 to 9, I kind of hated every single character by the very end. (Except the Mother, who wasn’t on the show long enough to be turned into a complete asshole.) 

The jokes stopped being funny and in particular Barney’s schtick became insufferable. By the time I stopped watching the first time, I had lost interest in Ted’s search for The One (I hate this term) so I didn’t like the ending, but I didn’t hate it as much as most fans. By the time I watched the finale, it was like I was watching a completely different show with characters I disliked. 

It makes me feel ancient is that this show premiered in 2005, which was 13 years ago. The first few seasons hold up really well for a show that was filmed a decade ago. 

I didn’t start watching the show until it had ended and caught it in syndication.  When I first started watching it, I binged on Netflix.  But I also bing read on forums about the ending (I love being spoiled) so I already knew what was going to happen.  I guess because I didn’t get caught up in the show during it’s original run and knew the ending, it didn’t bother me as much as it bothered everyone else.  The main thing that did bother me though was I wish they had given Barney a different ending.  I really liked Nora and wish they had brought her back for the ending for Barney.  They didn’t have to show them as a couple per se, but it would have been nice to see that they might reconcile in the future.  I just thought it kinda crappy that everyone got their romantic ending except Barney.  Now I know he as a cad during the show, but I still wanted him to end up with Nora if they were going to end his relationship with Robin.  

Another funny thing is I liked the later seasons better than the first seasons.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 7/17/2017 at 12:35 PM, Mrs. Hanson said:

I could not stand this ending and I had friends tell me, in a loving way, that I needed to move on!!!  LOL!

This is relatable and hilarious.

I'm rewatching, and damn!  I forgot how much I like this show.

I already enjoyed Season 1, but Season 2 upped the ante because now I like the show AND it's funny.  Season 1 wasn't really "funny", it was just sweet and likeable.

I always thought my favourite seasons were 4 and 7.  Now upon this rewatch I'm on Season 5 and I've pretty much liked everything so far.  I get why some people think the quality dips at S4 or after it --- though I LOVE S4.

Lily Aldrin is an asshole!  But !!!!  STELLA ZINMAN IS EVEN WORSE!   I hate hate hate hate hate this person.

[Commando Cody]

I started rewatching this show again.  In an episode I saw the other night, they showed their middle-aged characters in the year 2020.  

I found it interesting on how the show thought they would look and how the actors really look now. 

[Luckylyn]

The Take explores why they think the finale didn’t work.

The finale made me so upset because it did a disservice to Tracy, Robin, Barney and Ted.  They rigidly stuck the ending they created at the beginning of the show while totally not respecting the way the characters evolved as the series progressed over the years.  I went from loving the show to being completely disinterested in watching reruns.  I spent 9 years looking forward to Ted meeting the Mother and then the writers treated Tracy like a throw away incubator.   It’s good to have a plan but when situations change you also have to be flexible.  What seemed like a good idea in the early seasons of the show made no sense for the ending 9 years later.

[Commando Cody]

9 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Take explores why they think the finale didn’t work.

The finale made me so upset because it did a disservice to Tracy, Robin, Barney and Ted.  They rigidly stuck the ending they created at the beginning of the show while totally not respecting the way the characters evolved as the series progressed over the years.  I went from loving the show to being completely disinterested in watching reruns.  I spent 9 years looking forward to Ted meeting the Mother and then the writers treated Tracy like a throw away incubator.   It’s good to have a plan but when situations change you also have to be flexible.  What seemed like a good idea in the early seasons of the show made no sense for the ending 9 years later.

I watched "The Leap" today.  It made me think that it was too bad the writers didn't learn anything from that episode and move on from their original ending. 

 

[Luckylyn]

Why Ted is the villian

Solid argument.  I agree with it.  I do admit to being biased in favor of Barney. I ascribe to the theory that the worst things Barney did were exaggerated by Ted who is an unreliable narrator.  I do not hate Ted and wanted him to find happiness.  Yet, he could be incredibly self centered and use his romantic nature to excuse it.  

Robin’s “Happy” Ending

 

I do agree that the finale did wrong by Robin.  Ultimately, she was treated as a prize for Ted instead of getting a conclusion about her own personal fulfillment.  The show spent years providing really good reasons why Robin and Ted weren’t suited for each other romantically so I found their romantic ending baffling.  

[KatWay]

if we took the show seriously, Barney should be in PRISON.

honestly I get uncomfortable sometimes how his behavior is played for laughs...the guy is reeeaaaally straddling the line with "consent". A LOT.

honestly I think the ending itself could have been very clever. If they'd actually built up to it properly. Dedicating like the last four seasons to the on again off again Barney/Robin romance was a baffling choice if that's where they were always going with that.

Unpopular opinion but I never cared for Barney/Robin as a couple...sure on paper they could have worked in their unconventional way, but they just seemed to make each other miserable more often than not even before they were married.

[BloggerAloud]

Someone in the YOuTube comments about Ted being the villain pointed out how How I Met Your Mother is similar to 500 Days of Summer except Ted is viewed favorably by his creators and 500 days of Summer is deconstructing their male lead. I never thought of it that way.

[Loandbehold]

5 hours ago, KatWay said:

Unpopular opinion but I never cared for Barney/Robin as a couple...sure on paper they could have worked in their unconventional way, but they just seemed to make each other miserable more often than not even before they were married.

I agree. I enjoyed Robin and Barney when they were Bras. But, once they got together, too often Robin seemed to be a woman with an abusive boyfriend. But, in the end, she would end up forgiving him b/c he made some gesture. 

[WendyCR72]

I am totally opposite. I really loved Barney/Robin. At least when they started out. I was so hoping they would turn the TV romance tropes on its head and remain unmarried, just doing awesome together and having fun.

But now we know they had to be sacrificed for that still-infuriating ending so they were wrecked completely. And Lily butting her nose in sure wasn't a help.

I know this show was ostensibly about Ted and his whole saga with the mother (Tracy). But damned if the ending didn't make me almost hate him if not truly side-eye his narration considering how things ended up. (As in what was said above: Ted was unreliable and probably made his "friend" Barney out to be worse so Ted looked like a prince. Blech.)

And I did end up tossing my DVDs as I had said all the way back after that ending, it ruined the show that much for me. And I have not watched a repeat since.

[Commando Cody]

I was just thinking, that  if they hadn't shot that ending with the kids when they were younger,  seeing the kids saying "We feel like we've been sitting here for nine years" - nine years later, might have been kind of funny.   

Or maybe not. 

I watched some Youtube video that claimed Victoria was a fan favorite and was the fallback mother if the series got cancelled.  I could not stand Victoria, but for their own reasons, other people liked her.  I wonder if they would have killed off the fan favorite mother Victoria, so Ted could go back to Robin.  Probably.  They held on to the ending for the entire series and did not waver from it. 

[Kromm]

The Ted Villain  thing is good for a laugh, but also actually kind of obvious when you think about it. It's overstating things though. Ted isn't the villain, it's just that this show has the same kind of protagonist(s) as Seinfeld, but unlike Seinfeld didn't admit what crap people they were in the last episode.  Really, he's just a selfish, self-involved jackass.  Hurting people isn't his goal. He's just too dimwitted to even realize he's hurting people half the time, and the other half of the time, too shallow to care enough that he is.  He's a garbage human being, but that's not the SAME as being a villain.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Kromm

[sinkwriter]

Looks like Robin Sparkles is still writing songs. 😉 Apparently, she recently adjusted "Let's Go to the Mall" for quarantine. LOL. Thanks, Cobie!

 

[readster]

11 minutes ago, Kromm said:

The Ted Villain  thing is good for a laugh, but also actually kind of obvious when you think about it. It's overstating things though. Ted isn't the villain, it's just that this show has the same kind of protagonist(s) as Seinfeld, but unlike Seinfeld didn't admit what crap people they were in the last episode.  Really, he's just a selfish, self-involved jackass.  Hurting people isn't his goal. He's just too dimwitted to even realize he's hurting people half the time, and the other half of the time, too shallow to care enough that he is.  He's a garbage human being, but that's not the SAME as being a villain.

Right and not to turn this into another reason why the Seinfeld finale is up there in the Top 10 worst TV finales. All they had to do was their lawyer to argue: "They don't even live or are citizens in this town? How are they SUPPOSED TO KNOW THE LAWS and expect to KNOW THEM?" Same here with Ted, he is suppose to be written as evil when really he is just a moron who doesn't get what he is doing is wrong. Because he's an idiot. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

According to this announcement, PBS will be airing Present Laughter (2017) with Kevin Kline, Kate Burton, Kristine Nielsen, and Cobie Smulders on 7/31.

Edited July 14, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Kromm]

On 5/18/2020 at 2:47 PM, readster said:

Right and not to turn this into another reason why the Seinfeld finale is up there in the Top 10 worst TV finales. All they had to do was their lawyer to argue: "They don't even live or are citizens in this town? How are they SUPPOSED TO KNOW THE LAWS and expect to KNOW THEM?" Same here with Ted, he is suppose to be written as evil when really he is just a moron who doesn't get what he is doing is wrong. Because he's an idiot. 

I don't think he IS written as evil.  I DO think he's written as a moron.  The problem is that the show excuses it (much of the run of the show) and ignores it (certainly in the finale) at different times.  Now if he SHOULD have been written as evil, I'd argue the show shouldn't have been done at all.  

And my point before was also that Seinfeld weren't evil people either.  They were just SHIT people.  But I always thought they were and for me the finale didn't contradict that.  People hated the finale because they took it too seriously.  They wanted a happy ending, or at least a  REALISTIC one.  I didn't put too much weight to it ending with them in jail, because it was so ridiculous, and not even realistically done.  They were all in the same cell!  I mean until the final credit scene where they conceded to a tiny bit of reality and didn't have Elaine in the same prison audience.  I never saw the show through any filter of reality, so I just laughed at it.  Jerry being SO Jerry that he'd do the EXACT same thing in prison as he did outside.

But back to THIS show.  It's not the same.  This show wasn't resting a bedrock of inherent unreality the way Seinfeld was.  Ted ending as the villain was never going to work (and it's only through people's post show analysis' that they think he did).  If the point of the show wasn't a shit person learning his lesson, then there WAS no point.  Seinfeld's ending DID have a point.  Because the point of it was that the characters didn't change.  But Ted DID change.  He got WORSE.  Not a villain still, but he ended dumber.  Seinfeld wasn't dumber in prison, he was himself.  And it worked there because the show Seinfeld wasn't about a character arc.  Even the serialized plots in the show were in many ways interchangeable.  The last episodes even proved that the way they were all brought up at once in the court sequences.  But HIMYM was supposed to be a serial show.  Not learning your lesson broke those rules in a way Seinfeld ending the same (in a show where they serial nature meant little to nothing) didn't.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Binging with Babish made Ted's turturkeykey:

 

[TheLastKidPicked]

Re-watching this and agree with others who have commented that the show holds up very well!

There are a couple of things that were very much time-specific and I'm afraid they might be lost on younger viewers who might latch on to the series:

Barney's job.  Back before companies were able to track your productivity and micro-manage your time, it was amazing to know people like Barney.  Friends who you knew very well, but couldn't really figure out what they did for a living.  And they made piles of money!  In the 90's and 2000's we really did know people like Barney.  Heh, heh. . .  Please.

 

Barney's motivational posters.  It was fun to see Barney surround himself with the trappings of an employee on the way up, including motivational posters everywhere.  I don't think the younger viewers will catch that, but I guess that is a fun detail for us older folks to enjoy!

 

[WendyCR72]

And How I Met Your Father is officially happening on Hulu starring Hilary Duff. The creators are not Thomas/Bays, but they will be EPs. The creators are the team from This Is Us.

Still, even with the differences, hard pass. I still feel the burn from the mess of a finale from HIMYM.

[xander874]

Maybe the writers have learned from the HIMYM finale debacle and will just let this show go with the flow. I might check it out depending on who the cast is (I tuned in for NPH at first) mainly because I am curious if this will be connected to the original (like Hilary Duff is Ted's now-blond daughter).