WARNING: May contain spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you.
UPDATED: Inside the Actors Studio starring the cast (do read the rest of the post if you haven't first!)
Oh my god, the nostalgia is kind of heartbreaking! They're truly the hilarious quintet.
James: What is The Playbook?
Barney: ... That was a book in the young (awesome~~) days where I had different, you know, ways to get dirty. It included a lot of doppelganger names. 'The Scuba Diver' -- that was a good one.
James: Oh Jesus.
Barney: 'Oh Jesus' was awesome!
Too much, I can't laugh anymore. xD
~~End Update~
The series kick-starts with Ted recounting his search for romance to his kids in a narrative, point-of-view fashion. Sounds boring, but yes, in essence, the whole series is a flashback on Ted's life and how he met their mother. And Ted, being insistent and verbally fervent to tell his story, goes back to the prime of his life and all the women he's been with...
The all-famous 13-second opening sequence of HIMYM. Just watch it!
Five friends, or more like wing buddies, have a compulsive habit of setting each other up on dates, usually not taking 'no' for an answer. Thing is, it gets complicated when they begin dating within themselves... save for Marshall and Lily, who are already happily husband and wife. They all have their own personal idiosyncrasies and express them unreservedly. They go to uninhibited lengths to do whatever they want and procure their love interests, but usually end up annoying the hell out of one another or just botching the plan. Their main hangout is a snazzy bar called MacLaren's Pub, also known as where they pick up chicks.
Many people have compared and contrasted this show's characters to their 'corresponding' personae in FRIENDS, outlining similarities in personalities and circumstances... or saying how it's a lazy rip-off of the aforementioned sitcom. Truth is -- it's no slight modification; the plot is original -- inspired by the producers' life stories. Just Google if you don't believe me. Aaaanyways...
Many people have compared and contrasted this show's characters to their 'corresponding' personae in FRIENDS, outlining similarities in personalities and circumstances... or saying how it's a lazy rip-off of the aforementioned sitcom. Truth is -- it's no slight modification; the plot is original -- inspired by the producers' life stories. Just Google if you don't believe me. Aaaanyways...
| Haaave... you met Them? |
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| Just Ted being... Ted |
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| Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby |
Ted -- the guy with the awkward relationship complex. He's on some kinda romantic pilgrimage, with his love life cluttered with psychotic women, dating agencies and Barney's shenanigans. With noble architectural dreams of grandeur, Ted's love for buildings doesn't lose out to his love for a soul mate. Unlucky, disheartened but still hopeful, he continues his search for romance. It was in the first episode where he dramatically fell head over heels for Robin, but due to a series of mishaps, he got dumped, as usual. Since then, Ted and Robin have always had a thing between themselves, and feelings are on edge occasionally. And Robin joins the gang.
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| Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky |
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| When Barney thought she looked too pretty |
Once a pop icon by the name of Robin Sparkles, much to the incredulous surprise of the others, she's now a mature news anchorwoman. Despite rejecting Ted, there are trails of leftover attachment towards him, evident by their exclusively intimate interactions, and it seemed that Robin would end up eventually with him but... Incidentally, Robin loves Canadian sports, and can be uncharacteristically gung-ho in supporting her teams. Her jokes, accent and knowledge are often teased by the others as baffling and 'unAmerican', but it doesn't matter 'cuz she's hot.
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| Taking high fives to a higher plane |
| Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson |
His job? Please...
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| Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin |
Lily -- the maternal instinct, otherwise, fun-loving and feisty voice of the group. A mild-mannered girl, with a lovely smile, she's a faithful wife to Marshall. But get an irritable Lily mad and her bite packs quite the vindictive punch, which pretty means going fiery-eyed-beast-mode on them. Any other day, she's great at giving life advice, especially to Ted, chastising Barney, and being Robin's girl companion. Then there are the embarrassing, highly strung tendencies with Marshall, their baby, the in-laws, and her jobs as a zealous kindergarten teacher and painter. It gets even funnier when the couple attempts telepathic conversations within the group!
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| Lily on pursuing her ambitions |
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| Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen |
Marshall -- the dorky, good-natured environmentalist. Marshall looms over all his friends, but is really the runt of his burly and rugged family of giants. So you can imagine a horror-struck, petite Lily when she visits! They don't always get along, but amazingly, his wife is still his first and only girlfriend. Marshall is a lawyer with a fluctuating career, due to his environmental, non-profit interests. Somewhat childish and competitive as well, he regularly engages in mock sword fights with Ted, amongst other things. He likes saying, "lawyered!", whenever he wins a debate using his legal smarts and shrewdness. It takes a lot to tick Marshall off, but when you do... you don't hear the end of it.
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| When Marshall and Barney argued over who's Ted's best friend... |
The whole point of the show, that is to say, the bottom line, is figuring out who Ted's wife is. Rumours have circulated that it's Barney's sister, Barney's cousin, or even Robin -- even though she has found a definitive role in being Barney's spouse. In hindsight, Barney's relations seemed to be the centre of gossip. People have said, "Hey, maybe Robin did get together with Ted, but she changed her name or the children didn't know Robin was their mom..." which is weak speculation, really.
All through the seasons, hints and references have primed one particular woman to be Ted's future wife. The camera has deliberately teased the audience, capturing everything about her in plain sight but her face, which has been obscured by furniture, postboxes, umbrellas and whatnot. As if that wasn't enough, Ted sometimes brushes by her or is sitting, desolated by his plights, mere inches away. She's made brief appearances, often with a bright yellow umbrella in hand -- which has become an integral part of a tantalising expectation of a clue -- never showing her face, never letting the audiences in on her identity... until Season 8.
Noting the burlesque sense of comedy that sees the series parodying Indiana Jones, Star Wars and historical figures, I feel that HIMYM specializes in being melodramatic and obscenely funny in its own radical way. They've pulled off funny inter-telepathic scenes within the group so many times. It's not your run-of-the-mill show; the flashbacks and the random plots are pieced together into a chronological puzzle, based on some more random flashbacks, and no one knows what to expect. So, we expect the unexpected. But when they do happen and when the picture is formed, it defies all set conventions. In my opinion, HIMYM is a little bit heavier on the drama side, because it realistically broaches sensitive topics about love and sex, and relationships. Sure, the comedic effect is strong, but the undertones are lucid enough. Though far and few between, the emotional bits can get to you, especially Barney's proposal to Robin, another unforeseen turn of events.
I'd like to make a verbal tribute to Neil here. If you guys don't know yet, he is gay. No one would have ever guessed from watching the show. The stark contradiction to his lewd and virile character only proves how great an actor he is. He's been recognised for it too. Check out the Tony Awards (awards for theatrical performances in Broadway theatre). He stole the show:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=neil+patrick+harrison+tony+awards&oq=neil+patrick+harrison+tony+awards&gs_l=youtube.3...1404.7196.0.7299.33.18.0.14.14.0.163.1815.10j8.18.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.pDzWD6Wsxao
Last but not least, this might not be known to even some HIMYM fans, but there's more to the theme than just "Pa pa pa paaaa pa pa pa paaaaa... pa pa... da da da da da da da da daaaaa...", although that seems to be everyone's favourite verse!
Then you have set-ups like this...
Moments
Some funny scenes
The Broath? Lol.
Lily's 'pimp' voice after smoking!
Marshall is high and mistakes Lily for Ted
For some reason Blogger won't let me upload these videos, so I'll post their links instead:
The love triangle between Ted, Robin and Barney
Ted imagining that he's finally found his wife
A preview of the season finale
Bloopers, always the sequel of a sitcom
The cast singing their theme song? How does it get better than this?
Think the cast remember their own crazy lines from the show?
All through the seasons, hints and references have primed one particular woman to be Ted's future wife. The camera has deliberately teased the audience, capturing everything about her in plain sight but her face, which has been obscured by furniture, postboxes, umbrellas and whatnot. As if that wasn't enough, Ted sometimes brushes by her or is sitting, desolated by his plights, mere inches away. She's made brief appearances, often with a bright yellow umbrella in hand -- which has become an integral part of a tantalising expectation of a clue -- never showing her face, never letting the audiences in on her identity... until Season 8.
Cristin Milioti as "the girl with the yellow umbrella"
Noting the burlesque sense of comedy that sees the series parodying Indiana Jones, Star Wars and historical figures, I feel that HIMYM specializes in being melodramatic and obscenely funny in its own radical way. They've pulled off funny inter-telepathic scenes within the group so many times. It's not your run-of-the-mill show; the flashbacks and the random plots are pieced together into a chronological puzzle, based on some more random flashbacks, and no one knows what to expect. So, we expect the unexpected. But when they do happen and when the picture is formed, it defies all set conventions. In my opinion, HIMYM is a little bit heavier on the drama side, because it realistically broaches sensitive topics about love and sex, and relationships. Sure, the comedic effect is strong, but the undertones are lucid enough. Though far and few between, the emotional bits can get to you, especially Barney's proposal to Robin, another unforeseen turn of events.
I'd like to make a verbal tribute to Neil here. If you guys don't know yet, he is gay. No one would have ever guessed from watching the show. The stark contradiction to his lewd and virile character only proves how great an actor he is. He's been recognised for it too. Check out the Tony Awards (awards for theatrical performances in Broadway theatre). He stole the show:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=neil+patrick+harrison+tony+awards&oq=neil+patrick+harrison+tony+awards&gs_l=youtube.3...1404.7196.0.7299.33.18.0.14.14.0.163.1815.10j8.18.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.pDzWD6Wsxao
Last but not least, this might not be known to even some HIMYM fans, but there's more to the theme than just "Pa pa pa paaaa pa pa pa paaaaa... pa pa... da da da da da da da da daaaaa...", although that seems to be everyone's favourite verse!
Enjoy the entire track!
Stay tuned for my next sitcom review on The Cosby Show!
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