"How I Met Your Mother Season 1" Surprisingly Solid Sitcom


     Well, there it is. I have finally found a semi-long sitcom with 20-minute episodes for me to start watching again, and I have to admit, I did not expect to like this show that much. The premise is simple, you've seen this a thousand times before, there's Ted, the likeable but not too likable main character, Robin his love interest, Lily and Marshall, the classic stableish couple, and Barney, the dashing rogue. I didn't think much of the first episode when I watched it, but slowly and surely, as I continued to watch more, to decide whether or not I was going to continue, I started to get hooked. There's just this charm to the characters and this light-heartedness that I look for in sitcoms. Sometimes, I just don't want to watch some epic drama that has hour long episodes that require as much attention as I can provide. Sometimes, I just want comfort, and to me that is How I Met Your Mother.

    I think it's important to start with the characters, because a show is as only as good as its cast, and you have to believe, otherwise it all falls apart. And I think the cast in this show make me believe. By that I don't mean that their acting is the most superb, I certainly remember some really iffy acting, especially during that one episode where Lily and Marshall spend the entire episode trapping that "mystery" animal, but what they the two actors do bring to the show is good chemistry. I love Marshall so much, he's so adorable and wholesome, and I do appreciate his relationship with Lily for what it is, just really cute. I'd say Marshall is most definitely my favourite character so far if I had to rank them.

    In terms of second I would probably go Barney. Yes, he's a bit of an ass, but you can tell that deep down he cares about his friends, and is somewhat of a good person, so his shenanigans can be excused. Honestly, the only character I'm not completely sold on yet is Robin. Ultimately, I think she suffers too much from being "main character's love interest" syndrome, in the sense that her fate/storylines are tied much too closely to Ted, and as such she doesn't feel like she gets as much development because much of her plots involve her either chasing Ted, warding him away, or just being plain jealous. On the topic of Ted, he's fine. I think he strikes the right balance of willing to get into shenanigans to keep the plot interesting enough, but also enough of a likeable person that the audience never really feels against him.

    In terms of my favourite episodes, I would say it's probably, Okay Awesome, Game Night, and Belly Full of Turkey. Of course, I am a big Barney fan, so it was pretty funny to see his origin story, and he looks really bizarre as a hipster I never want to see him with facial hair again. As a Marshall fan I also loved seeing his family, honestly I didn't even realize he was tall until that episode, then I started to notice all the references they made to his height. Lastly, I thought the loud music gag they did when they went to the club was pretty funny. Ultimately, none of these episodes deal with anything that deep, but usually they're pretty relatable questions about dating and relationships. I suppose as a single person it's fun to see these scenarios play out, this abhorrence to long-distance dating, meeting new families and so on. 

Final Score: 80/100

    I didn't even realize I started season two until I started writing this review. I just pressed play next without even thinking. Also yes I have heard/seen all the complaints about the way this show ended and how it's really bad, but at the moment I don't think it'll deter me, even if this show is nine seasons long. I really enjoy what I've watched so far, and I don't think I've ever thought once about dropping the show. It's a good comfort show, you just throw it on in between things, or you put it on while you're eating, and you just don't think too hard about it. Otherwise, you probably won't enjoy it. I don't plan on binging this show, and I don't feel the need to, it fits the role I want it to play perfectly.

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