By: Martin Rand, III
Date: October 5, 2011
Every once in while, my sister will tell me about a new show she has starting watching and tell me I should watch it too. More often than not, she's usually right. The show would be funny and instantly becomes one of my favorites. Well, I now need to add "How I Met Your Mother" to the list.
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| HIMYM cast from left to right: Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris. |
From the first time I watched this show I was hooked. It was obviously funny and displayed some of the most charismatic characters I've seen on t.v. in a long time. Each character has their own distinct personality and the actors/actresses brings them to life.
The story is what keeps me watching. I love well written and organized stories. Whether it's movies, t.v. or video games, if the story is well I will continue to come back for more just to see how everything ends. The story for HIMYM is told in reverse, so sometimes something will happen and the narrator will say, "I'll get to that later" or "More on that on that later." So far, everything has fit together well like the pieces to a puzzle.
While I was watching an episode of HIMYM one day, it hit me exactly why I loved this show. Aside from the previously stated reasons, I realized the show evokes elements from two of my all-time favorite shows.
With it being a comedy and centered around a group of friends living in New York City, the obvious comparison is to "Friends." While it's not as funny as "Friends," HIMYM is the funniest sitcom since "Friends" went off the air in 2004. The quirky characters always meeting at the the bar right below their apartment is exactly like the "Friends" cast meeting at the coffee shop below their apartment. The only difference between the two is there is a central story to HIMYM whereas "Friends" had to build a plot as the show went along.
The comparison to "Friends" was pretty easy to make. The second show was a bit trickier to figure out. It sounds weird but HIMYM also takes elements from the animated comedy "Family Guy."
The breakaways in action is what these two shows have in common. Anyone who has watched FG knows when something random is said, the show will cut-away to another scene that better explains the randomness that was just said. HIMYM does something very similar.
While HIMYM doesn't say random things like FG, it will say things and then cut to a random funny scene. The scene will either better explain what was just said or the scene is foreshadowing events to come later in the show. I'm not sure why breaks in the show work but theey do. The prove is in FG and HIMYM.
HIMYM is well on its way to becoming a classic in its own right. Now in its seventh season, it's still gaining more viewers. Following traits from two of the greatest will do that for a t.v. show.
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