I’ve never been much of a sitcom watcher; for me, the one-hour scripted shows have it, but a few throughout the years have caught my attention: Cheers, Frasier, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, even some seasons of Friends. Right now, the only sitcom I watch is How I Met Your Mother, and contrary to popular belief, I mostly enjoy it.
But for me, it really is just a sitcom. I had hopes that it was more, an elusive masterpiece that transcended the boundaries between sitcom and genius. But it just doesn’t.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — How I Met Your Mother is the best sitcom on television right now. And it could be considered the Holy Grail of sitcoms because of its unique characteristics. Let’s explore…
Non-linear storytelling
As some commenters pointed out, this week brought back the fun of the non-linear storytelling that HIMYM does so well. They shake things up a little and keep us on our toes with the timelines of the episodes. According to Jim and Two and a Half Men just take us from point A to point B. HIMYM can bring us from point A to point D, then back to point B, cutting through C on its way back to A, finally ending up at D when we all say, “Ah-ha!” It’s a fun ride.
The telepathic conversation
This week’s episode also brought back the telepathic conversation, but this was one of my favorites. How could Barney’s end of the telepathic conversation be so funny, when he didn’t even say a word? The writers took this TC to a higher level, and perhaps, just for a moment, Neil Patrick Harris did transcend the boundaries between sitcom and genius. His wildly expressive face combined with the Beach Boys soundtrack gave me my only laugh-out-loud this week.
Knowing how far to take a joke
One of the things Bays and Thomas do so brilliantly is take a joke just far enough to bleed all the funny from it without taking it too far and ruining the joke. They do this through a series of jokes (like this week when Barney kept pulling Ted back into the bar when they were trying to pick up the college girls, or “The Naked Man” poses) or by bringing a joke up again repeatedly throughout the episode (“Slap Bet”). I don’t think I have ever seen them blow it, and this is a huge reason why I watch HIMYM.
Voice-overs
For better or for worse, we’ve got Bob Saget narrating the story. I’m not sure we need this anymore, but it does provide a unique anchor for the concept of the whole series.
Flashbacks
The quick little funnies we get when they flashback during an explanation (I guess this is where Bob Saget becomes valuable) are great — we’ve gotten snippets of the boys — and Lily — in college, interventions and the goat. I even think these perfect gems have inspired the brilliant flashbacks in Leverage to some extent, though they are used with a very different intent.
Barney-isms
Is there anyone who doesn’t know what The Bro Code is? Could there be a person left in this country who doesn’t know “legen … dary”? Barney-isms, in the spirit of Seinfeld-isms, give us catch-phrases we can use in our own lives, and often do. Is that transcending again?
Does How I Met Your Mother hit it out of the park every week? No, they do not. Should we expect them to? Maybe is my final answer on that, because if we know they can do it, then why don’t they set the standard high for every episode? But the bottom line is that different episodes seem to speak to different people, and that has to be a measure of a show’s success.
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 23, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Nice article :).
By the way Carter Bays is one person, I believe you meant Bays and Thomas :P.
*POST AUTHOR*
Um … yes! Nice catch, all fixed. Thanks!
Holy Grail of today’s TV or of all time?
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s a good question! I meant today’s TV as I was writing it.
Then you are right :-)
And honestly I agree with you in general on being disappointed about certain HIMYM episodes. It’s the same with Deep Space Nine and Ferenghis. Always hated everything about them, other people I met (I know it sounds silly but we had a Star Trek convention in my hometown of 330,000 people) disagree on that and loved the “Ferenghi Family Hour” – what I’m trying to say is this: there’s so much more in HIMYM compared to any other run of the mill sitcom that the controversy that ensues comes natural. There’s simply so much to love. It’s like a bag of mixed sweets. Or M&Ms. The red ones taste better. Trust me ;-)
It used to be.
Now they are stalling. The gimmick episodes are not that funny anymore. They peaked with The Bracket.
Monday episode proved that even with a non-lenear storytelling, they can be boring.
I agree with every bit of this article. I wrote here earlier about how great the non-linear story telling was on this show.
https://www.joeonthetube.com
Dorv stings from the “contrary to popular belief comment” but completely deserves it :)
I don’t watch 30 Rock, nor do I watch the Office, but I think those are generally more critically acclaimed than HIMYM. That being said, in my opinion, HIMYM is much awesomer.
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh Dorv, it wasn’t directed at you, but just all of the commenters in general who think I hate the show.
Now, what’s funny is that I wrote that I don’t watch any other sitcoms, but now that you mention them, I do catch some episodes of 30 Rock and The Office. Now, what made me forget that? Is it b/c I don’t consider them traditional sitcoms, in which case I think they are better than HIMYM, or is it b/c they are so inferior I forgot that I even watch them? I know there’s another post in there somewhere…. ;-)
“The Office” is non-traditional – or traditional if you think about it, it’s typical Gervais.
“30 Rock” is Tina Fey which equals SNL. Maybe that’s why you didn’t remember watching it. The writing is top notch and whitty, maybe that’s the other reason. Come to think of it, you should watch “Entourage”; every scene including Ari Gold is up to par with “30 Rock”.
I guess that’s why you didn’t notice both of them – they aren’t the usual cheap laugh comedy show – and they both don’t contain a laugh track. Oh and they are Multi-Camera. Maybe that’s another reason. Drama-like filming.
I tried 30 Rock, but never really got into it. What I know about the Office is that I would be hooked the instant I started watching it… However, my DVR (You know, when I had a DVR) is too busy on Thursday nights. I’ll catch up on DVD one of these days.
Speaking of Sitcoms, all my friends have always sworn that I’d love Arrested Development, but I’ve purchased S1, and have watched the first couple of episodes, but just can’t get into it.
Maybe there’s a Arrested Development Virgin series for me if I could ever suck it up and finish :)
I agree with the above that How I Met Your Mother rates the top slot, but only if we discount The Office. Although I find most network sitcoms pretty unwatchable these days, so that’s not setting the bar too high.
AD is sort of like a good curry, where the flavor builds over the course of the meal. When I was watching it first-run, it didn’t seem like anything special. By the final episode, it had long become my all-time favorite.
Just plow through the whole series, even if you hate some episodes. The running jokes are AD’s strong suit, but even some of the one-off gags don’t make sense until you go through the entire series a second time.
I enjoy the show every so often, not to the point of “can’t miss”. I just don’t see it as more than an above average comedy. I envy you folks that find it to be so special.