HIMYM’s catch-phrases, but um, only sometimes funny

Ladies and gentlemen, you have just witnessed How I Met Your Mother: the catch-phrase episode. There were four — count ‘em, four — catch phrases permeating “Jenkins,” for better or for worse. And tonight, we definitely got a little bit of both.

Let’s start with the “but um,” a bad habit of Robin’s that become Ted’s students’ favorite drinking game. This was my favorite story line of the show, mostly because it was actually funny from start until finish. We went from Robin thinking she was recognized as a celebrity, to finding out she was the “but um” of a drinking game, to watching her have the last laugh. It played out pretty well, even though there wasn’t much Barney involved. Though seeing Ted and Barney crocked was worth tolerating every bit of screen time that Barney was absent.

Next we move on to “the settler” and “the reacher,” catch-phrases for the two people who make up every relationship. It was funny watching Marshall fight the fact that Lily was the settler in their marriage, but that’s the only fight that was funny. Why do I feel like the writers just don’t know what to do with Lily? Instead of playing up the fact that she wasn’t jealous, which really was funny, they end the show with Lily pounding the stuffing out of Jenkins. But um, just not funny.

Lastly, “big fudge.” Huh? I can totally picture Marshall as a skee-ball champ, it fits his character perfectly. Am I missing something with the nickname though? I felt like it was the perfect nickname to go with Two and a Half Men‘s colonoscopy story line. But um, just not funny.

I didn’t get any quotes from this episode either, so feel free to leave your favorites in the comments. Do not, however, tell me in the comments that I should not be watching or reviewing this show, because I agree with you. Preaching to the choir, oh snarky commenters, preaching to the choir….

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Jan 18, 2010 @ 21:37 EST5EDT