Neil Patrick Harris: Doogie or Barney? – CliqueClack Poll

We all had so much fun memorializing the very-much-alive David Boreanaz (Angel or Booth?) last week that I thought it might be fun to ask the question again, but with a different actor. Over on Whedonesque, the comments to the Boreanaz post link had some marvelous ideas: William Shatner, Richard Dean Anderson, Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris. Who knows, you might end up seeing polls for all of these before long, but for now….

Let’s move on to Neil Patrick Harris. Doogie Howser was the original breakout role for him; there’s no disputing that. But is it his most memorable to date? I didn’t watch Doogie Howser, M.D. religiously when it was on, but I did catch a few episodes. Cute, and I will admit that I thought of NPH as Doogie for a very, very long time. Until Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle came out, actually. Then I just thought of him as awesome.

But the role I think of when I think of Neil Patrick Harris is … Barney (though Dr. Horrible comes very, very close). Let’s see what the rest of the CliqueClack writers have to say.

JULIA: I’m too young to know Doogie Howser, so it’s the Barnacle for me all the way. I didn’t even know who Doogie Howser was until I Googled it. Yeah, I just made you all feel old.

TARA: I always thought of him as Doogie, until Harold and Kumar. Then I was just kind of amazed …

Harold: “Neil, you wouldn’t happen to know how to get on the highway from here, would you?”

Neil Patrick Harris: “Dude, I don’t even know where the fuck I am right now. I was at this party earlier tonight and some guy hooked me up with this incredible “X” — next thing I know I’m being thrown out of a moving car. I’ve been trippin’ balls ever since.”

Kumar: “That’s crazy, dude. We’ve been having a pretty crazy, night, too. We’ve just been driving around looking for White Castle but we keep getting sidetracked.”

Neil Patrick Harris: “Yeah, dude, you fascinate me. Forget White Castle, let’s go get some pussy!”

Harold: “Huh?”

Neil Patrick Harris: “It’s a fucking sausage fest in here, bros. Let’s get some poontang, THEN we’ll go to White Castle.”

Kumar: “No, Neil, you don’t understand. We’ve been craving these burgers all night.”

Neil Patrick Harris: “Yeah, I’ve been craving burgers, too. Furburgers. Come on, dudes, let’s pick up some trim at a strip club. The Doogie line always works on strippers.”

And then, when he came out, I was just confused. So I’ve chosen to think of him as a great Awards show host and call it a day.

KONA: I just started watching HIMYM last season, so he was always Doogie to me. But now? Barney all the way.

IVEY: This one is a toughie. Both are iconic characters in different times. But has anyone gone back to watch Doogie recently? It doesn’t hold up nearly as well as I thought. And while I love Barney, NPHs character in the White Castle movies is Barney turned to 11.

KONA: I disagree. I watched Doogie when Hulu first came online, and it held up better than I expected. NPH was really good on that show.

ANNIE: “Neil Patrick Harris” was pretty much a faceless name through most of my life. The name was loosely associated with the words “Doogie Howser” in my mind but I never gave NPH much thought until HIMYM. So … Barney, for me.

MICHAEL: I’m going with what Annie said. Except … I’m stopping with ‘The name was loosely associated with the words “Doogie Howser” …’

BRETT: While I probably watched every episode of Doogie Howser when it aired, and remember it fondly, he was so young then that I don’t really think of that character when I hear the name. The first thing that comes to mind for me is actually Carl, from Starship Troopers.

Now let’s hear from you:

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Apr 29, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT