Is there life after syndication touchdown for a show? Aaron wonders...

So I’ve been watching How I Met Your Mother since the first episode aired. This was after Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle but before Neil Patrick Harris’ comeback was solidified by multiple Emmy nominations for this show right here. See, I originally caught the show because it had Willow from Buffy (Alyson Hannigan) and I’m a sucker for Willow (as well as Willow, the semi-failed sword-and-sorcery picture from 1988 with Wicket [the Leprechaun] and Iceman [the Batman]).

At the time, I was supporting any new show on which a Buffy alum appeared (including the Fox-fucked Kitchen Confidential); most didn’t last, but HIMYM has been a big hit, now entering both its sixth season and that cash-cow-that-keeps-on-giving: syndication. When it started I had no idea the central protagonist’s initial situation would resonate with me so strongly or that I would stick with the show even through its departure from its central conceit and decline into mediocrity.

In the beginning, there was just a simple idea: Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) is telling his kids in voiceover (uncredited Bob Saget) the long, involved tale of how he met their mother. Along for the ride are Ted’s college friends, Marshall (Freaks and Geeks’ Jason Segel) and Lily (Hannigan), smarmy comic relief Barney (Harris) and the girl of his dreams, Robin (Cobie Smulders). Ted and I were both twenty-five, lonely and smitten with an unobtainable woman who eventually became attainable. Unfortunately for Ted, it didn’t work out, but the series’ first three seasons fleshed out a backstory and mythology for the characters that works as a sort of shorthand of inside jokes and references, much like in a real group of tight-knit friends.

The decline began in season four as it became quite clear that we were not going to find out who the mother is and that the show was settling in for the long haul, having been renewed for several more seasons which would carry it into syndication. The fifth season was rather disappointing on the whole, but was dotted with some very good stand-alone episodes (“Robin 101,” “Girls vs. Suits,” “Doppelgangers”).

Disc One

- Commentary on “Dual Citizenship” with Cobie Smulders and Chuck Tatham (a producer and writer): The episode revolves around Robin’s Canadian-ness, one of the series’ many running jokes, and both commentators are Friends from the North. This wound up a pretty good track, with no silences and a slew of information about the episode.

Disc Two

- Commentary on “Girls vs. Suits” with Craig Thomas (show creator), Pam Fryman (series director) and Neil Patrick Harris: Decent enough commentary; a little back-patting, but not annoying. Fun fact - the choreography for the episode’s musical number was done by Zach Woodlee of Glee.

- Commentary on “The Perfect Week” with Craig Gerard, Matt Zinman and Joe Kelly (writers): This one wasn’t so great. Good for an explanation of how you can just sort of luck into a network writing job.

Disc Three

- Bloopers: More than half the almost nine minute long clip was hilarious and I generally find things like this tedious, so I was really pleasantly surprised.

- Music Videos

“Super Date”: Not that great. A one shot, forty-five second mini-song where Ted tells Barney what he should do to woo one of the only women he’s ever met who won’t sleep with him. Kind of cute in the context of its episode, but sort of wasted on its own.

“Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit”: Awesome. Awesome and unexpected. Shows usually do something special for their 100^th episode, that magical number that allows for a show to be sold into syndication, ensuring residual checks until pretty much the end of time. HIMYM capped their somewhat lackluster centennial outing with a musical number by Barney, championing his wardrobe - the only thing more important to him than casual sex with random women. Oh! And who’s that in the bottom right-hand corner?*

“Best Night Ever”: A parody of the video for “More Than Words” by Extreme (done better by Weird Al for “You Don’t Love Me Anymore”), the song comes from episode 5x02, “Double Date.” This isn’t very funny; it wasn’t funny in the context of the episode and its inclusion here helps no one.

- Making of Super Date: Not really a “making of,” but it shows the “Super Date” scene again, then rewinds to show the filming from the other two cameras which weren’t used in the segment. Cooler than the song itself.

- The Wedding Bride trailer (extended version): In 5x22, “The Wedding Bride,” the man Ted’s ex-fiancée left him for has written a ridiculous, formulaic romantic comedy where the character based on Ted is a massive assclown played by Chris Kataan. This is the full-length fake trailer for that movie. It only makes sense if you remember the episode and even then, it’s not as good out of context.

- Behind the Scenes of the 100^th Episode: Mostly a behind the scenes look at the “Suits” number, but definitely neat for being that. I also recognized some dancers I’ve seen on Glee, specifically from the “Safety Dance.”

- Series Recap: A music video where Ted’s son and daughter express their displeasure at how long the story is taking. Interesting in that it also serves as a rundown of all the show’s in-jokes and motifs, but nothing really beyond that.

Grades
Show: C+
Picture: B
Sound: B
Commentaries: B+
Extras: B+

* Why, it’s Brittany!

How I Met Your Mother: Season Five is out now.

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