re: How I Met Your Mother Season 8 full season thread

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I think the problem is they are stalling to see if they can make it another season And if they cant all they need is one episode to tie everything up

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If they weren't going to go with family, they would obviously pick Ted. It wouldn't be a discussion.

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As the seasons wore on however, not knowing the mother weakened not only Ted’s slew of philanthropic quests, but the rest of the cast's adventures. The show was at it’s best when Marshall and Lilly were free to lord over the single lives of Robin, Barney, and Ted, whose personal ticks, deep insecurities, and even shallowness seemed never-ending.

Yet, how do you bridge the gap between married parents, and slowly desperate singles, two of whom (Barney and Robin) cannot seem to get over each other. With Robin and Barney’s future becoming more apparent, Ted’s future certain, and the addition of Marshall and Lilly’s parenthood, a clear divide has formed that seems to separate the characters from one another. Thus eliminating the interconnectedness that once was the driving force behind both the humor and emotional impact of the show.

Guest characters’ now seem rushed, and talented actors such as Kal Penn, Becki Newton, and eventually Michael Trucco will be remembered for guest appearances that could’ve further enhanced the quality of the show. Instead, they, along with the coming guest sports were simply jettisoned into mediocrity by the limitations of the plot.

Even conceptual elements vital to the show's success have struggled to retain originality. Gags such as the group’s responses to Marshall’s boss (seen on the episode "The Chain of Screaming"); or the glass shattering everyone’s ignored idiosyncrasies of one another (seen on "Spoiler Alert"); or Barney’s outrageous use of pick-up cons (from "The Playbook"), all served as clever tools to emphasize intricacies of human behavior.

Compare these with the moronically redundant game show in last week’s episode, the failed replay of Ted’s date with the slutty pumpkin (complete with inner monologue), and the drunken trip to Atlantic City during Lily’s pregnancy, and it is easy to see how far the show has fallen.

In its best years, How I Met Your Mother was not just a very good sitcom, but a very good television show. The show would never be able to transcend comedy like Seinfeld, or grip viewers like Lost. Yet, the show's characters allowed for a comedic consistency that is hard to create and maintain. It had a breakout character in Barney, an entertainingly grounded couple at it’s foundation, a lead you wanted to root for, and a dysfunctional couple that would end up together, Robin and Barney.

Bays and Thomas were incredibly successful at taking a simple formula (the Friends format), and inputting their own unique twists in order to differentiate it from other shows. Given that they set a high bar for themselves and the show's viewers, it is difficult for fans to grasp how the show has lost its way.

Each year the creators tweaked, edited and re-imagined ways in which they could present a new angle to a simple idea. The frustration fans feel is not limited to the secret of who the mother is. Instead, fans should feel frustration with the fact that Bays and Thomas should have been able to come up with a more effective solution to the show's problems. The two have seemingly always known what the constraints of the plot would be, and given that they have had so much success in evolving the show, the show's fans, myself included, expected that they would continue to do so.

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