REC OF THE WEEK: "How I Met Your Mother"

Quick Update: I have gotten myself a flash drive. This shall make exchanges between internet-less laptop at home and school-computers-internet-access much easier. So, after HARRY POTTER AND MCR WEEK is done, maybe I can actually return to the schedule I once had!

All I ever watch is the CW channel (the epic channel that used to be the WB, for people who don't know it well). We lack cable/satellite so it makes sense. After all, it's played the best sitcoms, has random movies on weekends, and was the birth home of three-fifths favorite TV shows of all time (Reaper, Supernatural, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer...the other two are Family Guy and True Blood, which of course are Fox's and HBO's creations).

Whenever the CW adds a new show to its lining, I give it a chance. This isn't always wise (the new 90210 and this weird "Hellcats" should be proof enough) but it's always fun to watch the pilot and see what they offer. Since it recently fit the popular CBS sitcom "How I Met You Mother", of course I tried it out.



And while it's cliched, a bit corny, and not the most original...dang it, I LOVE this show.

So pretty much it's about Ted Mosby. He's this alright, sorta sentimental guy in the architecture field. His best friends - Lilly, who happens to be none other than Alyson Hannigan from the aforementioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Marshall - are a couple who have been together for so many years they've become the sort of ooey-gooey pair that you'll see just talking about how much they love each other. After Lilly and Marshall decide to get hitched, Ted considers the same, as he's never been so successful in the dating game.

With the help of his other friend, Barney - the suit-wearing, classy, but not too intelligent player portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris - he enters the dating world again. And the conquests of his romantic failures and craziness, the weirdness of his best friends Lilly & Marshall, Barney, and Robin (an ex-Canadian newsgirl that is introduced as Ted's first failed relationship and becomes a main character) are the whole hook of the show. Slowly and steadily, it's all up leading up to - what else? - how he met the mother of his two, teenage kids.




The show has flair to it though. It's random and explores the archetypes further than most sitcoms would. Also, Ted narrates in occassional places (he's telling this all to his kids in one setting) which adds a unique, and maybe even more emotional, edge to it all. I think the best part is that somehow all the characters come off as sentimental despite their flaws, so you're rooting for all of them.

Sentimental characters are indeed a beloved characteristic of TV shows...and maybe even literature, if you get my hint.

Another time then, my friends. Another time.