HIMYM/House Watch: I Have Half a Mind...

It was disappointed that this was my first live HIMYM. There was some good funny (most of what came out of Marshall's mouth), and there was some bad funny (anything involving a murder house). I actually thought the murder house was one of those classic "But here's what really happened" moments and show Ted putting his foot in his mouth or something. The traffic ticket buildup (Marshall) was better than the payoff (Barney), which was sad.
`
Alan Sepinwall put a non-spoilerish spoiler in his review. I won't spoil it, in case people didn't see it coming, but I am looking forward to the finale.

I love House. I have been watching it since the beginning. With that said it has gotten repeative with the overall continuous story. It seems repeative. Every finally has handled it by having something serious happen to House and we dont know what the outcome is. When your premise is surrounded around a character that if he changes, evolves, or grows too much the show will die, you have a diffcult task. Yeah the whole sleeping/not sleeping with Cuddy fooled me but If he really was pain free, and ended up having a relationship with Cuddy the show would be over. He would cease being the House we know and love. However, getting better at the Psych hospital will usher the same result. So who knows where they are going. The show evolved into a character show unintentionally and now the producers have to try to keep it fresh.

Spot on on both shows. The only difference of opinion I have is that I was less forgiving about HIMYM. It was a complete waste of time... But I thought it was the finale, too, for some reason so I'll get over it.

re: himym - yeah, if the whole point of last week's ep was that he was in the right place at the right time to run into stella & tony, and now tonight they leave... unless it's a set up for ted's frame of mind next week, it only seems like it'll matter if the movie the tony will write (Wedding Bride, or something?) will somehow connect him to the future Mrs. Ted.

Notice that the date on The Wedding Bride was May 2010. One commenter on Sepinwall's blog speculated that Tony will invite Ted to the premiere of the movie, and somehow the umbrella and Mom will come into play there or something. *shrug* We'll see.

It makes me feel like there is some sanity left in this world to see the bad reviews of HIMYM. I gave it yet another try (maybe the 10th ep?) and was completely and thoroughly BORED TO DEATH per usual.

HIMYM is really hit or miss. When it hits, it nails it. And when it misses....well, it's still amusing, but not appointment television.
.
I think, though, there is a great twist here: that Ted "meets" the Mother through Tony. After the slight fake-out of "is Stella the mother," the idea that Tony might somehow lead Ted to the mother is pretty sweet.
.
And I agree -- the "The Wedding Bride" clue is clearly a sign that we'll be learning more about that movie next season.

Well that was a really bad episode of HIMYM. I thought Barney couldn't drive? Maybe the problem is that no one really cares who the mother is and Ted is the least interesting character on the show? Thus, episodes that involve Ted and the mother storyline are stupid. Particularly when it seems that the writers are just trying to string it out for a few more seasons providing incremental movement and lame episodes. Too bad.

I really wish they'd just leave Tony and Stella alone.
`
@tyrantking - I don't think it's so much that any episodes that involve Ted and Mother progression are stupid. I think last night's episode was just bad. The Mom Quest didn't prompt the bad speeding ticket thing, and I blame the murder room thing on Tony, not on Ted. And even so, what does it mean if one character in an ensemble is the least interesting when it's the ensemble as a whole makes the dynamic (Monica is by far my least favorite of the six, but without her, it wouldn't be Friends). As much as I love Barney and Robin, picking out just those two would make a terrible spinoff.
`
Speaking of Friends, I was definitely wrong in my thinking early on that they needed to introduce Mom after a couple seasons so they could fill out their group of 6

I was amazed at how well House could water ski with his bum leg and jump right over that shark last night. If they really wanted to shock me, they could have finally revealed who shot House and why a few seasons back. But I've given up all hope of them ever explaining that.

@tyrantking - just because Barney couldn't drive in an episode 2 years ago, doesn't mean he hasn't learned since. i mean, we don't see every second of every character's life in any tv show (i don't watch 24, but that's still the case, right?)

I just thought it was sloppy for a show that is as self-referential as HIMYM is to not mention anything about it. As long as we're here, I've also been disappointed with the progression of Barney's character. He used to be awesome and ridiculous but competent, anymore he seems like a joke.

@kemper. It was the same guy. Watch the episode again. The first scene you see him get shot was real. then everything after was in his mind when he came up with the idea to save his pain from his leg. And at the end of the episode he wakes only to be in bed still shot. It was the same guy and when he was in his dream state it was explained that the man was vengful for House failing to save his wife.

@Kemper: you gotta admit, if you saw the last episode, that Taubs sperm line to Chase was priceless. Perfect, dry delivery.

@lostepic - I disagree about the guy who shot House. Yes, he got shot and had the big hallucination, including talking to the guy about why. But in the third season premiere, they noted that he got away and they didn't know who he was or why he shot House.
.
I guess I should be grateful that they didn't 'kill' him again for like the 47th time. Oh, wait. He did that last episode with the insulin shock mumbo jumbo. Never mind. I'm just done with this show. Hugh Laurie can only do so much...