(S02E06) Sometimes having guest stars on your sitcom is a boon; seeing well-known actors or other celebrities mix with the established cast is great to watch and makes the episode memorable. But a lot of other times, bringing in a guest star dampens the chemistry of that established cast and slows down the comedic flow of the show, almost bringing it to screeching halt.This week's HIMYM episode has two guest stars: Bryan Cranston as Ted's touchy boss, and Jane Seymour as Marshall's testy law professor. And, in this case, one guest star gave us a good result and the other gave us a bad one. I'll tell you who's who after the jump. You might be surprised at who I thought was the chemistry killer.
OK, I'm not going to keep you in suspense. I really like Bryan Cranston -- he was great on Malcolm in the Middle, and who can forget his Seinfeld appearances as Tim Whatley -- but he was kind of wasted here as Mr. Druthers, Ted's mean boss.
However, it did give us a chance to a) find out how Ted got to design that building in Spokane, b) gave us a chance to see Charles Robinson (Mac from Night Court), even if he just came on to say, "This is a penis!", and c) helped coin the phrase "justice khakis."
Craig and Carter keep finding ways to keep Lilly in the mix. And now we see that she and Marshall can hang out and not get all emotional. Heck, he even took a Polaroid of her when they saw her as a waitress at that luau restaurant.
Seymour worked a lot better, mainly because she was there to finally challenge Barney emotionally. Heh, did I say emotionally? I meant sexually... he tries to seduce her so she can ease up on Marshall's class and just can't keep up with her. She grades him, giving him a C-minus the first time, professorily chiding him how unprepared he was. But he keeps trying, bless his heart -- I liked seeing him chug a six-pack of Red Bull as he goes to her apartment for the third time. When she finally gives him (and Marshall) a B-plus, it's at the cost of a dislocated hip. On Barney.
But the Best Barneyism this week is not his definition of "a cougar," which is a term I've heard before for an older sexy woman who's on the prowl. No, it's how he stalks the professor at the beginning of the episode, peering through the fern in the hall like it's a jungle thicket, giving Marshall the characteristics of the cougar as if he was on a nature show: The hair, the blouse, the claws...
Finally, we have the final collection of "building related" jokes this week:
- Ted's boss is just being testy.
- He's just being a bit crotchety.
- Don't be so hard on him.
- Don't blow it.
- The building rising out of the brunette trees.
- The building is so bold it'll slap you in the face.
Not bad for an 8:00 show, huh?
Anyway, not the best HIMYM episode of the year, but it had its moments. Let's hope the next set of guest stars do a little better.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-24-2006 @ 2:14AM
James Rocchi said...
Could it be that the endgame is, in fact, Ted-Lilly? SHe pushed him to present the building; Robin seemed kind of disengaged. ...
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10-24-2006 @ 7:28AM
Ryan said...
Nah, it's probably not Lily because Future Ted constantly refers to her as "Aunt Lily."
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10-24-2006 @ 7:56AM
Dr. Funbags said...
Stuff and Mount that Cougar
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10-24-2006 @ 8:48AM
Missy said...
I liked Bryan Cranston's appearance. To me, it didn't take away from the show at all. I think what may have been an issue was having TWO guest stars in one episode. Maybe if they had broken those two stories into different episodes it could have worked better.
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10-24-2006 @ 9:36AM
Porchland said...
I don't think Lily's the mother. Aside from the numerous Aunt Lily comments, Lily and Robin are the only candidates in the cast. And the only two other possibilities the show has floated are Buttercup and Slutty Pumpkin.
The producers haven't started pushing any sort of mystery yet, so I suspect we'll get new characters and some sort of who-will-it-be campaign before it's all said and done.
Even if the show wrapped this season -- which I hope it does NOT -- there's plenty of time to get to the mother part.
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10-24-2006 @ 9:44AM
Douglin said...
Since the show is called "How I met your mother", not "how I met and started dating/got to know your mother" I wouldn't be surprised if we don't meet the 'mother' till the final episode of the series.
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10-24-2006 @ 10:06AM
Kristine said...
I thought this one was pretty mediocre - penis jokes and sex with older women both seem pretty played. We've seen Wedding Crashers. We know that Jane Seymour is sexy. I expect more from the writers who in the past have given us some pretty unusal laughs. I did love Lily's whole kindergarten teacher mentality though, especially the justice kahkis. Very funny.
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10-24-2006 @ 10:55AM
John said...
Am I the only one who misses Robin's boobs? Has she just lost a lot of weight? Are they shooting/dressing her different, or what?
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10-24-2006 @ 12:41PM
Dan said...
The best part of this recap was finding out that Bryan Cranston was only a guest!! Such a one-dimensional character belongs only on a considerably more brain-dead show. He single-handedly brought this show so close to shark-jumping that I'm very relieved to think he won't be back, at least not soon.
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10-24-2006 @ 1:49PM
Andrew said...
I hope this episode isn't a sign of things to come. (Unlike Mr Dan I want to avoid the "shark" phrase) It was pretty weak, honesetly, and the part where ted because the youngest guy to design a building blah blah blah was the corniest thing ever. What was nice about Ted was that he was a normal-ish guy, but when he becomes the youngest greatest whatever it becomes a bit much for me.
I think, with the exception of the first episode, last season was a bit better than this one. Oh well, I hope it gets back on track because this has been my favorite show so far.
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10-24-2006 @ 7:16PM
David said...
For the future, the h comes after the first k, like so: khakis.
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10-24-2006 @ 7:21PM
Joel Keller said...
Thanks David. I fixed it. Too bad you weren't able to contribute anything to the discussion of the actual episode.
Folks, we have a "corrections" link above for this sort of thing; we'd be much obliged if you used that instead of dropping corrections in the comments.
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10-24-2006 @ 7:52PM
David said...
Oh I'm very sorry, I didn't notice you had such a link. I'll comment, too:
It really was a good episode, though the plot schemes are getting a bit too situational for the sake of character development. For example, the whole taking the ball because the boss was mean. . . we get it, she should be a teacher. Still, I guess that's part of the show's charm - they're very self aware and do it all for the laughs. . . and laugh we do.
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10-25-2006 @ 2:32PM
Jennifer said...
I think the producers of the show have NO IDEA who the mother is going to be, at all. It'll be one of those series finale things.
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10-25-2006 @ 3:53PM
Ben R. said...
Who was the slutty pumpkin?
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10-25-2006 @ 7:07PM
Erica said...
The laugh track was really annoying this time. But this episode was okay and had some good moments. THey really should have used Jane Seymour/Cougar better; I mean it could have been anyone in that role. Bryan Cranston, however, was great with his character.
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10-26-2006 @ 1:17AM
Sydney S said...
Does anyone know the title of the song and the artist playing at the end of the show when Lily is realizing her calling?
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10-27-2006 @ 8:26PM
purpleslog said...
"I wouldn't be surprised if we don't meet the 'mother' till the final episode of the series."
That is the way to go the last episode of the last season. No courtships episodes no marriage episodes. Maybe pull back the camera to show Saget and the Woman olded up..Saget saying "and that is how I met your Mother for the first time"...fade to black....roll credits.
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