(S02E14) Sometimes a show can't help but pull a plot from Sitcomville. That's what happens when you have to crank out 22 episodes per year (speaking of that... can you believe there are only eight episodes left? March and April are going to be pretty harsh). But it's what the show does with that standard-grade plot that shows the audience how strong the writing is overall. That's what we saw tonight with an episode that was likely designed to air right after last night's Super Bowl, before CBS got the bright idea to air Criminal Minds instead.The mission: get to Monday evening without finding out anything about the Super Bowl. Pretty mundane, huh? Seen it all before, right? But it was all still pretty damn funny, wasn't it?
Let's get the Best Barneyism out of the way. Gotta love his continuing gambling problem... "That's like telling Superman he's got a flying problem. But it's not a problem if you're awesome at it." The funny thing was, it all started with a dollar bet with Marshall, three years ago. Seeing Barney cuff himself to Ted's radiator -- "Swallow this key. You eat salads; it'll be out by game time." -- and then slide his way right out of it was one of the best parts of the episode, as was his 8 minute, 32 second pee.
Since this episode didn't really have much in the way of plot, let's just list the best moments:
- Marshall's time out was as funny as Barney's "great escape". That whole kiddie blackmail sequence was good, mainly because we all know that, despite the fact that Marshall's almost 30, he still has a lot of kid in him. The blackmailer was pretty good at turning the screws, too: he demands 10 bucks to not reveal the game's score, and when Marshall asks if he's serious, the kid goes, "It just went up to 8." But Marshall's got the kid back, didn't he?
- Oh, and we already knew that his favorite animal was The Loch Ness Monster...
- Does everyone say a prayer to the TiVo gods to ensure proper recording?
- Does anyone remember if they previously showed the guy whose funeral prevented the gang from watching the game live?
- Emmitt Smith is a better dancer than actor, apparently. But he did have a good line: "The game was last night? once you win 2 or 3 of those things it's kind of like... eh."
- Notice Lily's hair in those Super Bowl flashbacks? Red! And it looks like her actual hair. It's so easy to forget those details when doing flashbacks, but Bays and Thomas remember them. It's small, but it helps. It's also cool that everyone got up when Janet Jackson came on; I think 60% of the people watching that Super Bowl did that.
- The sequence where Robin tries to avoid throwing her newscast to sports was a little long, but was worth it just to see them cut to the weather guy as he ate a donut.
- And, of course, we can't forget Ted's "Sensory Deprivator 5000." It was the only thing that worked, even when Ted had to go back and get dipping sauce for the wings.
- Of course, was the overall message, that hanging with friends is better than not knowing who won the Super Bowl. Well, duh. But it was consistent with the tone of the show.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-05-2007 @ 10:18PM
mike said...
Loved the Tivo prayer. I say a similar prayer everytime I have something important to record.
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2-05-2007 @ 11:20PM
Porchland said...
A looooot of problems. The newscast bit didn't work at all; the sensory deprivation getup wasn't funny enough to use THREE TIMES (Bar, Bar, Barney); the three-year-old tradition wasn't all that compelling.
I thought this show was headed for classic-ville after "Slap Bet," but now I'm afraid that will be the moment it peaked. One of the weakest episodes in the season-and-a-half-run of this series.
Just not a lot of funny.
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2-05-2007 @ 11:45PM
James said...
It's hard to beat up on a show that's got such good writing and cast members, but I felt a little like one of those sheep who watches the mediocre stuff because he doesn't know better. First time I can remember that with this show (and I'm a catch-up viewer, so I knew what I was getting into and still liked it).
But hey, even the best shows have weeks that aren't A-grade.
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2-05-2007 @ 11:50PM
ManekiNeko said...
I'm a little behind the curve here. Is the father whose voice you hear at the beginning of the show Bob Saget?!
JR
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2-06-2007 @ 1:15AM
Courtney Anthony said...
Sure, this episode is no where near slap bet or swarley, but it was still funny. If you go Eonline, Kristin V. interviews one of the creators and he tells you a little about where the is going from here.
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2-06-2007 @ 1:18AM
Courtney Anthony said...
Sure, this episode is no where near slap bet or swarley, but it was still funny. If you go Eonline, Kristin V. interviews one of the creators and he tells you a little about where the season is going from here
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2-06-2007 @ 9:29AM
JS said...
Does anyone know what the song towards the end of this episode was? The one they played while everyone watched the Tivo'd superbowl.
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2-06-2007 @ 9:10AM
Joel Keller said...
Courtney, I did an interview with Carter Bays that I posted last week:
http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/01/30/how-i-met-your-mother-co-creator-theres-going-to-be-a-wedding/
No need to go to anywhere but here for your HIMYM news :) .
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2-06-2007 @ 9:48AM
charles said...
I have to mention my favorite moment. It was the first Superbowl that Robin was in for. Everyone complained. Then, in like 10 seconds, she hit everyone's thing ("Angel Wings," "Make it a Grand," "Monkeys!")
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2-06-2007 @ 11:18AM
jacki said...
Yes, that is Bob Saget's voice as Ted in the future. That's the only thing I don't like about the show.
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2-06-2007 @ 11:49AM
Glenn said...
JS: The song is Peter, Bjorn and John - Young folks. Great song.
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2-06-2007 @ 12:24PM
Jimmy said...
If this was the episode meant to follow the Super Bowl, then CBS made the better choice. This just was not funny -- and I love this show! Not even Barney was all that funny.
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2-06-2007 @ 11:14PM
jake said...
I agree, I think the How I met your mother blew their big chance to air after the super bowl -- had this show been funny and well written as 95 percent of HIMYM shows, maybe CBS would have aired this after the superbowl. It's troubling to me that this great show dropped the ball and I'm this show's biggest fan.
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2-07-2007 @ 12:45AM
JS said...
Thanks Glenn. Great song indeed.
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2-07-2007 @ 11:28PM
SOyuncastor said...
omg!!! in this episode they revealed Barney has diabetes!!!
it all makes sense now.
I didn't know why barney always has so much money but after tonight it is all clear.
he got diabetes AFTER he got dumped in the episode where he was about to leave America to save the "niharaguans"
he then realizes that he needed a lot of money just to afford the medicines and that's why he got all that "misterious" job where he gets paid a lot.
then the painting... I wasn't sure why he wanted a painting. At first I thought that it was because he really wanted to help lily but now I think he knows how destructive diabetes can be. And that's why he wanted to be inmmortalized in a "perfect" Barney. So when the diabetes kick in and all the consecuences drop, he, will be remembering the best of his days.
and last episode, when he went to the bathrooom and took so long just to take a piss... 8 mins!!!! my god he's probably at 400 (glucosa). Only at that level you can be expelling so much and taking so long.
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2-08-2007 @ 4:47PM
Jamie said...
Didn't anyone else realize they referenced the wrong Super Bowl for Janet Jackson? They used Super Bowl 39 for that joke, but it was actually 38. How do you miss that?
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2-09-2007 @ 1:46PM
Stephanie said...
Although this show was not as funny as I hoped it would be, I would still argue that HIMYM is the funniest 30 minutes of TV each week. Neil Patrick Harris steals every scene he is in.
The TiVo Prayer was fantastic. I can't tell you how many times I have said something similar when I am taping a particularly important show!
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