(S03E13) You know, I'll probably be the only person in the TV-review world who won't lead off his review of this episode with a picture of Britney Spears. Believe me, I had one up before I saw the episode (it's still there; I put it after the jump). But after watching it, I just couldn't do it; the episode is about the relationship between Ted and his tattoo removal doctor. Britney, as most people expected, was just there as an accessory. More on her in a little bit.OK, now on to the episode... it stunk.
It didn't just stink; it was among the worst episodes of HIMYM I've ever seen. It was corny. It was only occasionally funny. And it had sitcommy situations that would have made Three's Company fans roll their eyes. I was tempted to channel The Simpsons' Comic Book Guy and utter his catch phrase, but this episode didn't even deserve that.
What made it so bad? Well, Brit Brit's presence didn't help. But not in the way you think; sure, her acting was a little stiff and her character was superfluous. But that's not what brought the episode down. It was her presence; because of her, Alicia Silverstone pulled out as the character of Stella the laser doc. Considering she was replaced by Sarah Chalke, you'd think I wouldn't mind. But what happened when Silverstone pulled out was the multi-episode arc that Bays and Thomas intended to write for Stella was reduced to one episode. Now, there's no way to say they compressed the entire arc into this episode. But I'm sure some drastic changes had to be made to accommodate these changes. And those changes weren't good.
I mean... kissing up to Abby the assistant to get to Stella? That's something Jack Tripper might do. The misunderstanding with the book The Power of Me? I could see that happening on The King of Queens, but not here. The two-minute date? That was the topper; we haven't seen Corny Ted since he was wooing Robin in season one. I mean, how did Ted even arrange all that... the tables, the movie being shown in the window of the store, all that cheesy stuff? The only part I could see him pulling off was recruiting his old friend Ranjit the cab driver to help him with his romantic grand gesture. Oh, and it was a lot longer than two minutes. It felt like a Scrubs fantasy sequence, only it wasn't nearly as funny... or interesting.
Now, even though the episode was pretty bad, there were still some good parts to it:
- Sarah Chalke did a nice job. This role isn't as manic as Elliot Reid can be, and Chalke showed that she still knows how to dial it down, something we hadn't seen her do since her early days on Scrubs. And, of course, she looked gorgeous the whole time she was on camera.
- Because the only reason why Stella thinks she can't date Ted is because she has a kid, it makes me wonder if we won't see her more down the road. Oh, that and the fact that she said she went to a St. Patrick's Day party and she left early... a not-so-subtle reference to last week's episode, no?
- Lily giving Barney a time out for sparking a magic fireball inside McLaren's. No one seemed to like that, did they? And he just continued in the conversation from the next booth...
- Some of the "connections" that Bays and Thomas are so good at weaving were in this episode, like when we find out that it was Barney who was yelling into the phone at Abby when Ted showed up. We then found out where Marshall left his copy of The Power of Me... in Stella's office, which is where Ted found it.
- Robin reacting to Ted's reference to himself as a romantic "Stairway to Heaven" by saying "Boy, Roger Daltrey must be rolling in his grave right now." I mean, jeez, Robin; Rush was not the only classic rock playing on Canadian radio back in the nineties...
- Marshall: "Have a shrimp." Boy, he really does know what he wants to eat ten days in advance.
- Finally, there's the Best Barneyism of the week: he finally got Ted to grow a mustache. And, it was interesting that Robin went along with his felliculaphilia ruse: "I got it a little bit." Those two always seem to have this subtle chemistry together that no one seems to notice, but Bays and Thomas always makes reference to, as we saw when Barn referred to a conversation they had about "ruining their friendship." Of course, that's what Robin told him, not the other way around.
By the way, next week's episode looks like it involves the NCAA Tournament. It's even called "The Bracket." Wonder if that was pushed back a week so this Britney-tastic episode could air and take advantage of the publicity? I wouldn't have put it past CBS to do that.
The Upfronts: FOX
Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview
The Upfronts: CBS
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
3-24-2008 @ 10:56PM
Ryan said...
I agree that the episode was not good (though grading on the TV sitcom grade, it's still pretty good comparatively). But I definitely disagree on the 2-minute date. I LOVED that whole sequence. It just felt like Ted again. Ever since he's been "Wild Ted" or whatever, he just hasn't been the same. For those two minutes I remembered first season Ted and it was very nice.
And look at it this way, if the show gets renewed then Sarah Chalke may or may not be the mother but we will see her maybe once (or twice) a season. If she show isn't renewed, she'll be back and will be revealed as the mother (or a friend of the mother). Done.
And Britney did okay. Nothing special. For one or two scenes she was painfully awkward (and not because her character was supposed to be that way), but she didn't make the episode worst.
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3-24-2008 @ 11:05PM
Jon said...
I have the distinct feeling that the Chalke character will be the one responsible for introducing them somehow.
This episode did seem really thrown together and wasn't up to their usual structural mastery. Britney was "meh". The mustache thing seemed tacked on.
I'm wondering if that mole is going to have some significance. We might just get a cliffhanger out of that.
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3-24-2008 @ 11:53PM
Trace said...
I actually liked the ep a lot! I love the show, so I was hoping that the guest stars might pull a few viewers... we've got to get this show off the bubble, people! Sarah Chalke was terrific, and Brit did a nice job as well. I love their references to past eps - and Joel, for saying it was the worst HIMYM yet, you certainly named a pretty decent amount of good parts! I think I counted seven... good grief, kiddo, the show's only a half-hour, and commercials take up half that! Whatdaya want?!
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3-24-2008 @ 11:56PM
Cody said...
the tattoo doctor has an 8-year-old daughter. If she is the mother, then shouldn't the show be called "How I Met Your Mother And Your Older Half Sister"?
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3-25-2008 @ 12:08AM
Roxie said...
Which episode was it where Barney bet he could make Ted grow a mustache? i cant remember....
oh and im so excited about "the bracket" episode!
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3-25-2008 @ 12:09AM
Darren said...
I agree this wasn't the best episode - but a bad episode of HIMYM is better then most of the crap on TV - See the Monday and Tuesday Fox schedule!
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3-25-2008 @ 12:25AM
jake said...
Hey -- no need to put down one of the best sitcoms ever made -- Three's Company.
But this episode was not so bad, it's still better than most of the episodes in season 2 and I love that it is getting more exposure that it truly deserves.
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3-25-2008 @ 12:25AM
erica said...
Wow, really thought it stunk? I thought it was a good episode, and the 2-minute date was the best part! Totally disagree with you there.
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3-25-2008 @ 12:47AM
Rob said...
I'm with everyone else (except Joel). I liked this episode. Now I wouldn't call it the best, and would most likely put it towards the bottom, but it wasn't bad. I would have really enjoyed seeing Alicia Silverstone in the part, but Sarah Chalke pulled it off well enough. And the two-minute date? I loved it!
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3-25-2008 @ 1:11AM
Klo said...
Worst episode ever? Really? Were you watching the same show I was? I really enjoyed the chemistry between Ted and Stella. I loved the 2 minute date.
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3-25-2008 @ 1:47AM
Bash said...
I loved this episode. Britney didn't stink at all. She didn't feel like an obstacle at all.
I think all your criticism stems from the "what would have happened if Alicia Silverstone would've been in the show" "problem" you see which is saying something that will now never happen would've been better. But the problem with that is: You don't know that! (I wanted to really yell that but I am too polite to do that, I'm not Oreo).
I also didn't think that Britney's acting was anymore stiff than any of the Disco guests on last week's episode. In fact I liked how she played the role. To be exact I think she was the best non-actor famous guest-star on a Sitcom I ever saw. She actually made me laugh and I didn't feel ashamed for it.
To be honest before coming here I thought "Man this was such a great episode I wonder what they have to say on TVSquad about this". And you know why I felt this was a great episode? Because I watched "Aliens in America" "Everybody Hates Chris" and both of the Chuck Lorre shows before watching HIMYM and it was the only one that made me both laugh out loud and feel "aaaaaaaawwww". And I like that. HIMYM is such a great show - not "Friends" but currently the best comedy on TV.
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3-25-2008 @ 1:50AM
khamel said...
im going to re-iterate the sentiment of the comments by saying i loved the two-minute date. the rest of the episode, eh, but the two minute date was fantastic. its not on the level of robin sparkles or anything involving slapping but its one of the better bits i've seen on himym.
although including it in this episode with the trick casting of britney spears really hurt.
this is going to get you alot of hate mail joel, stay strong.
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3-25-2008 @ 1:51AM
khamel said...
also marshall knew what he wanted to eat ten weeks in advance.
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3-25-2008 @ 2:03AM
Mark Kawakami said...
I liked this ep. more than you did, but some parts of the script really needed another draft or two. I don't think it had to do with replacing Silverstone with Chalke and unfortunately, I think we're going to be seeing this happen on a lot of shows as the writers cram to get scripts ready post-strike.
That being said, I was surprised that I didn't mind Brittney's performance. If I didn't know she was batsh*t insane, I'd have said "wow, she's really good at playing someone who is batsh*t insane!"
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3-25-2008 @ 2:41AM
Dave said...
I think some people are locked into hating Britney no matter what she does now. If Britney's part was played by some no name actress nobody would even have mentioned her, for example who even remembers the barmaid who scolded Barney after his fire incident? Anyway, the episode wasn't the worst, I think last weeks episode with the slanted floor was worse than this one.
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3-25-2008 @ 3:23AM
Nathaniel said...
Careful, Dave. Wendy the Waitress is an awesome recurring character!
Anyway, I'm also in the camp that this was a decent episode, even Britney was pretty good! And I loved the 2-minute date.
3-25-2008 @ 2:45AM
Aevum said...
one of the best sitcoms on TV died today while attempting to revive the carrer of a dead beat has been pop star, it will be missed,
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3-25-2008 @ 2:54AM
BER said...
Episode was definitely not the best and neither was last week's - hope the writers get back to pre-strike scripts. BTW what's up with Ted's New Orleans Saints shirt, does anyone knows why he wears it? Please clue me in...
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3-25-2008 @ 8:51AM
Wintermute said...
Like others have said, the worst HIMYM is better than most TV, and I loved every minute of this episode. Even Brit (who I normally can't stand) was good. I loved her chasing Ted down the street when she saw him with the flowers after the 2-minute date.
As for Stella's daughter, it doesn't preclude her from being Mother. The title doesn't necessarily mean that Ted is the biological father ;)
'mute
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3-25-2008 @ 9:34AM
mj said...
I have to say, that this show is rapidly losing its appeal for me. I loved it in the beginning, but it is a yawner, now. Barney still works it, but everyone else? Sorry. And Jericho is gone, while this stays. CBS needs to rethink itself.
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