What are the odds that this is the year that How I Met Your Mother makes it into that hallowed circle of Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series? If it were up to me, I'd rank HIMYM over Two and a Half Men, for instance, but I'm not the one filling out the ballot. One thing working in Mother's favor this year, though, is that on July 16 when the nominations are announced, there will be six nominees in each category instead of five.
The folks behind the HIMYM Emmy campaign must believe they have a good shot. Look at this trade ad that TV Week reprinted. It's a good ad; clever and memorable. The nod to Magritte is unmistakable, and attests to the wit of the show's creators. If this doesn't send a subliminal message to Emmy voters, nothing will.
Another thing about the ad that's apparent is that Neil Patrick Harris is the main man on HIMYM. He's front and center, and not because he once played Doogie Howser, M.D. or because he's hosting the Tony Awards on CBS. As Barney, Harris had already broken through as a nominee and is the most likely to get another nod this year and possibly win the Emmy gold. That's why he's so prominently placed in the ad.
How I Met Your Mother should receive an Outstanding Comedy Series nomination. It's earned it with its writing, acting and direction. The show didn't have the greatest season, but for Emmy consideration it's not the full season on which a show is judged. All a show needs is a couple of great episodes. Mother has more than a couple of those to put into an Emmy reel. But first it has to snag that nomination. This new ad should help.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-27-2009 @ 12:38PM
Willmore2000 said...
This was the weakest HIMYM season to date. I like the show, but there are 5 better comedies out there.
30 Rock
The Office
Sunny
...
well, actually, maybe HIMYM is a top 5 show, Entourage and Weeds also had flat seasons, so it's a toss-up for me between the 3.
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5-27-2009 @ 12:43PM
Wii60 said...
Seasons 1 and 2 deserved it hands down.
3 and 4 maybe, but they weren't as good.
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5-27-2009 @ 12:58PM
TheH2s said...
HIMYM should be nominated for no other reason than the scene where Ted fights the goat. Damn that was hilarious!
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5-27-2009 @ 1:09PM
radfordavenue said...
I love HIMYM. The only sitcom I can stand to watch since the era of Friends.
Am I mistaken or is Robin the only one not holding the umbrella?
Hidden message?
Deeper meaning?
Or do I need to get a hobby?
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5-27-2009 @ 1:20PM
Ashley Boyd said...
Probably Bays and Thomas trying to cause fans to speculate :p
5-27-2009 @ 1:52PM
Heather said...
HIMYM did not have a stellar season, but it did have some great episodes. I say put them in the Emmy's this year, especially for our female stars of the show. If Two and a Half Men are nominated and HIMYM is not, it's just another disappointing year.
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5-27-2009 @ 2:00PM
Dave said...
HIMYM is the best comedy on TV. None of the usual suspects (2.5 Men, Office, 30 Rock, Old Christine) are funny at all. Even a weak season of HIMYM leaves the others in the dust.
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5-27-2009 @ 2:31PM
Bart Smith said...
Surprised that neither this nor the original article mentioned that the ad is an obvious—or at least I thought obvious—allusion to the one sheet for Hal Ashby's BEING THERE.
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5-27-2009 @ 3:00PM
Josh said...
I liked this show at first, the first few seasons were great, but the longer they delay meeting Ted's wife, the less interested I get (not to mention the fact that the laugh-out-loud jokes are few and far between these days). The characters haven't changed much over 4 seasons and I don't know why I should care, especially after the less than surprising season finale (where we STILL don't know who Ted's wife is, which is supposed to be the point of the show). The producers are stuck in an old school sitcom mentality where nothing can change and all the characters stay the same (unless you have kids in the cast which forces the show to change). Audiences today don't like those kinds of show and appreciate progression and watching characters mature and develop into different human beings. Barney was hilarious at first, but all of his plot lines are boring and predictable now. Lily and Marshal's relationship has pretty much run its course and no longer produces anything cute, quirky or entertaining; Robin...we get it, she's like a guy and they make jokes about her being Canadian... and Ted is neurotic and flakey, never satisfied with anything. At least some the actors are producing hilarious work elsewhere (see Dr.Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man etc.)
This show either needs a serious overhaul or to be put out of its misery. There are simply too many other comedies out there for me to be interested in this unfortunately one-dimensional never-ending saga that once had a lot of promise and is now wallowing in the depths of redundancy.
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5-27-2009 @ 7:15PM
StillBash said...
HIMYM isn't Emmy material. Sorry.
I like it a lot but it's just not worthy of an Emmy. Not like this.
NPH deserves an Emmy. Not the show as a whole.
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5-28-2009 @ 11:01AM
nytheatreguy said...
I really do like NPH and think he is a MAJOR talent who deserves all the accolades he can get; however, HIMYM is a terrible show that's only lasted as long as it has because of its cushion spot on CBS's long-established Monday nights. "New Adventures of Old Christine" is a million times better with great writing, a great cast, and deserves the attention way more than the overrated, overhyped, painfully unfunny HIMYM, which, if there was any justice, would have been canceled after the opening credits of the first episode in the first season.
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