TVSquad

So, Christmas in July is only a few short days away, and you don't know what to buy your friends (who will probably be wondering why the hell you're celebrating Christmas in July anyway). Fret not, holiday shopper, because I have the solution for you: Robin Sparkles Mall Tour t-shirts!

Yes, now you can relive those memories of your favorite Canadian pop star, who is now known as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, courtesy of Glarkware. The front of the shirt features a splashy maple leaf design while the back displays a list of Canadian malls (not slouches by any means, according to the website) that Sparkles toured during 1993. The shirt costs $20 (US), and comes in either girlie or unisex style. Make those purchases quickly because pre-ordering ends on July 31st.

If you don't watch How I Met Your Mother but are curious about why we all love it so damn much, I suggest you watch the "Slap Bet" episode. It was the one that got me hooked. And, as Joel said, it was "one of the funniest half-hours of comedy on TV in 2006". The entire episode is on the HIMYM official MySpace page and it's also embedded after the jump inside this post.

Why is it so funny? Hmmm. Let me count the ways. Uh... only because there's face-slapping. And Robin Sparkles. Those two elements alone make it legen...wait for it...dary!

I usually don't highlight repeats, but this is a special case:

Tonight, CBS will rerun what I thought was the funniest half-hour of TV in 2006: the "Slap Bet" episode of How I Met Your Mother. I'm not the only one who thought the episode was a high point of the 2006-07 television season, though: The Boston Globe thought it was the 2nd best episode of any show that aired in 2006. And Alan Sepinwall of the Newark Star-Ledger felt at the time that HIMYM made what he called "The Leap" after that episode, meaning that the ep had propelled the show to a higher quality level (though, like me, he later realized that it was more of a "high-water mark." And, also like me, he fell into the trap of comparing subsequent episodes to it).

What made the episode so great?

Now that is a Superbowl commercial. I fully suspect someone to ask tomorrow, "Did you see that Bud Light ad, with the guys slapping each other?" It's an interesting premise, and does call to mind the How I Met Your Mother episode "Slapbet", which is a good thing.

I really like the editing here. Just having slap after slap after slap once we learn that the face-slap is the new fist-bump was great. Bonus points for the two girls at the wedding. We have to include everyone in the fun. And a nice payoff at the end when Larson slaps his boss across the face after saving the account. This is another contender for ad of the night I think. The only thing that could have been better would have been seeing a dejected Howie Mandel learning that the fist-bump is now out.

One of the funniest half-hours of comedy on TV in 2006 was the "Slap Bet" episode of How I Met Your Mother. Besides "Robin Sparkles'" video for "Let's Go to the Mall," there was the matter of the "slap bet" Marshall and Barney had with each other over the nature of Robin's secret. Because things went back and forth, each guy got to slap the other as hard as they could, with Lily being the "Slap Bet Commissioner."

Carter Bays and Craig Thomas alluded to a few of the "slap bet" rules on the episode, but if you're curious what the complete and official rules are, they have created a set, which was forwarded to us by our friends at AOL TV. The rules are posted after the jump. Among the funnier ones: "When issuing a slap, the slapper must avoid lips and noses at all costs. The goal is for the palm of the slapper's hand to connect with the meaty part of the slappee's cheek thus providing utmost enjoyment and pain. If you're seeing handprint on cheek, you're doing something right."

Also after the jump is a video montage of the slaps from the episode. Hopefully, that will tie you over until new episodes start again on January 8.

(S02E09) Holy living crap, was that a funny episode or what? I laughed hard during most of it, something that I only seem to do during The Office, Scrubs, and early Simpsons episodes. God, it was all so good: The slap bet, and the resulting payments on both sides; Marshall and Lilly enthusiastically telling each other about every mundane detail of their days; Barney's "Ohh..." moments; Robin's elaborate (and classy!) lies about her nonexistent Canadian marriage; the flashback to thirty seconds before the first slap...

... But the best part of the entire episode came at the end, when Robin revealed her dirty little secret, one that she didn't want anyone to know, including her beloved boyfriend Ted...