You'd think that it wouldn't be asking much for a sitcom to be funny, but it looks like the days of HIMYM making me laugh on any sort of regular basis are long gone. When only one out of every four episodes you write can even be considered mildly funny there is a problem. With only an hour long episode left, it's safe to say that this season was a total loss for the HIMYM writers. It was just a collection of half baked ideas, missed opportunities and wasted performances with a few funny episodes thrown in that really only functioned to make us all remember what the show is capable of and make the whole situation that much sadder.
One of the things that made HIMYM so special was it's sense of it's history. The whole series is Ted telling a story, so continuity is essential to it making sense and early on the writers were all over this, even using it to make their stories more interesting and unique. But, at this point in the game, that sense of continuity has been pushed to the limit where it really doesn't seem to matter to the writers anymore. How can you bring up the idea of Ted online dating without mentioning his forays into the dating agency world? Why would Ted be so admit that he would never use an online dating service when he essentially already has? I guess you could argue that his experience with the dating service was so bad he vowed to never do it again, but that wasn't the way it was presented. And what happened to Lily and Marshal's Dowisetrepta apartment? I may be off on this one, but it seemed to always be implied that they raised a kid or two in that apartment, but this season they just got rid of it with no ceremony at all.
I'm also having serious problems with Ted's sudden infatuation with Robin. I refuse to believe that he is so obsessed with her that he can't get her out of his head when he is with other girls. It's been five years since the two broke up, Ted has been engaged and had at least two serious relationships since then, why would he suddenly not be able to get over her? It makes no sense and feels like desperation by the writers. It's a sitcom cliche, something that Friends had to keep pulling to keep things interesting when the show had gone to long, and I thought would be below HIMYM writers. The only reason to make Ted obsessed with Robin again is that you've run out of ideas. If we are seriously at a point where the writers have nothing more interesting to do with Ted then bring up sexual tension between him and Robin, then it's time for us to met the mother!
The whole Barney/Quinn relationship is starting to bum me out as well, but it a different way. Quinn is easily the best non-group character we have been introduced to in years. She is everything that Kal Penn's Kevin wasn't. I love her and Barney together but I have no idea how they are going to solve the stripping issue. It seems like the writer's have put themselves in a corner where the only solution is for them to break up and that pains me. If anything has worked this season, it's Barney and Quinn and to have that come to an end seems like another shot to the writers own feet. 5-15-2
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