15 Adar/1 March, 2010

[bearshorty]

It occurred to me while watching “How I Met Your Mother” that this show isn’t as funny this season as it used to be. I’ll keep watching it online as I always do when it is up against “House” but something changed this year. It is still a nice comedy but the characters seem to be standing in place.

Comments

[somnolentblue]

Because the central premise is that the guy meets his kid's mother, which means they have to move along and have a definite end. however, US TV models involve going as long as you're renewed, which means they're unlikely to give it an end-date and tie up the concept. At least, that would be my guess.

[bearshorty]

it is not just the main character. All others seem to be in place. I'm thinking of "Friends" trajectory - you can really feel in that show when the characters leave their 20s and move to their 30s - the transitions were seemleess and worked well. In "How I Met Your Mother" they allowed Barney to grow last year, but this year he just regressed severely. I get that the show is a comedy but you can't make jokes about the same situations as much. The show still has funny moments, but this season is just not jelling.

[somnolentblue]

Right, but if the main character is the viewpoint character, as he pretty much is, the other characters exist in relation to him. So, they need to stay parallel with him to keep the dynamics intact. I never watched past the first DVD, but if Lily and what's-his-name do things like have kids or whatnot, that would change dynamics pretty significantly. Think of how many people's friend's groups re-form as people start getting married or moving to the suburbs or having kids or buying houses. Relative priorities change, but HIMYM seems like it would preclude forward momentum.

In some ways, it seems to me like it's the same critiques that I read about Dollhouse not being an infinitely sustainable show because of the inherent nature of its format.