The How I Met Your Mother Blog

So it was called The Bracket after all and not The Final Four. Whatever you call it, it was a great episode. Barney episodes are few and far between but they’re always extra awesome. While we might never have found out who the girl was or why she was sabotaging Barney (two mystery girls? This IS turning into the sitcom version of Lost) we did get some quality Lily/Barney time, more hints at a Barney Robin hook-up, and a window into the disturbing mind and capabilities of the Barnicle. Continue reading…

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

This is a weekly column where the episodes from seasons one, two, and three will go head to head in a humor cage match. This week, the episode thirteen’s. Sorry it’s late.

Season 1: Drumroll, Please

Ted finds a new woman at the wedding. They want to remember the evening so they don’t exchange last names or numbers; but Ted takes a big fall when he tries to find out her name.

I have a confession to make. I didn’t really like this episode for a long time. I have always been a Robin devotee and therefore never really warmed up to Victoria. After starting this site and talking with other fans of the show, I noticed a trend in this episode being a universal favorite. I’ve gone back and re-watched and I’ve finally come around. It’s a great one.

We get to see Ted at his most smooth and romantic as he woos Victoria (or Buttercup, as she’s only known to us in this episode.) We also have a wonderful counterpoint with Robin admitting her interest in Ted to Lily. In Victoria the episode gives us this wonderful new girl that Ted might actually have a chance with, but then plays with our emotions by forcing us to chose between her and Robin.

The editing on the climatic scene where Ted and Robin immediately, simultaneously realize that she baked the cake is superb and creates one of the biggest, best dramatic moments in the series. On top of all that we get the passionate kiss as Ted enters the bakery and Victoria says “oh, thank god” while “Spit on a Stranger” by Pavement plays.

Also, this episode has one of my favorite jokes in the series. As Ted finishing playing the song on the piano that Victoria was dancing to, they lean in close, she tells him “we’re not going to kiss tonight”, and he hits a dramatic minor chord on the piano. Classic. I also liked that this episode was the first time we saw Robin show some sensitivity and real emotion. Smulders played it well, as a woman who wasn’t used to feeling this way, a way she’d spent her whole life developing shields to avoid. Major character development there.

Season 2: Columns

This isn’t a great picture but it’s from the iTunes free preview and it’s the best I can do for right now. I’m not going to pay for an episode I don’t like

When Ted is constantly insulted by his former boss, who is now working for him on a project, he is told to fire the man, but he finds that a hard thing to do. Meanwhile, Barney offers Lily a lot of money to paint a nude portrait of him.

The discovery of a nude painting of Marshall led to the “new dart” bit which was actually quite funny. Unfortunately this was the B plot. The A plot followed Ted, the new boss in his office, dealing with his old supervisor Hammond Druthers. I hated this plot line. I thought it was cliche, unsophisticated, and very sitcomy. Overall, this is my least favorite HIMYM episode of all time.

Season 3: Ten Sessions

Ted pursues a woman named Stella, but only gets attention from her receptionist Abby.

I think I covered just about everything on this episode in the recap last week. This episode had another monumental moment when we saw the return of romantic Ted and the adorable two minute date. Bonus points for Sarah Chalke’s appearance.

Advantage

This is a close call, but for I think “Ten Sessions” wins it by a nose. It had a great performance by Sarah Chalke, was as funny an episode as we’ve seen (despite what other reviewers say) and, in the real world, was an important week in the show’s run. “Drumroll, Please” is a wonderful, classic episode but knowing what we know now I think there are better Ted/Robin/Victoria episodes (Nothing Good Happens After 3am comes to mind.)

Vote

Previous Season vs. Season Showdowns

• Episode 1
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8
• Episode 9
• Episode 10
• Episode 12

I’ve removed the scorecard for now. I’m going to go back and make sure the tallies are correct for each episode and hopefully get the earlier ones posted that are not up at the moment.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

This Moday’s episode is titled “The Final Four” (or maybe “The Bracket”, depending on where you look) and, much like the super bowl episode last year, uses a current sporting event as its focus. But in classic How I Met Your Mother fashion, basketball teams won’t be the only competitors.

Reader Courtney had this tidbit:

Barney tries to find the mystery woman who’s out to ruin his reputation, by using the NCAA 64 person bracket. An interesting name comes up in the casting info for the episode:

“Anna” Dawn Olivieri.

Thanks to Courtney’s research we know that Dawn first appeared on the show in last season’s episode Ted Mosby, Architect as the girl “Ted” picked up by bragging about “his” job. At the end of the episode Robin and Lily, who think it is a cheating Ted in the apartment with this girl, bust in with the intent to kick her ass. Instead they find Barney tied up in bed and learn he’s used Ted’s name since he’s recently had some bad press on the Internet. In a rush to leave before the girl finishes her shower, Barney leaves a form letter he keeps with him for one night stands. Forgetting Anna’s name he addresses the letter to “resident”. The tag at the end of the episode shows Anna fresh out of the shower reading the letter—in which Barney proclaims to be a ghost who only appears once a year on the date of his death, and that he might one day return provided she keeps her figure—and asking aloud “who’s Barney?”.

The fact that they’ve brought Dawn back is wonderful news. I love how the show makes call backs to not only previous episodes but previous seasons. It’s a real reward for the fans. Who else might we see return from Barney’s past? Are there any other girls we know he’s scorned? Any victims of the lemon law? Could Wendy the Waitress be in the bracket? Tune in Monday to find out.

PS. If Dawn looks familiar to any of you it’s probably because she’s been a model on Deal or No Deal several times.

“The Final Four” (or, “The Bracket”) airs Monday March 3/31 at 8:30 EST on CBS.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

Of the shows that have returned from the strike How I Met Your Mother has continually done well for CBS. This week’s episode was the highest rated yet for the show. From the Hollywood Reporter:

A guest appearance by Britney Spears on Monday gave the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” its highest rating ever.

“Mother” spiked to a series high 4.5 preliminary rating among adults 18-49, even as the rest of the CBS comedy lineup fell from last week’s record-setting return to original episodes.

The second week of strong “Mother” ratings (10.6 million, 4.5/12) assures the one-time bubble comedy will be renewed for the fall. “Mother” was the fourth-highest-rated show of the evening, and CBS won the night (averaging 12.5 million, 4.4/11).

It’s not official, but I can’t see CBS canceling a show that’s doing so well. This is great news for us fans. Good work to those of you who wrote letters and signed petitions, but at the end of the day it all comes down to ratings and, lucky for us, the numbers don’t lie.

If you’d told me a year ago that Britney Spears would save How I Met Your Mother I’d have laughed in your face. I guess strange things do happen.

Now, for a bit of talking shop. I’ve heard readers suggest they’d be interested in a weekly ratings section, where we can track the shows stats in real time. Is this something you’d like to see?

Bonus points for the first person to get the reference in the phrasing of that poll question.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

Well it finally happened. The Britney Spears episode. While I found her to be mediocre; a much needed return of Romantic Ted, not one but two appearances of Charlene Amoia, and the hilarious twosome of Barney and Robin—complete with an allusion to whether or not they’ve hooked up—this episode has it all. I think it is one of the best this season. Continue reading…

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

Alyson Hannigan turns 34 today. She’s had a lucrative acting career even before Lily Aldrin was one half of L.A.M.E. We first saw her as the band camp geek from the American Pie movies. Then she played Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer—one of her most memorable roles. She’s also appeared on Veronica Mars. With her film and television roster, and her girl-next-door charms, Hannigan has set geek’s hearts swooning for many years.

In Alyson’s honor, here is a short bio:

Date of Birth

March 24, 1974, Washing D.C., USA

Birth Name

Allison Lee Hannigan

Height

5′ 6″ (1.68 m)

Trivia

• Was a clarinet player in junior high school.
• Played soccer until she got an injury in her early teens.
• Has a tattoo of tribal dolphins on her ankle, and a japanese kanji, for luck and happiness, on her back.
• She is a spokesperson for breast cancer, and appeared in a brochure to raise awareness about the disease.
• Married to Alexis Denisof. Denisof proposed during a trip to Northern California wine country during the 2002 holiday season. They were married in October 2003. We know Alexis Denisof as egotistical anchorman Sandy Rivers.
• Is of Irish-American decent
• Owns a mansion in Sacramento, California.
• Attended California State University in Northridge, California majored in Psychology
• Was Bob Saget’s babysitter in her teens. Once went on vacation to Hawaii with his family.

Editor’s note: I want to give myself extra-credit for the banner pic above. Do a Google Image Search for Hannigan and see how hard it is to find a good photo. There are some unfortunate Photoshop collages out there of her.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

Last week we learned that Jason Segel would be penning a new Muppet movie. I was quite excited about this. Who doesn’t  love The Muppets? Segel recently chatted with MTV about the direction he plans to take with the film:

“I’ve just grown a little disappointed with ‘Muppets in the Old West,’ ‘Muppets Under Water,’ and all these weird concept movies. I just want to go take it back to the early 80’s, when it was about the Muppets trying to put on a show. That’s what I’m trying to bring back,” said Segel, who also wants to bring back the big name cameos of the earlier films. “All of our friends that I’ve brought it up to are pretty excited by the prospect of it. Everyone loves the Muppets; they’ve got a warm place in most people’s hearts. We want a lot of cameos. You look back at Charles Grodin, Charles Durning, there were just such great performances in those movies.” “We’ve got a great plot. I think if we can execute it right, it will be terrific. But I can’t tell you more - it’s top secret.”

Segel also weighed in on his opinion of Kermit the Frog:

“I remember thinking that Kermit was the original Tom Hanks - he was the everyman for a kid. I remember watching Kermit and thinking ‘That’s what I want to do when I grow up.’ I don’t think I realized he was a puppet.”

All this via Slash Film, who also have some excellent points on Segel and the script.

I still think that Segel’s the perfect writer for this movie. The key to what made the Muppets so cool was how they were written and geared for adults, rather than children. Do you have any favorite Muppet moments?

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

This is a weekly column where the episodes from seasons one, two, and three will go head to head in a humor cage match. This week, the episode twelve’s.

Season 1: The Wedding

Robin accepts Ted’s invite to a friend’s wedding, but thanks to Ted, the couple may never make it down the aisle.

This was the first episode in the Victoria arc—one of the best plot lines the show’s ever had. I liked it, but the ones to follow were superior. This was also the first episode where Robin started to really warm up to the idea of dating Ted. It was at this time that we first met Stuart and Claudia (Matt Boren and Virginia Williams)—when Ted almost inadvertently stopped their marriage. The theme of the episode was how Ted saw himself—how any of us see ourselves: as a single person or someone looking for a relationship. Bonus: the last moment of this episode was our first view of Victoria, smiling that charming smile she has.

Lily got most of the good lines in this episode:

Ted: “We can’t sneak her into the wedding, we’re not ninjas.”
Lily: “I wish we were ninjas.”

Lily: “Jeez, don’t “Ted” out about it.”

Lily: “Claudia is getting married tomorrow and so help me God if I catch you even so much as breathing the same air as her I will take those peanuts you’re trying to pass off as testicles and I will squeeze them so hard until your eyes pop out and then I’ll feed them to you like grapes.”
Barney: “Wait… my eyes? Or my testicles?”
Lily: “One of each!”

Fun trivia: In the scene where Ted runs into Claudia on the street and she’s screaming at someone on the phone about her wedding cake, it’s actually Victoria she’s yelling at even though we haven’t met her yet. Victoria was later revealed to have made the cake.

Season 2: First Time in New York

Robin wants to tell Ted that she loves him, but she can’t tell him. Meanwhile, her sister visits and brings her boyfriend, and Robin doesn’t know how to react when her sister says she’s ready to lose her virginity.

This is one of my personal favorite episodes. The premise is clever and all the flashbacks are hilarious. From Ted’s switcheroo story of a love ‘em and leave ‘em tryst to Robin’s gay first boyfriend to Barney-as-Swayze Dirty Dancing fib I think this was one of the funniest episodes ever. We learned a lot about all of the characters and everyone was involved in the same plot—no lame B plot to cut back and forth between.

Robin’s sister was adorable (she’s gone on to star in Bionic Woman) and her accusations of promiscuity were perfect little-sister embarassment for Robin:

“Oh come on, you’ve slept with like 100 guys.”
“It’s not 100 guys! It’s not 100 guys! I had different levels of affection for each of the very reasonable number of guys.”

This episode also focused on how hard it is for Robin to say “I love you”. To use Barney’s highway metaphor, Robin didn’t want to “get off the freeway, but saying ‘Hmm hmm hmmm’ is like getting into the car pool lane. And what’s in that lane? A big diamond”. Ted, on the other hand, turns out to be an “I love you” slut. By the end, Robin managed to say it. In a lesser show this could have been a corny moment but this is How I Met Your Mother—Ted replies “I’m gay” and it all feels so much more natural and authentic.

Marshall and Lily had their moments too. When Marshall found out that he might not have been the first person Lily slept with—turns out Scooter had splashed around in the shallow end—he didn’t take it well.

Season 3: No Tomorrow

Ted lives like there’s no tomorrow during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Barney. Lily and Marshall spend the evening at their new apartment with Robin.

I liked this episode. I think the future of the show will prove that this was a real turning point in Ted’s life. I think he’d been still recovering from his break up with Robin up to this point and maybe realizing how much of a “Low Point” he’d hit will snap him back on track. Say what you will about Marshall’s lecture to him at the end, but it was necessary and Ted’s face showed that it had sunk in.

The weak part for me here was the B plot. It was cute and funny, but I like LAME better when they’re not such a charade-playing cliche married couple. Robin needs something to do too, maybe now that Ted’s back on the wagon she can spend another night as Barney’s bro.

Advantage

This is a close call, but for me “First Time in New York” is just a killer episode. Its’ in my top three of all time and I have to give it the nod. I have a feeling you might disagree so be sure to vote for your choice below.

Vote

Previous Season vs. Season Showdowns

• Episode 1
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8
• Episode 9
• Episode 10

I’ve removed the scorecard for now. I’m going to go back and make sure the tallies are correct for each episode and hopefully get the earlier ones posted that are not up at the moment.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

So there’s been a lot of chatter online about whether or not we may have met the mother this week. As reader Jez pointed out to me in an email, it seemed strange for the episode to include Ted bumping into a girl, seemingly at random, while at the club (for those of you who have the episode, say from iTunes like I do, it’s around the 13:30 mark). We know that the mother was at the party, yet Future Ted says at the end that he didn’t meet the mother there. Could the girl he bumped into turn out to be the mom? Let’s examine the possibilities.

1. In the picture above, all we can see the woman with the yellow umbrella wearing is a leather jacket and jeans. We can tell she’s caucasian, petite, and has a bit of an olive complextion.
2. Check out the images below, screen captures from the moment Ted bumps into the woman at the bar.

This woman is also wearing jeans, but so are 99% of the other women in the bar (and, in fact, the world.) I say this evidence isn’t conclusive enough. With all the talk about potential mother casting and then subsequent changes in game plan, it could be that, in lieu of Dermatologist Stella turning out to be the mom, the writers have thrown in a curve ball hinting at something else for the future. Or it could be a red herring.

I decided to track down the actress who played the girl Ted bumped into to try and determine how likely she would be to, at some point, become a series regular. Based on the press release I tracked her down:

Her name is Nicole Muirbrook Wagner and she has not appeared in anything notable. That’s a good sign, if she isn’t a hugely popular, in demand character actor there’s a good chance she’d be both available and amiable to come back on the show in a larger capacity.

Also, she fits the profile of the mother that was established in season one’s episode “Milk” when they showed shots of the mom with her face covered. What we could tell about the mother in those pictures was that she a) was brunette b) was petite c) had a mild olive complextion. Again, Wagner fits the bill. Additionally, if you look at Future Ted’s kids, they too are petite brunettes with vaguely olive complextions.

Now we have to ask if the creators of the show would do this to us? Maybe I watch too much Lost but yes, I think they would. That’s not to say that I’m convinced this is the mother, but it’s a definite possibility.

What do you think?

PS. If you guys would digg this story I’d appreciate it.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.

Hi guys!

I want to apologize for the comments being broken last night. I had installed a new plugin and that didn’t bode well for any of the AJAX on the site. Everything should be back in working order now. Feel free to leave your comment on this week’s recap.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks to all the readers who emailed me about the issue, you guys are the best!

I’d like to make it up to you. Since you couldn’t comment yesterday, here are some nice pictures of Sarah Chalke who’ll be on the show next week.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post subscribe to Have You Met Ted. You can also have new posts delivered to your email. Subscribe in the sidebar.