The How I Met Your Mother Blog

Last night we saw a repeat of Slapsgiving, one of the best episodes of the show to date. Now, in the wake of the awesomeness, I implore all of you readers and fans to show some support for the show seeing as it’s on the bubble for renewal next year. Readers Ike and Katie have helped me find the appropriate petitions and other platforms for fans to show support. I’m not positive the show is in any actual jeopardy, but until it’s picked up for a forth season showing some support can’t hurt.

Now, onto how you can help.

1. Donate – Fans of Kristin Dos Santos from E! Online’s Watch with Kristin have started a web site collecting donations to help save the show. Proceeds from this site will go toward buying sparklers to mail to CBS to show support for the show. At the time of this writing, they’re half-way to their goal. Go and give a couple dollars today.
2. Sign the petition – ipetitions.com has a “Save How I Met Your Mother” petition that you can sign today. Currently, there are 4,970 signatures. Let’s show that the show has more fans than that.
3. Voice your opinion – Be proactive—reader Katie supplied me with the letter she sent to CBS. Contact them at one of these addresses, which will then find it’s way up the ladder:
   
   • audsvcs@cbs.com,
   • Kelli Raftery kraftery@cbs.com
   • Beth Haiken beth.haiken@tvc.cbs.com

   or via their comment form. Alternatively, send all letters to me (jd@have-you-met-ted.com) and I will send them en-masse to CBS. To accompany the letters, statistics that support the show would be helpful, if any of you find anything that proves HIMYM is a success, send that on as well. I’ll organize it all and send it to CBS as one big call to action.

   Here is Katie’s letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

I recently saw the list of shows that CBS has renewed for the 2008-2009 season, and I was shocked to learn that How I Met Your Mother was not among them. I had to write to ask you to reconsider as you move toward final decisions about the upcoming season.

I am a 26-year-old, college-educated, middle-class viewer; I am, in other words, a member of a demographic cohort much coveted by advertisers. And the only show that my husband and I watch on CBS is How I Met Your Mother.

I find your procedural crime shows unappealing in the extreme. While I will watch the occasional episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine (another Monday comedy that has not been renewed), I find your other sitcoms insipid and unwatchable. I don’t watch your reality programming (e.g. Big Brother, Survivor) either. The only reason that my eyes will be on CBS, and its ads, is if you renew How I Met Your Mother.

The show isn’t a ratings monster, but its ratings are consistent and it repeats well. It does better with younger viewers than the rest of the Monday line-up with the exception of The Big Bang Theory which only does marginally better in overall viewers because of the higher HUT levels at 8:30 PM EST. How I Met Your Mother has a core group of rabid fans (I own the first and second seasons on DVD, have purchased episodes on iTunes, have read the show’s official website, etc.) and significant critical support (unlike many other CBS shows). Last year, Neil Patrick Harris received an Emmy nomination for his work on the show.

While, in light of these characteristics, I believe that the show is a shoe-in for renewal, it must be said that you’ve never treated How I Met Your Mother particularly well: leading off the night is a difficult task; I rarely see advertising for the show; it wasn’t available on iTunes until recently; you didn’t give the hilarious Super Bowl episode the coveted-post game spot; and so on. It has been reported, by TV Guide, that this stems from personal dislike of CBS executives for the show. I surely hope that isn’t the cause for the show’s non-renewal. It obviously isn’t good business practice to pass over the show, in spite of evidence that it should be renewed, simply because one executive doesn’t understand the show or its appeal.

I’m thrilled that How I Met Your Mother will be back in March 27th for 9 more episodes this season. I only hope that at the upfronts in May, you announce that the show will be back for a much deserved, and sure to be legendary, fourth season.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Well put Katie! If you’d like to use her letter, change the personal bits to fit your own details and let CBS know that the show has fans! There’s no way to know if this will work or not but at least it’s effort in the right direction. Remember, be polite—you’ll be taken more seriously that way.

If you find other ways to support the show, post them in the comments or contact me at jd@have-you-met-ted.com. I’ll update this post as new tactics surface.

We’ve all enjoyed 3 seasons of the show, it’s time we stood up and demanded a fourth. If you ever want to meet the mother and see how it all ends, now is the time to support the show.

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