The How I Met Your Mother Blog

Josh Radnor turns 34 today. Josh was born in Columbus Ohio and went to Kenyon college. In Josh’s honor, here’s some trivia:

• Josh is 6′ (1.83 m) tall
• Josh made his Broadway debut in 2002, succeeding Jason Biggs, in the stage version of The Graduate (1967), starring opposite Kathleen Turner and Alicia Silverstone.
• Originally cast as the American lead in the pilot of the WB sitcom “Off Centre” (2001). The role was eventually played by Eddie Kaye Thomas.
• Won the Paul Newman award from the theater department at Kenyon College
• Received an M.F.A. in acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
• He is allergic to dogs.
• Graduated from Bexley High School, class of 1993, and came back as a guest speaker for the 2008 graduating class.

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There’ve been a few more tidbits in the news recently. Thanks to elusive reader Motherhead (who has gone by many names on this blog, but always the same, fake email address) for the links.

Sarah Chalke

It was recently confirmed in a press conference that Sarah Chalke would be returning for a multi-episode arc sometime in season four. I’m glad that she’s coming back as I liked what little we saw of her last year and hope that with a less limiting schedule we’ll be able to explore her character more. The question is when she’ll appear. The logical guess is in the first episodes since we were left with the cliffhanger proposal last year. Can you think of any way she wouldn’t show up till, say, November sweeps?

Season 5

There is a lot of chatter over comments made by Carter Bays recently that season four will be the end of the serialized nature of the show. Bays and Thomas have had “fun writing a soap opera for the past three years” but are planning, after season four, to write more self-contained episodes, like a regular sitcom.

The first thing you’ll likely think is “why?” but before you call betrayal, realize the hidden meaning in that quote. What he said is directly implying that the show will have seasons beyond this one. Imagine a world where we know that the show is renewed before the last possible second? Sounds good to me.

Also, before you pick up the torches, keep in mind that the first season had some very sitcomy moments. It was really season two that was highly serialized. I think the show can continue to be good without a long-term story line. Look at other serialized comedies like The Office, at some point the characters are so fully realized you don’t need the long-term plots anymore, you can just show the adventures of these people that you’ve come to love after so many years.

Does this also imply we’ll learn the identity of the mother? I can’t see how they’d make fully self contained episodes if the plot was still driving toward meeting the mystery girl. What do you think?

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The title is likely to be longer than this post. Just some show news I wanted to share.

Season 3 DVD

The DVD set for season 3 comes out on Oct  7th, 2008. Add the date to your calendars! I’d like to give out a copy or two of this DVD but I need a contest. Any good ideas? Do you think there’d be a good turn out for a “design a slutty pumpkin costume” contest? On the DVD you’ll find:

• Series Retrospective
• Lily And Marshall’s Honeymoon Videos
• Cast Favorites Featurette
• Additional Scenes - How It Really Happened
• Behind The Scenes Of “We’re Not From Here”
• Unrated Gag Reel
• Ted Mosby Is A Jerk Alternate Audio Track - “The Bracket”
• You Just Got Slapped Music Video
• Robin Sparkles “Sandcastles in the Sand” Music Video
• Commentary by Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Pam Fryman, and editor Sue Federman - “The Platinum Rule”
• Commentary by Josh Radnor, Sarah Chalke, Carter Bays, and Craig Thomas - “Ten Sessions”
• Commentary by Neil Patrick Harris, Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, and writer Joe Kelly - “The Bracket”
• Commentary by Cobie Smulders, Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Pam Fryman, and writer Kourtney Kang - “Sandcastles In The Sand”
• Commentary by Alyson Hannigan and Consulting Producer Jonathan Groff - “Everything Must Go”
• Commentary by Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, and Director Pam Fryman - “Miracles”

Sarah Chalke

Ausiello seems to think that Sarah Chalke is returning for several episodes next season. I’d like to see it. She’s pretty!

Stay tuned. It’s been quiet a bit but I’ll be posting all the missing Season vs. Seasons leading up to the fall premieire. It’s going to be legendary!

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The first episode of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog is now up. Watch it for free on the Dr. Horrible site or get a season pass for all three episodes from iTunes for $3.99 (the shows will only be available for free online for a short time.)

I watched it and I love it. Classic Whedon. The premise is wonderful and the cast does a great job. Impressive production value too. This is the future of internet tv shows. In ten years we’ll look back on this as a milestone.

What’d you guys think? Like the songs? Is Felicia Day stalker-worthy?

Update: Act II is available now.

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Remember Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog? Well it’s about to premiere. It will air in three parts on July 15, 17, and 19 and only be available until July 20th on the official site drhorrible.com. After that, the entire series can be downloaded for a fee or a DVD may be purchased that’s loaded with extras such as the world’s first musical commentary.

The series stars Neil Patrick Harris as a would-be mad scientist, Nathan Fillion as Dr. Horrible’s superhero nemesis and Felicia Day as the love interest of both men. Fillion comes from Firefly fame and Day can be seen in the hilarious and not just a little geeky web series The Guild.

I love Joss Whedon. What a fantastic thing he’s doing here. I’m really excited to watch this and I think NPH is going to be fantastic. Read more about the series at TV Guide.

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A few weeks ago the lovely Juna contacted me from Detour Designs.  They have a few fantastic HIMYM shirts (pictured above) all of which I highly recommend you go buy immediately.

The banner in the sidebar points to this store as well.

What’s the point of having legendary HIMYM gear if no one sees you sporting it though? That’s why I created the How I Met Your Mother Fan Group on Flickr as a place for fans to show their support for the show. Upload pics of you and your friends wearing HIMYM gear, throwing HIMYM DVD parties, anything to show support.

Once we hit critical mass, I’ll do my best to make sure the people behind the show are made aware of the group so they see how much we all appreciate what they do and how much we love the show.

Need ideas? Try these:

• Come up with new and unique “fives”. Barney invented the “phone five” and “freeze frame five”, what else can we think up? Take a picture or video of your best “five” and post it to the group.
• Take a picture of you wearing HIMYM gear. If you don’t want to buy something, make your own!
• Recreate your favorite scene. Get some friends together and recreate a scene from the show. Upload the video and post it to the group.
• Suit up! Throw on an “outlaw” shirt, a striped polo, some leather boots—any of the cast’s trademark gear.
• Throw a HIMYM party. Have a few friends that aren’t into the show? Have them over for a DVD party where you watch a few episodes. Document the evening and share it with the group.

Any other ideas you have, I’d love to hear them. Tell your friends too! Let’s make this group huge.

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Neil Patrick Harris turns 35 today.

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While I was patiently waiting my turn to meet and chat with the cast, I watched them give interviews last week. I didn’t realize those interviews were for TV Guide. Check them out:

Neil Patrick Harris:

Josh Radnor:

Alyson Hannigan:

Cobie Smulders:

Carter Bays and Pam Fryman:

Read more about that night, from TV Guide’s point of view and see all their How I Met Your Mother coverage.

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The invitation came without solicitation. Well, that’s not entirely true. I had added Carter Bays and Charlene Amoia as friends on Facebook and, to my surprise, they not only confirmed but Charlene sent me a nice note thanking me for the site. I wrote her back and in a fit of confidence offered to buy her a beer the next time she was in New York. Proving how legendary she really is she did me one better: “How would you like to attend a party in New York tomorrow with Carter Bays, Pam Fryman, and the cast?” I would like that very much I told her. Continue reading…

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The season is over, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to talk about. While the show is airing, it makes sense for me to create posts and have you comment. But now that we’re on summer vacation, it’s time to change things up a bit.

Have You Met Ted now has a forum to discuss How I Met Your Mother. Why should I decide what we talk about? With your intelligent, well thought-out, articulate commentary you guys are the real reason the site is a success. That’s why I want to give you all the opportunity to start discussions as well as participate in them.

If you visit the forum you’ll see that there is already some activity. A few days ago I sent out an email to some of the site’s top contributors and asked them to check out the forum and tell me what they thought. Imagine my surprise when I checked back and everyone had not only started topics but started topics that were all blog posts I’ve been meaning to write.

So check out the forum, sign up for an account, tell your friends, and let’s keep the discussion going. Anything goes, there are no rules. A few things to consider when making an account:

• A valid email address is required. Some of you like to use cute fake addresses when leaving comments. Make sure you use a real one here since activation is required. I promise I won’t spam you.
• If you’d like a better title than “member” send me a message or an email and I can change it to whatever you like. Some people are doing this already and I love the creativity. Who can come up with the best name?

Visit the forum »

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