I'm sure plenty of you have but I'm going to type about it anyway. The show has been running in the states since 2005 and on the likes of E4 over here in the UK for some time but some how it slipped by my consciouness for six years before being brought to my attention via my sister-in-law and Norngirl and I starting to watch it on holiday in Mallorca back in May. Since then we've already caught up to date on as much as has been shown. On the DVDs the shows are about 20 minutes long and into those 20 minutes are crammed some brilliantly funny lines, imaginative plots, running jokes and a concept that leaves you guessing. I couldn't believe it was a US sitcom or why I hadn't seen it before May this year. If you're old enough - like 23+ you'll undoubtedly indentify with charicteristics of most of the core group of fictional friends who we get to know quite well.
The main premise of the show is that Ted Mosby, in the year 2030, is telling his two teenage children the story of how he met their mother. To that end we follow Ted taking a retrospective and life lessons learnt approach to his past. but this is 'future Ted' and his past is our present in reality - e.g in 2009 in the story was 2009 in real life but told from the perspective of 'Future' Ted in 2030 telling his kids about his life from their present. 'Current' or 'today's Ted (played by Josh Radnor) in the episodes doesn't know what he was to learn through the motions of life, love and friendship in the big apple, and we find what he and his friends got up to as if we were his kids. The key difference being that we the audience are kept on tentahooks waiting to find out that little bit more about who their mother actually is where as you'd really hope the characters of Ted's children do have some idea.
At it's base I'd describe it as 'Friends' meets 'Cheers' but with better jokes. I also see bits of Red Dwarf in there with Ted and Barney being friends who on one hand help each other but on the other hand represent opposing outlooks on life - I mean they're a bit like the characters of Arnold Rimmer and Dave Lister though it's not a perfect comparison because Barney and Ted do get on more.
According to this interview with E Entertainment the creators of the show say the concept for it came from the idea "Lets write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York".
and it really shows because it really does feel like the characters fit so well to their setting and what life is like, especially for the characters of Marshal (played by Jason Segel) and Lilly (played by Alyson Hannigan) who portray a refreshingly realistic type of relationship for TV characters in a sitcom. For the most part, the show isn't filmed in New York but it is set there and apart from some of the car scenes, they do a great job of disguising this. Being set in NYC it does feel like you're there with them, they do lots of 'New York things' and spend a lot of time in their booth at their local, the MacLaren's Pub. The relationship with what is an awesome city really does add to the show but I can't say much more without starting to give things away.
As well as Ted - Architect - and his best friend Marshall Eriksen - new Lawyer - who is in a long term relationship with Lily Aldrin - kindergarten teacher, there is also Robin Scherbatsky (played by Cobie Smulders) - TV presenter/proud Canadian, and Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) - who does something for a not very nice company and gets paid loads for it, womanises and encourages all sorts of other randomness. I so badly would like to describe them all in more detail and reference more of the show but I'd have hated it if someone told me all the ins and outs of the characters and plot.
I'm honestly not trying to sell anything, I don't do affiliate linking on my blog. It's paid ad free :-) but if you haven't given it a chance before, I'd really recommend you do, not least because then you'll get all the obscure refreneces to it that might slip into my blog from time to time - it'd be hard not to being so densly packed with memes. Also this post serves as a 3 month warning as it is likely that when the DVDs of series 6 and then the seasons 7 and 8 are made and shown on our TV screens, that I will end up talking about it or at least referencing to it in more detail. The info is there on Wikipedia or various TV sites if you really want to know the plot without watching it but if you can, give it a watch, it's a program that really does take the pulse of today's late 20s/early 30's generation very well, a sparkles of a show, an experience that is legend. wait for it. dary!
Right, in the meantime I'm heading to read some of Barney's Blog. someone has to!
I love this show. But you won't like the twist.
ReplyDeleteBarney is the mother. He gets a sex change.