New York, New York, II - How I Met Your Mother

3/13/2012

New York, New York, II - How I Met Your Mother

"Have you met Ted?" Well, If you are an avid HIMYM fan, then you certainly cracked a smile on this typical Barney Stinson phrase. However, for those, who are not such experts on the show, here is a plot summary which might entice you to follow the lives and adventures of the five friends:

How I Met Your Mother is a comedy about Ted (Josh Radnor) and how he fell in love. It all starts when Ted's best friend, Marshall (Jason Segel), drops the bombshell that he's going to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Lily (Alyson Hannigan), a kindergarten teacher. At that moment, Ted realizes that he had better get a move on if he too hopes to find true love. Helping him in his quest is Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), a friend with endless, sometimes outrageous opinions, a penchant for suits and a foolproof way to meet women. When Ted meets Robin (Cobie Smulders), he's sure it's love at first sight, but destiny may have something else in store. The series is narrated through flashbacks from the future, voiced by Bob Saget. (tv.com)

The series was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS and out of the 154 episodes, 144 was directed by Pamela Fryman. Fryman, who is praised to the skies by the whole cast and crew, seems to know the receipt for success. And where else should she bring forth this useful bit of knowledge, than from her past experience with directing Friends?

Ingredients for making a popular sitcom:

                        

Who's missing?

Which only leaves Phoebe, but she already had her doppelgänger in Friends, who was none other then her own twin sister, Ursula. 

Success? Check. Fans? Check. Another season? Most probably check - though, god help those two poor kids, listening to their father's rambling for seven years straight. Reality check? It seems that the not so original (however entertaining it is) plot brought the same problems into the scenes of HIMYM then into the Friends'.

Our five pals do not seem to know the meaning of the word schedule - just as in Friends, these guys have an endless amount of free-time, which they mostly spend in a pub called McLaren's, while occasionally they venture into strip-bars and clubs. Out of the five mates, three of them (Marshall, Robin, and Ted) had been unemployed for a time, and while the show hints about money problems here and there, the matter of regular income (or lack thereof) never plays an important role in the lives of our heroes.

What struck me, though - and here I can mention Friends again as these two shows seems to be estranged  twins with nearly a decade of an age gap between them - is the strange social etiquette so readily accepted on the screen. The idea of living a mostly carefree life - as the biggest problem there is to find the one - while having several best buddies and sharing a common close bond is indeed alluring. Who wouldn't love to share such hilarious adventures? OK, maybe not with the kids... But the idea - the ideal - is the dream of many. Yet, who wouldn't want some privacy? I cannot imagine that any friend of mine would barge into my apartment without so much as a by your leave. Nor can the Americans; knock, call, shout - it doesn't matter, one must communicate one's intention to enter someone else's room, no matter how close a friend he or she might be.  Furthermore, being best friends are one thing, but in real life, five thirty-something guys would drive each other crazy if they constantly hung out with each other. Privacy, pals, privacy!

To sum up, How I Met Your Mother and Friends are much similar in many aspects. They share not only the same success (and don't forget about director Fryman) but the same flaws as well. While they may not be very educational to non-natives about the American reality and the New Yorkian lifestyle, they will continue to occupy a part of our hearts with their ability to brighten up the dull weekdays. Until the next post, forget about the boring facts and enjoy the fiction!