How I Don’t Want to Meet Your Mother

The news came a few days back that the celebrated TV show ‘How I Met Your Mother’ was extended for an additional final season (currently eighth season is airing is USA, which was to be the last one). Apparently, Jason Segel (who plays Marshall) whose reluctance to continue was causing the series to end next year, relented at the last minute and the main cast began discussions with the channel. When I read it online, I had mixed reactions. Quasi-shock, dismay and some indignation.

I wonder if it’s just me or there are many people who feel that the show isn’t funny anymore and has lost its novelty of the previous seasons; up to the fourth, to be precise. So much so, that I’ve lost all interest in the show and nowonly want to know who Ted’s damned wife and those children’s elusive mother is. Or maybe I couldn’t care less about it.This is sad because HIMYM was one of my favourite TV shows for a long time. For my generation, the seminal series ‘Friends,’ which showed a group of friends hanging out in a coffee shop was legendary (I’m sensing a little irony here). Although many serials in the later years followed this similar premise, it was HIMYM that stood out from the lot. It had a group of co- dependent, dysfunctional, sometimes incestuous (the Ted-Robin-Barney storyline) friends who stood by each other through many personal and professional problems, friends that were family.

I remember arguing with friends and acquaintances that HIMYM was my most favourite TV series, in fact the best one after ‘Friends;’ so hilarious and witty that it may even be better than Friends. Excellent narration, well defined characters, more focus on the story arc and some realistic issues dealing with friendship, relationships, romance and life in general- these were my arguments in favour of this show. Needless to say that the way later seasons turned out I had to eat my own words.

The show seems to be stuck in a metaphorical rut. Besides being unfunny, there are some elements in the show that could have been handled differently (I haven’t seen the current season as it doesn’t air in India but somewhat know the storyline). Robin and Barney’s rekindled romance, for example.  The idea of Barney dating and marrying a stripper appealed to me much more than this current romance. There is almost some poetic justice in him ending up with a stripper.

Of course, the most obvious reason for this show to continue further could be its popularity. According to Wikipedia, HIMYM is the most watched TV show in USA. So nothing wrong if the channel wants to milk it for another year. What is missing, however, is the terrific episode after episode that takes the story forward in a way that makes us come back for more.

Finally, all these are a layperson’s expectations. I can’t mention what exactly I want to see but can just say that there is a lot left to be desired in the show. It just ain’t funny. How we have so often seen in the narration, perhaps the show itself needs an intervention. A major one at that.