How I Met Your Mother - season 5

HIMYM returns for its 5th season at 8 p.m.

At least both female cast members won't have to hide their pregnancies this season.

I don't remember them having a laugh track before. Is that new? It completely ruined the show. If felt so out of place.
Maybe it has always been there, but for some reason I noticed it tonight.

I was more distracted by the bounty from the ladies' pregnancies.

I don't buy the Robin and Barney relationship at all. Seems like the Rachel/Joey coupling they tried on Friends.

I noticed that too. Both girls are boobalicious to the max now! Yum.

I've always thought the two had better chemistry then other pairings.

You are telling me... good lord there were a couple of scenes where "willows" boobs were like WOW.. here THEY ARE!

I noticed it last night myself and found it to be quite distracting at times. When something is funny, I'll laugh. I don't need a machine to tell me when...

Otherwise, this was an enjoyable episode. The deja vu blind date was a fairly clever idea and was well-executed IMO.

More Lily doppelganger stripper, please!

You probably are noticing it now because the show isn't really that funny anymore.  But it's always had a laugh track even though it isn't shot in front of a studio audience (the show jumps around in time so much it's impossible to do live). 

I've never found anything sexy about Allyson Hannigan.  When she did that Maxim shoot a few years back, I threw up in my mouth a little.  Okay, it wasn't that bad, but I did make a face like I drank a shot of vinegar.

It's hard for me to find anyone else sexy when Coby Smulders is around.

If you haven't already checked it out: ItWasTheBestNightEver.com.

As a proponent of the Robin-Barney pairing, I am surprisingly ambivalent about them "getting back together as friends." 

I know some people here will be happy. :)

And interesting to see the "2.5 Men" ditz as a blonde.

I'm happy they're splitting simply because it allows the show to get back to the formula that works best - Barney's (s)exploits are, to me, one of the best aspects of the show.  We already get the "couple" stuff from Marshall and Lily, Robin is the "utility" player that provides comic relief or random storyline support, and Ted is the "glue" that binds the story together.

Come to think of it, it's been several weeks since anything on Ted's job as a teacher (and how he actually MET the mother).  They'd better throw us a bone on that storyline soon.

I can't remember an episode that took that kind of chance with a concept.  Pretty funny stuff.

I haven't wanted a cigarette so badly since I quit almost seven years ago.    Very funny stuff.  I forgot to check the credits - was that really Harvey Fierstein doing the voice of "Smoking Lily" or someone imitating him?

Regards,

Joe

That's funny, it never occurred to me that the smoking voice was a famous voice cameo:

 

Fierstein's voice is unmistakable.  I knew it was him (or someone doing a spot-on imitation) even though I was in the kitchen taking a phone call the first time "Lily" used that voice. 

Regards,

Joe

Lily's smoking voice was hilarious. I thought it sounded like Fierstein but didn't think it was actually him. :lol:

Marshall's visits with his 13-yo self were pretty funny too.

Give Neil Patrick Harris a long singing number  :)

 

Otherwise a fair ep.. had some good moments, lots of progress on the mother; but we'll have to see how it all ends.

Be hilarious if the roommate ends up being her (Bilson's character's) identical twin sister.

That was a mostly frustrating episode.  More teasing about the identity of the mother.  And an entire subplot about a bartender that was not that hot.  The way they built up the bartender, she should have been at least as hot as Robin, and she was such a generic looking blonde it wasn't even close.  I think we were supposed to think Marshall casual reaction belied his true desire, but I wholeheartedly agreed with his unenthusiastic assessment.

If I ever rewatch the episode, it will only be the musical number.  It wasn't the greatest musical number, but it was the only bright spot in an otherwise dull episode.

BTW, they dropped that yellow umbrella in there with zero explanation.  I had to remind my wife of its significance.


Edited by Hanson Yoo - 1/12/10 at 10:19am

when he left the voice over said, your mother got her yellow umbrella back

I know, but they never explained where Ted got it from and what it meant that the mother got it back.  It just showed up and he left it there.  I got the reference (I got it the instant he pulled out the yellow umbrella) but my wife was scratching her head and newer viewers were probably thinking, WTF?

But if they had explained it, that would have slowed down the episode, even leaving it in a voiceover.  It's much more satisfying when they drop in one of those clues that lets the viewer remember things on their own.

As for newer viewers, there are DVDs and online broadcasts.  If someone is starting out in the 100th episode and does not want to catch up on the first 99, then they can't complain about not getting all of the jokes and references.

Reference your teasing comment, I think this was the biggest clue they actually have dropped in the entire series, and one that made sense for the time.  They couldn't just introduce her because that would kill the rest of the season, especially if she doesn't actually meet Ted.  Plus, they actually tied several aspects of Future Ted's story together.  So I don't think it was really teasing in the cruel and pointless sense just for prolonging a mystery.

Isn't that the crux of the entire series?

BTW, when Lily slowly started taking off her earrings, I knew a punch was coming.  Pretty funny stuff.

Welcome back Amanda Peet!  That reminds me... it's been a while since I've watched The Whole Nine Yards.  Maybe too long.

Yes, the crux of the show is to tease the identity of the mother.  But, there's two ways of doing that.  One is the way they usually handle it, and throw in a key piece of the puzzle.  Enough to satisfy the viewer knowing how far into the series we are, but not enough to completely blow the suspense.  The other way is to throw something cryptic or nonsensical, just to remind viewers that there is a longer mystery but not actually give them anything to satisfy them or even whet their appetite for more.

But that episode had the most clues about the mother than we've ever seen.  So, it was the good kind of teasing.

Curious how long they'll decide to drag out the Mother mystery considering the show just had its highest ratings ever. How many seasons do you think they will be able to complete, regardless of whether they keep the Mother secret until the very end.

after the story is over on how he met her, it could change to 'now that you know how i met her, i can tell you how i convinced her to marry me' that could drag out a season or 2 also.

edit: not drag, but extend the show further, i love the show, so if it stays in top notch i'd love 2 or 3 more seaons.

No love for Cook Pu?

Not the greatest episode, but the Cook Pu thing was a friggin' riot.

"I have a number two for Cook Pu"