HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: THE COMPLETE SEASON 5
(not rated)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
STARRING
Josh Radnor as TED MOSBY
Jason Segel as MARSHALL ERIKSEN
Alyson Hannigan as LILY ALDRIN
Neil Patrick Harris as BARNEY STINSON
Cobie Smulders as ROBIN SCHERBATSK
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The meandering and often seemingly-pointless story about how Ted Mosby met the woman he was to marry continues with “How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Season 5.” In this season, we learn about Robin’s brief affair with the consummate womanizer Barney Stinson. We also learn about the gang’s doppelgangers and how they affected their lives in 2009. We also get a brief glimpse at Ted Mosby’s future wife… even if it is just her feet.
WHAT I LIKED
People who complain about the fact that we never actually get to meet the mother on “How I Met Your Mother” are really missing the point of the show. Sure, it’s called “How I Met Your Mother,” but it’s really just an excuse to give us a modern-day “Seinfeld” in which these beloved characters bounce around from relationship to relationship and get into all sorts of trouble.
The key to a show like this is to not grow at all. We don’t want to meet Ted’s mother… not really. After all, it’s more fun to watch him flop in and out of relationships. Likewise, you really don’t want Robin to settle down with Barney because that would kill the dynamic of the show. At least so far, the people behind “How I Met Your Mother” seem to understand this. Let’s not have the characters progress because if they do – and by default become more mature – we lose what makes them funny.
“How I Met Your Mother” defines situational comedy. It introduces a different silly plot line – from Barney giving up his powerful playbook of ways to get women to sleep with him to Ted and Marshall driving to Chicago to eat some of the worst (but also the best) pizza in the country.
This season ushers in the benchmark 100th episode of the series, which includes a production number reminiscent of “The Drew Carey Show.” It also has some choice guest stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Rachel Bilson, Stacey Kiebler and a hilarious appearance by Amanda Peet.
“How I Met Your Mother” is one of the better sit coms out there, bringing back the joy of the sit com we saw in the 70s. Like “The Big Bang Theory,” it serves as an excuse to give us funny, sexy and borderline-inappropriate material in a very safe setting. When “How I Met Your Mother” has a “very special episode,” we know it’ll all be over.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
While I haven’t watched this show from the beginning, I consider myself a fan of it now. It takes a little time to warm up to the characters, and it’s almost unappealing if you’re not familiar with them. However, after a couple episodes, the show is brilliantly funny. It’s not meant to change the world, but neither were shows like “Three’s Company” or “Seinfeld.”
There’s plenty for one to complain about this show – from recycled sit com plots to bad behavior condoned by the characters – but that’s really part of the fun of the series. So, you can loft those claims, but you’re just not getting into the fun of things.
DVD FEATURES
This fifth season DVD set includes some pretty nice special features, especially for a fifth season of a show. There’s a blooper reel, stand-alone music videos for the songs from the series, a behind-the-scenes “Making of Super Date,” the full trailer for the film-within-a-show “The Wedding Bride,” a behind-the-scenes featurette on the musical number from the 100th episode and a series recap.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who like the traditional, not-out-to-solve-the-world’s-problems sit com.