i know i'm one of the only people on ilx who watches *how i met your mother* on a regular basis, but did anyone else see the robin sparkles episode? where robin didn't want people to know that she had

i know humor's a very subjective thing and all but...i l'd my ao last night the same way i have w/ most other episodes of the show

my lol meter must be broken

because i thought curb your enthusiasm was pretty atrocious on sunday as well

i know what you mean, sometimes i'm just in a weird mood and can't laugh at anything, not that i'm feeling mad or humorless just nothing hits me like that for a while

too many sardines

let's never say "shark" on any thread about a current TV show ever again please please please

dude it was barney in old-timey clothes speaking in rhyme about an ugly woman played by a man in a dress. don't blame the effect for the cause.

dude what fucking show are you watching that's never involved goofy costumes and/or fantasy sequences involving Barney.

it was a particularly "STFU TV show!" type moment

well, YMMV, it wasn't the greatest gag or anything, but i feel you'd only be able to strenuously object to it if you've conveniently missed every episode where Barney dresses like a lesbian or elderly Barney from the future, floats over NYC in a nightshirt, has long hair and a soul patch in a flashback, etc.?

It's not like it was a scene bizarrely out of keeping with the rest of the series.

exactly... this show isn't quite like Scrubs or Family Guy with the absurd cutaways but imo the occasional low brow/high concept gags are a pretty big part of its DNA

sorry if you didn't think it was retarded

and it was bizarrely out of keeping with the rest of the series in that it sucked and wasn't funny.

i didn't have a problem with olde tyme barney but it did seem like a weaker episode

it really felt like gave the cast uppers and went "goofy web bait? check. new catchphrase? check. goofy cutaway? check. song montage? check."

i agree with croup

this show treads a fine line between clever/stupid and this episode was just stupid

i dunno man, i have no problem w/ being able to say whether an episode was good or bad, but i think "jump the shark," aside from being a lame cliche, is a really noxious concept to bring up w/ a currently running show (whereas it might be at least useful when talking about a cancelled or irredeemably over the hill show), like you'd rather play celebrity dead pool about when to proclaim you've over it and sneer at other viewers who aren't than just watch the show and call it as you see it.

I liked Ted's tweed.

"jump the shark" is an awesome cliche! though I think it's most worthwhile in trying to capture when a show totally lost what made it worthwhile (what did Fonz leaping over a shark to dramatic music while his friends cheered have to do in the slightest with '50s nostalgia or funny?) rather than simply when a passed its prime. it's kind of glorious when a show is long enough for the worm to turn to that extreme. Mother's best at being a post-Arrested Development Friends and Barney's fantasy sequence was your standard late-in-the-game sitcom bullshit. i'm definitely not over the show, but when the moment comes it will probably involve an intelligence-free Barney fantasy sequence. and since when did you have a problem with sneering?

lots of sitcoms have done full-on fantasy episodes that have been cheesy as hell, but what happened last night was like 90 seconds of the episode

which is why i said "i saw a shark in the water" rather than "omg shark jumped never watching again"

I think it would have been better if it was just them reading the poems and not having the cut-aways but it didn't exactly ruin the episode, it was just a badly done joke. All sitcoms have them occasionally (and unfortunately.)

::shrugs:: invoking a cliche with a slight variation is still invoking it

god forbid

if you really have a problem with people playing pointless parlor games like this, you really must hate a show where they're constantly giving names like "pull a murtaugh" to common moments in life

that comparison was completely arbi....(wait for it)...trary

and it was bizarrely out of keeping with the rest of the series in that it sucked and wasn't funny

pretty sure characters telling elaborate exaggerated stories is in keeping w/the spirit of this show u dumb fuk and the whole episode was str8 classic sitcom jokes - if u want to laugh @ punchlineless moments of social awkwardness or w/e then gtfo of a cbs sitcom thread - like being half retarded isnt totally the point

u dum fuq

u dum fuq

this would be an awesome license plate

i don't mind the long exaggerated stories, BUT PLEASE MAKE IT CLEVER

the episode with ted teaching barney ROBIN 101--clever

Would understand this argument more if they hadn't done this sort of shit countless times before, and been much lamer along the way

i'm not sure if its an argument, i just want to laugh

not sure i actually want to ask for an example of a lamer fantasy sequence on himym, might be i'm blocking it out

Anyway wrt to the fantasy sequence I wasnt that in to it AND YET by the time both Ted and Barney had both used the 'Dude, it's a poem' line I'd kind of warmed to it through a. their belief that is what a poem should entail and b. that when they're on other other side of it they cant comprehend why.

Also thought Teds tweed looked pretty good, gotta go shopping

i like how this show takes turns in subjecting its characters to complete detachment from reality. this week it was marshall and lily being batshit insane.

"Ted...it's a poem" cracked me up and probably would've been what I ran to quote on here if this thread was more like the 30 Rock thread.

xp Yeah, think thats part of the charm, tho Marshall never far away from being dangerously unhinged in a charming way. tbh I can watch this show just fine even if its not making me excessively lol

Would understand this argument more if they hadn't done this sort of shit countless times before, and been much lamer along the way

― The nation's most valiant right back (Suedey 2), Tuesday, October 13, 2009 3:46 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

to summarize the argument: i agree w/ you, da croupier sees things differently

people bitch about episodes of 30 rock all the time here

(it's not all just quotes)

This episode actually make me laugh quite a lot! Somebody here must be wrong! WRONG

i was really stoned too. no laughter. i did enjoy barney's mugging at the end when he realized ted is single and happy and he is in a relationship.

cutty i just meant people post quotes more there, i realize there's crazy shark jumping talk there too

plus blonde chick ws

i don't mind the long exaggerated stories, BUT PLEASE MAKE IT CLEVER

gabbneb w/a bike

Laughed at the Innskeeper/crazy Marshall&Lily/ CAT FUNERAL SONG!!!! way more than Robin 101.

Not overly fond of the way they've handled the Barney/Robin (can we go TWOP can call them Bobin? Barbin?) relationship, it has not brought the funny at all.

to be fair i kinda hate tv so if the show is just becoming "str8 classic sitcom jokes" it figures i'd be nonplussed, but it's not like i'm pining for "punchlineless moments of social awkwardness" or for someone to glance into the documentary camera or aynthing. just like this show when it's a little less shrill burlesque (took me a while to get into 30 rock) and more earthbound/relatable.

Cat funeral made up for the weak points in this episode.

This show is all over the place, frankly. Worst episode for me - to my memory at least - was the 'Barney is secretly married!!!1' thing, which just... ugh. I thought that was bad. Still had its moments though.

xp meow

Surely BarneyRObin = BRo, especially considering Barney's obsession w/ the word.