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

Yeah, until this thread started I felt like the only person who even watches this show. It's been on the verge of cancellation nearly every year.

word. i only know like one other person who watches it irl.

do people really care how "relevant" the shows they enjoy are?

n/a OTM, I don't see how that matters in terms of how one can enjoy a show like this (also I'd argue that "Friends" is a bad example since it seems that it gets funnier to me as it becomes more irrelevant; now that it isn't being held up as THE PINNACLE OF MODERN COMEDY I have space to find things in it that make me laugh).

Episode tonight (at half an hour earlier? Did they cancel Big Bang Theory?) is really lol.

WTF? I hate it when they pull this shit, now I have to torrent it *grumble grumble* BBT is far from cancelled, hell, it already got renewed for two more seasons while HIMYM is, yet again, kind of on the bubble.

I never said either show was realistic. First of all I made the comparison not because of popularity but because they're both about supposedly average 20-somethings doing what supposedly average 20-somethings do. Whether or not the show was fantasy, Friends was rooted in 90's culture and it feels dated even now. I think HIMYM is a lot more honest about how its characters fritter away their time while dealing with their major life/relationship issues like Friends never was, ie. drinking heavily, taking drugs, sleeping with strangers, etc. And in that way think that makes it kind of timeless. Fuck your semantics.

I was going to be all "wtf no one brought realism into this" but then I reread the thread

http://canadiansexacts.org/

yeah if you're going to show two episodes, one old and one new, why would you show the new one at the wrong time and the old one at the right time?

to test it as a lead-in

a lead-in to itself?

to see how well it stands at 8 without the Big Bang Theory lead-in or the Two and a Half Men follow. My guess is that they had to shell out a lot of money to Chuck Lorre and co. to keep the shows there (also there were budgetary disputes) and, despite HIMYM getting solid ratings, are looking to see what corners can be cut. I can't imagine HIMYM being in any real danger though, so maybe they're just testing the waters for a restructure of the night.

The dopey logic is that not everybody realized the time change, so it probably isn't an accurate estimate. Fuel for the fire if they want to can something though.

This is all total guesswork and might have no bearing in reality.

Count me as one of the many who tuned in at 8:30 and was sad :( I would have watched it at 8, had I known.. thanks a lot, programming geniuses!

this one left me a little cold, but i was kind of distracted while watching it. the last scene w/robin's canadian seduction was pretty great.

if you're lazy to t0rrent, you can stream the episode here.

CBS are playing some weird game with HIMYM - they've ordered four new episodes but no official renewal yet, which would allow the writers to get a headstart on a fifth season without actually confirming that there will be one.

now i'm not sure why they would do that unless they were planning to renew it anyway so i think there's some kind of deal-making going on behind the scenes but concerning what exactly it's not clear. it would be bullshit to cancel next season though, when they already have 88 episodes in the can by the end of season 4 - that only leaves 22 before the show goes into syndication (at 110 episodes). my guess is there's nothing to worry about for now, but it is weird that CBS hasn't decided to give it an early renewal like they have with BBT and 2 1/2 men.

in that recent av club interview jason segel said that the actors are contracted for like four more seasons (not that that means anything in terms of the network though).

cancelling it now would be pretty stupid as they would not have time to do a proper 'mother' story. they finished filming in january right? so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

plus, i've always assumed it does well enough (britney, segel must be bringing in the apatow crowd etc.) to take enough time as it needs.

I think the early renewal for BBT and 2 1/2 Men all came down to that budgetary issues that caused difficult negotiations. I imagine they had to give the multiple seasons to both for Lorre (similar to the Simpsons/Futurama thing from however many years ago). But now they know they have to keep BBT (they would have anyway, but I reckon they didn't bet on that kind of renewal) to keep 2 1/2 men, which is the big one for them. So with the recession affecting ad sales etc..., and now being stuck into a very expensive multi-year deal, they could be getting a little nervous. That's worst case scenario thinking though.

Really don't think HIMYM is in trouble, but you never know. I remember it was pretty close to being cancelled after the first and second seasons, especially as one of the CBS execs said he didn't think it was funny and didn't know why anyone wanted to keep it on air. Still don't think the lack of an early renewal means anything. BBT/Men was a special case.

so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

i don't think tv networks really care about this sort of thing at all

still bitter about Models Inc. after all these years

the ridiculous thing is that HIMYM has pretty much had its best average ratings ever this season, and Big Bang Theory's ratings are only slightly better.

but BBT is tied to the moneymaker.

i know...you made good points, i'm just saying it's silly for all those conditions to give two shows with similar performance such different chances of renewal.

yeah Gukbe's prob right about it being budget issues and the Lorre connection (they should cut Charlie Sheen's paycheck though - dude rakes in 800k per ep, holy shit).

i mean it's no million-dollar Friends paychecks but then again 2 1/2 men is nowhere close to being as big as Friends was at its peak.

god i cant think of a better and easier job than being a sitcom actor

really CBS's whole monday night is solid right now and i feel like they'd be screwing up a good thing by messing with it at all...Rules Of Engagement is corny, but i'm a massive Warburton stan so I can at least watch it, whereas I turned off the TV and ran away whenever Worst Week came on.

the fact that HIMYM has increased its ratings so much despite being a highly serialized show is impressive, and you would hope that they would realize that means they have a growing (and fairly rabid) fanbase. I don't think it's going anywhere. They don't generally announce this stuff until April or May anyway.

"god i cant think of a better and easier job than being a sitcom actor Charlie Sheen."
xpost

still bitter about Models Inc. after all these years

I still want to know what was going to happen to Carrie Ann Moss's character.

so the season ends and... hey, ted never met the mother!

i don't think tv networks really care about this sort of thing at all

― meat of beef (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 March 2009 14:55 (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

In shows that don't make it past a pilot or first season sure, but in shows that has, as Gukbe nicely puts it, a fairly rabid growing fan base, and quite a bit invested in it (namely Segel who's star keeps growing etc.) I think pissing a lot of people off by just ignoring the premise of the show would be a bit ridiculous. But I guess yeah, they might not care at all.

bigger question: who did the sniper shoot??

xpost

xpost don't forget obsessive whedon fans - apparently a lot jumped on the show after NPH's turn as Dr. Horrible, if they weren't already watching it for Alyson Hannigan.

rabid fanbases don't count for much though if the ratings don't match (RIP arrested development, veronica mars et al) but luckily in HIMYM's case, they do.

never underestimate network execs:

A scene directly relating to the identity of the mother, involving Ted's future children, was filmed near the beginning of season two for the show's eventual series finale.[5]

my money's still on wendy the waitress.

wasn't the execs idea though. it was the creators' - they were scared that the kids would grow up too quickly before they could end the show. they've also said that if they had to, they've got no problem going the full 8 years before revealing who the mother was. xp

do people really care who the mother is?
i don't.

i never even think about it.

its going to be robin

it won't be robin

its going to be robin

that would be such a cheat considering that the narrator (lol @ ted turning into bob saget) refers to "your aunt robin" when talking to the kids like 1000000x

i don't really care who the mother is at this moment but i think having that mystery is one of the things that make the show so much fun - like the sandwiches ep where we see Lily, Marshall and Ted smoke up in the future and ted idly wondering where his wife was.

that would be such a cheat considering that the narrator (lol @ ted turning into bob saget) refers to "your aunt robin" when talking to the kids like 1000000x

― meat of beef (Jordan), Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:09 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ya i hate 2 break it 2 u but... its going to be robin

i will bet you 10 suggest bans that it won't

Ted would not marry a woman that's into the Old King Clancy.

considering how much the writers are into subverting expectations and putting odd twists on plots, i feel like it's not giving them very much credit to say "it'll be robin duh".

ya... its gonna be robin, tho

Not only does he refer to her as Aunt Robin, I think he actually says at the end of the first episode, "That was NOT your mother."

max u mad and wrong