How I Met Your Mother

[Commodore]

Speaking of great comedies, AOL has a bunch of [i]Arrested Development [/i]episodes [url="http://www.hulu.com/watch/13248/arrested-development-motherboy-xxx"]available for free[/url].

EDIT: thanks aeu for that info

[aeu]

AFAIK, Hulu has all Arrested Development episodes. The quality is pretty good as well.

[Blaine]

It's a funny show. Mainly due to the writing and the cast. Segal, Hannigan and NPH consistently rock.

But I've always thought the premise was more than a little hokey. Honestly, the show would be just fine without the running "kids, let me tell you about the time Uncle Barney..." crap.

And yeah, it's consistently funny, but it never reaches the high points that The Office or 30 Rock hits.

[caladanbrood]

I do enjoy it, but yes, it stays at a consistantly good level without ever rising to some of the absolutely awesome moments you get in some other programs. I'd never seen that clip you posted though Jaxom, though I thought I'd seen all the episodes. Flight-suit up! :D

[S John]

[quote name='BJ Penn' post='1285674' date='Mar 23 2008, 17.39']I don't really understand why everyone hates so much on "Everybody Loves Raymond", either. I'm not a fan of the show, but I think it's mildly funny and if I'm channel-surfing and it's on, I'll watch it. If anything, at least it makes me appreciate the relationship I have with my in-laws that much more. And I can totally relate to some of the scenes between Ray and his kids, cos that's kinda how I feel sometimes when dealing with mine: clueless and have no idea if I'm telling them the right thing or not.[/quote]

I don't get the hate either. It's not what I'd pick to watch, but it's really not terrible. I can see how it would especially appeal to the generations between mine and my parents. It's all about family life, dealing with kids, annoying in-laws, prying elderly parents.... things that a lot of families can relate to.

And King of Queens.. I didnt realize there were haters, I like that show and I won't lie about it. Kevin James is hillarious.

[aariafromarty]

Adding the "kids, let me tell you about the time Uncle Barney..." allows the writers to frame the story in the form of a flashback. It's pretty much the central premise of the show.

Case in point, instead of telling the kids how he used to smoke pot with Marshall in college, he tells them they used to eat a sandwich. Showing obvious potheads get paranoid about eating a sandwich started off as awesome, and only went up from there!

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='aariafromarty' post='1286699' date='Mar 24 2008, 18.36']Adding the "kids, let me tell you about the time Uncle Barney..." allows the writers to frame the story in the form of a flashback. It's pretty much the central premise of the show.

Case in point, instead of telling the kids how he used to smoke pot with Marshall in college, he tells them they used to eat a sandwich. Showing obvious potheads get paranoid about eating a sandwich started off as awesome, and only went up from there![/quote]

That was a positive endorsement there, right?

Gotta watch tonight's episode on the DVR still...wonder if the Britney hype was anything...

[MeanMrMustard]

[quote]And yeah, it's consistently funny, but it never reaches the high points that The Office or 30 Rock hits.[/quote]


By "The Office or 30 Rock" did you mean South Park?


Because it's impossible to argue that any other show on television ever comes close to the brilliance of shit like the Imaginationland trilogy.

[RedEyedGhost]

[quote name='Jaxom 1974' post='1287076' date='Mar 24 2008, 21.36']That was a positive endorsement there, right?

Gotta watch tonight's episode on the DVR still...wonder if the Britney hype was anything...[/quote]

Tonight's episode was pretty damn funny.


And Sarah Chalke was much, much hotter than Britney. Much. (and Britney CANNOT act)

[Dirk Llama]

[quote name='MeanMrMustard' post='1287105' date='Mar 25 2008, 01.30']By "The Office or 30 Rock" did you mean South Park?


Because it's impossible to argue that any other show on television ever comes close to the brilliance of shit like the Imaginationland trilogy.[/quote]

Oh, they definitely match [i]South Park[/i]. Surpass, even. [i]30 Rock[/i] is actually funny.

[url="http://www.hulu.com/watch/5791"]http://www.hulu.com/watch/5791[/url]

[Paddy]

I dont hate ELR and KoQ, it's just that there's [i]nothing[/i] funny about them.
No gags or anything. That and the fact that they appear to be massively popular for some unknown reason and take up space that could go to shows that are actually funny on the Paramount Comedy Channel.

South Park's current level of quality (from the episodes I've seen in the past couple of seasons) is astounding.
I just saw the Imaginationland trilogy and Tonsil Trouble at the weekend.
Holy Shit! Seriously brilliant and hilarious.


Also, every South Park episode.. free!
[url="http://www.southparkstudios.com/"]http://www.southparkstudios.com/[/url]
[url="http://www.southparkzone.com"]http://www.southparkzone.com[/url]

[Biter]

I have to give the edge to South Park as well, but HIMYM and 30 Rock are both really good.

[Blaine]

[quote name='aariafromarty' post='1286699' date='Mar 24 2008, 17.36']Adding the "kids, let me tell you about the time Uncle Barney..." allows the writers to frame the story in the form of a flashback. It's pretty much the central premise of the show.

Case in point, instead of telling the kids how he used to smoke pot with Marshall in college, he tells them they used to eat a sandwich. Showing obvious potheads get paranoid about eating a sandwich started off as awesome, and only went up from there![/quote]

And this couldn't have been done with a simple flashback instead of a flashback within a flashback?

I mean, unless you give a rat's ass about how Ted met the future mother of his children (and who really does? Ted's the least interesting guy on the show), then the central premise of the show is built on an unnecessary gimmick.


[quote]By "The Office or 30 Rock" did you mean South Park?

Because it's impossible to argue that any other show on television ever comes close to the brilliance of shit like the Imaginationland trilogy.[/quote]
True dat.
Honestly, I don't think it's fair to even include South Park in a discussion about network sitcoms, though.

[Vestrit]

[i]HIMYM [/i]used to be one of those hidden gems on British telly, tucked away at an obscure time on a Sunday afternoon because somebody with an eye bought the series but the higher-ups at the channel wouldn't know good telly if it hit them in the face so they buried it (hence Five went through a time of beating the bigger networks to all the good US cop shows like [i]CSI[/i], [i]The Shield[/i] and [i]Boomtown[/i], and [i]The Wire [/i]was on an obscure cable channel because despite people at stations like Channel Four thinking that they're 'down', their station is a fucking joke and they think good telly is yet another version of [i]Big Brother[/i] and a sensationalist 'documentary' about porn or deformed kids or something).

Anyway.

Love HIMYM. Dougie Howser's character is fantastic. I used to have one of his quotes as my custom title: 'Out there. Being awesome. 24/7.'


As for why [i]Everybody Loves Raymond[/i] is popular - it's a safe, inoffensive show about a suburban middle American man living in a suburban home with a suburban family and suburban 'issues'. Of course it's going to rate highly, despite there barely being a decent laugh in an entire season

[Bormon]

[quote name='Blaine vingt et trois' post='1287507' date='Mar 25 2008, 12.45']And this couldn't have been done with a simple flashback instead of a flashback within a flashback?

I mean, unless you give a rat's ass about how Ted met the future mother of his children (and who really does? Ted's the least interesting guy on the show), then the central premise of the show is built on an unnecessary gimmick.[/quote]

But with the gimmick, you get to have to narrator (Bob Saget BTW) explain and expand on things. It worked for the Wonder Years and its brilliant in this show.

[Jon AS]

[quote name='Bormon']But with the gimmick, you get to have to narrator (Bob Saget BTW) explain and expand on things. It worked for the Wonder Years and its brilliant in this show.[/quote]

Yeah, it's not strictly necessary for the show to work, and it's not always effective, but it often does add another level of humour to an already funny show.

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='Jon AS' post='1287665' date='Mar 25 2008, 14.25']Yeah, it's not strictly necessary for the show to work, and it's not always effective, but it often does add another level of humour to an already funny show.[/quote]

While maybe not strictly needed, it does help with the framing and allows the writers to help keep things straight. Whomever is in charge of keeping the timeline right does a fantastic job. A cut to Marshall and Lily's wedding as part of a highlight from something else going on showed Marshall wearing a hat during the reception. When they got to the wedding, we find out why he's wearing the hat. When we get clips from the college days, the hair and beards and such is always consistent. It's well done.

[ztemhead]

good reco, Jax. I needed more comedy in my life, and this show hits the spot.



Ted is annoying as fuck however. I hope he chills out in future episodes. There can be only one Ross in this world.

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='ztemhead' post='1288242' date='Mar 25 2008, 19.54']Ted is annoying as fuck however. I hope he chills out in future episodes. There can be only one Ross in this world.[/quote]

Don't get the Ted hate. He isn't a Ross to me. He's essentially the straight guy to the others. And while it's "his story", there's always so much more going on. And actually, he's had some really great moments. The pineapple incident episode for one...

[Blaine]

[quote name='Bormon' post='1287653' date='Mar 25 2008, 13.16']But with the gimmick, you get to have to narrator (Bob Saget BTW) explain and expand on things. It worked for the Wonder Years and its brilliant in this show.[/quote]
I don't see the brilliance, honestly. But I guess that's relative.

The reason it made sense for the Wonder Years? Because the show was set in the sixties and the narrator was in our time. It doesn't make quite as much sense to have a future narrator from 2015 telling me about now.

Again, I don't see how it makes the continuity work any better than good continuity would on any show... and the voice overs don't have to be from 20 years in the future to make any sense. They could just be Ted adding commentary to the story as it happens. In fact, the future voiceovers make less sense, because he never has to explain to his kids that cars used to run on gasoline or anything like that - which would certainly be the case.

Of course, I'm putting way too much thought into this. It's gimmicky and the show would still be just as funny without it. Point made.