How I Met Your Mother: Season 1

It was great

How many TV comedies can be called "Feel-Good" shows? More and more comedy on network TV is about misery. Failure. The bitter, cynical realities that allegedly lurk behind the bright, shining happy endings we've all grown up with. The generation that created and continues to embrace Reality TV prefers to look at the lives of others and say "Thank God that's not me" than to look at the world through someone else's eyes and say "Gee, I wish that could be me.""How I Met Your Mother" looks like a conventional sitcom with its multi-camera shooting style and it sounds like a conventional sitcom with its omnipresent laugh track. But there is nothing conventional about this show. Ted, Marshall and Lilly have been best friends since the first week of college. Now an architect, a law student and a kindergarten teacher respectively, their relationships haven't changed that much, with one notable exception. Marshall and Lilly are engaged and in the light of their wedding preparations, Ted starts to wonder if he's ready to settle down. Then he meets Robin, a beautiful, independent TV newscaster...who is completely wrong for Ted in every significant way. Add to the mix Barney, Ted's confirmed bachelor-for-life friend who insists that he is an expert on meeting, seducing and abandoning women. But throughout all the missteps and bad hookups one thing remains: Heart. It's a show about people who love each other and that makes all the difference.The cast includes popular favorites like Jason Segal ("Freaks and Geeks", and the writer/star of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall") and Alyson Hannigan (Willow on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Barney is played by Neil Patrick Harris, and after seeing him in one scene, you won't even be thinking the word "Doogie." Also on board is Bob Saget ("Full House") who narrates the show as Ted in the year 2030 telling his children the story of how he became the man he had to be before he could meet their mother. Now, it might seem like this gives away the ending of the story, but any true sports fan will tell you that there's more to a baseball game than who won and who lost. Life is a journey, not always an easy one, and this is a show that celebrates getting there as opposed to being there.

Why do I love this show?I want every character on this show to be my best friend (except Robin). They're funny, caring, and awesome. The actors truly have tons of chemistry, providing a quality show in a half-hour block.This is no generic sitcom. Sure, it's got a laugh track and some of the banter is cliché, however, most of it is incredibly witty and heartfelt. Ted is engaged in a genuine search for love, and I'm completely wrapped up in it. I fell in love with the Cake Girl (Victoria, played by Ashley Williams) and was sad to see her go (it's probably why I'm not a huge fan of Robin). This show has continuity and a compelling storyline; it simply amazes me.It's very quotable. I find myself quoting with friends I've talked into watching it (who get equally hooked). The cast is brilliant, as well as the director and writers. Bloc Party's song: `This Modern Love' at the close of Season One clenched it for me though, dramatically building up a powerful finale I won't soon forget. It joins the hall of fame for greatest season finale songs with the likes of The O.C's: Imogen Heap `Hide and Seek' and Grey's Anatomy's: Snow Patrol `Chasing Cars'.Hands down, this is the best sitcom I've ever seen. Buy it, watch it, love it.DISCLAIMER: Though the writers are good at what they do, don't listen to any of their commentaries. They are exceptionally boring, lackluster, and have slightly soured my enjoyment of the show. It's that bad.

I remain invested with How I Met Your Mother characters, back stories, & hysterical timing with lines delivered. That said, this is a great series with a much preferred optional ending after years of being a fan. Wonderful addition to your DVD library.

Let me just start by saying this is one of my favorite comedy series of all time. I did not see the original runs of the first few seasons and did not really catch on to the show until it was in syndication. So I decided to catch up on what I had missed by starting at the beginning. The main premise of the series, of course, is that Ted is telling his kids at some point in the future how he met their mother. After watching the pilot it becomes obvious that it is not going to be a short story. The best way to watch is to start right at episode 1, season 1, and work your way directly through episode by episode. This is one of those shows that has running gags and premises that continue throughout the series, so you will have a better understanding of some of the inside jokes as the series progresses. One example is the blue French horn that is seen in the very first episode and shows up again periodically, most notably in the series finale. The cast of the show work well together, and the writing is clever if not brilliant.

Wow, can't believe I missed it when it was on TV. Great show, love binge-watching it.

I'll be buying this the second it comes out. It is the most underrated sitcom on TV today. I'd argue it is just behind The Office in quality. I grew in the golden age (the '80s, not the '50s) of the sitcom. As the years passed, good ones fell away, Seinfeld saved it for a while and it too moved off into the sunset. I tend to love sitcoms with a bit whimsy, a bit of heart, and romance. My all time standard is the Wonder Years. While this is more "sitcomy," it is more like a beautifully executed film. Twenty-two (and this season is even better) episodes or 11 hours of a great romantic comedy. Hollywood should take note. The cast is pitch perfect. All of them. Neil patrick harris gets most of the press, but Josh Radnor is fantastic. Colby Smulders is a great addition to the american comedy scene. The rest? Smashing. They really don't come any better than this. Take the time to fall in love. Even with Bob Saget's voice. This show is the best. You won't regreat it.