HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

After a few slow weeks, tonight’s How I Met Your Mother worked on almost every level and set up stories for weeks, maybe even seasons, to come. Barney and Robin’s museum escapade was the best use of the pair together since their ill-advised breakup. Plus, it set the stage for Barney’s quest to meet (or I guess it’s actually reunite with) his real father. Over in Marshall and Lily-ville, the revelation that Marshall is content working for GNB causes Lily to long for the idealistic crusader she fell in love with in college. When that Marshall shows up, he’s just another extinct species. Maybe it’s just me, but that visual perfectly conveyed how much we leave behind when we grow up. That being said, Lily is smart enough to realize that all that was loving and giving in her husband still exists. But lest we think “Corporate Marshall” is endgame, we see another museum exhibit where that Marshall is extinct (does “Stay-at-home dad Marshall” come next?).

The only part of the episode that fell flat? The Ted/Zoey plot. Jennifer Morrison is not at all likable as the “activist”/trophy wife (although Kyle MacLachlan did a nice job as her yachtsman husband). All season she’s come off as a bully, and not once have I been behind her efforts to save the Arcadian. Just when I thought I might be able to understand what makes the girl tick (she married too young and is trying to fill the void left by her distracted husband), she whips out that recorder. And I hated her all over again. She’s not “The Mother,” and since we saw growth on the Barney/Robin front and the “Who’s Barney’s dad?” front, Ted needs to get on with it already.

Premiere Week: What I Watched

Quite the week for new and returning shows! I can’t recall a Fall TV season in recent memory where so much debuted at once, and I knew I’d never catch everything right out of the gate. So I stuck with my favorites from last season and sampled a few new shows. My thoughts:

Sunday

Boardwalk Empire: Maybe it has the unfair advantage of being an HBO show, but nothing else came close to this period drama.

Monday

How I Met Your Mother: Last season had its ups and downs, but a lot went right here. It looks like Ted is finally going to meet his future wife (at least by season’s end?), Lily and Marshall’s efforts to have a baby already yielded humorous and tender moments, and when Barney took note of Robin’s sundress… please tell me they’re getting back together to rectify a missed opportunity from Season 5.

Dancing with the Stars: I thought “The Situation” was one of the better dancers. That’s right. I said it.

Hawaii Five-O: I mainly put it on to see Athena/Boomer (and she didn’t really have a whole lot to do in the pilot aside from stripping down to her skivvies). But I was pleasantly surprised by this show. Beautiful locations, well-executed action sequences, and a fun performance by Scott Caan added up to a show I’ll probably watch from time to time (though I doubt it will become appointment television).

Tuesday

Raising Hope and Running Wilde: I’m not just lumping these two shows together because they made up FOX’s 9 o’clock hour. Raising Hope is an improbable show centered around a white trash family coming together to care for the title infant, the child of their young son and a recently executed criminal; Running Wilde is on the opposite side of the spectrum as a ridiculously rich playboy tries to win back his true love, an idealistic activist. I don’t find either premise that believable (Raising Hope has a slight advantage, but it’s slight). But both shows feature a lot of talented people before and behind the camera. And if I’m being honest, the premise of Community didn’t have me at hello. But once that show grew past its initial contrivance, it became a must see. So here’s hoping these new comedies similarly find their way.

Wednesday

Undercovers: This spy drama is not short on attractive leads (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) with oodles of chemistry, but the pilot was underwhelming. Maybe there were too many changes of scenery in the first hour and not enough character development. Maybe this is one of those pilots that simply sets the stage and doesn’t really convey where the show can and will go. But I enjoyed it enough to give it a few more weeks to get into its groove (and I think this might be a show that could do with some more serialized arcs regarding the couple’s past and present spy exploits).

Modern Family: Last season, I loved this show from the start (and its recent Emmy wins were tres sweet). No question that the highlight of the season opener was Cameron, Mitchell, and Jay trying to assemble a princess castle for little Lily. Line of the night? Jay talking about building a bookshelf with Mitchell: “That was my Vietnam — and I was in Vietnam.” The Dunphy station wagon subplot and Gloria having to compete with Manny’s maybe girlfriend were not as laugh out loud funny, but both hit their tender beats, and I’m so happy to have this show back.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: I only saw the second hour of the season premiere, but… whoa! A little girl trapped with two video game addict parents? Her mom thinks she’s a pod person because of a brain injury? And that’s before she gets raped by a pedophile masquerading as a child rights advocate (guest star Henry Ian Cusick of Lost fame). Compelling and disturbing never gets old.

Thursday

Community: A wonderful return for last season’s other great comedy. Besides a fabulous guest spot by Betty White (she really can do no wrong), this episode quickly dealt with the fallout from the finale’s Britta/Jeff/Annie “triangle” by essentially doing an entire “will they or won’t they” sitcom in like 15 minutes (Jeff and Britta pretending they were in love, Abed arranging a wedding, the reveal of the Jeff/Annie kiss, etc.). In the end the gang basically reaffirmed their friendship and prepared for another semester/season of college hi jinks (and the promise of “the two Changs” doing battle for the former Senor’s soul and control of the study group bodes very well for the show’s sophomore season).

30 Rock: While last season ended on a high note (Liz found Carol, Jack finally chose Avery), the season premiere was far from the best 30 Rock ever. I like Matt Damon, but he paled in comparison to some of Liz’s other onscreen lovers (notably Jon Hamm and Michael Sheen). Still, Carol’s crying jag during The Barefoot Contessa was amusing, and there’s no way I’m tuning out before October 14th’s live episode.

The Office: Nice return to form as Steve Carell prepares for his victory lap. The opening recalled some of the show’s best ensemble moments (I found myself reminded of the “fire drill” that opened “Stress Relief”). While I was dismayed to learn that Erin hooked up with Gabe over the summer (poor Andy!) at least it seems like a realistic roadblock in their relationship. Pam trying to impress Jim by pranking Dwight was both funny and sweet, and if Michael Scott has to go, at least it seems he’ll go out with a bang.

Friday

Medium: This show is hardly groundbreaking, but it is well-acted and the mysteries can be intriguing. What the season premiere lacked in plot (the real murderer was obvious in the first 10 minutes), it more than made up for with a zany opening sequence featuring Paulie Walnuts himself, Tony Sirico, as a restless ghost and a Freaky Friday ripoff that gave Patricia Arquette and Maria Lark a chance to swap roles. Not surprisingly, both actresses subtly channeled the other’s character (guess that’s what comes from seven seasons of playing mother and daughter).

So what did you watch? Any thoughts on what will be the next breakout hit/bomb? Or was it just a little too much to take in at once?

Top TV Couples

While it’s not the As the World Turns countdown(s) we promised (coming soon! really!), let’s take a moment to look at some memorable TV couples through the years. In alphabetical order (clips abound!):

As Time Goes By – Jean and Lionel: Separated for nearly 40 years, this couple reunited to show viewers that romance knows no age.

Honorable Mention – Judith and Alistair: It took Jean’s daughter and Lionel’s publisher nearly the entire run of the show to get it right, but taking a page from their elders they proved it’s better late than never.

Battlestar Galactica – Helo and Athena: Would you betray your entire race or undermine an arguably just genocide in the name of love? Probably not, but they did and became the couple who might have most deserved their happy ending.

Honorable Mention – Roslin and Adama: By contrast, their time together was much too brief. Still, it’s not every woman who inspires her lover to build a shrine to her after she’s gone. And it’s not every man who keeps watch.

Frasier – Niles and Daphne: Any fears that the union of Frasier’s little brother and his father’s physical therapist would hurt the long running show were completely unfounded and led to some of the series’ sweetest moments.

General Hospital – Robert and Holly: The current writing regime has all but destroyed this once classic couple who defied soap opera conventions and kept it smart, sexy, and sweet even after they’d exchanged rings.

Honorable Mention – Luke and Laura: Maybe not my Number One, but pretty damn close.

The Honeymooners – Ralph and Alice: He bellowed, she gave it right back. But at the end of the day they affirmed their love, and all was right with the world.

How I Met Your Mother – Lily and Marshall: Impossibly devoted and perfectly suited, you can see why knowing them spurs protagonist Ted to want a picture perfect happily ever after.

The Office – Jim and Pam: He knew he wanted to marry her from the second they met. It took her a little bit longer to come around. But new parents Jim and Pam are the TV pair that puts most big screen Rom-Coms to shame.

Honorable Mention – Andy and Erin: Maybe not yet at the same level as Michael and Holly or even Dwight and Angela, but their goofy chemistry is one of Dunder Mifflin’s highlights.

Scrubs – Turk and Carla: The cocky surgeon and the no-nonsense nurse made beautiful music together (and not just in this scene).

Honorable Mention – Cox and Jordan: The best example that making it legal isn’t always the route to making it last forever.

The Simpsons – Homer and Marge: Who cares if they’re cartoons? These two put up with all manner of craziness from one another, raise a family, and always find time to show how much they care.

Who are some of your favorites?

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Comes Together

Tonight’s episode of How I Met Your Mother was hardly the strongest outing of this or any other season. Marshall was mugged, and he lied about it to a scared Lily (he said a monkey did it). This, combined with Barney’s dishonest pickup lines, were in service of the idea that sometimes a lie is better to set a loved one’s mind at ease or have a better story or, if you’re Ted, justify a never-ending story to your children about how their parents ended up together. Still, I loved the final few seconds of the show.

Marshall’s lie led to an appearance on Robin’s early morning talk show, but Ted wanted to get in on the action with his model of the Empire State Building, a project that only interested him. When Marshall backed out, Robin was left with the monkey, the representation of the NYC landmark, and a creepy doll collector introduced earlier in the episode. What followed was a surreal King Kong sight gag where the monkey broke free from his cage, snatched a doll, and ascended to the top of Ted’s structure. Was it hysterical? No. But it was unexpected and subtly set up. And I think that’s why this show has won a place in my heart and on my viewing schedule. There is always a careful attention to detail that comes together in a way that both surprises and makes total sense. Give credit where credit is due. At times it seems like it will take Ted forever to wrap up his love story, but the end result is bound to satisfy.