Why How I met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms ever made

(In My Opinion)

I'm going to make it clear before I dive into anything that I grew up watching the sitcoms How I Met Your Mother and Friends. It's essential to lay out which ones I grew up with for bias reasons, and because it clarifies more about what generation I am from. Given all that, I do want to do my best to make my case on why I think How I Met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms ever made.

Sitcoms have undergone significant changes over the past twenty years, and I believe certain clichés or aspects of them haven’t aged well. Laugh tracks have been phased out of many shows for good reason.

Beyond that, there is a specific rule that I have for TV shows that How I Met Your Mother breaks, and that is not knowing when to call it quits on the story. Specifically, I think any show that runs for six or more seasons, or more generally, has no chance of maintaining the consistency of its earlier seasons and is doomed to have less-than-great later seasons.

In the case of How I Met Your Mother, which I will refer to as HIMYM for the article, the ninth and final season of the series is by far the weakest and worst season of the series in general. I think it's also fair to say that, generally, many sitcoms before HIMYM never really delved too deeply into the emotions or realistic aspects of the characters. You would have more serious episodes, of course, like Chandler proposing to Monica in Friends, but often, it wouldn’t go too far or deal with the emotions or situations the characters would face. This is something that, in particular, HIMYM nails and has some of the most emotionally resonating episodes of any TV show I've ever seen.

Before I delve into the specifics and episodes that always bring me to tears, I want to discuss the show's more fundamental strengths. The first thing to note is the cast, particularly Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Radnor, and Alyson Hannigan. I think, generally, a lot of people remember Neil's character, Barney, the most, and for a good reason; many of the show's most famous lines and bits often involved his character, but I do think this would, at times, eclipse just how good of a job other members of the cast were doing.

Firstly, there is Josh Radnor (Ted), who is the emotional center of the series and also a fantastic comedic actor. I see no one else in the world who can play the character of Ted as perfectly as he did. I also want to put a spotlight on Allison Hannigan's character, Lily, whose relationship dynamic with Marshall throughout the series is one of the most relatable and timeless aspects of the story. In particular, the evolution of their relationship over the series and the roadblocks they encounter are very real.

The question of being with someone at the sacrifice of your interests and goals, or vice versa, is something that many people still struggle with today. The problems they dealt with were real, and I applaud the fact that the writers chose to take this route with their relationship spats throughout the series. They also do a good job of not making you pick a side in many of these situations. You can understand the arguments from both Lily and Marshall’s point of view.

Another aspect of the series that, for my generation at least, remains significant today is the quality of the soundtrack. I cannot tell you how many friends I have who have never seen the series but still follow a Spotify playlist that features all the music from the series. Seriously, this soundtrack is one of the best for a TV show ever, and it features a diverse range of songs from various generations that anybody could find a handful of songs from the series they love or already listen to. I’ll include a link to the Spotify playlist with all the music at the end of the article so anyone who wants to check it out can.

I think some of my favorite needle-drop moments in the series are the use of "Will Walk 500 Miles" and "Let Your Heart Hold Fast" by Fort Atlantic at the end of Season 8, episode 12. (Seriously, anytime I watch this episode, I cry at the needle drop when Barney proposes.) The music used always perfectly fits the tone and enhances the scenes it's in, rather than taking anything away from them. It's not like in the Mario Bros. movie, where they use a popular song at any point to get kids happy; the music has a purpose and thematically matches what the show was doing.

HIMYM was also very conscious of its audience and the people who were watching sitcoms at the time, and it had significantly more pop culture integration than many other sitcoms of the era. This both helped make the characters more realistic and relatable but also led to some very cool reference sequences in the series. For example, in Season 4, Episode 17, there is an entire sequence and homage to The Big Lebowski, with every scene of Marshall sleeping in the nightgown being a direct reference to the Jeff Bridges dream sequences from the film. The show would also mention and reference numerous TV series and significant pieces of media from the time, with Star Wars being one of the most frequently mentioned franchises throughout the series. I value when a writer can both pay respect to what inspired them and also pay homage in their cheeky little ways.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of the episodes of the series that I think solidify its spot as the best sitcom ever, I have to talk about one thing all the fans can collectively agree is the worst part of the show—the ending. If you aren’t aware or have never seen the show, HIMYM is very famous for having one of the worst endings to a series of all time. When we discover that the titular mom character has been dead this whole time, and Ted ultimately ends up with Robin, a decision that we spent nine seasons determining was not the correct one. I don’t want to try to make excuses for the showrunners, but there is an actual, tangible reason the ending is as it is. That is because all the scenes with Ted’s kids were shot when Season 1 was still in production, meaning they were filmed at the beginning. This became a problem when the writers, midway through the story, deviated from this ending, and the characters underwent unexpected arcs—leaving us with a situation where they just kinda had to force this ending that no longer fit the narrative.

This was such an issue that if you purchase the Blu-ray of the series, there is actually an alternate ending where the mother doesn’t die, and everything ends happily ever after. I still think the series is worth watching, and this isn't a Game of Thrones-level series-ending atrocity, but I think it's still important to point out.

Now, the exact reasoning as to why HIMYM is one of the best sitcoms is due to the emotional depth of some of the characters and the dark tone many of the episodes go for in these situations. The most famous of all these episodes is Season 8, Episode 20, “Time Travellers”. This episode has become synonymous with the title darkest sitcom episode ever, and I think it's rightfully earned that reputation. The episode seems all but normal until the end, when we discover that the entirety of the gang's shenanigans is all in Ted’s head and that he is left alone on this cold evening while everyone in his life has someone. I think the only positive aspect of the ending is how the emotional resonance of this episode changes upon rewatch. When Ted makes the declaration to the mother at the end of the episode pleading for those extra 45 days upon the first watch, it's just a lovely monologue. It outlines just how much Ted loves his wife, but upon rewatching, when we know that she is no longer alive, his begging for those extra 45 days hits even harder and makes the scene even more depressing. This is one of those times I think we should also highlight how good of a job Josh Radnor does as Ted because his delivery of this monologue at the end of the episode is perfect and makes me cry every time (I know I say this makes me cry every time for a lot of moments in this show, but to be real this show makes me cry a lot). I also want to make clear that it isn’t just this episode that evokes these emotions. There are numerous moments throughout the series like this, whether it's Barney going to dinner at his father's house, Marshall’s dad passing away, or Lily admitting to Ted on the rooftop that she doesn't always want to be a mom. The show has moments that I recall as being so emotionally resonant, and I struggle to find any other sitcoms that have episodes that even approach this level of emotion.

Before I get into my closing statements, I want to mention a few aspects of the show that haven’t aged well. There is, of course, the aforementioned laugh track, but there are other aspects that also aren’t the best. For example, there is a fair amount of millennial cringe at times when they use the word “awesome” excessively. I would also say that they often use the word “tranny” and are not the most progressive when it comes to discussions on those subjects. Finally, there's the yellow face in Season 9, Episode 14, which many people consider to be one of the worst episodes of the series. They had all the leading actors with a yellowish tint to their skin in many of the scenes, which was very uncomfortable to watch??? - why did they do this? . I would say that these are the aspects of the show that have aged the worst, but thankfully, what the show does right still holds up very well today.

Ultimately, this is my personal opinion, and I am somewhat biased. Still, I hope I was able to support my arguments sufficiently enough that you can either walk away with a deeper appreciation for the series or an inspiration to rewatch or watch it for the first time.

If you disagree with any of my points, please let me know. I'd like to hear everyone's take on what they consider to be the best sitcom of all time.

Thank you so much, and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

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