Evolving comedy of 5 young professionals, enjoying NY life during the financial bubble and crash of the 00's.
Evolving comedy, dating from 2005-2013, about the lives of 5 young people living in New York. The writers work hard to avoid the cliches of Friends, and the results are both relaxing viewing and clever scripts, which reflect changes both in the lives of the main characters and in society at large. Nonetheless, the ensemble chemistry is not quite as good as Friends, there isn't a truly outstanding character-acting performance, and the scripts don't match the near geometrical perfection of a Chuck Lorre comedy. Consequently, despite the positives and the Emmy awards, this show didn't quite achieve iconic status.
The initial hook of the show is Ted Mosby, successful architect and father of two teenagers, telling them in 2030 how he met their mother. In the first season, set in 2005, a 27-year-old Ted dates a series of promising New York girls, searching for `the one'. In the pilot, he meets Robin, a young Canadian tv journalist of surpassing beauty, to whom he instantly declares his love. She rejects him, but Robin goes on to become a main character in Ted's social group.
Although very successful at work, Ted is desperate to find his soulmate. This anxiety is exploited by his slightly older, corporate friend, Barney, who uses Ted as his wingman, while persuading a long sequence of young women into bed. Barney's catch phrases are `Suit up!' (Barney always dresses very sharply) and `Bro!' (totally inappropriately, as Barney is pale, blonde, and of Scottish heritage). Barney has money and shady connections, which he uses both for his amorous escapades and as a deus ex machina to extract the group from a variety of mishaps.
Although Barney claims to be Ted's best friend, this is really his former college roommate Marshall, an idealistic young lawyer with whom Ted still lives, together with Marshall's college sweetheart, Lily, a kindergarten teacher. While Ted's bachelor character carries the romantic aspect of the comedy, Marshall and Lily's characters are key to the show's commentary on adult maturation and society.
Early on, Marshall is the coolest of the Three Musketeers, sharing good times in MacLaren's Bar with Ted & Barney, and dreaming of marrying Lily & working as a lawyer for a US environmental group. In a reflection of the 00's financial bubble & crash, Marshall's dreams are undermined by the huge credit card debt accumulated by the seemingly sweet and equally idealistic, Lily, who turns out to be a secret shopaholic (something she reveals only after marriage). This, together with their college and law school debts, forces Marshall to sell his talents to an environmentally exploitative corporation.
Romantically, the serial peaks in Season 1. A memorable early episode shows Ted's romantic desperation in waiting all night at a Hallowe'en party in a silly costume for a girl he'd met there 4 years earlier. The pilot introduces Robin, with whose beauty no other girl can compete. Half-way through Season 1, there are several episodes featuring cake-maker, Victoria, the sweetest & classiest girl Ted ever meets. Victoria's departure from the show leaves a romantic hole, which even the Season 8 finale cannot fill. The viewer keeps wondering whether Victoria will ever return.
Despite this plot drawback, the strengths of the show endure: good times at MacLaren's, interesting observations on growing up and a changing society, and a quiet celebration of Scottish-American heritage. 7/10
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