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'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

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'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Old 01-27-10, 10:23 AM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by SpanishTechno
I feel like The Office's "narrative conceit" is much more effectively pushed to the background, both by the writers and the viewers. In HIMYM, you're reminded every episode of "here's how I met your mother". That would be like if in every episode of The Office, you had the characters talking about the documentary crew. Instead, I suspect that many viewers don't even think "they're being filmed for a documentary" while watching the show.
Another example would be showing the cameras every sixth episode which, of course, would be the yellow umbrella in the HIMYM universe.
Old 01-27-10, 11:30 AM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by michael corvin
like i said before, i like the cast well enough that the show holds it's own despite the weak premise. I'm more than willing to go along with the ride and lose the "mother" setup (or even meet her already and turn it into a, 'how i married your mother' scenario) if the writers would let me forget it, but every week they ram the concept down my throat more than once. They can't have it both ways.
that's what she said!
Old 01-27-10, 11:33 AM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by SpanishTechno
I feel like The Office's "narrative conceit" is much more effectively pushed to the background, both by the writers and the viewers. In HIMYM, you're reminded every episode of "here's how I met your mother". That would be like if in every episode of The Office, you had the characters talking about the documentary crew. Instead, I suspect that many viewers don't even think "they're being filmed for a documentary" while watching the show.
I don't think "this is how Ted met his wife" while watching HIMYM either.
Old 01-27-10, 11:58 AM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by starman9000
I don't think "this is how Ted met his wife" while watching HIMYM either.
How can you not think it when every episode starts and ends with Ted talking about it? It's the premise of the show, it's the title of the show, and you're explicitly reminded of it every episode via Ted talking to his kids.

Obviously you're not chanting "this is how Ted met his wife" in your head throughout the whole show but it must at least cross your mind once every episode.

On the other hand, I bet a lot of people never think "this is supposed to be a documentary" even once while watching an Office episode.
Old 01-27-10, 12:50 PM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

People are talking to the camera in every episode of the Office and they try to hide from the cameras. The reason that doesn't bug me is the same reason HIMYM doesn't bother me, it's a cheap plot device from a sitcom and isn't the reason I watch the show.

The plot device for the Office worked in the original because they went out with him naturally becoming a D-list celebrity, they wanted to keep the show going over here so they are just pretending like it's not something that would happen, but still use it for convenient jokes or added drama when they feel like it.

Last edited by starman9000; 01-27-10 at 12:53 PM.
Old 01-27-10, 06:04 PM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Just echoing some thoughts already made by others...

But-- you guys are saying that you never think about the fact that the characters on The Office are being filmed by a documentary crew, when several times during every episode they actually sit down in a chair and are interviewed by that doc crew.

However, the title and bookending voice-overs on HIMYM are just so overwhelming, driving the premise into your brain.

Isn't it just true that, for whatever reason, YOU'VE DECIDED to ignore something about The Office that you've decided to let bother you about HIMYM?
Old 01-27-10, 06:35 PM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by Count Dooku
Just echoing some thoughts already made by others...

But-- you guys are saying that you never think about the fact that the characters on The Office are being filmed by a documentary crew, when several times during every episode they actually sit down in a chair and are interviewed by that doc crew.

However, the title and bookending voice-overs on HIMYM are just so overwhelming, driving the premise into your brain.

Isn't it just true that, for whatever reason, YOU'VE DECIDED to ignore something about The Office that you've decided to let bother you about HIMYM?
You just said that the HIMYM premise is overwhelming... I don't think it's an issue of people "deciding" to ignore it in The Office but not in HIMYM.

It seems to me that the HIMYM premise is restricting to the writers. While The Office writers can pretty much do whatever they want on top of the documentary premise, HIMYM has to cater to it's premise every episode; every episode they have to decide how the story fits into the overall premise of Ted meeting his wife, and they're pretty much obligated to end the show in a specific way to conclude the premise. It just seems like a burden at this point... having to bookend every episode with "hey viewers, don't forget that I'm actually telling a story to my future kids".

I agree with Michael Corvin in that each season it gets more ridiculous that Ted is sitting there telling all these stories to his kids, most of which are more red herrings that actual build up to him meeting their mother. Yes, the Office premise is ridiculous too if you really think about it, but you don't have to think about it because you're not reminded all the time. Even when the Office characters are being interviewed by the doc crew, it's much easier to put it in the back of your mind, because you never actually see the doc crew, you don't hear the questions they're asking, and the characters never talk about the crew or reference the fact that they're being filmed.

Imagine if at the beginning and end of every Office episode, you see a bunch of stuff about the doc crew, them setting up equipment, etc. If you were explicitly reminded every episode that "hey, this is actually footage for a documentary", I think a lot of Office fans would be complaining.
Old 01-27-10, 07:43 PM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Originally Posted by SpanishTechno
You just said that the HIMYM premise is overwhelming... I don't think it's an issue of people "deciding" to ignore it in The Office but not in HIMYM.

It seems to me that the HIMYM premise is restricting to the writers. While The Office writers can pretty much do whatever they want on top of the documentary premise, HIMYM has to cater to it's premise every episode; every episode they have to decide how the story fits into the overall premise of Ted meeting his wife, and they're pretty much obligated to end the show in a specific way to conclude the premise. It just seems like a burden at this point... having to bookend every episode with "hey viewers, don't forget that I'm actually telling a story to my future kids".

I agree with Michael Corvin in that each season it gets more ridiculous that Ted is sitting there telling all these stories to his kids, most of which are more red herrings that actual build up to him meeting their mother. Yes, the Office premise is ridiculous too if you really think about it, but you don't have to think about it because you're not reminded all the time. Even when the Office characters are being interviewed by the doc crew, it's much easier to put it in the back of your mind, because you never actually see the doc crew, you don't hear the questions they're asking, and the characters never talk about the crew or reference the fact that they're being filmed.

Imagine if at the beginning and end of every Office episode, you see a bunch of stuff about the doc crew, them setting up equipment, etc. If you were explicitly reminded every episode that "hey, this is actually footage for a documentary", I think a lot of Office fans would be complaining.
I was being sarcastic about the "overwhelming" comment.

I would claim that most episodes of HIMYM have absolutely nothing to do with Ted meeting the mother.
This week's rerun of The Sexless Innkeeper had NOTHING in its plot that had anything to do with meeting the mother.
The fact that Future Ted references the mother in his voice-overs at the beginning and end of the shows is literally something that I do not notice. If I was asked, I would say that there are a lot of episodes where the title of the show is the only thing drawing your attention to meeting the mother. Because I literally do not notice it.

By the same token, every interview on The Office makes me think about the documentary crew.
You say that you don't notice this --or that it's in the back of your mind.

All I'm saying is that each of us has decided (for whatever) reason to give one show a pass on something that the other does not.
And I don't go into The Office thread every week and complain about the fakery of the documentary.
Old 01-27-10, 10:17 PM
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Re: 'How I Met Your Mother' - Early Sixth season pickup!

Some HIMYM (awful) casting news:


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