By Matthew Wood

OK, let’s recap the first three seasons of HIMYM in 20 words or less: Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) just got married, Ted (Josh Radner) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) just broke up, and Barney (Doogie Hows … er, Neil Patrick Harris) is their scumbag friend. The whole premise of the show is Ted telling his kids (in the year 2030) how he and their mother got together through narrated flashbacks to the present.

Sounds simple enough, no? And the big twist through the first two seasons was that you thought Robin would eventually be the mother, but as we enter the new season, they’re totally broken up and Ted is back on the prowl.

So as we embark on a new season, Robin’s back from her trip to Argentina with a new boy-toy (Enrique Iglesias) who massages, wind surfs and sings. And as if that wasn’t enough almost-star cameo power, Ted goes out and has a wild fling with a biker chick (Mandy Moore) who eventually convinces him to get a butterfly tattoo on his lower back (his own personal “tramp stamp”).


And away we go on another hair-raising season of rip-roarin’ fun (or something like that)!

I don’t admit it in social situations – or even to my close friends – but I’ve always been a closet HIMYM fan. I mean, I never Tivoed the show (well, not a series recording, at least) but I would try to catch it whenever I had free time on a Monday night. It’s a pretty cheesy show, but I think just the Barney in itself is worth catching.

Think about it: You’ve got Doogie Howser, who in real life has become flaming gay, playing a womanizing corporate scumbag who never goes anywhere without a suit on. The irony of it is just dripping off the character (and I mean that in a completely non-sexual way).


Barney’s lines alone made up for an otherwise boring premise carried out a series of corny jokes that are always bordering on hilarious … but not quite there. It’s always felt like the show was just two or three jokes away from being really good, but the cheese factor always keeps it down.

The season premiere was no different, although I loved Barney’s wingman plans for Ted (which included them going to the show and getting “Cirque du so laid”). Let’s hope we get more of that and less of the couple-y shlock that seems to always bring it down.

Barney, it’s in your hands. Make it happen.