I sometimes have wondered if I enjoy this show more than I actually should because of my age and geographical location. As a 27 year old male living in New York (Brooklyn, same thing), I’m exactly where Ted Mosby and Marshall Eriksen were when the show began. Well, without the very good job.
Five seasons later it’s still easy to relate to the characters for me. Even the ladies! Just two nights earlier I was invited to an acquaintance’s black tie birthday party, and what does Lily Aldrin have tonight? A fucking black tie birthday party. Are we sure this isn’t Law and Order? Because tonight’s story was ripped straight from the headlines of my friggin life! Bem bem.
Not to mention the characters’ discussions about pictures. I’m pretty sure a majority of viewers are going to say this, but I am definitely the Marshall of picture taking in my social circle. I am just awful when it comes to having my picture taken. But like I said, a lot of people are going to say that, and that’s the appeal of How I Met Your Mother, because that’s a comment the Facebook generation mentions in virtually every conversation in the presence of a camera. There is of course the one person who always looks great somehow in every photograph, and in the HIMYM universe that’s Barney. The episode took this to great comedic effect, where flashbacks revealed that Stinson has been able to make the tie-holding smirking pose since he was a child, and more impressively, while being handed a potato chip.
And how often have you and your friends just sat around in someone’s living room, ganging up on someone for an ongoing behavior? Maybe I need new friends, but that’s definitely happened before. And in “Say Cheese”, the ENTIRE episode, except for the first minute and the flashbacks, was set in Marshall and Lily’s living room.
Ted and repeatedly making the same mistake over and over again of bringing a short-term female interest to Lily’s social gatherings was the only thing that didn’t ring true for me. Yes, there are people that are perpetually single in my age group, but I was kind of bothered that Mosby couldn’t possibly have been so insensitive to Lily’s issues with it for so long. Or really, I found it hard to believe that Lily or even Marshal wouldn’t have said anything all this time.
In the end, we saw that Ted and Marshall’s very first photo together in college was interrupted by Lily. Ted invited her to be in the picture with them. “Dude, what if we break up?” Marshall asked. “What if you don’t?” Ted said, and he was right. Sorry Lily, even though you were right, and slavery was abolished a long time ago, Ted just got pwnership on your ass.
Getting back to earlier: Do I enjoy the show more than it deserves? Sometimes. Some episodes, particularly in season four, I ended up walking away from an episode laughing at scenes that were familiar, but not necessarily funny. Tonight wasn’t a masterpiece, but “Say Cheese” delivered both in terms of addressing the familiar and being legitimately guffaw making. Kind of like Seinfeld. Or a really good stand-up comedian. Like Jerry Seinfeld. Before The Marriage Ref anyway.
Things To Say To Make Barney Not Take A Good Picture
“A fun little trivia game, It’s called “‘Name THAT bitch.’”
“The camera wants to put on some nice lingerie, pop in an Al Green CD, dim the lights, and do all the work while I just lie there.”
“Each year my mother has Easter tea with her friend Bunny. … Okay, not that fun.”
“HER NAME WAS STRAWBERRY!”
“This is the disgusting smelly hippie I’m dating.”
“My balls were bleu! Bleu!”
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