How I Met Your Mother: The Yips

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

You know, Barney is a genius and I'm not afraid to say it. The man is simply brilliant. His investment plan for sleeping with women, although considered disgusting by some, is in actually ingenious in a twisted sort of way. Like I said, some people might not like it even if it works. Take Robin's comment for example, "Let's all punch Barney in the face!" The best part of Barney's plan, however, was NOT that it worked but that we got an absolutely hilarious episode with the gang attempting to get in shape at the gym.

Marshall's trainer was by far the funniest part of the trip to the gym. Not only was his trainer funny but watching Marshall cry as she forced him to more farther and farther was putting me in teers. In the words of his trainer, "It smells like there's a little bitch in my gym." Although Marshall needs to man up just a bit. Having Lilly fight his battles for him and fire the trainer was a wussy way of getting out of it. And at the same time watching Ted go through the same thing and cry also was well worth it.

Even better was Barney running into the woman who took his virginity. Clearly, he was a bit of a loser back in the day but we all thought he turned into the Barney we know and love when he broke up with his girlfriend. As it turns out he turned into today's Barney when he slept with Rhonda and she told him he rocked her world. Sadly for Barney that only happened because his brother agreed to sleep with Rhonda if she would sleep with Barney. Apparently he thought this would help Barney snap out of his post-breakup funk; which to his credit it totally did.

Good for us though, we got to watch Barney without any game at the Victoria Secret party. Which I do have a beef with however. Why couldn't they have had them at the party for more than 3 minutes?! WTF??? Come on! I was looking forward to that all week and we only got a measly 3 minutes. It was great watching Barney blow it on the biggest night of his life though. Heidi Klum was very nice considering the things that were coming out of his mouth. She was totally right though that he had to sleep with Rhonda again to get his mojo back. Now this wasn't something I'm sure most of us wanted to see since Rhonda was much older at this point but at least we have Barney back. He rocked her world for real this time and then walked straight out of her house with the usual Barney swagger that we love.

Excellent episode of HIMYM and next time they better give me a golden ticket or show more of the Victoria Secret party. Until the next new episode, enjoy the review!

How I Met Your Mother: Slapsgiving

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

This was a classic HIMYM episode and one of the best they've ever showcased. I was not one of the people enamored with the slapbet countdown clock. I thought it took away from the anticipation of the moment to give us a time when it was next going to occur. The last time Marshall used one of his slaps it came totally at random and was one of the funniest moments of last year. In the end though, the countdown actually worked out relatively well and the comedy of the moment was not lost; in fact it was damn funny!
The slapbet is one of the best comedic story lines on any show today and I doubt it will be surpassed for quite a while longer. Even better was the creation of "Slapsgiving." This is the greatest holiday ever, second only to "Chrismukkah." It was nice to see Lilly resume her role as Slapbet Commissioner. She takes the role so seriously (as is required) that I can't stop laughing while she ponders her rulings, although the postponement of the slapbet for the remainder of Thanksgiving was very much telegraphed and predictable. Although I was a bit annoyed at the postponement and the obvious attempt at building more suspense, it turned out alright so I can't be too upset. The saving grace for Slapsgiving was Marshall's surprising Slapsgiving song to commemorate the occasion. I swear I was laughing so hard that I started to cry during the song. The constant "oh oh oh's" from Barney, the lighters waving in the air, Robin's really old date waving a cell phone with the light on, and Marshall's wonderfully funny piano playing/song singing, are things I'm not likely to forget for a very long time.

A great side note to the whole Slapsgiving event was the buildup. Barney was so afraid of Marshall that I almost started to feel bad for him. Seriously, Marshall can be VERY creepy when he wants to be. When he starts talking in that low, deep voice and his eyes radiate evil, I really started to get creeped out myself so I'm sure Barney would be. Usually he's so put together though that you couldn't picture him like this. Definitely a nice change of pace and a new side of Barney that we got to see.

As for Robin and Ted, tonight was great! I love these two together and although I know they don't end up getting married I miss them. They really do have great chemistry together as actors and bring out the best in each other. I'm glad we finally started to see the awkwardness between them post-breakup that we weren't seeing before this. It's never easy going through a breakup but to have to hang out with your ex everyday is unimaginably hard. It was just a matter of time until they let loose and slept together again. They didn't breakup because they fought or didn't love each other anymore, so you had to know this was coming given the intensity of their feelings for each other. I personally love the fact that they slept together again. I'm hoping we get some more of them before the writer's decide to introduce someone new for Ted.

Speaking of awkward ex-situations, when Robin and Ted were alone making pies he threw out one of the best and most awkward comments of the night and the season: "Remember last Thanksgiving when we slept together 7 times?" So funny! By the way, while I'm mentioning the pie making, it was so wrong for Robin to have Ted making a pie for Bob. They might be friends but that's really a knife to gut.

I should mention something about the inside couple jokes. It is so true that couples have inside jokes that no one else ever gets but them. This joke I totally got but I definitely wouldn't have thought it was as funny as they did. Very good idea to come up with this joke; extremely insightful of them to notice how people tend to put military titles in front of innocuous statements.

Briefly, why in the world does Canada have Thanksgiving? I never knew the reason they celebrated it but that's the oddest reason to have a holiday than I've ever heard of.

Hopefully next week Robin won't be dating anymore really, really old guys. Truthfully he wasn't that old but watching an actual old guy make out with Robin (even if it was a figment of Ted's imagination) was disturbing. I could definitely do without that from now on. Anyways, I hope the greatness continues, as I have no doubt it will, so until next week, enjoy the review!

How I Met Your Mother: Spolier Alert

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8:00PM ON CBS

Spoiler Alert! When you like someone or you have close friends you never notice their most annoying habits! Well, not all the time. It certainly holds true for people you date. You tend to put them on a pedestal and you never notice the little things that in reality would actually drive you crazy. With friends, generally someone notices it but never brings it up while most of your friends tend to disregard it as if it was never even happening. So why am I talking about this? Well, Ted's new girlfriend (not for long though, don't worry) started a firestorm of controversy among the group when she talked her way into Ted's life.

Yes, she literally (thank you Robin) talked her way in because she could not stop talking! She answered her own questions, spoke about irrelevant facts, and generally filled any small second of silence with non-stop chatter. The funny thing is that Ted had absolutely no idea. He was clueless, at least until Marshall finally told him and with a glass shattering revelation he realized exactly how much she talked throughout all their dates. A funny thing started to happen though, glass started shattering all over the place. Everyone had their own quirks and no one was aware of them. With each offering of information came glass shattering revelations by the group about each of their habits that annoyed everyone else. And it was great!!!

Ted can't stop correcting people, Lilly chews louder than a jackhammer on concrete, Robin always says the word "literally" even when she should be saying "figuratively," Marshall sings everything he does, and Barney uses ridiculous catch phrases, says things in a girly high pitched voice, and generally ignores whatever people are saying to him. Ted's nickname for Lilly, "Chewbacka," was classic! And the fact that Marshall couldn't stand her eating made it eve more hilarious. I think I speak for everyone who watches this show when I say, we love every minute of all their annoying habits. These characters are funny along many dimensions and the fact that they have weaknesses makes them that much more likable.

I should mention I was a bit disappointed about the information we got about the New York Bar Exam. I recently had the immense displeasure to take this test and while it's as horrible as we were told (and yes, people do throw up during the test and actually many worse things than that happen as well), there were a couple things completely wrong. First, if you continue to write when they call time you fail the test right there. Second, unfortunately New York is one of the only states to publish not only whether you pass or fail on the Internet but they actually put your name rather than a distinct ID number next to it. If you wait one day you don't need the password because you'll be able to check the public list. Granted, I understand that the storyline went this direction in order to suit the shows purposes (which is totally alright); I was just a bit disappointed. Chalk it up to frustrating memories on my part.

Two best lines of the night:

- The description of Lilly's chewing: "It sounds like cuflings going up a vacuum cleaner!"

- Barney congratulating Marshall: "Lawsuit up!"

I loved that during their rant they all point out the most annoying song Marshall has ever sung and in unison they sang his password. Too funny. I'm not sure how funny a dog pooping on a baby is but I'll give Barney the benefit of the doubt.

I never stopped laughing throughout the entire episode and this was classic HIMYM. If you've never watched this show, watch this episode and you might find yourself setting HIMYM on your season pass very soon. Great, great, great episode and I can't wait until next week when I believe we're getting another installment of the slap bet! Until next week, enjoy the review!

How I Met Your Mother: Dowisetrepla

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

This wasn't the funniest HIMYM episode but it was certainly enjoyable and entertaining, particularly the detective scene where Ted was attempting to figure out how the fight occurred between Marshall and Lilly. Why you might ask did Marshall and Lilly have a huge fight? Well, the two of them decided it was time to move out of the apartment and into a place of their own. Sadly, it was just a tad out of their price range; or what I should have said is, it was massively outside their price range. Marshall, still in the dark about Lilly's credit card debt, decided to buy the apartment. Predictably, when he applied for the mortgage he discovered the debt which led to World War III and Ted's detective adventure.

Speaking of the apartment, did anyone recognize the real estate agent? It was Janice! Granted it might be a bit hard to recognize her without the loud annoying voice but it was nice to see her

in a comedy again. Last time we saw her it was recurring spots in the later years of "Friends" and the early years of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Anyway, she convinced Marshall and Lilly to buy the apartment located in the area of New York City called "Dowisetrepla." What is that you may be asking? You're exactly right, there is no such place in New York. Except on this show and it did NOT work out well for them. Apparently, there's a sewage treatment plant located downwind from that area of the city but it shuts down on the weekends. Coincidentally, this is when they were brought to see the apartment. Downwind from Sewage Treatment Plant = Dowisatrepla. Big life mistake #3 from Marshall for sure.

Barney was absolutely hilarious tonight and up to his classic tricks. He found out the current owners of the apartment were overseas for the week and he used this to trick a naive woman into having sex with him there. He played it perfectly too. He got the keys to the apartment from the real estate agent and brought home the woman after he told her it was his place. They spent the night and after he convinced her to take a shower he leisurely walked straight out of the apartment. Terrible, terrible thing to do but funny for us.

I have to admit that Robin has been more tolerable lately although it felt like she's been out of place since the breakup with Ted. The writers (who are now on strike) finally got her more involved and the benefits showed tonight. She was integral to the storyline and was funny because of it. I actually really love the fact that she knows Ted so well and can use that to make jokes. It reminds me of "Friends" when the characters were able to reveal unknown and hilarious facts about each others pasts. Thankfully someone admitted it was weird that Robin and Ted still hang out. It's been lingering there for weeks but its as if everyone has been ignoring it. Most people couldn't be in the same zip code as an ex let alone hang out with them everyday but these two are managing to do it and I think we're all grateful.

Another quality installment from HIMYM. Don't forget to check out my friend's blog for more in depth information on the actors and little known HIMYM facts. Until next week, enjoy the review!

How I Met Your Mother: I'm Not That Guy

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

Great all around episode tonight. It wasn't the funniest, it wasn't the craziest, but it was a great all around start-to-finish episode. I laughed throughout and thoroughly enjoyed the ridiculousness of there being a porn star named Ted Mosby. This is the strength of "How I Met Your Mother," when there's nothing huge going on, the writer's throw out some crazy plot with flashforwards and flashbacks and results in hilarity that you totally didn't expect. Tonight's a perfect example of that; nothing really major occurred but we had Ted track down a famous up and coming porn star using his name and Marshall deciding between working for the NRDC (his dream job where he could save the environment) and a large New York City law firm that represents everything he hates. And yet, I was laughing the entire episode. This is why HIMYM is so great and why you should be watching if you haven't been.

As I said above, Ted had a little adventure tonight. Barney found a porn video starring none other than "Ted Mosby." Unfortunately, it wasn't actually Ted, which would have been hilarious, but instead it turned out to be a friend of Ted's from way back in school. Ted had saved him from some bullies one day and he decided to honor him by making Ted's name famous one day. Seems he thought the best way to do this would be to use "Ted Mosby" as the name of his porn star alter ego. The porn convention was too funny and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ted try to save his good name. And I don't know about you but I thought the porn puns about Ted were hilarious!

Marshall, meanwhile, was torn between his dream job with the NRDC saving the environment or taking a boat load of money to work for a mega-law firm. Little did he know that Lilly was quietly pushing him into the law firm job because she has an overly outrageous credit card/shopping addiction. Honestly, how could you possibly take out 100 credit cards and use them all?! That's insanity! It was definitely honorable for her tell Marshall to stick with his dream job despite the debt she racked up. In the end, it turned out to be alright for everyone because Marshall accepted the job with the law firm. The last offer was just too much for him to turn down - his only client would be "Tuckabee Funland" a place Marshall described as "the dream factory where magic is made." This is the old Marshall that was missing at the beginning of the season and I'm glad to see him back.

I wanted to point out a couple things that were great tonight: When Marshall left the law partner's house after the night out and he said "I'll call you tonight" the raggedy woman on the street says to Marshall "he's not going to call you." Also, Marshall decided to take the invitation to dinner with the partner because he was told the lobster was fed with Kobe beef at this restaurant. But the best line of the night, "You can really taste that he beef in lobster." Very subtle joke but extremely effective.

Lastly, Lilly needs to stop texted Marshall on the can. That's just disturbing. Until next week, enjoy the review! And I'll have some nice screen shots up once CBS posts tonight's episode on their site.

How I Met Your Mother: How I Met Everyone Else

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

The gang over at "How I Met Your Mother" gave us the "How I Met Everyone Else" show tonight. Ted met a woman online while playing "World of Warcraft" (an online role playing game) and invited her to meet everyone at the bar. So the writers used this as a good opportunity to show us how everyone met all those years ago. Robin's story we all know and so we didn't get all that much on her but the backstories to Ted and Barney, Ted and Lilly, Lilly and Marshall, and Marshall and Barney were hilarious! Easily the best was Ted and Lilly but a close second was Ted and Barney.

They almost got me I have to admit. I honestly believed that Ted and Lilly made out the night before she met Marshall. Not that I could ever see the two of them together but I really did think this was exactly the kind of thing HIMYM would bring us. Something totally out of the blue and almost ridiculous that we could never have expected yet at the same time can't help but laugh at. The absurdity of Lilly and Ted's kiss at the dorm party and the fact that she felt drawn to his room the next morning not knowing why because she had been drunk the night before was damn funny and I wish it had turned out to be true. Unfortunately, Ted made out with a different girl that night and at their 20 year college reunion we officially found out Ted's version of that night was wrong. I thought we might get a glimpse of Ted's wife at the reunion but they snubbed us again and even Ted wanted to know, "where's my wife?" Very nicely done.

Now Ted meeting Barney was classic and AWESOME. Only Barney could start a friendship after beginning a totally random and ridiculous conversation with a stranger while they were both using the urinals. The best part though was that it seems their relationship was exactly as it is now from the very start. Barney tried to use Ted as his wing man to pick up a woman by telling her Ted was his deaf brother. Unbeknownst to Barney, the woman he was trying to pick knew sign language and tried signing to Ted. Even more hilarious, was that Ted knew sign language too and spoke to the woman who then gave her number to Barney. So that's how they started off, Ted as Barney's wing man; or so Barney thought. In fact, Ted told the girl that Barney was crazy and she should give him a fake telephone number. Classic Barney-Ted moment. Love it.

Meanwhile, Marshall and Lilly's story was extremely boring. How could it not be actually? As Ted told us, when couples are together for as long as them the story becomes rehearsed and a bit cheesy. This was 100% accurate and the only thing that saved it from being a drag on the episode was it's connection to Ted's version of meeting Lilly for the first time. It was so boring in fact, I don't think we really need to rehash it here.

As for Robin, thank you (writers) for finally bringing her back to the group and not sending her off on random boring dates. I've been saying all season that she's only funny when she's in the group and tonight proved me right. Her awkward conversations with Ted's online friend were hilarious. I especially liked her description of Ted's sex life. If you want to know what she said watch the episode and I promise you'll laugh. I just hope this wasn't a fluke. The writers should stick with this week's idea and keep her around everyone else from now on.

Couple things I want to point out real fast: 1) Ted should never, ever, ever grow back a gotee; it was terrible! 2) Barney's graph about online women was freakin hilarious! You have a graph of Crazy vs. Hot and the Vicky Mendoz Diagonal below which the girl is too crazy to date and above which is so hot that you ignore the crazy. I also like his mention of the Shelly Galesby Zone which was a crazy zone dedicated especially to the insanity exhibited by a women he once hooked up with. 3) Ted's use of "eating a sandwich" as a substitute for smoking pot when talking to his kids was funny if only because it was totally random watching them all eat sandwiches at random times during the college scenes.

Great episode and definitely a classic format of HIMYM. We had a lot of laughs mixed in with flashbacks and flashforwards. I feel like the producers have finally established a consistent and pervasive vision for the direction of the show and it's showing. I feel more on track in one direction than I have in the past and it's really working. Until next week, enjoy the review.

How I Met Your Mother: Little Boys

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

Barney is the greatest! Only he could formulate such an elaborate plan to win a bet so quickly. If you didn't watch the episode, Barney and Ted made a bet on who would sleep with a random girl at the bar first. It was a bet to prove who had more game. (By the way, no Marshall does not win this one - he had girlfriend/wife for the last 11 years; thats not game) Just as the bet begun Barney was already up and talking to the girl when 5 seconds later she slapped him across the face. When he came back to the table he told Ted and Marshall that he slept with her last year and she wanted nothing to do with him. So Ted was in to take his time and win the bet; or so we thought.
As we go through the episode Ted and the girl begin to date. After a number of dates it appears that Ted is going to win the bet. Unfortunately, Barney knew exactly how to keep Ted from going through with it. Apparently Ted has a phobia about sharing things with people - he couldn't even take a sip from Barney's drink let alone share the same girl. Thus, when it came time for Ted to "seal the deal" he kept seeing little Barneys that made fun of him for not being able to go where Barney had been the year before. It was absolutely hilarious! Too bad for Ted the whole thing turned out to be a lie. Barney is a damn genius. He told the girl in the bar that Ted was getting over a relationship and if she slapped him he would get the courage to talk to her himself. Then as Ted dated her Barney got information on what she liked and used that to get in her good graces as well. In the end though no one won the bet; the girl couldn't hook up with Barney either because she wasn't over Ted.

The whole thing about the bet wasn't the funniest storyline HIMYM has come up with but it was definitely funny. Whereas most shows would go with it straight up and try to make the exploits of the characters in the bet funny, HIMYM does that and it goes one step further. HIMYM added the Barney deception in which turned the bet from a generic storyline into a one-of-a-kind HIMYM moment. That's the genius of this show and what sets it apart from the other comedies on television. If you haven't been watching the show you need to start and I promise you'll agree with me in one month's time.

Meanwhile, the writers apparently think it's a good idea to give Robin her own adventures apart from the group. Why? I'm not sure. I think they may be attempting to get us used to the idea of Robin and Ted dating other people and Robin having a life of her own so that when they have Ted meet his future wife we won't be calling for Ted and Robin to get back together. This is the only thing that makes sense to me because Robin out on her own just isn't all that funny. It's a bit humorous but the best moments of this show are when the cast is interacting with each other not when they're set apart with other characters.

Last night, Robin started dating the father of one of Lilly's students. The hitch was that he had a son and we all know how much Robin hates kids. While Robin spent most of the night going from liking the guy to hating the fact that he has a kid, the guy apparently moved on and started dating someone else. It was a bit of a shock for Robin when she went over to his apartment to break up and met his new girlfriend instead. This storyline wasn't all that great let alone funny. The funniest moment came when she thought his son was getting attached to her and she felt she needed to break up with the kid; and even that wasn't all that funny. They need to keep Robin in the group or the writers risk alienating her with the audience.

This may be a bit out of order but I do have to mention the opening scene. Ted was 100% right; whenever someone wants to set you up they leave out the "but" when describing the blind date. He/she is smart, funny, successful... You never get the "but." "But" she has a dead tooth. "But" she has a pug that she pushes around in a stroller. This was so true and so funny. Maybe we'll get to meet the girl Ted thought killed his turtle sometime; I can just see how great that would be.

Overall a decent episode. Not as good as last week but much better than the week before. Still can't wait to meet Ted's future wife; keep in mind we did catch a glimpse of her in the season premiere and I'm sure we're going to get more as the season goes on.

How I Met Your Mother: Third Wheel

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

This was more like it. After last week's lackluster episode, "How I Met Your Mother" came roaring back with an absolutely hilarious episode. If you watched this episode I'm sure you'll agree that this typifies why the show is so great and probably the best show people are not watching.

Tonight, we mostly followed Ted as he reunited with Trudy (Danica McKellar), the girl from the "Pineapple Incident." To catch you up if you watched the first season (or for those who are newcomers to the show), the last time we saw Trudy she was Ted's one night stand and snuck out of his apartment on the firescape while Ted was in the living room with everyone trying to figure out who she was and why there was a pineapple on his nightstand. Needless to say, we never figured out where the pineapple came from but we did figure out it was Trudy who had met in McClarens earlier that night.

Sadly, we're no closer to finding out where the pineapple came from. But it was great to have Trudy back on the show. Awesome cameo with Busy Phillips (Rachel) as Trudy's college sorority sister with whom she is very competitive. You'll remember Busy from her days on "Dawsons Creek" as Audrey Lidell. This competition turns into a battle royale for the world championship belt; a possible feat that very few men have accomplished, a "tricycle" with Ted-Rachel-Trudy. I was hysterically laughing when Barney pulled out an actual championship belt. But I have to say that no matter what the case it was wrong for him to break that CD. You NEVER cock block a friend, ESPECIALLY when he's about to work a tricycle.

All of this added up to a classic "How I Met Your Mother" episode. I should point out that there was a "B" storyline going on in all the craziness. Robin was out on a date with a surgeon and had not shaved her legs so that she would hold out on the sex. While this was mildly amusing as she desperately tried to get a razor so she could shave before going back to her dates apartment from the restaurant, desperation really doesn't suit her character. She's much funnier when she's in control and playing guys a bit. The fact that she was working so hard to get some wasn't all that funny.

One thing that's bugging me about the episode though. Of all the places for Marshall, Barney, and Lilly to hide so Ted could ride the "Tricycle" why would they pick Ted's room?! Marshall's room was right there! That made no sense but I guess the writer's wanted to give Ted an excuse to talk with them about it and for Barney to break the CD. Still, it made no sense to me. They could have just had Ted leave the CD in Marshall's room.

For my money, I would have picked Trudy if it came down to picking one or the other. She's much hotter. If you're not watching this show you're missing out on greatness! Start watching and let me know what you think.

By the way, I'd bet Ted didn't do the "tricycle." He's always been that good hearted, innocent, loving type of guy, I personally don't think he could go through with it.

How I Met Your Mother: We're Not From Here

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

Robin is back! But not after some convincing by alter-Robin, Robin's dream manifestation of her vacation self from Argentina; and maybe also from the bongo playing out-of-towners that Gael invited over, "how you say? indefinitely?" This was the second episode of the new third season and sadly it was a little less than stellar. It was reminiscent of the first half of season one (which was decent) rather than season two (where HIMYM established itself as a solid comedy). While still enjoyable this wasn't one of HIMYM's best episodes.

My biggest problem after the first two episodes this season is with Marshall. I don't know if it was a collaborative effort between the writers and Jason Segal (Marshall) or if it was one of them but whoever decided that Marshall should be a complete and utter nancy boy this season made the wrong call. Marshall was always a bit sappy but it's really been taken to a whole new level this season and NOT a good one. His character is lovable and brilliantly funny. Part of what makes him so great is that he has a soft side while having a harder, law school student mentality. This new persona though is effecting that perception and making him significantly less enjoyable to watch. If my opinion means anything I hope the writers can take this into account and bring back the Marshall we know and love.

Tonight was about Robin's journey to figure out who she wants to be, free-spirited vacation Robin or back-at-home wants sleep and a pee-free kitchen sink Robin. Thankfully, as a result of her voyage of self discovery, we had the chance to see a bit of her trip to Argentina. It was great and very funny. It was a good call to get rid of the beaded hair, not a good look for her. As Robin tried to embrace the post-breakup, vacation Robin she realized that she's no longer that person; she likes to be clean and chill when she's at home. Personally I think her relationship with Ted had a lot to do with her changed attitude but in a very good way. She never knew what she wanted and never stayed anywhere long enough to figure it out. So she didn't have relationships and never connected with anyone because she always had one foot out the door. Now she has a better idea about what she wants for her life and Ted being a part of her life is the reason. I think she realized this also and in the words of Barney, "welcome back Scherbotsky."

While Robin learned more about herself, Barney had the genius idea to pretend to be tourists (Barney was Ignacious Peabody Nobel from East-Westerton Missoura and Ted was well, Ted) visiting New York so they can pick up girls easier. Well alright, it wasn't genius but it worked; sort of. They picked up girls, just not New York girls. They turned out to be from New Jersey and as Ted, and any other true New Yorker will tell you, New Jersey is NOT ALMOST New York. It never is and never will be. Unfortunately, the girls were not only from New Jersey but they got Barney and Ted mugged in the Bronx late at night. All in all, this plan did not work out well but it was hilarious watching Ted's rant about New Jersey. I felt like it was me saying it; almost every New Yorker is born with a gene to hate to New Jersey.

Barney's idea for a "Best If Banged By" sticker was great! He never fails to come up with new catchphrases every week.

Meanwhile, Lily and Marshall spent the episode putting together their death packets. Essentially these are packets newlyweds are encouraged to put together with their important financial and personal information in case they suddenly and unexpectedly die. For Marshall, the most important piece of the packet was the letter to Lily he had to write. Yet again wussy Marshall came out. Not fun and not cool man. This led to Lily and Marshall's first fight as a married couple when Marshall read Lily's letter, which was significantly less romantic and extensive than Marshall's (she told him to cancel her magazine subscriptions). In the end she wrote a new letter but 22 years later Marshall broke his promise and read it even though she hadn't died. Turns out she knew he would and just wrote BUSTED on a piece of paper. Mildly funny.

Decent episode. Still love the show. Nuff Said.

How I Met Your Mother: Wait For It

ORIGINAL EPISODES, MONDAYS @ 8PM ON CBS

Soooo glad HIMYM is back! I now feel like my life is whole again. Actually not quite, I'm a bit more sane than that but I'm still very happy the show is back for a third season. For those of you who watched the season finale last year, you remember that the show left off with Barney mid-sentence; he was telling Ted that their upcoming adventures out on the town would be "Legen..."

So the third season picked up right where the second season left off, with Barney saying "...dary." Only on this show are the writers that clever to end the season mid-word and start the next season with the end of the word. I don't think I've ever seen something like that before. This speaks volumes about how great this show is and why you should be watching it if you haven't been already.

Basically, this episode dealt with the post-break-up issues between Robin and Ted. It had to happen so why not get it out of the way early on in the season. The break-up beard was so funny and completely something I would do myself. It's great how Ted has so many eccentricities that come out when he's in the most emotional turmoil. Then again I'm always rooting for him to work stuff out so I'm not really sure what that'll get me. The classic Ted-Barney back and forth was also a big part of the episode but not as funny as usual. Hopefully we can chalk that up to the writers needing to finish the Ted-Robin break-up story fast.

As the episode went on we got nothing short of everything we expect from HIMYM. We had laughs (the butterfly tattoo on Ted's lower back; a.k.a. "The Tramp Stamp"), romantic drama (Teds' irrational yelling and Robin's heartfelt confession), and Barney's classic lines ("This is totally going in my blog!"). What's new though were the big name guest stars. Not only does HIMYM not usually have big names stars period, which made this new and interesting, but they had TWO tonight - Mandy Moore and Enrique Iglesias. Both did a decent job, I think Enrique was a bit better than Mandy though. I didn't really see her as the bad-ass girl with tattoos; it really didn't do all that much for me. Enrique, on the other hand, did a pretty good job convincing us of his character and was actually a little funny. Although I could have done without the cheesy serenading moment.

Couple last minute points: 1) I want to know what the other 31 vehicles you could have sex in or on are and 2) Is the tattoo really permanent or was it a Henna? Also, the slap bet countdown link Marshall sent Barney was great!! Classic HIMYM and I can't wait to see how Marshall gets him around November. Oh and by the way, Robin was a genius, guys always feel better if they know they're "bigger."

At the very end of the episode we finally get to see who Ted ends up marrying, even if it was just the top of her yellow umbrella as she walked down the street. But we now know she has a pair of grey pants, a black coat, and what her sneakers look like. I'm hoping we get a little more info on who she is as the season goes on. Please watch this show next week if you're not watching already, I guarantee you'll love it as much as I do. If you have time check out the Have You Met Ted? blog of a friend of mine. It's great and in addition to my reviews here you can get some clips and show info from there.

How I Met Your Mother: The Slap Bet

From time to time through the airing of the September Premiere's I will be posting some video clips to do one of the following: convince you to watch a good show you're not watching, to get you hyped for a new show, or to remind you how great the shows you already watch were last year.

So here's video clip #1. "How I Met Your Mother" is one of the best comedy's on tv and if you haven't watch it yet you MUST start watching this fall. The third season premiere will be on Monday, September 24th @ 8PM on CBS. This was a storyline from season 2 that will be carrying over through season 3 and beyond. It shows up at random and is damn hilarious. The clip doesn't fully explain the bet but I think you get the point. Plus you could always buy/rent the second season DVD when it comes out in a few weeks. (please ignore the subtitles but this was the best slap bet video I found)