The past 9 years I have heard about this "Hilarious" show called 'How I Met Your Mother'. This summer I stumbled upon it on Netflix and after talking with friends about it and watching the first episode, I was HOOKED! I decided to start watching the current season even though I hadn't finished all the seasons on Netflix.
DESCRIBE
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| (L to R) Ted, Lilly, Marshall, Barney, and Robin |
This particular episode is the sixth episode this season. In this episode entitled "Knight Vision" (Aired on Monday, October 21st, 2013) Ted attempts to find a date for the wedding. (Note: All of Season 9 is the 55 hour weekend leading up to Barney & Robin's wedding and the moment Ted meets "The Mother". So each episode covers 2ish hours.) Also Barney and Robin have a problem with the minister as he wants to hear how they met before he officiates them. They have a pretty messy story as to how they met so they steal Marshall and Lily's "how we met" story.
The Ads: From start to finish: I saw 9 CBS ads (Survivor, The Millers, Mom, Mike & Molly, 2 Broke Girls, Big Bang Theory, The Crazy Ones, and Two and a Half Men, and CBS Cares), 4 car ads (Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Infinity Hybrid, Buick/GMC, and Subaru), 4 tech ads (Windows Phone, Windows Tablet, AT&T/iPhone, and Century Link), 2 movie ads (Last Vegas Trailer, and Monsters University on DVD), 1 insurance ad (State Farm) and a Febreze, a Marshalls, a Bank of America Mobile app, Nivea body lotion, and a Cambells skillet sauces ad. All 25 ads packed into a 30 minute show. Based on the advertisements shown, it is clear the demographic that HIMYM is appealing to is family's. Most likely Middle class Moms who watch this show with their Teenage kids. Which is odd because most of the people I know that watch the show are males. However, the ads tailor to women because of ads like Febreze, Nivea body lotion, and Cambells skillet sauces. Those ads gear more toward females. If the show wanted to gear toward men, their would be more ads about trucks, viagra, and condoms. However due to the shows time slot (8:00pm) the ads have to stay more family friendly due to its prime time slot.
ANALYZE
The show is filmed on set in Los Angeles. The "laugh track" is created when recording the audience as they watch the fully edited episode. A lot of people compare HIMYM to the show "Friends". They both are very similar. The big similarity is following a group of friends in New York which is exactly what "Friends" does. Also compared is the back and forth relationship of Barney and Robin or Ted and Robin is often compared to that of the relationship between Ross and Rachel. I found this Image that has more similarity's listed between the two shows. However they are different from each other because "Friends" followed each character pretty much equally. HIMYM on the other hand only follows Ted's story.
INTERPRET
I think HIMYM has done a really great job not having HUGE stereotypical characters that most shows have. This show does have its stereotypes, but they not as obvious as other shows have. Marshal and Lily are the stereotypical couple. They are the couple all real life couples want to be like. Ted is the stereotypical single guy looking for "the one". Barney (before he met Robin) was a stereotypical "ladies man". He had a different girl every night. He was the king of one night stands. As I said before, Based on the advertisements shown, it is clear the demographic that HIMYM is appealing to is family's. Most likely middle class family's. If I was a visitor from outside the US the kind of picture of US culture this show shows is everyone gets along and having a great time. HIMYM shows US culture in a "good" light. It's just a show about 5 friends and their journey together.
EVALUATE
I think the show has a lot of strengths. It does depict a average group of friends and even though not all the situations and story lines seem like they could really happen it does accurately, for the most part, portray real life well. I love the flashback aspect of the show. You feel like your watching the show as they live their lives but your actually in flashback watching the stories that "already happened". I also love how the creators have been able to drag out the main part of the show...THE MOTHER...for 9 years. I don't like how the show is only a half hour long. Its a odd thing to not like about the show but I do wish it was a hour long. Also I find "good shows" have a moral to the story which is something not every episode of HIMYM has which, in my opinion, is disappointing. What makes the show memorable and worth talking with my friends about is the hilarious story lines and how each of us sees ourselfs in one of the characters. I was shocked when I googled HIMYM critics, that not a lot of "critics" like HIMYM. An article on Pluggedin.com says about HIMYM, "It gives writers an excuse to wrap funny in a soiled blanket. And with over-the-top jokers such as Barney of CBS' sitcom How I Met Your Mother, it's getting harder to ignore the stench." I completely disagree with this authors opinion of HIMYM. Sure, not every episode is gut busting funny but it almost every episode I find myself laughing, even if the jokes are over the top or cheesy. A blogger reviewed HIMYM and said "I think what makes HIMYM particularly relatable to me is that it’s about a bunch of 5 friends in the prime of their life, trying to get through love and life in the big city, which kinda sounds like what me and my friends are doing now, and a lot of the sentiment and situations seem very familiar – the search for true love, relationship woes, friends getting married, job issues…". Which is exactly why I love the show. I agree with this review of the show 100%. You feel almost as if you are the 6th member of their group.ENGAGE
I engage with this show socially. I have a close friend that watches it and we pretty much talking in only HIMYM references. I do like HIMYM on Facebook and occasionally visit the CBS Website. Interesting Fact: There have currently only been four directors of the show's 184 episodes: Pamela Fryman directed the majority of them and Neil Patrick Harris (Barney) directed one episode. Also interesting fact that I didn't know until I went searching. Neil Patrick Harris makes $210,000 a episode, while the other 4 cast members only make $120,000.
CONCLUSION
As a huge fan of HIMYM already there wasn't much I learned. However, I guess I never realized until visiting various website how much of a cult there is for this show. I really didn't realize how many people love this show as much as I do. Heck, there is even a How I Met Your Mother Wiki site, an entire website devoted to random HIMYM information. After researching this show more, I'm even more devoted fan then before.
Oh and If you are a fan of HIMYM, you will enjoy this HILARIOUS clip I found on Youtube.
- Justin Williams
Hey Justin!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog posted. You mentioned several of the options for a blog post such as advertising,TV as a cultural reflection, and a media product review. Talk about killing three birds with one stone!!! Anyways, I thought it was interesting that you believe that the targeted audience is middle class mothers. Honestly, all the people that I know who watch HIMYM are mostly males 20-30. But it is a family friendly show, they generally rephrase things so that the older audience will get them, but leave the younger one in the dark (such as the sub-sandwich). Here is an interesting link that that talks about HIMYM and friends in a psychological mind set http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reel-therapy/201002/the-how-i-met-your-mother-secret-formula
Cheers,
Sierra Cunningham
Well Justin I will start by being up front here; Out of everything NPH has been in this is my least favorite. So that is why I'm here :) to be convinced to give the show another chance. Now Mr. Harris might not be your reason for watching the show but it was why it garnered my attention in the first place. I agree with your reasons as to why the show has merit and possibly even with your demographic of its viewers as my wife and our friends seemed to all be rather passe over the show. (we being in the 25-35 demographic) If you have an interest though (back on the NPH aspect) check this out if you haven't already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of9kHpCv1ts&list=TLKUTR7pZWsTYD77M6AQzWkrliryv9vQVl
ReplyDeleteIt's something Neal Patrick Harris did while bored sitting in Joss Whedons basement. Hope you enjoy.
Oh and but the way, which background are you using its pretty slick!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post caught my eye solely by the title. As a fellow fan of How I Met Your Mother, I too, mainly watch it socially. However, when I first discussed that it was on Netflix, I quickly ran through the series within a matter of weeks simply by watching an episode or two here and there throughout my days last summer. It's a great show, really, but the thing that I've found myself saying (and other fellow fans that I've come in contact with) is that you sort of lose track of where the show is going at some point, and this is why I suggest that you finish watching the series before you continue on with this current season. There are several inside jokes, or little references that may seem small but will be important or hard to configure when you're watching the show. However, if you find that it is easy to follow even with those little blurbs and such thrown in there, more power to ya! I have not begun watching all of Season 9 so far, however, I am a big fan of Barney and Robin's character's relationship, so, if you haven't seen this, I suggest you check it out! It'll tell you how they got their start and got to where they are "today", or at least just before they got engaged. It's funny, yet, hard to follow unless you really tune in, and please forgive the poor quality! It's not a video of my own, just one I came across :P http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mizHhEgYBJc
ReplyDelete