I was annoyed through all of season 2 when he was dating Robin. At the end of the very first episode of season 1 she was called "Aunt Robin" and then we had all of season 2 wasting an entire season with a relationship we were already told didn't work out.
(And that's ignoring the meta situation of "today kids I'm going to tell you about all the sex I had with your Aunt Robin")
The complete reversal of character development is what killed it for me as well. With the same ending and removing the reversal the ending is 100x better. Just let their growth mean something instead of pissing it all away.
IMO, Game of Thrones is massively overrated (even without the terrible later seasons) and is just an excuse for a porn and gore fest. I put it in the same category as shows like The Boys.
If you like it, fair enough, you do you, but nothing about that show resonated with me in any way.
Game of Thrones in the early seasons had interesting intrigues and there were a lot of options for who could be the next king or queen. Plus it had a way of making you care about a character before they were killed off. Yes I'm still salty about Oberyn Martell.
Then the politics and intrigue became increasingly less important as it became Dany + allies vs Cersei + allies. Yes there were a lot of other issues in the later seasons such as the whole fast travel issue, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
That's what a sitcom is about, maintaining the status quo. That's why at the end of every episode, the world reverts back to how it was before episode started.
Remember when the marketing team posted the reveal of the mother on social media before the episode had even aired on the West Coast, ruining the 8 years build up for like half the country?!?
...except there was. At least once they'd had multiple seasons under their belt and knew when they wanted to end the show. Before that each season they set it up so Ted's current gf could have been the mother, in case they got cancelled.
As someone who was watching it live at the time, there was a lot of hype built around who the mother was.
If what you loved about it was the form of storytelling (older protagonist telling a slightly embellished version of real events when he was young), I'd recommend checking Acapulco. Less of the dating, more work drama at a ridiculous 80s resort and they wrapped it up better than I thought they could in 4 seasons. Also, I can never have enough of Don Pablo. The guest gets what the guest wants.
As someone who was watching it live at the time, there was a lot of hype built around who the mother was.
how anyone could give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about this show is beyond me. you know how there are just some things that don't click? this and big bang... absolute dreck
It's all a matter of taste and taste is personal. HIMYM I loved, Big Bang was hit and miss and first and then it was just miss. Young Sheldon is honestly better than the original show.
That said, while I loved HIMYM, I think only around the last season did I start caring about who the mother was. It was always about the group of friends and their antics.
I don't think it was ever aimed at nerds. I think it was always aimed at nerd-adjacent audiences that liked nerds (or maybe a stereotypical idea of nerds) but weren't nerds themselves.
The nerds in the show were the spectacle, not the heroes. I always got the impression they were laughing at them rather than with them, though not really in a malicious way, but in a way that still involves contempt.
Contrast it with The IT Crowd, which was absolutely aimed at nerds. Or the Office, which is an example of a show that was able to laugh both at and with its office worker audience.
I was fine with the mother dying. It was just the immediate twist of "Mom's dead, and this is me now spending 9 years explaining to you why I want to go bang your aunt".
I think the bittersweet ending of finding out that the mother was dead all along and Ted was telling the story to his kids would have been a great ending without the add-on Robin double-twist.
You can probably say that about any show with a laugh track. I usually don't mind it if the show has jokes. But then there are things like Big Bang Theory where they just pasted the laugh track over the dialogue in regular intervals without the jokes. I also don't remember How I Met Your Mother being funny.
The story was never about getting from point A to point B. It was about every little distraction or detour in between that allowed getting to point B to have the impact that it had.
I remember during early seasons a friend of mine saying "I think the mother is not Robin but he'll end up with Robin" and I said lol that would be so lame
Brought this up to a coworker of mine once, and they countered with "17 is basically just 18." to which I replied "You're right, adults who date "legal" teenagers are just as creepy." He shut up after that.
78 Comments
hollyberries@programming.dev · 102 pts · 307d
How I stretched a 15 minute story into 9 fucking years
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler because I’m still simping for your Aunt Robin and want to let you know that she’s about to become your new mother :::
(Also still salty)
ook@discuss.tchncs.de · 39 pts · 307d
SeductiveTortoise@piefed.social · 16 pts · 307d
At some point I was just too bored to keep watching.
venusaur@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 307d
How’d u do the dropdown?
kambusha@sh.itjust.works · 19 pts · 307d
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler
hidden content
:::
Depending on your lemmy app, there might be a spoiler format option built-in for you. Voyager has it, for example.
Kennystillalive@feddit.org · 9 pts · 307d
::: spoiler spoiler Just trying. :::
Lumisal@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 307d
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler You succeeded :::
Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 307d
hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 307d
::: spoiler spoiler There was no
mooseerror, the people responsible for the error have been sacked. :::notoftenthat@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 306d
::: spoiler A spoiler?
:::
venusaur@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 307d
Thanks!
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 306d
I was annoyed through all of season 2 when he was dating Robin. At the end of the very first episode of season 1 she was called "Aunt Robin" and then we had all of season 2 wasting an entire season with a relationship we were already told didn't work out.
(And that's ignoring the meta situation of "today kids I'm going to tell you about all the sex I had with your Aunt Robin")
jqubed@lemmy.world · 84 pts · 307d
“Kids, did I ever tell you about all the women I banged, including the time I pulled two hot chicks for a threesome?”
StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world · 57 pts · 307d
pahlimur@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 307d
The complete reversal of character development is what killed it for me as well. With the same ending and removing the reversal the ending is 100x better. Just let their growth mean something instead of pissing it all away.
GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 307d
GoT has entered the chat
StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 307d
ThePyroPython@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 306d
I'm going to say something controversial:
IMO, Game of Thrones is massively overrated (even without the terrible later seasons) and is just an excuse for a porn and gore fest. I put it in the same category as shows like The Boys.
If you like it, fair enough, you do you, but nothing about that show resonated with me in any way.
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 11 pts · 306d
Game of Thrones in the early seasons had interesting intrigues and there were a lot of options for who could be the next king or queen. Plus it had a way of making you care about a character before they were killed off. Yes I'm still salty about Oberyn Martell.
Then the politics and intrigue became increasingly less important as it became Dany + allies vs Cersei + allies. Yes there were a lot of other issues in the later seasons such as the whole fast travel issue, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Simulation6@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 306d
My only exposure to GoT is from the reddit watchitfortheplot subreddit. You mean there was more to it then sex?
pahlimur@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 307d
I was thinking of GoT when I wrote this. It's similar, but GoT was so much worse.
ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one · -2 pts · 307d
That's what a sitcom is about, maintaining the status quo. That's why at the end of every episode, the world reverts back to how it was before episode started.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 306d
That’s true but I didn’t care for new character at the end is the mom, let’s make you like her, then haha just go for Robin.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 55 pts · 307d
Remember when the marketing team posted the reveal of the mother on social media before the episode had even aired on the West Coast, ruining the 8 years build up for like half the country?!?
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org · 27 pts · 307d
I think the joke is that there was not really any actual build up to it. It's more like this is what I did the years prior to meeting your mom.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 306d
...except there was. At least once they'd had multiple seasons under their belt and knew when they wanted to end the show. Before that each season they set it up so Ted's current gf could have been the mother, in case they got cancelled.
As someone who was watching it live at the time, there was a lot of hype built around who the mother was.
I'm not talking about OP's joke
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 306d
If what you loved about it was the form of storytelling (older protagonist telling a slightly embellished version of real events when he was young), I'd recommend checking Acapulco. Less of the dating, more work drama at a ridiculous 80s resort and they wrapped it up better than I thought they could in 4 seasons. Also, I can never have enough of Don Pablo. The guest gets what the guest wants.
b34k@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 306d
Acapulco is great! Always love hearing a new Spanish version of 80s classic hit each episode
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 306d
At the end of the very first episode Robin was called "Aunt Robin", season 2 was Ted dating Robin, who we already knew wasn't their mother.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 306d
how anyone could give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about this show is beyond me. you know how there are just some things that don't click? this and big bang... absolute dreck
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 306d
How DARE people like things you don't like
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 306d
right? the fucking nerve...
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 6 pts · 306d
It's all a matter of taste and taste is personal. HIMYM I loved, Big Bang was hit and miss and first and then it was just miss. Young Sheldon is honestly better than the original show.
That said, while I loved HIMYM, I think only around the last season did I start caring about who the mother was. It was always about the group of friends and their antics.
Auli@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 306d
Sure but they where popular shows.
Delphia@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 306d
I maintain that Big Bang could have been 6 seasons of a great show but it was 12 of mediocrity.
Its on my lotto list to hire someone to go through and cut out every story arc and joke that doesnt add to the character progression.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 306d
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 305d
I don't think it was ever aimed at nerds. I think it was always aimed at nerd-adjacent audiences that liked nerds (or maybe a stereotypical idea of nerds) but weren't nerds themselves.
The nerds in the show were the spectacle, not the heroes. I always got the impression they were laughing at them rather than with them, though not really in a malicious way, but in a way that still involves contempt.
Contrast it with The IT Crowd, which was absolutely aimed at nerds. Or the Office, which is an example of a show that was able to laugh both at and with its office worker audience.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 306d
I'll have to agree. And I fucking hated Ted.
doingthestuff@lemy.lol · 2 pts · 306d
I watched like 90% of the show and I've still never seen the end and I don't care.
essell@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 307d
Don't watch for the ending. Enjoy the journey.
FenrirIII@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 307d
There was actually an alternative ending where the mom lived. It's on YT. I prefer to think about it as the real ending
Adderbox76@lemmy.ca · 22 pts · 307d
I was fine with the mother dying. It was just the immediate twist of "Mom's dead, and this is me now spending 9 years explaining to you why I want to go bang your aunt".
I think the bittersweet ending of finding out that the mother was dead all along and Ted was telling the story to his kids would have been a great ending without the add-on Robin double-twist.
essell@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 307d
That would have been better
Rooster326@programming.dev · 12 pts · 307d
Skip the whole last season.
pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 307d
I tried to get in it. Didn't enjoy
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 307d
Hated the journey as much as I hate Jason Segel
essell@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 307d
I'm guessing you realised you hated it after only a few episodes and it only got worse as you watched the rest 😏
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 306d
It was too sappy for me, like rewatching friends is a bit cringe now that im older. Or full house. Good memories but shows I won’t revisit ever
Adderbox76@lemmy.ca · 32 pts · 307d
Honestly, I loved that show. But this picture is still so damn true.
alekwithak@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 306d
Great show, loved the show, would have been better without the premise.
kadu@scribe.disroot.org · 14 pts · 306d
I'd also remove the frequent transphobic jokes
alekwithak@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 306d
Oh yeah a lot of the jokes both haven't aged well and were bad for their time as well.
Adderbox76@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 306d
The twist should have been that the mother was indeed the stripper from season one.
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 307d
The laugh track adds up to two whole seasons
hOrni@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 306d
You can probably say that about any show with a laugh track. I usually don't mind it if the show has jokes. But then there are things like Big Bang Theory where they just pasted the laugh track over the dialogue in regular intervals without the jokes. I also don't remember How I Met Your Mother being funny.
Flamekebab@piefed.social · 21 pts · 307d
Robin really wasn't a strong enough character.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 307d
As a straight, white, 45 year old man, I would have been happier if Ted had ended up with Barney
scbasteve@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 307d
The story was never about getting from point A to point B. It was about every little distraction or detour in between that allowed getting to point B to have the impact that it had.
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 307d
So a regular story told by somebody with ADHD
Evotech@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 307d
Any sitcom plot is just a shell to tell jokes And funny situations. Hearing people flip their shit about that is funny
gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 306d
life's a detour to death, so take your time :D
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 306d
I hated Ted. Were you supposed to hate Ted?
bartlonvb@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 306d
I remember during early seasons a friend of mine saying "I think the mother is not Robin but he'll end up with Robin" and I said lol that would be so lame
RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 306d
AKA why I never ask my in-laws about their day.
Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club · 12 pts · 307d
The 15 minutes includes also all the jokes they told over the seasons.
explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 307d
It's gonna be
Wait for it...
Pika@rekabu.ru · 2 pts · 306d
Legen - dary!
Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club · 2 pts · 306d
Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 307d
ADHD by any other name.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 306d
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 307d
A name would've been nice.
cheezy@lemmy.ml · 21 pts · 307d
The show is called "How I Met Your Mother"
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 307d
Thanks, i'm out.
Colonel_Panic_@eviltoast.org · 3 pts · 307d
Don't you want to find out how we all slept with your mother last night?
remon@ani.social · 15 pts · 307d
How about Peter?
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 307d
That's a nice name.
Gladaed@feddit.org · 3 pts · 306d
What did you expect?
kamen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 307d
- Do you want the short version or the long one?
- Yes.
hOrni@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 306d
Which wouldn't be a problem, if the show was any good.
roserose56@lemmy.zip · -7 pts · 307d
Bro I watches and I don't even liked the ending. It was a waste of time! Seinfeld for ever, Giddy Up!
CanadianCarl@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 307d
Seinfeld the paedophile? https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/jerry-seinfeld-dated-a-17-year-old/
Signtist@bookwyr.me · 16 pts · 307d
Brought this up to a coworker of mine once, and they countered with "17 is basically just 18." to which I replied "You're right, adults who date "legal" teenagers are just as creepy." He shut up after that.
buttnugget@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 307d
Says so much about our culture that he wasn’t roasted alive for this back then.
roserose56@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 307d
I didn't know that, still I'm talking about the series, not the actor.
roserose56@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 307d