Essential 5: How I Met Your Mother

I do not enjoy Friends. I find most of its situations completely implausible and boring. When it ended in 2004, I was not alone in wishing it a bon voyage. Since then many shows have tried to recreate its success but most failed. The problem was that the simplistic core idea required some sort of vision to really make it worthwhile. Seinfeld was the result of a very definite worldview, Friends, though, just seemed to lead to empty plots and storylines. If Cosmopolitan Magazine were turned into a TV show, it would be Friends. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised by How I Met Your Mother.

It isn't so much that the show has more to say about relationships and friendship, but the way it peddles its advice makes it so much more satisfying. The premise of the show could not be more perfect for a sitcom: it has a built in happy ending and it functions like real storytelling (stories in real life are often episodic, and most importantly they are often exaggerated). Finally there is a plausible explanation for over-the-top jokes and situations. I could finally enjoy a sitcom!

The show has a built in structure which allows the writers to be particularly creative with the stories. The more they try to work with this device, the more successful they are. There are stories within stories, forgotten names, fake-out alternate endings, and many other common storytelling devices which usually don't make it onto television.

So where should someone who might be interested start?

1. Pilot, Season 1 Episode 1
While certainly not the best episode, it does introduce all of the 5 memorable central characters and some of the shows long running jokes. There are a couple misfires like when Barney kisses Marshall (doesn't that seem a wee bit homophobic at this point?) but overall the episode delivers and anyone thinking about watching the series should start here.

2. The Pineapple Incident, Season 1 Episode 10
This is the first episode which really delivers on the show's potential to experiment with storytelling techniques. Each character here has a different story to tell and their perspective affects the narrative. Besides that, its simply a funny episode.

3. Swarley, Season 2 Episode 7
The episode starts with a dig at Friends, "hanging out at a coffee place, not nearly as much fun as hanging out at a bar," and only gets better. One of the funniest episodes. This feels like the place where everyone has a handle on their characters for the first time.

4. Slap Bet, Season 2 Episode 9
One of the most important touchstone episodes. This is the beginning of some of the most memorable long-running jokes in the show including: the slap bet and Robin Sparkles.

5. The Naked Man, Season 4 Episode 9
Pretty much universally considered the funniest episode, this is probably the one to see if you only want to watch one. I don't want to ruin any of the jokes so I'll stop here, but don't miss this one!