Blessed by the Potato

I’m sick at home with a lung infection (that sounds cooler than “hacking chest cold”). As we learned from the Tick, there’s only one way to wear down a cold, and that’s with many hours of daytime television. Of course, I’m not a big fan of what’s actually on TV during the day, but fortunately we’ve got all four seasons of How I Met Your Mother here on DVD (or for the current season, on the Xbox/Tversity).

How I Met Your Mother is a really, really funny show that’s nearing the end of its fourth season. I avoided it for a long time because the premise is terrible. Bob Sagat telling his kids the story of how he met their mother in dozens of 20-minute increments? Puh-lease. However, I finally tuned in last year after Wayfare caught a few episodes and fell in love. It’s a great show with some really funny characters (starring Allyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris in particular). The writing is spot-on and very quotable (in fact, several quotes from the show have worked their way in to the charade pile at Wayfare’s place, as those unfortunate souls who had to act out “Quote – ‘We Thought of Traditional Native American Headdress Before We Thought of Hat'” or “I’m a robot sent from the future to win the marathon” knows all too well). The story-telling framework is often best ignored, and aside from the show’s intro they do leave it alone, except for when it truly does add to the comedy — in particular it’s a neat way to censor the swear words. “I’m too old for this sh– stuff.” Voiceover: “Yes kids, he said stuff.”