[How I Met Your Mother] Teenage Marvin

Teenage Marvin was featured in this week's episode of How I Met Your Mother and the character is played by Spenser Ralston, who also appeared (albeit uncredited) in 90210.

Only four more weeks, and this show is finally over.

[How I Met Your Dad] New Mother Accused of Selling Out

Yesterday, CBS announced that Indie film actress Greta Gerwig will headline How I Met Your Dad (HIMYD), the spin-off to How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). The show is slated to run next season (Fall 2014), since HIMYM is bowing out this March. HIMYM co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas will still run the show. But they will also work with a third showrunner on board, Emily Spivey, who did Up All Night.

Greta Gerwig

plays Sally

on How I Met Your Dad

Not a lot of people are thrilled to learn Greta Gerwig is doing TV, much less a spinoff of a show that, some people note,  should have ended four seasons ago.

Via the LA Times:

The news has prompted some fans to call Gerwig, who began her career in micro-budget mumblecore movies such as "LOL" and "Hannah Takes the Stairs" and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her recent turn in Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha," which she also co-wrote, a "sellout." While an HBO series would be one thing, so the thinking goes, this is a network sitcom derived from another show that has, according to some, already overstayed its welcome.

How I Met Your Dad will be told from the point of view of Greta Gerwig's character, Sally, who is described as "a female Peter Pan, who has never grown up and has no idea of where she's going in life." The show will open with her contemplating a breakup from her husband of one year, while a group of merry odd friends will serve as her advise and support group.

Twitterverse isn't also happy with the premise of the show, but Gerwig is on board not just as its star. She will also write and produce some of the episodes.

Admittedly, I don't recall ever seeing Greta Gerwig's movies, despite having a familiar face. (I checked her IMDB, I still don't know where I've seen her!) But to have someone of this pedigree doing TV has made me look forward to HIMYD.

I was quite lukewarm about this spinoff because, like everyone else, I agree that its parent show has gotten pointless at some point. (I've been watching the final episodes for the sake of getting closure from this series. Thankfully, the last few ones have been to my satisfaction!)

Enter Greta Gerwig… and my interest for HIMYD has taken a turn. I do want to see this series getting a pick-up now, and largely because I have to see what she can do with it. For all the hesitation people are having about this spinoff, maybe it will be a better show than HIMYM. Maybe they did something right by getting her, and maybe this is also a good career move for her.

For now, I'm gonna have to find that Frances Ha movie and get acquainted with a possible future obsession.

So, what about you? How interested are you about How I Met Your Dad?

If TV Shows Were Relationships, Mine Would Be...

College Humor has come up with this hilarious post called "If TV Shows Were Relationships" and I could relate to it oh so well.  In the archives of this blog, I think I've discussed about it in passing at one point.

I liked College Humor's take on Lost. That show really took a lot from me. By the time it ended, I was too exhausted to protest and question everything, I took what it gave. I'm not alone in this knowing several viewers of Lost were sore about the show, too. Lost made a sucker out of me. Wiser a few years after it ended, I now see that this show fucked me up big time. I can't easily appreciate complicated stories now. I practice caution, for fear of being sucked into it.

I feel the same way about The Office, but I'm watching its current and final season with renewed interest. I'm learning to love the show all over again. Since I am aware it's going to end this season, I should really be thankful I'm getting a well-deserved closure.

While I'm not geek-crazy about Firefly like many of its hardcore fans, I do get what this is about. It ended too soon, and rather tragically, yes.

##########

We all have this certain emotional attachment to what we watch. If your life basically revolves around watching TV like mine is, the attachment goes deeper. I sometimes do regard these shows like they're "people".

I love a lot of TV, although not every show I watch is a potential "romantic relationship". But following what the original post says --- if TV shows were relationships, these would be the ones I've had serious history with...

• FRIENDS would be my true love. No one can ever measure up to it. It's the one I would marry in 100 churches and re-marry in the after-life.
• HAPPY ENDINGS would be the new relationship after FRIENDS' death, leaving me a young widow. It's a lot like my true love and it does make me happy. But it isn't FRIENDS.
• BAND OF BROTHERS would be my May-December affair. I've learned so, so much from this relationship because this TV show "boyfriend" has so much experience and wisdom.
• FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS would be my ideal marriage, if I ended up marrying it.
• HOMELAND would be my abusive relationship. I mean, this show is so good, it's orgasmic. (Seriously!) But I am always so tensed around it, I know it would be the death of me. 
• GREY'S ANATOMY would be the ex that left me very bitter.  My emotional scars for this run deep.
• FELICITY would be the college relationship I'd remember with fondness. Although I still can't figure out why it didn't work, almost a decade after we've broken up. I can't even remember how we broke up.
• SUITS right now, would be my Summer fling.
• HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER would be the relationship I feel so trapped under. Eight long years and I should've quit it, especially after last year's events. For one reason or another, I'm still holding on. And unlike The Office, I can't find new ways to love this new season. 
• BEVERLY HILLS 90210 would be the first TV relationship; the first love I would eventually grow apart from.

How about you? Which TV show are you so crazy about, it hits you like a love relationship?

Lyrics To How I Met Your Mother's Cheating Song On The Boat

♬ You fool around on your baby
Now the least you could do is to tell the truth,
Yes, you in the suit
Or the secret will eat up your soul

Coz the guilt's gonna drive you crazy (crazy...)
You couldn't live with this lie,
Kevin's such a nice guy
Gotta tell him tonight
Tell him right here on this boat

You're like scum on the edge of a toilet bowl (flush!)
What the hell is in that place?
Well, you should have a soul (slut!)
You did these two wrong,
Don't wait too long
In fact, you know what,
Tell 'em while I'm doing this song (tell him, tell him, tell him...) ♬

Lily As A Stripper and an HIMYM Season 4 Recap

Photo credits: TV Addict


Not so bad at all, not really. Especially not after having her baby in real life. Why Lily is wearing THAT and why she has her hands on the stripper pole, is something we can look forward to when How I Met Your Mother returns on the 28th. (There are more pictures of Lily and the cast at the TV Addict's site.)

I have read the synopsis for the first two episodes.... something I read made me wonder when it happened. Because I lost my mind some months ago, I really have forgotten some of what went on in Season 4 and I am ordering myself a marathon of it sometime.

Meantime, here's a quick 3-minute recap of it though, courtesy of SpoilerTV.

How I Met Your Mother: Benefits

So how about this week's How I Met Your Mother, huh?

The only word I can think of to describe it? PERFECT. The writing was perfect. The execution of the story was perfect. All five characters delivered perfectly, especially Barney (who has finally revealed to Ted he was in love with Robin...well, sort of).



How could this guy not win an acting award for playing Barney yet??!

Whooee...Guess Who's Grinning From Ear To Ear This Month?

The cast of How I Met Your Mother, that's who!

Well, you would be if you've just gotten a raise, won't you?

THR quotes some figures in this report below. It is a raise well-deserved. I mean, have you been watching the show this season? It's steady and solid than ever.

The cast of CBS' hot comedy series "How I Met Your Mother" got something extra for the holidays: salary bumps.

But in a sign of the tough economic times, the five "Mother" stars didn't hit the mother lode that some expected despite the show's solid ratings and strong syndication sales.

After months of renegotiations, Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan recently inked new deals with producing studio 20th Century Fox TV that will bring their salaries up to $90,000-$120,000 per episode.

On average, that's between two and three times what they made before -- a big raise, especially given that Radnor, Segel and Smulders were virtually unknown before they were cast. Still, it's lower than the pay for the ensembles of other comedies at similar points in their runs, like NBC's "The Office."

The new pacts, retroactive to the beginning of this season, the show's fourth, also add an extra year to the five actors' original seven-year contracts.

The "Mother" salary renegotiations followed the lucrative off-network syndication deals in September with stations in the top markets and Lifetime estimated to potentially bring Fox $2.5- $3 million per episode in the first cycle.

They also come as "Mother" continues to enjoy ratings momentum, which started after the writers strike ended last spring and carried over to this fall.

A whole lot of naked on HIMYM!

Inspite of what was quite a hectic day earlier, I managed to squeeze in How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory (... and Chuck, which I had to fast forward several times coz my time was up and I had to get back to work). I cannot NOT watch TV in a day. Am so contented and relieved I took that break, because HIMYM this week? It was the AWESOMEst!

This collage of photos will speak for itself:

My favorite pose is that of Barney's, third row, middle. That's his Superman pose. Heh.

I have very little energy left though and I can't elaborate what went on in this episode. But if this photo's gotten you curious, check this site's account, it's where I got it from.

And I think I also have to say: this episode felt like a shout-out to Friends' Ugly Naked Guy! Yeah.

How I Met Your Mother Wedding Spoiler

Dropping a big bomb on HIMYM fans --- TED AND STELLA DID NOT GET MARRIED!

So that means, Stella is officially off Ted's life. You could smell it coming. They made Stella so unlikable in previous episodes. It was a clear sign she was never going to be Mother.

But I did not expect it to end this way. Stella got back together with the father of her child. On the night of her wedding to Ted. Poor him.


Now, Ted can go back to the way his life was. Which may somehow complicate it --- does Robyn still have feelings for him? Then where does that put Barney into all this?

My mind is still trying to assess what had just happened.

Monday Marvels

Not feeling quite chatty today. I went through Monday night's line-up quietly. I wanted to write losta things about how fantastic Monday's comedy is but I hesitated (read: I'm too lazy to do it). I know what's wrong with me. But I'll spare you the personal details. Coz, you know... it's ick-y.

Anyway. Marvelous Monday nights ---

• Penny becomes addicted to online gaming in the Big Bang Theory. How I thought this show was too corny the very first time is beyond me. BBT is probably one of the smartest comedies. And you know what? There aren't a lot of 'em on TV now!
• Ted lists the reasons why he loves New York over New Jersey in How I Met Your Mother. And I think I know one of the reasons why Stella isn't Mother. Oh, and Robin is moving to Japan. What is going on?
  
• Sam's still having his worst luck on the Worst Week. They've introduced a third or fourth sibling. My god, how many brothers and sisters does Sam's girlfriend have? I crack up a lot when I'm watching this show but the jokes are mostly stupid. Between BBT and WW, my IQ points fluctuate.
• Bryce is back on Chuck!!!!!!!!!! Yum. Also, it is official --- Chuck is James Bond now.
• I have yet to break-up with (breakaway from) Grey's Anatomy and it seems I'm also going to do the same for Heroes. Can they do a Sylar spinoff instead? Mohinder = eeeeeeewwww!

How I Met Your Mother S4 E2 - World's Greatest Burger

Haaack! If you're going to watch the second episode of How I Met Your Mother's fourth season, then please watch it on a full stomach. I made that mistake and called the nearest and fastest burger delivery as soon as I was done watching. There goes my diet!

How I Met Your Mother S4 E1 - Do I Know You?

With its return, How I Met Your Mother wasted no time revealing Stella's answer to Ted's marriage proposal. We know it's coming. In fact, there is a wedding set for October. What we don't know is --- Ted actually doesn't know his bride to be all that well.

When Marshall asked him what kind of present he and Lily should get them, Ted didn't have any idea what possible future Mother likes.

Marshall: Does she like to cook...
Ted: Actually, I don't know
Marshall: What's her favorite color?
Ted: Don't know that either
Marshall: Does she have any hobbies?
Ted: Yes. She's exactly that kind of person who would have hobbies...and interests too...
Marshall: You don't know anything about the woman you are marrying.
Ted: What?! You're crazy! I know plenty!
Marshall: What color are her eyes?
Ted: The color of the ocean after a storm...
Marshall: Which is?
Ted: ....Beautiful?

So Ted wastes no time "getting to know" Stella. And they ended up watching Star Wars one night, because Stella confessed she never saw this yet. Star Wars is Ted's all time favorite movie. Marshall thinks if Stella doesn't like this one, then their relationship is doomed.

Guess what Stella thought of the movie? (And I thought the same as Stella, if must know!)

Marshall to Stella ---

He watches it when he is home sick with the flu. He watches it on rainy Sunday afternoons in the fall. He watches it on Christmas Eve. Ted watches Star Wars in sicknes and in health, in good times and in bad...Do you really think you can pretend to actually like a movie you really hate?

Meanwhile....the legendary Barney is freaking out and is acting like that dork he was on Doogie Howser. He tells Lily he thinks he is in love with Robin.

"I wanna be with her all the time. I wanna hear about her day, I wanna tell her about mine. I wanna hold her hand, smell her hair. "

Unlike Ted's proposal, I get the feeling this one is something we'll have to wait awhile for. Robin doesn't even know why Barney is acting all funny around her. And by the end of the episode, it looks like we have the old Barney back. Maybe the writers are just dipping their foot in the water for this storyline... and find the water too cold just yet?

Catch up on How I Met Your Mother

The Writers Strike made us forget a lot of stuff on TV. But thank god for Youtube and those video uploaders who painstakingly do these videos. These season recaps are just what I need!

Here's How I Met Your Mother, rewind:

Wedding Bells on How I Met Your Mother?

Last season's How I Met Your Mother left us with a cliffhanger. Was Stella gonna say "Yes"? Is Ted and her getting married? Have they really found Mother? Was this even the plan?

Sources say a wedding is going to take place as soon as the show returns; that it is set sometime in October. And Sarah Chalke (Stella) is expected to appear in at least six episodes.

But let's not forget the blossoming love between Barney and Robin. Is it possible, they're the ones getting married?

Finale Watch: How I Met Your Mother

The good news is, How I Met Your Mother has been renewed for another season (fourth). The not so good news? We're left hanging for a while, as the show ends its third year run this week.

Will Stella say yes to Ted's marriage proposal? Is she really Mother? Is Sarah Chalke going to be a permanent part of the cast and juggle between the last season of Scrubs and this? The show's creators have actually prepared two solutions to the cliffhanger, and they still do not know which one they're using come season 4's premiere.

Ted gets into a minor accident, his life is flashing before him and suddenly he see where he wants to be. In a separate incident and actually as a consequence of Ted's accident, Barney gets hit by a bus and he too, realizes who he wants to be with. Things are going to change for these two in the next season. And yes, even for Robin (although she has no idea yet). Which leaves Lily and Marshall...with no exciting storyline to look forward to.

No thanks to the strike, HIMYM's season ender felt a bit crammed with too little plot development. It also wasn't a funny episode...the show hadn't been for a while. I would've wanted more stories in order to invest into the romance between Ted and Stella. As a fan of the show, I'm still not convinced this relationship will last, and yes...the marriage proposal is premature. But then, I have no reason to complain since it is coming back next season, Stella or no Stella.

HIMYM Scoop!

I've been watching How I Met Your Mother since season 1 and did not know that Robin's co-anchor at work as a news reporter, is the real-life husband of Allyson Hannigan (Lily) and that they've been together for years!

There's a bit of trivia for you, too. Did you know?

Anyway, How I Met Your Mother's season finale is this week. Here's the dish from Korbi on what's up with the last episode for this season:

At the end of the episode in which Ted finds out about Robin and Barney's hook up, there was a great little cliffhanger moment where the narrator says, oh wait, Aunt Robin wasn’t living in my apartment on my 30th birthday, that was the year after. Can you shed any more light on this tease?
That was playing around with the fact that this is a guy who is telling the story so many years in the future, and he jumbles it up in his memory a little bit. He can be an unreliable narrator. I can say that [that tease] is exactly what it sounds like. Robin and Ted will live together at some point in the future. He’s misremembering the chronology of the story, but it’s pretty explicitly stated there. That was sort of a sneak peek. I don’t want to say how or why or under what circumstances it happens, but we like the idea that our show can do things like that, have this [narrator] kind of get the chronology wrong and accidentally tease forward to new dynamics that we plan to get to in the future. We’re happy to have a season four to be able to execute all these plans.

Will we learn more about Ted and Robin living together in the finale?
That specific thing, you’ll have to watch next season to learn more about. People will enjoy the finale in terms of the Barney and Ted and the Barney and Robin stuff. That’s the main focus and a lot of events shift around in their lives quite a bit. I’m very glad we have a pickup because we’re going to be weaving a lot of interesting questions into the finale and it would have really sucked to not be able to pick up on that.

So it’s cliffhanger-ish?
Yeah. It’s probably our cliffhangeriest episode ever.

We must chat about Sarah Chalke, because she’s been so awesome as Ted's new girlfriend, Stella. I know she’s back for the finale, but will we definitely see her next year?
We don’t have anything in writing, but we’re working on it right now. We have a few different thoughts in mind moving forward, depending on her availability and logistics. Our plan and our desire is to see quite a bit more of her. We thought she was fantastic on the show and definitely part of why our back nine sort of elevated the whole season.

A stressful Wednesday and yesterday's comedies...

Heyi-ho! I hate to open this entry with a rant, but here I go... I don't think I've ever said this but I hate Wednesdays. Oh, wait...maybe I did. The way I rant and complain about the littlest things? I probably did already say I hate Wednesdays.

I work tons of jobs, plus I work at home, without a maid. So I keep two hats on. Sometimes three, sometimes four.

The most important of my work is this fambiz (family business) I have to oversee one-two days a week. And Wednesdays happen to be the most important day for it --- paperwork, phone calls, follow-ups, yadda yadda. All on Wednesdays.

Which means, I would have little time to do other things. Like my other jobs or like watching my shows.

It's a good thing I've only got American Idol to tune to on a Wednesday. Imagine if this were a regular TV season.

Today has been especially stressful and I won't have to bore you with the details but let's just say I hope it's Thursday already. Or Friday. Or the weekend. I just hate Wednesdays!

Anyway, yesterday was Comedy Monday (Tuesday, really.... since we're a day ahead than the States). I tuned to Two and A Half Men out of curiosity. They did a CSI Crossover. I'm not a regular viewer of the show. No need to wonder why ---- it sucks! And I'm gonna watch CSI this week (when I don't really follow this show that well anymore) just to satisfy my curiosity.

The Big Bang Theory this week featured Sheldon's gorgeous fraternal Twin Sister. Who would've thought they'd come from the same egg? And the boys treated her like a goddess, they made a fool of themselves.

Samantha Who? was a riot. She rounded up her gal pals and stalked her mom, who she suspected was having an affair, which wasn't the case. On the other hand, Sam is actually having an affair with her ex-boyfriend. Ooooh. Bad, Sammy!

Sarah Chalke was back on How I Met Your Mother. She really has grown as an actress over the years, (I'm currently re-watching her other show, Scrubs Season 2, as well). Her comedic timing is flawless. Barney, meanwhile, is looking for a new wingman since he and Ted had a falling out. His new wingman is that guy from SNL and he's brilliant. Watch:



House abducted his favorite daytime soap opera star upon suspicion he's sick and probably dying. House of course is right and they save his life. I love the fact that House is so addicted to his TV shows. Just like me.

So, okay...that's it for now.

It's still a Wednesday, the day's not done. I've still got work to finish. Ugh.

Oh, wait --- if you're on Multiply, please add me up.

How did this happen???

I'm suddenly swamped with things to do and with little time to do it. Dunno how it happened... I've not been behind but I've been struggling with keeping a schedule. Is the summer weather pushing me to slack?

Anyway... weirdness:

On House. First episode back after the strike and I do not know what went wrong. House and Cutthroat Bitch fight for custody of Wilson. How did that happen? Why did that have to happen. And why is Wilson not saying something about it, that wuss. Not the best episode ever.

On How I Met Your Mother. Ted shows real feelings of disappointment over Barney sleeping with Ted's ex. It's weird to see that knowing how convoluted plot developments are in this series. But I like that he reacted that way and showed, actual, human emotions.

On Samantha Who? Things are getting weird for Sam and her ex-boyfriend Todd. Are they getting back together? I've been asking this question since the 3rd episode back.

On American Idol tonight, which I haven't seen yet but have already read about. Simon called it the weirdest show yet, on account of Paula.

On Law and Order SVU tonight --- it's gonna be the the first time I'm watching this show straight after it's airing, I usually just try to catch delayed episodes on cable. The reason? Robin Williams is the guest actor....so, I can't wait to see that.

Britner Spears back on How I Met Your Mother

Yep, they're having her baby...one more time. She will be back on the May 12th episode, according to E! She will play Barney's Girlfriend....(wait a minute, what has happened to this?). Barney and Ted have a falling out, too. On account of...oh, yeah this.

From E!

Barney: Oh, wow, Ted, long time no see. I guess you're wondering why I haven't called in a while. See, I'm kind of done with the whole having a life and being awesome thing. Now I'm all about staying in, wearing loose-fitting clothing, and watching bad movies my girlfriend makes us watch.

Ted: That so?

Barney: I'm sorry, have you guys met my girlfriend, Abby? She's my girlfriend, and I just love her love her love her. We're in love, just like Tom and Katie. [Jumping up] I'm in love! And there's nothing about it that makes everyone around me uncomfortable or annoyed!"

Funny Monday: How I Met Your Mother S3 E16, Big Bang Theory S1 E13, Samantha Who S1 E12

Alright, watching, done!

1) There's a big spoiler on How I Met Your Mother this week. I wrote it on ClickTV.

2) I did not get a lot of what went on in the Big Bang Theory tonight. They had a quiz contest and really, only geeks would be able to understand most of it. All of it.

But this line made me laugh out loud.

3) Deanna finds someone on Samantha Who? and why should she not, she's a pretty girl!


And Samantha quits her job. She's slowly discovering the kind of person she wants to be, post-amnesia.

I wish I could post more, but being out the whole day today exhausted the crap out of me. I'm gonna curl up in bed now and watch more TV.