Essay Sample on How I Met Your Mother: A 21st Century Sitcom Sensation

Introduction

Carter Bays and Craig Thomas created one of the best sitcom television shows of the twenty-first century. The American TV show, How I Met Your Mother (often abbreviated as HIMYM), made its debut on CBS on 19th September, 2005. The profound show aired nine seasons, a total of 208 episodes, from 2005 to 2014. Since being featured, the show has received exceedingly high viewership, and it is currently ranked among the top T.V shows on Netflix. The show explores the lives of five colleagues based in New York; their relationships are all linked to Ted Mosby, who is the main character. The sitcom follows Ted Mosby's retelling of his life story to his children in 2030; Ted narrates how he met their mother while enduring the hard and tough encounters in New York City. Ted also tells the shenanigans and adventures experienced with his friends while searching for the love of his life. Apart from capturing Ted's traditional love story, the show also looks into his failed relationships and the hardships he underwent together with his colleagues: Robin, Barney, Marshall, and Lily. In the show, the audience is presented with ups and downs of various characters: Marshall and Lily, the first couple in the show; a womanizer as well as a corporate suit - Barney; and an immigrant from Canada as well as a news anchor in New York - Robin.

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HIMYM initially aired on CBS as a standard thirty-minute network sitcom structure. It was later transferred to Netflix but got removed in 2017. The episodes are moderate in length; about twenty-three minutes of watch time. Each chapter contains three to four acts, and some of the episodes have a cold open or tag at the end. The show does not fall in the drama category, and it has a procedural structure in the episodes. Each episode has a unique story. One does not have to watch the show from the beginning to understand the plot or capture the portrayed art of comedy in each episode. The American sitcom contains narrative arcs that tend to continue in the course of the episodes. The final season is unique because it follows a sequence of activities, particularly following the events of a wedding. It is, therefore, crucial to watch the episodes in the proper order to avoid missing out on the flow. HIMYM's cast structure comprises of the five previously mentioned significant characters. These are "Ted Mosby - Josh Radnor, Lily Aldrin - Alyson Hannigan, Marshall Eriksen - Jason Segal, Robin Scherbatsky - Cobie Smulders, and Barney Stinson - Neil Patrick" (How I Met Your Mother Cast). The latter names following each character's names are their real names. The overall main character in the show is Ted Mosby, and in the season finale, a new character is introduced; she is the mother to Ted's children, and of course, Ted's long-awaited lover.

In the show's opening episode, Ted Mosby is portrayed as a good guy as well as a hopeless romantic who always wondered why he did not have a spouse. Ted recalls how he was never popular growing up as a kid. However, upon joining Wesleyan college, he befriends Marshall and Lily. The two become Ted's best friends, and they decide to move together to New York after completing their studies. Shortly after moving in together, Marshall decides to propose to Lily, who was excited about the engagement. Ted is inspired by Marshall's big step of proposing, and he makes it his goal to find a soulmate. Ted happens to be old friends with Barney, whom he met at McClaren's Bar. As they hang out with Barney, Ted meets Robin, who is a Canadian immigrant as well as a News reporter. Ted shows his desire to date Robin but was never successful. Consequently, the two decide to be friends, drawing Robin into the group.

In the "Ten Sessions" episode, Ted meets Stella, a mother of one, and a dermatologist. Ted convinces Stella to take Stella for a date after several attempts. The two rush things because they become lovers and get engaged in a blink of an eye. In another episode, the "Miracles," Ted decides to wed Stella. Before the wedding, Ted suggests inviting both of their exes for old memories. Stella is, however, hesitant, unlike Ted, who persists. Tony, Stella's ex-husband, accepts the invitation and shows up at the wedding. Unfortunately, Ted and Stella's marriage did not go as planned; Tony and Stella's love feelings rekindle, forcing them to flee. Ted is left stranded at the wedding. It was the most terrible thing for Ted because he was broken.

In another episode, the "Architect of Destruction," Ted bumps into Zoey, who is an activist on behalf of the Arcadian building. At the same time, Ted was working on a project at the same site as Zoey. Their first meetings were unpleasant because the two hated seeing each other. However, after a while, the two end up together. Because of career conflicts, the two break up in the episode "Landmarks." After several adventures, Ted finally meets his wife, Tracey, while attending Barney and Robin's wedding. Tracey is a member of the band playing at Barney's wedding. Ted is swept by love at first sight and sees Tracey as his perfect soulmate, his dream girl. In the last episode, "Last forever," Ted and Tracey get married. Ted's love life consisted of several broken relationships that served as lessons for him; however, he finally recollects himself and settles with Tracey.

Marshall Eriksen is portrayed as a kind fellow who was focused on furnishing his career. Even though Marshall is sharp, he sometimes appeared silly. In the opening titles, Marshall meets up with Lily; the two start dating and finally get married. Marshall always showcased his desire to become a renowned environmental lawyer for saving the world. Besides, he always wanted to be there for his family regardless of the frequent conflicts he had with the family members - initially Lily, and later the children.

In the first episode, the "Pilot," Marshall fails to get a job as an environmental lawyer even after having graduated. In "The Best Burger in New York" episode, Marshall lands a job as a lawyer at GNB. However, he dislikes the ethical practices at GNB and decides to quit the job and instead pursue his intended dream career - developing into a resourceful environmental lawyer. During an episode entitled "The Exploding Meatball Sub," he gets a well-paying job at a renowned law firm - Honeywell and Coots. Marshall is committed to his job as an environmental lawyer at the new firm, and he even wins several cases for the firm. One of the great wins is that of having to fight is a college friend who represented Gruber Pharmaceuticals; all this took place in the episode "Twelve Horny Women." Gruber had a lawsuit filed against them for contaminating and poisoning Frog Lake. Later in the show, Marshall grows more ambitious. He realizes that he can only save the world through being a judge while still providing for his family. In another episode, "The Poker Game," Marshall lands the job as a judge. The career development journey is outstanding; he is self-driven and hardworking - he goes for what he wants. He, however, does not neglect his family alongside the pursuit of his career dreams.

Barney Stinson is portrayed as a charming, sarcastic, jokes-filled, and lovable philanderer. He perfectly fits the "bro" persona for his unwavering support, especially advice, to his male counterparts. He and Ted met at McClaren's Bar in one evening and have since then been great buddies. Ted introduces Barney to Marshall and Lily, and they form a special unbreakable bond. Barney wants to get involved in successful relationships, but because of his need to find his dad, he fails to pursue his dreams; he becomes a growth-stagnant fellow.

In the "Game Night" episode, Barney is portrayed as a fellow lacking confidence. He always fancied wearing suits to impress ladies. This behavior is connected to the incident where his girlfriend was snatched away by a suit-wearing fellow. Since then, he believes that "suiting up" provides a stable ground when approaching a lady. The suit gave him exceedingly high confidence when handling ladies, making him win over most of them (Shaw 2). In the episode, "The Playbook," Barney plays the different ladies using his secret signature. All this behavior can be linked to Barney's father's abandonment since he was a child. In another episode, "Cleaning House," we get to know the father's story; the dad left Barney's mother, a single parent, while Barney was still at a young age. Since then, the mother hid the identity of Barney's father to protect the boy. As Barney grows up, reaching adolescence, he starts to date. Ted leads Barney to Robin, and the couple dated for quite some time. Their relationship did not work out because Barney has trust issues and suffers from childhood abandonment trauma. In another episode, the "Legendaddy," Barney gets to meet his father, and they mend their broken relationship. This instills a new form of confidence in Barney, who decides to settle for a serious relationship with a single lady. After several ventures, Barney, in the "Final Page" episode, gives a last shot at fixing his relationship with Robin. This works out pretty well, and this time around, Barney proposes to marry Robin. They marry and divorce six years later. Barney then gets a child out of wedlock. Barney, however, decides to stick by the daughter's side and raise her. This shows how Barney failed to achieve life dreams; however, he fixes his broken relationship with his dad, which helped him lead an improved life without childhood issues. He also avoids his father's past mistake of neglecting a child, and he instead vows to provide for his daughter, even after having been conceived out of wedlock.

Robin Scherbatsky is portrayed as a romp because of her love for cigars, scotch, guns and hunting, and hockey. Her father dreamt of conceiving a baby boy, so when Robin was born, he treated her like the son he wanted (Thompson 22). Besides, Robin bears a genuine feminine personality and identity. In the opening episode, the "Pilot," Robin is the first girl that Ted took out on a date. Even after their relationship did not work, Robin remained part of the group. She had left Canada for New York to pursue her career as a news reporter. Robin wanted to be successful in her career as a news reporter; however, she also needed to get into a working relationship alongside her career.

Working for Metro News One was Robin's passion; she presented excellent pieces. However, she almost messes up her career after meeting Ted. She almost lost her job after slipping up at work. As a result, Robin was denied promotions while at the workplace. Along the way, in the episode "Shelter Island," she quit the job and went for another in Japan. However, she dislikes the job in Japan and therefore decides to move back to New York City. Robin stayed unemployed for about a year before finally landing the job of hosting a morning show. This time she takes her job seriously, although her time never followed her lead. As the show progresses, in the "Come One" episode, she is asked out by her co-host Don; she accepts the request. They were happy in their relationship and even moved in together. At some point, Robin even turned down the offer for a new job in Chicago in the name of love. Unfortunately, Don is offered the same job, and he takes it, betraying his fiancee. Robin is annoyed by such a selfish act demonstrated by Don. She chooses to seek another job elsewhere. In the episode "Twin Beds," Robin and Don opt for a breakup. Upon landing another job, as a researcher at WNN, she works her way up again and becomes a reporter. They meet up with Barney and date seriously; they married but later divorced. Besides, Robin continued pursuing success in her career after choosing to part ways with the group. She regrets turning down Ted, though she is at peace wi...