Laugh Track Mondays…

April 14, 2008

“The Chain of Screaming” How I Met Your Mother

Out of the negativity and into your Mother…

How I Met Your Mother should be called “The Barney, Marshall, and Lily Show.” Ted’s okay, and Robin is just trying to stay relevant to the story. (Though my attitude towards her could become much more positive in the near future, as I hear Robin Sparkles will be making another appearance alongside Tiffany!)Tonight’s show was Marshall-icious. The episode started strong with Marshall struggling to walk into the bar after a bad day at work muttering, “Beer…beer…” like it was a swan song. It would have been funnier if it wasn’t so achingly familiar…Ahem. The stress of being a corporate lawyer is finally getting to Marshall, so much so that he cries after his boss yells at him. It’s amusing enough to watch his friends in a fantasy sequence give him some advice on how to handle a screaming maniac on the job, but it doesn’t get particularly good until Barney reveals the genius that is “The Chain/Circle/Pyramid of Screaming,” which involves yelling at someone littler than you in order to deal with the big people yelling at you. Not the best Barney-ism, but I laughed. (Speaking of Barney…What the hell does he do?? Post your theories in the forum.)

The beginning would be great if it stayed…you know…at the beginning of the show. But the rest of the episode is Marshall whining and quitting his job. Nothing in particular stood out to me, though I’ve come to have high expectations for “How I Met Your Mother.” Consider this week’s tag…Marshall and Lily f***ing in the kitchen. We get it, you’re both horny. If we didn’t get it before, Lily reminded us the entire episode. Now, consider the tag from the episode before this one: Neil Patrick Harris (Barney) revisits his Doogie Howser days by writing in a blog to the tune of the Doogie theme song, “Even though I didn’t find the mystery girl…I did find out something important about myself. I’m awesome.” Yes, Barney. Yes, you are. Still, if we’re giving out a line of the night, let’s give it to Jason Segel (Marshall) in honor of his new movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” that comes out on Friday.

“You’re mom’s a slut, and I’m sorry Barney, but you and your brother clearly have different fathers, and you know why? It’s probably because your mom is a slutty slut!”