6.5/10 To start off this review I have to be honest and say that it is really hard for me to enjoy comedies with laugh tracks. Laugh tracks, although popular in the 90s and early 00s, really date shows for me, tell you when you should laugh, happen at often unfunny moments, takes you out of the show, isn’t even filmed in front of a live audience and is extremely cheesy. If I haven’t made myself clear enough, I HATE laugh tracks. I can still love a show but I will always hate the laugh track over it. I’d much rather watch a show like “The Office” that lets the audience member decide when to laugh. That being said, this show is quite the conundrum for me. On one hand, I hate the laugh track, the show can get very ridiculous and nonsensical with plot lines and moments that happen (another staple of 90s/00s TV sitcoms, I understand), it isn’t a very funny show (I rarely laughed out loud) and there is some over the top acting that tries a little too hard at times. On the other hand, this is a really fun show to watch. The characters are really well done because they feel so realistic with their chemistry. Even though unrealistic things happen to them, the way they respond to those moments and each other feels very genuine and compelling. We feel for the characters and get to know them over the course of the season and we enjoy our time together. The actors, most whom hadn’t had a ton of work under their belts at the time of this show coming out, are overall strong. Josh Radnor breaks out as the foolish but lovable guy who wants the bachelor life yet is simultaneously in love with a girl. He mostly gives a great performance at inhabiting this character. Jason Segel as Marshall is probably my favorite character from the season. Although he is the most over the top, his kind hearted goofball personality and environmental consciousness won me over and it is easy to see why Segel went on to work a lot more once this show ended. Alyson Hannigan is probably the weakest link in the chain. Her acting and character often suffer a little bit but I am hoping the more I get into the show, the more they flesh her character out and make her more interesting. Cobie Smulders is great at playing the perfect girl and makes you easily see why Ted would fall for her. Lastly, Neil Patrick Harris probably plays his role of Barney better than anyone. As the man whore of a bachelor and best wingman ever, Harris makes you forget he is gay in real life by totally committing to the role and probably having the best lines that made me laugh the most. I also really give the show props for its season finale where instead of tying the season up with a happily ever after moment, they hit you hard with an emotional reveal and make you want to immediately start watching season 2. So although this show isn’t very funny for a comedy and it falls into some familiar sitcom tropes, the excellent cast and well developed characters will still make the show very entertaining and fun to watch. Let’s just hope they focus on upping the laughter in the second season and trying to reel in a little bit of the over the top scenarios.
#SmulderingHot / #BarneyTheFineBroWhore / #EnactingMarshallLaw / #TedAndBreakfast / #FreeLily / #TheHornUltimatum
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