The Rebel: How I Met Your Mother, CBS, Monday @ 8:30 p.m.
Call me crazy, but this show could be either really good or really bad. From the clips that I have seen and from some of the early reviews, this show sounds really funny. But what is this show about? Well…according to CBS.com:
Marshall has just dropped a bombshell on best friend Ted. He’s going to propose to his long-time girlfriend. Now don’t get Ted wrong: he’s thrilled with the news. But it makes him realize that he had better get a move on if he hopes to find the kind of true love that Marshall and all his other friends have. Rest assured, and flash-forward to a happy ending for Ted as he recounts, in flashback, to his young children (and us) the story of how he finally met his one true love, the story of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. And with the eccentric company that Ted kept as a young man on the hunt, it’s amazing that he met any girls at all.
I say this show has the potential to be a breakout hit. It reminds me of a little show called Friends. I was never a huge fan of that show, but it mixed comedy in with drama. It was funnier at first and then brought the drama later. Now I don’t know if How I Met Your Mother will have any dramatic elements in it. It seems like it is basically telling a really, long story with funny moments along the way.
Both Friends and How I Met Your Mother have one thing in common. They have mostly unknown people, at the time, starring in it. Josh Radnor plays Ted, Jason Segel plays Marshall, and Cobie Smulders plays Robin (Ted’s future wife).
That is not the entire cast, though. How I Met Your Mother does have two people in it’s core group of characters that are well-known. Of course, I am talking about Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris. Hannigan played Michelle in the American Pie series and Willow in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show. Harris is best known as Doogier Howser from the Doogie Howser, M.D.. These two actors seemed to carry the show along in the previews I have seen.
I think this should be a breakout hit because of them. If they are going the comedy route with this show, they may have found two actors who can pull it off. They are not totally unknown, but they are not “too-good” for television either.
Oh…and did I mention that this show is in between two shows that are quite popular for CBS already? It will be on Monday nights between King of Queens and Two and a Half Men. That can only help to attract initial viewers to the show.
How I Met Your Mother has the potential to come out of nowhere and be the surprise hit of the year. Now I don’t know how long the show can last on the premise that Ted is telling this story to his kids. It should be good enough for this season and we all know if a show brings in the viewers for the first year, it will usually get a second season.
Most fail after the second year, but for this award…The Rebel…it just has to become a breakout hit for this year. I see no better choice than How I Met Your Mother.
