How I Met Boredom

Admittedly, I think I stopped expecting originality from Hollywood right around the time I saw they were going to make a fourth detective show where the main character's power was simply being very good at remembering things. This came on the heels that the third "CSI" franchise was going to be scheduled to lead-in to the second "NCIS" to form a block which could compete with the fourth "Law & Order" in the ratings. At that point I started to assume TV executives didn't have pitch meetings to decide what pilots would make for the best show, they would were trying to pick which projects to green-light based on whether or not they would be able to launch a couple extra spin-offs and make their future jobs in programming that much easier. Look, I can't blame these people - getting paid millions of dollars to do as little original work as possible is one of the America Dreams. Also, it is as much our fault as theirs because we keep watching these shows which are just copies of stuff we have already seen. Still, there is something to be said for at least putting in enough effort to not have it be so blatantly obvious. I thought they least they could do was lie to us a little by spending a couple hours to come up with a new name and not make it quite so obvious. However, thanks to recent news I have begun to wonder if my anger was misplaced and it was the writers and producers who couldn't come up with any fresh ideas and these studio executives were just doing the best with what they were given.

This is the last season of the television show "How I Met Your Mother" (or HIMYM, as the cool kids refer to it on the internet as a way to save space in a place where saving space is unnecessary). Now, when the show first started out nine years ago I thought it was a cute, occasionally clever bit of harmless television which I never expected to last this long, but was pleasantly surprised when it did. Still, I think even the most ardent supporters of the show would admit it had reached its expiration date. (You can tell a cast is starting to get bored when they start appearing in movies, which all the cast has been doing lately. I'll put it to you like this - people in healthy relationships don't keep going out cruising the bars with their single friends. If the cast wasn't under contract they may not have been able to get this season in.) Anyway, when it was announced this would be the final season I expected the producers of the show to be as relieved as anyone because dealing with the same characters for a decade had to be getting stale and I would have thought they would have appreciated the chance to do something new and different. Plus, thanks to the long-running success of the show and what I can only imagine was a very solid syndication deal which would give them a nice chunk of money steadily rolling it, I would think they would be living every producers dream - having no pressure and thus being able to take their time to find the right project to work on and refrain from pitching an idea until it was perfect. I guess I should have known better.

The other day it was announced that these same producers had reached a deal for a new CBS pilot called "How I Met Your Dad." No, really, that is the title. It will follow a quirky group of friends around New York City as the main character attempts to find the love of her life. Hearing this news I couldn't help but think of an old "Saturday Night Live" episode when Jerry Seinfeld was the main host and in one sketch he was supposed to be the host of a game show for comedians where they were given the premise and had to provide the punchline. One young comedian (played by Adam Sandler), got an early correct answer with one punchline and then spent the rest of the sketch saying that punchline over and over, regardless of the set-up. I guess these producers have a similar mindset. Now, there was a small chance I would have accepted this premise if the show was starring the girl we have now figured out is the "Mother" from the first series as it would have filled in a few blanks from the original series, but that won't be the case. It will have nothing to do with "How I Met Your Mother" other than the producers, the location and a title which is a strained attempt to piggy-back off a successful show, making it just as silly of an idea as the recently-announced "Murder, She Wrote" relaunch. (Angela Lansbury recently came out against that show but I would imagine the cast of "How I Met Your Mother" aren't as invested since they all have other things to work on.) I'm starting to wonder if this show is going to start having a revolving cast with new characters every year, like "American Horror Story." (I'm certainly scared by that thought.)

Look, I understand that at it's core there are only so many ways to sell the same story but maybe that kind of writer's block should be interpreted as the universe's way of telling you to find a new premise. The old saying is if something isn't broken there is no need to try and fix it but I firmly believe that adage was meant to apply to the creative process, not the actual product which is being created. Also, at some point these TV executives have to know we are going to get sick of seeing the same thing every week. Sure, there are plenty of people willing to watch a story which is very similar to something they have seen in the past, but there is a fine line between similar and blatant rip-off. Besides, if fans of a show are really missing their favorite writing style they can go online and watch old episodes, rather than try and get attached to new characters who they will never really like as much as the old ones. When you add it all up I can only assume this show will eventually go the way of shows like "Joey" - close to the program people loved but not close enough to keep them watching. I'm sure these producers are freaking out at the thought they will never have the same success again, but someone just needs to remind them it is like graduating from high school (I'm going to assume they all did this) - every kid worries it will signal the end of the good times but after one semester of college they can't believe they had to wait four year to get there. Basically, I just think these guys need to try something else because lightning simply doesn't strike twice, even if you are standing in the same place and holding up the same piece of metal.