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Dissecting the Outrageous Success of “How I Met Your Mother”

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Julianne Wojno
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BC chapter.

While you all were stressing over finals this past December, junior Mackenzie Soniak was quickly falling in love.

During her spring semester abroad in 2011, Hilary Travers ’12, too found herself head-over-heels.

These love affairs, however, weren’t leading to any Facebook relationship status changes.
No, Soniak and Travers weren’t finding themselves in love with any old BC bro, but instead with the hit CBS sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.

Soniak and Travers are among the incredible following of the show (an average of 9.48 million followers, to be exact, according to the CBS Corporation), and its popularity rises everyday.  I was among those newbies who just recently joined the craze, and since Christmas break, I have to admit… I’ve seen every episode.  I’ve noticed that Soniak, Travers, and I aren’t the only ones who have hopped on the bandwagon.  Everyday I meet someone else who just recently started watching the show. 

One weekend, in fact, my friends and I decided to play a HIMYM game.  Going out, we planned to approach random guys, tap their shoulders (Barney style) and mimic his famous wingman line, “Haaaaaaaave ya met Ted?!”  Only instead of Ted, it was Julie!  When we jokingly tried it out on the elevator, our victim answered back with lines from HIMYM!  Success. 

But what it is about this show that makes it so popular and utterly addicting?
Some may compare it to Friends, one of the most successful sitcoms in TV history, and the comparison is well justified.  Check it out:

Plot: Thirty-somethings living in New York City struggling with their love lives.
Setting:  MacLaren’s is HIMYM’s Central Perk. 
Character ties:  Just as Chandler, Ross, Monica, and Rachel know each other from their lives pre-NYC, so too do Ted, Lily, and Marshall.  The flashbacks to their past-selves is common in both shows.
Characters:

  • Robin: Robin is the Rachel of the group.  She’s the hottie who has relationships with not one, but two guys in the group.  (Let’s not forget Rachel’s stint with Joey…)
  • Ted: Ted is Ross.  Easily.  He’s the hopeless romantic who is also a professor… with strikingly similar hair and humor.
  • Lily and Marshall: Lily and Marshall are the Monica and Chandler of the group.  They are the stable couple that everyone loves.  Just as Monica is a motherly figure to the Friends crew, so too is Lily.
  • Barney: Barney is Joey.  Didn’t see that one comin’, did ya.  They’re both loveable womanizers who sough at the idea of being tied-down, but yearn for it deep down…

Okay, so HIMYM is pretty similar to Friends.  But that still doesn’t answer the question of what has made the show so successful.

Let us dig deeper.  What really draws in the 9.48 million viewers each season?  Why has Neil Patrick Harris won four Emmy nominations for his role as Barney, and why is the show CBS’s highest-rated series among 18- to 32-year olds?  

Travers and Soniak credit the success with character development, dynamic, and the their never-ending search for love.

“The characters are so personable, there’s something about the them that you just want them to do well, you want them to make the right choices!” says Travers.  “Ted makes so many bad choices, and he’s kind of a whiney character, but in the long run, I still would marry him!”

Bingo: it seems the show’s success stems off likeability factors.  In one way or another, we can all identify with the characters and the crazy circumstances they find themselves in.  Many of us have seen doppelgangers of our own friends, made outrageous bets (ducky tie, anyone?), and if you’re like me, you’ve had the bizarre experience of the having show sometimes weirdly mimic what happened in your day… to a T (it happened twice, I swear!).

Now let’s talk group dynamic.  Who doesn’t love when the gang rags on Barney, “forcing” him into insane challenges (hooking up with a girl while in grandpa costume…) or sticking Canadian joke after Canadian joke to Robin.  You’re basically un-American if those don’t at least make you smile.  Try Lily.  You must love a sweet, innocent, nympho, kindergarten teacher, right?  Then you have Ted, oh Ted.  His fascination with the likes of two-minute dates, Pumpkin sluts, and dancing with the Captain always keep us entertained.  Lastly, there’s Marshall.  He’s everyone’s favorite caring and passionate ogre, no?

Soniak also mentions that many viewers relate to the character’s struggles of finding love.  “A lot of us are coming to that point in our lives where we’re starting to look,” says Soniak of the show’s target demographic.  “So it’s very identifiable.”

But what else can we credit the show’s success with?  It’s right in the title.  Everyone tunes in each week dying to find out how… HOW DOES HE MEET THE MOTHER?  Will we meet her this episode?  Will we ever meet her?  Will we know it when we do?  This is an important part of the show.  It stirs conversation and theories left and right.

Soniak has a theory of her own.  According to this HIMYM addict, we haven’t met the mother yet… but we will- at Barney’s wedding.  Thus the future wife has to have a connection to Barney.  But who exactly will it be?  Soniak predicts Barney’s sister.  She points out that in one episode, Barney’s dad mentions a sister Barney has never met.  He also mentions that she is in college at the time.  Let’s remember the episode where Ted teaches in the wrong classroom… they told us the “mother” was there!  Let’s also consider that they always call Robin “aunt…” and let’s be real, if Barney and Robin don’t get married, there will be riots. 

We’ll leave it at that, HC BC, as only time will tell who this mysterious character will be.  But you better believe that we will all be on the edge of our seats watching and rooting for Ted, Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney.  No, we’re not cheering for Robin’s current boyfriend, Kevin.  He’s annoying.

Wait what?  You have no idea what show I’m talking about?  Loser.

Photo sources:
http://epguides.com/HowIMetYourMother/
http://tvbreak.info/watch-how-i-met-your-mother-season-7-episode-13-tailgate/
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/03/we_think_we_figured_out_who_yo.html
http://primetimewithcaroline.com/2010/10/26/how-i-met-your-mother-baby-talk/

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Julianne is an Ohio native studying communication at Boston College with a concentration in journalism. She got involved with Her Campus BC when the chapter launched in December 2010. She began as an editor and contributing writer, and since has moved up the ranks to Campus Correspondent. Aside from working for Her Campus, Julianne is a certified personal trainer at Boston College's Flynn Recreational Complex and teaches group fitness as well. During her sophomore year, Julianne was a part of the Arrupe Program at BC and traveled to Guatemala, learning about the culture, political, social, economic, and religious issues of the country. Her goals post graduation include writing for a health and fitness magazine or working in communications for college or professional athletics. As for now, however, she is enjoying life at the University she loves so much! An avid hockey and football fan, one can always find Julianne in the stands rooting on BC and the Boston Bruins! Other hobbies include running, yoga, cooking, baking, and photography.