Why How I Met Your Mother is better than Friends │Definitive Edition

[@Krossxc]

TIMESTAMPS: 4:14 - Part 1a: Characters│Ross & Rachel Vs Ted & Robin 16:58 - Part 1b: Characters│Marshal & Lily Vs Chandler & Monica 29:52 - Part 1c: Characters│Joey, Barney, and Phoebe 46:54 - Part 2: Endings & Themes 1:04:34 - Part 3: Comedy & Culture 1:17:15 - Part 2b: Endings & Interpretations 1:21:36 - Part 4: "Copying" & Conclusion

[@Okaroshy]

Hey have you noticed that big bang theory is a ripoff of how i met your mother

[@davidz2562]

@@Okaroshy Most friendship-based sitcoms copy others.

[@l3umstick]

@@Okaroshy not really

[@randomspirit6061]

57:35 I think you are scared of sadness. But that is very normal these days and that is reason one for alternative ending. I think.

[@kangarumpy]

The timest of amps.

[@paxbello7938]

Jason Segel's acting when Marshall's father passed was actually heartbreaking.

[@lolurmadinnit7425]

im not sure if its true but I read somewhere that they didnt tell jason that that was the news lily was gonna give him, he completely improvised it

[@jessekulbe1855]

@@lolurmadinnit7425 if that's true, it has to be one of the most amazing improvised scenes ever

[@WritingGeekNL]

@@jessekulbe1855 Yes, it is true. I also think I've heard/read that the told him that she was going to tell him she's pregnant instead. But I'm not sure on that.

[@kapdi5540]

@@WritingGeekNL In an interview they said lily was gonna be pregnant to conceal the twist

[@elr492]

That is why he said the line "I am not ready for this". The actor really wasn't and that was he came up with. Brillant.

[@rafaelmontoya1454]

I always felt like the saddest part of Barney's character arc's decline at the end of the show was that he gave up Nora for Robin and still ended up alone.

[@Pyxyty]

Fr. The second that lasted for eternity. Breaks my heart to this day the look on his face.

[@user-fe1le2yl3x]

Rafael Montoya for me he had the best ending between all 5 characters he ended up with his daughter .

[@extraterrestrialhorse9722]

@@user-fe1le2yl3x that's a shit ending, dude. He's a womanizer that got stopped in his tracks by having a daughter (unintentionally). If they made him unintentionally make Nora pregnant or adopt a child with Robin, THEN it would have been great. But for his character to do a 180 degree turn after divorcing Robin was an insult.

[@user-fe1le2yl3x]

Extraterrestrial Horse i agree it was a shit ending but compared to the others he had the best ending possible and still went back to being a shit head after having his daughter even tho none of had any character development to begin with . Also that’s what happens when you write the script of the series finale 7 years early .

[@jackjerram3550]

The ending never happened

[@doperagu8471]

Marshall's "I'm not ready for this" after he found out his dad died was just such a sad line. I haven't lost a parent yet but I imagine that's how it feels for everyone. Such a heartbreaking scene.

[@poopa9241]

I remember reading somewhere that Jason Seagull wasn't in on the real script back then, he thought the countdown was for Lilly to tell him some good news (I think to say she was pregnant, can't remember anymore). But instead Alyson Hannigan gives him the horrible news so his reaction is suppose to be genuine! So the 'im not ready for this' is a perfect improv line that fits perfectly the shock that both actor and the character should be feeling at that time.

[@prachikalkar2493]

If you lose anyone closer to you , you would cry at that scene

[@burgerman1234567]

@@prachikalkar2493 to be honest, having been there when my wife received a phone call telling her her father unexpectedly died at a fairly young age (60) our reaction was way more intense then Marshal (while being roughly the same age as his character when it happened) This type of sadness cannot be shown or depicted on TV, it would not be enjoyable for the audience. But it s a great episode though.

[@prachikalkar2493]

@@burgerman1234567 yes i can understand, when i lost my only father figure even though he was already sick i was so shocked i couldn't even move for 5-10 mins And do remember my family's reaction it just that it reminds you of that

[@bluematamata]

just reading the line from your comment made me cry

[@alexandergott3409]

Hot Take: i wouldn't have minded if Tracy died at the end of HIMYM, because it gives the entire narrative a reason, and message. The reason i didn't like the ending was the robin thing. Just that. EDIT: to elaborate a bit more too- since i rewatched the show since posting this- In one of the wedding episodes, it's mentioned that Ted's best friend as a young boy was a bolloon (haha funny bit), but later Ted lets go of Robin to "float away" like his balloon did, creating a semi-obvious parallel between the two- letting go. This made me hate the robin ending that much more. They set up the symbolism and retconned it by the last episode.

[@Notmyrealemail]

This right here ✨👍

[@yukistork7388]

The two final seasons are literally just about Barney and Robin's relationship development, why the hell did they destroy all that character's growth???... Moreover, they divorced because of Robin travelling aboard all the time which upseted Barney because he wasn't able to meet Robin as much as he would wanted to, but oh that doesn't matter if Ted is the one she ends with (???

[@adam-dx6hh]

I agree with you I didn’t like it either but at the end of the story the kids say to ted that he has not told all that story just so they know how he met their mother and indeed she appears only at the end of the final episode of season 8 so it’s obvious that the hole show is about his relationship with robin and than I cannot picture any ending that would make more sense than this one appart from the alternative one. I’m still open for suggestions of how it could have ended though and btw sorry for the writing mistakes i’m french.

[@LEFT4BASS]

Same here. Ted learning to move on, Barney learning to commit, and Robin learning to love someone else we’re all major character development points. I hated how it was all undone in the last few minutes.

[@LEFT4BASS]

@@yukistork7388 exactly. By the shows end, Ted and Robin were ancient history. The show was not building up at all to the ending it delivered.

[@Matyunkin]

Remember how I won the math Olympiad and was incredibly happy, but when I got home, I learned that my father had died. That same year, I watched the first seven seasons of the HIMYM for the first time. The death of Marshall's father is still the most emotional death I've seen on TV.

[@olau5478]

sorry for your loss

[@Matyunkin]

@@olau5478 thanks very much. Just realized that my commentary looks like some kind of sad story, but to be honest, I just wanted to point out how well this moment in the series is done. In general, the events that followed the death are shown very accuratly, such as friends who try to make you laugh at the funeral, problems with the last words and how to get back to normal life.

[@RoffeDH]

@@Matyunkin I haven't had the same experiences as you, but that moment just hit me so hard the first time, and at every re-watch. Such a good moment. The only show that I can think of that has the same impact on me is Scrubs. Have you seen it? If so, how would you compare the two episodes I'm thinking of? If not, do so.

[@Matyunkin]

@@RoffeDH I watched the Scrubs a couple of times, but it was long ago, so I'm not sure which episode you are talking about. That episode: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKC2faujj5J6sNE&ab_channel=xxSTRAIBRAxx ?

[@RoffeDH]

@@Matyunkin yes, that's the episode.

[@analauranicoli2361]

One of the best "musical moments" to me is the scene the one right after Robin tells Ted she doesn't love him and moves out. "Shake it Out" by Florence + The Machine is playing as Ted goes outside for a walk, and the street is full of people holding yellow umbrellas. It's really poetic.

[@33TVWVL]

The episode when Robin realised Ted was the one who found her necklace (in s9 if i remember correctly), they shared this meaningful look then it started raining and the song "How To Fight Loneliness" comes on, i got goosebumps. And it really foreshadowed the finale

[@Настя-з7л3т]

Yes, I love this moment so much

[@ratsack5022]

First time I ever heard that song was from this show and I definitely thank HIMYM for it being in my life

[@jambrown1397]

For me it’s the end of season 4. “Prophets” by AC Newman and Ted’s dialogue about how he’s able to be so optimistic despite bad things which happened because good things are coming. Couple that with the metaphorical leap. Just a great scene all around

[@Nosmo90]

For me, it's 'Victoria' by The Kinks playing when Ted sees Victoria before she sees him, and 'Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp' by George Harrison (I remember that Ted's in his apartment, but I don't remember the context!). Also, 'Here I Dreamt I Was Architect' by The Decemberists and 'Good to Sea' by Pinback; unfortunately I've no idea what the context of these was except 'sadness'.

[@timothy1188]

The reason Lily is seen as always right in the eyes of the show despite it being not true is being the show is told through teds perspective who would probably think highly of her.

[@noahhendrix9090]

Dude that makes soooo much sense thank you!

[@xuxacachachera7775]

I don't like the argument "cuz is Ted's pov" because it can be used to literally ANY character or history telling flaw

[@cephinisemodestin3348]

@@xuxacachachera7775 but that's the whole point. How I Met Your Mother is told from the point of view of Ted. That's why that particular style of storytelling is so cool. Because the stories told from Ted's POV, the concept of right and wrong, the way in which we as the audience view certain character's and so much more relies so heavily on Ted. There are whole scenes and parts of the story missing or told in a disorganized manner, solely because Ted can't remember or because he wasn't there. I think the flaws and messing up of stories is all part of the HIMYM charm.

[@francovillaa]

How about the episode where Tracy is the narrator ¿

[@irock2403]

"Despite it being not true" ? Lily is always right period

[@Rindiculousfun]

Honestly, I'm not mad about the mother dying. The time travelers episode was a such a strong yet depressing moment in the show and showed how much Ted is still in pain without Tracy and gave us a glimpse of how he has dealt with it for years and for the end of the show it would have been perfect. Especially the scene with the mother not being at her daughter's wedding. That was such a powerful scene. I'd much rather have that kept in, but keep Barney and Robin together because I feel like that's so much more character recession. Completely destroys both characters in the last 10 mins. I woulda restructured it with taking those moments out of the finally, kept the mother dying, and then finish it off with the alternative ending.

[@youmgsandwiche]

I completely agree with this, I've never really agreed with the complaints about the mother's death myself. It's tragic, but to me it adds this great emotional context to the show's framing device. The ending as is tried to frame it so that the reason Ted barely talked about the mother was because he was actually trying to indirectly ask his kids if it was okay to date Robin, but with the mother's death, I feel like it makes more sense that the reason Ted is so roundabout in his storytelling, why he lingers so much on every minutiae of everything that eventually led to him getting together with the mother, is because it's still hard for him to directly talk about her. Like his mind just slides off it because once he's told his kids about how they met, then what comes next is only his relatively brief time of being blissfully together with her up until the point he loses her. He's bathing in the warm nostalgia of his treasured memories, everything he's thankful for because it led to meeting the woman of his dreams. But it's still painfully bittersweet to directly talk about those memories, because as happy as they were, he still wishes he could have had more time with her, so much so that he'd take every little bit more he could have had (seen in the time travelers episode). This roundabout way of avoiding the painful things is also working off a very similar idea expressed by Ted and the mother in Vesuvius, about how sometimes, some things are so intense that maybe it's better to just leave it unspoken and enjoy someone's company instead. These memories may not be people, but Ted still regards them very fondly and he's just enjoying reliving each memory before he inevitably gets to that point in the story that starts the countdown of his time with the mother getting cut short. The mother even mentions her fear of Ted becoming that kind of guy who only lives in his stories, and I feel that maybe the reason Ted even started randomly telling this story to begin with is that this is his own way of working out some things, his unresolved feelings that he never really got closure on because some things aren't that easy to put away. It's his way of picking through his memories and cherishing the things that mattered, the memories that make him happy, while also saying goodbye to the ones that still hurt, the ones he doesn't need anymore. It's a way of finding his own closure and moving forward without letting his past be a burden to him anymore. So yeah. It felt almost insulting how the show then tried to trivialize all of this by trying to frame Ted telling this story to his kids as an indirect way of bringing up the idea of him dating Robin again. For me, what the alternate ending really needed to fix was how hard the original ending crapped on Barney and Robin by making them split up just so Ted can get together yet again with Robin.

[@Cookieninja-bo6gd]

Nothing to say other than I agree, obviously I wouldn’t want the mother to be dead but I wouldn’t have mind it so much if ted didn’t end up with robin

[@Nightman221k]

Same. I still love HIMYM but Robin and Ted being endgame was a terrible decision when the times they were apart were better than when they were together.

[@kVa5ir]

To be honest, even Barney and Robin divorcing, isn't a bad ending, either? Throughout the final season, the couple are constantly quarreling, and it would be a good ending to have their problems be resolved at the aisle but that's just not real. Them breaking up makes sense but the reason why it doesn't, is because it feels shoehorned (which it is to make Ted and Robin endgame) What I feel like would be a better ending is if them breaking up because they don't agree on the concept of having kids (instead of just dumb job too busy, boohoo) and it makes sense for both of their characters. I mean it's the exact same fate as the original but it feels a bit more mature. Barney is always built up to have kids eventually, and Robin doesn't ever want them. Them having a big fight because Barney is finally ready to have kids but because of Robin's inability to birth and more importantly, never wanting one and then leading to their divorce feels like a natural ending to their relationship.

[@Nightman221k]

@@kVa5ir That would have been better, the lame thing is that they wanted to have Barney just get a random woman pregnant and rush all the complex feelings Barney might have about fatherhood as a rushed as hell ending.

[@freerealestate9637]

As someone who lost a parent to suicide, I’m not gonna lie hearing phoebe joke about it is quite funny. It shows different stages of grief, phoebe has accepted it and moved on and HIMYM shows the fresh and deep grief. I still prefer how HIMYM handled death but the jokes are a little bit funny haha

[@hopeguerra4717]

But her mom didn't even really die

[@Fingerscrossedout]

I can totally see where you are coming from. I must say that I understand phoebe even she uses it from time to time to win a sympathy card where we genuinely joke about it. I think that because the person I lost was so incredibly abusive to me and it has been 14 years that I actually can joke about it like this way. But I'm nowhere completely healed yet. Plus I do have a preference for darker humor than most people.

[@rohidagya3023]

They literally made that her entire character which was bad

[@yurinaily1326]

​@@hopeguerra4717 the mom who she knew and who raised her died. Her grandmother who lived with her died. Her stepfather who sold his blood during Christmas to buy her food died. She didn't knew her bio mom and dad until she was 30. Phoebe is such a light character with the darkest background. She's my favorite bc it shows how you can grow out of your childhood trauma and become a nice person.

[@Fingerscrossedout]

@@rohidagya3023 tbh i don't think it was her whole personality

[@gemalaauruma17]

Well, I watch both friends and himym. For me, friends is just for fun, a kind of show that you watch when you just want to relax. While himym is also funny, but at the same time it makes you think. The storyline is more well written, and it gives us so many valueable lesson in different episodes.

[@jacklichtenstein19]

Agreed

[@notarobot69420]

I do watch HIMYM to relax as well though

[@tivomikeshow2080]

Exactly!

[@faahimrafi8720]

I wrote the same things on a Facebook group, but i disliked the Ending of HIMYM.

[@schm0sbyy]

I watched both, infinitely. FRIENDS definitely has funnier punchlines. Not to mention that the show is almost 3 decades old but each episode still never fails to make me laugh. HIMYM is less funny, some lines are not funny at all but my heart will always belong to it because there's more to HIMYM than the laughter it provides. All the adulting lessons and tips from Ted Mosby helped me get through tough times

[@rebeccarc4314]

To me it seemed like HIMYM always had way more inside jokes for fans to enjoy. Friends does has them too but not as much and they were always put right in your face so you'd feel obligated to laugh like you said. In HIMYM the jokes would be really low key like mostly 83% of the fans watching would get the joke and the rest would never get it or are very slow.

[@onedayseoul]

83% lol

[@thatkamz]

83% ahhh nice

[@v3nus1111]

haha good one ;)

[@suha.14]

The way you used 83% was legendary

[@JoshEvo]

Haha that was clever, Swarley would be proud

[@Dyingrnrn]

Gosh, even just rewatching the short clip of Lilly telling Marshall about his dad makes me cry. That scene stabs me right in the heart every time.

[@calebalwayswill7423]

I'm a fan of anyone who sticks up for this show's legacy, instead of willfully forgetting the hours of joy it brought you because the last 5 minutes rubbed you the wrong way

[@oliviamaynard9372]

The ending ruined the show to the point i can never watch it again.

[@rnbrockstar6591]

@@oliviamaynard9372 just stop at the umbrella scene. In the last episode. We all do it coz its a good a show . But hey who did it better GOT or HIMYM

[@oliviamaynard9372]

@@rnbrockstar6591 I stopped watching GOT after the first episode cause omg the blonde incest was so gross

[@rnbrockstar6591]

@@oliviamaynard9372 honestly i didnt watch got either. I just know it had a horrible last season. If i wanted to see a show with famly drama, Nudity, betrayal, a constant rotating of cast members and over dramatized sub plots id watch keeping up with the Kardashians . 😉

[@oliviamaynard9372]

@@rnbrockstar6591 Lost had an ending at of fans hated but I loved so I got your point.

[@jolley1565]

The thing I hate most about the HIMYM ending is how they destroy Barney’s character arch. He developed so much through the seasons and then was reduced back to where he was in the last like 5 minutes.

[@delk1299]

Regression as a process of grief is common in humans. It's what Marshall does when his dad dies They redeem him in a much more shallow way though...

[@noahcoutto8652]

His character arch ends with him becoming a father and no longer being the playboy he was legendary at. He wasn’t reduced towards the end and in the literal ending his respect towards woman comes from raising his daughter

[@RaghunandanReddyC]

No, he relapsed to the lifestyle he knew and grew up once he had a child. Only thing I hated was, the timeline was rushed. So, it feels out of place.

[@sarosaes1278]

@@delk1299 yeah,but Marshall had a couple episodes exploring that regression until they solve it. Barney had about...a few minutes. That's why it feels weird..

[@sauravayyagari7606]

I also feel Barney's character arch ended almost as a consequence of resolving Ted's official arch with Robin. However, in many circumstances it is renders completely natural. I wish though the movie had expanded on the consequence of Barney and Robin's divorces, or how raising a daughter as a single dad would have been influenced by his single mother and previous rich playboy lifestyle. Lots of stuggle or ironic and wholesome opportunities that were generously left open-ended.

[@RoninOCE]

Damn, it just dawned on me that Ted wanting to sacrifice his goals and ambitions to follow Robin overseas is exactly what Barney does and we know what happened there.

[@jkimc9944]

It's actually why Barney's ending always made sense to me. The same thing would have happened to Ted and Robin as well I think. The timing was just not right. The biggest growth that Barney showed, even if he wasn't right in this case, is that he took responsibility for what happened in a way. He felt like, there was something wrong with him, which is why it didn't work with Robin. Compare this to his attitude towards taking responsibility for his actions in prior seasons, I think it was a step forward for his character. I think his making up with his dad and learning how to take responsibility, made his ending with the baby possible. The phrase, "timing's a bitch" rings so true for me when it comes to Ted and Robin's ending cause when they finally got together, Ted already had kids and Robing already has her career. Both were finally at a place where they could just enjoy each other's company, as they used to, without their goals in life affecting their relationship.

[@sreejasreekumar6802]

Now that I read this comment, I came to realize how they poorly executed Robin's character as this perpetuates the narrative of career-oriented women finds it hard in romance.

[@giulioceresini1435]

​​@@sreejasreekumar6802this doesn't perpetrate anything. Robin wants a carreer that is not compatible with family, and it still wouldn't if she was a man. Lily is also shown to prioritize her career at a certain point in ther life, but after a few bumps on the road, she gets the happily ever after without giving up her job. So, no, Robin's character is not poorly executed, you are just in bad faith. You want to see this kind of problems everywhere at all costs.

[@sophiasophiasophia]

​@@sreejasreekumar6802 this narrative is somewhat true though. I say this as a career-oriented woman who finds it hard to find romance

[@sydneyjordan2452]

@@sreejasreekumar6802 I never saw it this way. It always came off to me that robin didnt really wanted children of her own and wanted to remain child-free by choice. Her choice of career just made her choice more apparent as it isn't compatible with a family.

[@craig3565]

La vie en rose makes me cry every single time doesn't matter how it's placed and how happy i am

[@mdemi7692]

the first episode i ever saw was the episode where tracy sings it. it was randomly on tv and i just broke down. i said to myself that i have to watch this show and i’ve rewatched it like a million times ever since

[@garrettboyd6497]

Same

[@VBabis]

La vie en rose and Marshall learning about his dad always get me. I tear up in milliseconds

[@yareyaredaze588]

@@VBabis for me its the barney and jerry storyline

[@nakaharachuuya6293]

Imagine applying the front porch test on Ross and Rachel “Remember the time you made me stay in New York while i could have moved to Paris” “We were on a break” Yeah they would definately not pass the test

[@shivanijain5999]

That is still better than leaving your DEAD wife's kids for a girl your best friend divorced! That wont any test

[@francisjomergallardo4593]

@@shivanijain5999 wait did Ted leave his kids? WTH

[@angel-xi6ie]

@@shivanijain5999 wait when did he leave his kids?

[@ImGoat1995]

@@shivanijain5999 marshall is his best friend

[@beth5627]

@@shivanijain5999 he didn't leave them, they were okay with it! I know that that is not your point, but it's not like his kids hated Robin, not at all. Also, Marshall is his best friend, like the person before me said lol

[@marylouise9864]

i agree with the alternative ending of HIMYM is better than the original, however i believe the story about tracy getting sick adds reason and depth to why he is telling his kids this story of how he met the love of his life. the season 8 episode with the hypothetical ending where ted shows up at tracy’s door and asks for more time with her is absolutely soul crushing and excellent foreshadowing of the ending. HIMYM is a story of ted searching for “the one” only to find her and have there be unexpected circumstances. the story is a tragedy and ultimately highlights the importance of friendship above all else.

[@NehaBanerji]

her being dead does provide the reason why he's telling the story however the story then being not about their dead mother but actually about another woman makes it even more sinister - even if they ended the story with her getting sick and passing away would be fine but then having the kids so nonchalantly saying go to robin with not a lick of care for their dead mother is just odd yk? they're still minors in the story so it wasn't like she had been dead all that long either its just weird

[@naftherainbownerd]

I wish the ending was that Tracy passed away and it just showed Ted sharing how he met the love of his life without any other hidden agenda (getting to be with Robin). After my grandma passed away, my grandpa sat us all down telling us stories about her and I think if the show did that, it would've been such a beautiful thing. HIMYM has always been about real emotions and this is why the ending doesn't work. It's not because they killed off Tracy, it's because they throw robin in a hurried manner that emotionally and logically doesn't add up. They don't give the audience enough time to deal with the emotion of loss and be accepting of Robin being a probable fit for the now-widowed Ted. Ted and Robin could've worked in the end (in a more calming, friendly kind of love way, not necessarily a passionate love), if they were given enough time to explore that as mature, heartbroken, levelheaded and understanding adults. For this ending to work, at least half a season was needed and season 9 needed to be less emotionally intense (with the whole robin-barney and ted-tracy situation).

[@0ceanaut]

@@NehaBanerji I don'tthink it sinister that he's trying to explain his relationship with Robyn and get them onboard with the idea of them dating, also it is clearly a significant amount of time since her passing for Ted and the kids (but not for the audience so it's understandable if its jarring for viewers).

[@NehaBanerji]

@0ceanaut 6 years is not a long time for young kids when a parent passes away and it is very sinister to sit them down and tell them the story of "how I met your mother" for the entire story to focus on another woman with the sole intention and ulterior motive of wanting to be with her, the mother in the story was hardly a blip, heck the parts we saw her in weren't even with Ted so it's doubtful that's parts were included in his storytelling either (since we know not everything in the show is part of the "story") and children definitely don't have the emotional maturity to just be like yay go for it dad immediately without a thought their reaction was cartoonish

[@0ceanaut]

@NehaBanerji 6 years and they're what, 15? So from about 9 to 15, that's a world of difference. Imo It is not sinister to sit the kids down and seek their approval to move on, sometimes this happens, it's a very mature take.

[@zuzaburnus7405]

Chandler is so underrated. I love him as a character and I think Matthew Perry portrayed him perfectly and maybe even made him better. He is definitely my favourite person on Friends.

[@JPKloess]

Literally everyone says he's their favorite character, he's in no way underrated.

[@chuckschuldinerisgodly]

underrated..?

[@icohen1627]

He is in no way underrated

[@bernadetteappleaquino2971]

true he is so natural and all the cast of friends.

[@leilanyx]

i love him, but he's definitely not underrated.

[@VBabis]

I've read somewhere that the only reason Ted and Tracy last is because Lily is in Italy and therefore, not there to ruin them over the first few bumps, and I can't get it out of my head for how much sense that makes

[@usopp2136]

this hits me harder than the final 5 minutes of the series

[@shaneokelly7803]

Fr, lily pissed me off multiple times when interfering in teds life during the series

[@beth5627]

but she said she didn't interfere his relationships with the potential of the girl being the one, like Stella and Victoria, and, probably, Tracy. I mean, he didn't leave NY for Tracy and Lily knows this guy for over ten years at this point, she must've known that that girl is special. Just my idea tho, because I don't think of Lily as that evil like most people

[@beth5627]

@Meng Hao she is flawed, I'll give you that, but not a bad character in my opinion. She may be controlling but I do not think she has a god complex. But if you think that, it's totally okay, I do not shit on someone for seeing people in a different kind of view. I see your critisism, and understand it, but do not agree with it, if that's fine with you.

[@shaneokelly7803]

@@beth5627 fair point, but even for the girls that weren’t ‘the one’ , it was not her place to interfere, she should let people figure out these things on their own. Well that’s my opinion anyway, unless that person is actually cheating on them for example

[@unruly_rogue]

I feel like the biggest difference between himym and friends is the overall vibe of the show. Friends has cozy warm coffee house vibes whereas himym has epic legendary bar vibes, which is very fitting, and as someone who loves both these shows, I think it depends on which you prefer

[@R4r4Gamez]

Yes. we shouldn't really compare them to be fair. They're just different styles

[@lionmuesli4321]

@@R4r4Gamez they are and they aren't. They're clearly very close to one another to the point where an episode in HIMYM makes fun of friends. I feel that because of that the comparison does make sense

[@R4r4Gamez]

@@lionmuesli4321 lots of comedy and sitcoms references real world sitcoms and of course they go with friends because it’s the most famous. Scrubs did it too with jd and Elliot! You can get inspiration without it being the same or comparable. It’s very clear that the shows have very different tones. We can only compare few very specific aspects. Like Ross and Ted or chandler and marshal. But you can’t compare the storyline and say one did it better. Because they simply did it differently!! It’s not fair to say friends didn’t make the sad moments sad enough because it’s not that type of show. Himym is! you’re welcome to pick one and say its more your niche but just remember that’s just your preference! Just like you can’t just compare any fiction shows. just because their both fiction doesn’t make them the same. You can pick specific aspects but you can’t say one did “ a life changing moment” better just because one show has darker tone overall. This will not be an accurate comparison.

[@greenliter1]

Or, you know, what mood you’re in

[@gabrielmanriquez8585]

Exactly

[@alexandracarolinareyeshern6434]

There's also himym's easter eggs, it makes it more interesting, fun, and it shows that the writers really cared about the little details in the series.

[@deliadiacon6423]

Well actualky in the first season Marshall said he had never been in a fight, and in the last seasons we find out he is a great fighter bc he used to fight with His brothers

[@v3nus1111]

the episode where marshall’s dad dies and there’s a countdown throughout the entire episode in the background!!! i always start getting choked up when it reaches 10

[@TotalyNotTony]

dont forget all the web sites they made for the continuity and barneys blog page

[@gulliver517]

yes !! the guy forces wife to wear garbage bag for the next three years is my favorite weirdly specific website. i’m shocked it’s still up lol

[@gothboithick]

@@deliadiacon6423 most wouldn't regard fighting with your siblings as having "been in a fight" for real.

[@youngdiffi]

I'll be honest every time I come across a video about HIMYM I forget the laugh track exists and have to remind myself, which just goes to show how little of an impact it had and how little they rely on it compared to most sitcoms

[@gandhiguerrero3668]

Is bc the laugh track is really low and artificial, friends was recorded with live audiences

[@angelicasmodel]

I always forget about it too.

[@yurinaily1326]

The fake laugh track annoyed me so much bc it happened even after non jokes. Not unfunny jokes, non jokes. At least with friends we got boos, cheers, awwwns, etc lol bc the audience was real for most of the shootings. HIMYM just had one monotone laugh track so it's easier to filter it out of your brain

[@BahhJustaLamb]

I literally had to go back and watch an episode to listen specifically for the laugh track 😂 ... When he mentioned it, I was like, "HIMYM had a laugh track?!"

[@SIDDIQUIMEZHGAN]

no but actually. idk if I got used to it or smth but I finished the entire show without noticing the laugh track and only realised it had them after going on KZbin to watch videos like these

[@kittycattt93]

Jason's delivery of "I'm not ready for this" will always make me sob

[@tatyanaivanshov]

Just the "you know exactly what I would do..." scene where ted runs across new york to go see past Tracy and give her that speech is enough for me to put HIMYM above Friends any day. That amount of emotion and that amount of depth in a character/relationship is something Friends never achieved and would have just made a joke out of. And that's coming from someone that has watched all of Friends and still loves it. The same can be said for the scene Barney takes the basketball hoop from his dad's house. It offers realism and intensity that Friends never got to.

[@finneich5105]

i think thats one of the reasons i dont mind the mothers death, cause it gave that speech so much more meaning in hindsight, i just hate that he got back with robin

[@danielmacpherson8487]

@@finneich5105 Yeah that scene was really strange the first time. but on rewatching, It's not hard to put yourself in the place Ted would have been in, desperately wishing for those 20 or so extra days with her. I don't mind the Robin ending personally, the entire show WAS about them after all, and they had said decades earlier, "if we're still single when we're 40" and the big problems of their relationship were solved, Robin got an exciting journalism career, Ted got to raise the 2 children He'd dreamt of having. I get that it feels cheap, like you've been lied to, like this video says at the start, the thing about HIMYM that set it apart from other sitcoms was knowing 100% that these two weren't ending up together, and then they did. but after rewatching it waaaayyyy too much, like easily over 30 times. I think it's a pretty fitting ending, rounds off each character perfectly, which is rewarding after how shakey the show can seem in the last two or so seasons.

[@alja4991]

@@danielmacpherson8487 The issue is the way the writers decided to handle it. The show set up a few great and deep and emotional plot points when Ted made clear that he wants kids no matter what and when Robin finds out she can't have kids which depresses her despite never having wanted them in the first place as well as Barney choosing Robin despite of that. That was the big set up that Ted and Robin can't be together, but why Robin and Barney can work because Robin is ultimately more important to Barney than kids. What happens at the end? Barney ends up with a kid after all. Yeah it was an accident, but it negates the beautiful moment he had with Robin. And Ted gets to have his kids AND Robin because Robin doesn't have to do the bearing anymore, heck, the kids are teens, no annoying "crotch Goblins" to get on her nerves. All the issues from the past are magically solved like that. No matter the set up for Tracy in the last season, and gosh, was that amazing, the last 5 minutes make you feel like she's just a means to give Ted babies so the writers can pair him up with Robin. After we've spent an entire season wasting on seeing Robin and Barney working on their relationship. Because yes, love is great, but relationships are work. Barney and Robin put that work into it. Ted and Robin just get another free pass by the universe until the next problem hits them.

[@laurajimenez7878]

100% apart from the clear misogynistic nature of friends himym of course has really bad moments in that area but it's not as constant as friends. Friends had little to no character or plot development, they just packed as many bad jokes as they could on the episode. I grew up watching friends since like 6 and only watched himym when I was like 13 and I prefer how I met your mother way more.

[@tonysobon4669]

"character/relationship is something Friends never achieved and would have just made a joke out of" To me that's why Friends is the better show since it's not a drama and is why it was able to end the show on a high note and why HIMYM first half of the seasons are far better the the ladder. At the end of the day they are comedies and to me overall Friends at it's best was more funny and was able to make all the seasons good. Last and I know this is weird but I am asking you since you seem to like romantic drama more then me , I always had a very hard time with Barney not being gay on the show , normally something like this would never bother me it he always felt like they wanted to make him gay but changed it up at the last minute.

[@yanlaroche90]

First time i saw Marshall react to his dad's death i cried, since then my father passed and now this scene simply breaks me every time, you dont realize how true to life it is until it happens, i had the exact same reaction as Marshall

[@yanlaroche90]

Only scene that made me feel that again was Chidi's wave in sand speech, if you havent seen The Good Place do yourself a favor

[@PseudoKirby]

To me, Ted wanting those extra 45 days is because of how empty he felt before meeting her, how lonely he may have been, I relate massively with this moment so much because I feel that person is out there for me, and if I knew, right now, where she was... I would go there right away...

[@bravemoon2124]

Dude, how is it going now? Have you met her?

[@Diam0ndnite]

HIMYM has made the hopeless romantic I am today. It’s definitely helped me get through life, allowed me to cope and be okay with life being unpredictable. As much as I disliked Traci dying, him getting back with robin, it does fit “life being unpredictable” . But I would too like to have had seen Traci not dying/ seeing more of her and Ted together.

[@FrankHuber]

a longer relationship would have led to a break up. Who could live a life with Ted?

[@ty-zz9ic]

How parenthood is portrayed also an important difference in both series. In friends when Rachel becomes a mother everything is extremely easy. She can’t stop the baby from crying but thats it. In himym Marshall and Lily’s story about becoming parents is portrayed in almost every aspect. Financial issues, having no time for anything else, postpartum depression, and even tiredness. Even before the baby comes they have struggles with it. Whereas in Monica and Chandler’s side, having babies are almost seen as an easy accomplishment. They struggle with infertility, yes but the process of becoming parents is extremely shallow.

[@OHCAM5]

You can't fault friends for not having all that. The show was not about that. They were also older and in better jobs than Lily and Marshal were so it makes sense. Not everyone goes through postpartum depression so why would Rachel. Given how OCD Monica is it makes sense they would go through the process with not many issues.

[@lionmuesli4321]

@@OHCAM5 the show could have been about that and that's the point. The pregnancy was a plot point much like in how I met your mother but HIMYM actually chose to portray the afformentioned struggles the both of them faced. The age makes a very minor distance because having a child changes so much in your regardless of how old you are. The only thing that might change with age is financial stability. No, not everyone goes through post partum depression and I don't blame friends for not incorporating it but there's a grey area that friends didn't choose to explore which I think is a flaw. Why wouldn't you give your story more depth and nuance if you could?

[@crab2195]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@lionmuesli4321 the only problem with saying Friends could’ve had more “depth and nuance” is that it’s friends… they never strived for nuance or depth. the most serious moments tonally are usually scenes between couples and even those aren’t done with a lot of depth. Friends was escapism. i don’t think the writers were looking for deep social commentary or hard-hitting moments. as much as i agree that HIMYM benefits from showing struggle and hardship, there’s also space for shows that don’t. sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and be entertained, and Friends allowed you to do that without thinking too deeply. Phoebe’s backstory is dark and tragic but the show never touches on the real-life consequences of her trauma besides a few punchlines. it’s just not that kind of show. i don’t think any show is better or worse off for showing nuance, that all depends on what show you set out to make. anyone can say they prefer HIMYM because of that depth but it’s not really a fair argument as to why one is better than the other; they serve different purposes.

[@RealMadridFan-cr5jf]

@@crab2195himym is way better than friends but if people just like pretty packaging that’s up to them.

[@shaaz9993]

Rachel having a baby almost seems to have had no impact on her life afterwards. Aside for a couple of storylines that went out of their way to include Emma, it seemed they were always able to pretend she doesn't exist and pass it off with "Oh Rachel's mother is watching her right now". Like, Rachel and Emma are both moving to another country, and Ross (as Emma's father) has nothing to say about being away from his child; he's just concerned about not getting to be in a relationship with Rachel? Meanwhile she's not even taking her baby on the plane with her, but just leaving her behind in in America for who knows how long? And she's going to be a single mum working a high-powered job in a new country with no help once her own mother goes back home? It really seems to make far too light of what it actually means to have a child.

[@Call-me-Mango]

There’s one important bit to know that many people tend to go over in the alternative ending, one small detail that I didn’t notice until my sister told me about it. When Ted’s narrating at his wedding, there’s a moment in which he says “things get put back together” and that scene shows Barney and Robin looking at each other smiling, hinting at the fact that they most likely ended up back together as a couple

[@crazysmith5408]

When I was rewatching the show, I did think it made the most sense for Barney and Robin to get back together after the divorce, since their entire relationship was built on, "It's not the right time."

[@ErenDenizMert]

Wait really? I didnt watch the show in 8 years but didnt robin pull up to Teds house at the end?

[@elenaKS230]

@@ErenDenizMertyes he does go to Robin’s house with the blue French horn, but seeing as he has done that before during the run of the show it’s not a stretch to imagine the relationship failed once again.

[@spooklyduck]

​@@ErenDenizMert did you watch the video?

[@nicholascoble]

I agree with most of this but idk I actually think the stuff phoebe would say about her mom was kinda funny. It’s pretty realistic for someone with trauma to make jokes about something like that

[@yoosung0074]

I’ve always considered that they split the idea of phoebe’s character into two, into Lilly and Barney. Lilly I personally think is a mix of Monica and Phoebe, since she is the best friend who is married to the other best friend, but she is also the “weird” and bi curious character. And Barney has hints of Phoebe, the backstory being one of them, and the hippie-to-buisnessmen trope, since there was this one alternate episode where phoebe becomes a cold businesswoman. But that is just my take on the “inspiration” from Phoebe into HIMYM

[@lionmuesli4321]

I actually think Marshall too got a peace of Phoebe - the airheadedness and the naive behaviour

[@JR-sx3gl]

Never thought about it this way, thanks 😊

[@zyaicob]

All of them have pieces of more than one friends character, i found it weird he didn't talk about that

[@dereklasker5350]

I kinda fall into the camp that there are a lot of moments that foreshadow Tracy’s death too much to ignore the original ending, but either way the rest of this video perfectly encapsulates why I’d still watch HIMYM over friends 10 times out of 10

[@spacexbrawler]

Fantastic analysis. You really put to words why HIMYM is one of my favorite shows period. I honestly don't even think it's comparable to Friends in quality... To me it feels more like HIMYM didn't copy friends but rather said "we can do a similar concept but 10x better"

[@LM-dh1ub]

Exactly. It's very similar, in many ways, but expanded. Bigger highs, bigger lows, and special effects to just make it over the top. Both great shows, but for me I felt I liked the characters on Friends better, but HIMYM overall better show.

[@doctorwholover1012]

It's two colour by numbers, one painted with the generic paints that come with the kit and one painted with intricate watercolours + details. The same painting, but vastly different quality

[@zuzu2408]

haven’t finished the video, just a random thought, another thing I love abt marshall & lily’s relationship is how it is flawed even after their ultimate peaks/‘end goals’ are reached - they get their beautiful wedding, they have the kids they dreamed about, they are genuinely very in love,,,, yet marshall secretly still kind of resents lily for leaving and worries that she’ll abandon him and their kids and only tells her this amidst a heated argument. I love seeing these cracks in sitcom relationships because it’s so realistic. just because they were given what would be the perfect ending for Other sitcom couples, does not mean that is the ending to all of their problems.

[@forestgrump4723]

Another cool thing is we can see in flash forwards that they remain each others rock, but also still have tiffs. Best example being Marshall does eventually break down and open the death folder letter XD Classic Marshall. "Fine I'll take the dirty pictures" "Well I don't want them NOW." "What's that supposed to mean?!" "Nothing! You look beautiful! Have I told you how beautiful you...." Why do I get the feeling that bit of dialouge led to a crap ton of pause/unpause I bet that argument lasts DAYS

[@rossharmonics]

The most heart wrenching aspect of HIMYM revolves around why he is telling his children this story in the first place. Having had my father tell me a similar story fifty years ago made aware of many aspects of the narration. Tracy tells Ted in ", you're the love of my life, Pooh Bear; I just never stop worrying about you. I don't want you to be the guy who lives in his stories". The children are painfully aware that that is the person their father has become and they have moved forward better than their father has. "Mom's been dead six years" Penny tells him. This is just a beginning of an explanation of the nature of the narration,

[@alyissaaragon6943]

"Ted truly loves Robin and doesn't want to control her" Ted: forces Robin to get rid of her dogs

[@jacobgregersen377]

That was just because josh Radnor was allergic to dogs

[@Nightman221k]

I still can't believe that happened and we were supposed to root for these two to be together. I'd take Barney and Robin any day over Ted with Robin.

[@lindamukarakate7511]

I think he meant by the end of the show. he had his moments but by the later seasons he was definitely a more mature and empathetic person than he was when the show started. which is a good thing

[@ddraven3180]

@@lindamukarakate7511 no, he was just an obsessed stalker whose target of his "affection" was beaten up by the wirld enough times to lower her standards and self love enough to "want" him

[@aishas2497]

@@ddraven3180 I couldn't stand ted and preferred barney over him. Ted basically spent the whole show mainly pretending to be in love with the mother of his children while obsessing about another woman.

[@mariaefstratiou7427]

Even though I agree with you with almost everything I would say I disagree a little with your description of Ted. All the things you mentioned were indeed very heartwarming and kind towards Ronin and he has always been much more mature than Ross and Rachel combined BUT I wouldn't really call his feelings for Robin "true love" simply because he seems to be in love with the idea of her and not her as a real person. Let me explain: from the very first episode it becomes known to us that Ted is looking for "the one" very desperately and he *thinks* he Found it in Robin. He's obviously wrong, since they have very different life goals and dreams but he never really gave up on the idea of them. To me he seemed a bit delusional since he willingly ignored plenty of important issues with all of his love interests , because he was so obsessed with getting his dream fulfilled. I think that didn't allow him to see the women he dated as real people but as possible candidates instead. His friendship with Ronin grew and developed into something beautiful but his romantic feelings were mostly superficial. Of course that's only my opinion and I think the video made great points!!

[@quadeong7453]

I think that's a very good point, especially when you consider how Ted treated all his other girlfriends. With Stella and Zoe, I would say there is a similar issue in that Ted fell in love with the idea of being with them rather than the women themselves and because of that he ignored many glaring issues in their relationships that should have been addressed from the start.

[@Sophie-oq8ml]

Yeah I agree. Great points in the video but Ted always came across to me as emotionally manipulative. Playing a good guy role but teetering towards possessive, just like Ross.

[@satan_overlord]

Omg finally someone said, I think this is a more obvious problem for women than for men to notice

[@betssylopez5895]

i definitely agree with this!

[@lionmuesli4321]

@@quadeong7453 the only person who I feel was actually realistic and good for ted was victoria (not the reboot version god no but when they meet at the wedding)

[@_LizPerez95]

As someone who lost my dad 2 years ago. I'll actually have to disagree 100% with your take on how they handle Pheobe and her trauma. Especially because as you mentioned. You haven't lost a parent so you don't know what that is like. Now, that being said. Losing a parent is one of the most difficult things one can deal with and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But grief comes in all different shapes and sizes. There isn't one correct way to grieve. The way Pheobe handles her grief in a comical way is how me, and a lot of people actually handle our grief. I make so many dead dad jokes, sometimes at random or in inappropriate times regardless of how uncomfortable people feel. Its one of those "I'm sure my dad would rather me make jokes and laugh than cry" which I still do. But Humor is a coping mechanism. Also I get it. Its uncomfortable hearing those jokes when you as stated before haven't been through that, you know? But at the end of the day. The people getting uncomfortable will get over it in a couple of minutes. The people making the jokes will have to deal with the grief for the rest of their lives. So you being uncomfortable is your problem at the end of the day. Not the person making a joke at their own expense. No offense. I honestly find how she handles it so comforting and so realistic. Also its not fair to say that one treats it more respectful than the other when they are both showing very very different stages of grief. When you first find out a loved one is dead its so painful and excruciating and life altering. How I Met Your Mother hit so close to home and makes me cry because it brings me back to that moment when I first got that phone call about my dad and how I felt, and everything that followed. I think they handle is beautifully. But with Pheobe it showed the aftermath. What can happen after X amount of time of dealing with grief and how you learn to live with that pain. I hope you read this all the way and instead of taking it as an attack you can learn from it and see it through a different lense and get where I'm coming from. Thank you

[@ty-zz9ic]

Yeppp. Friends HATER here haha but they nailed Phoebe’s psychology about the passing of her mother.

[@indianspartan76]

19:30 it's actually not. He doesn't try to find something he's more passionate about because he's tired of being away from Monica. Chandler's hatred for his job is brought up many times over the series and he afraid of quitting because it's stable and pays the bills. This situation pushed him because he had to fly back to Tulsa, and the gang ask him why is he doing this for a job he hates. Chandler tells that everybody hates their job. You gotta do what you gotta do. That's when they all tell him, truthfully so, that they love their jobs. That's what pushed him to finally, at an advanced stage, find his passion

[@emspace1227]

The ending should be which ever one you like the most. I like the idea of the mother still dying but barney and Robin staying together

[@DetrimentalDarlings]

Marshall’s dad dying was one of the most emotional moments of tv I’ve seen and it’s from a sitcom. I’m really close to my dad and often think about how I’ll react when he dies (probably not the healthiest habit) and it just hits home.

[@superhyperyoshi]

I think even if you take the original ending of How I Met Your Mother, it still handles the romance plot better. Robin and Ted end up together once they’ve both satisfied the goals that were keeping them apart: Ted has a family and Robin has a nice career. They can finally be together only in the future timeline.

[@davidvanhorn2493]

Maybe I’m misremembering the end of the show but doesn’t robin and barneys relationship fall apart because her career is her life. Like does that change because the exact same thing would happen with a ted and robin relationship would it not

[@alinac5512]

Honestly I feel like homyms ending is overhated. It was set up in the very first episode that ted and robin would be the central couple of the show and that Ted had kids with another woman. How can you deliver a satisfying ending that pays both things off? You kill the mother off and since they are both at a different point in their life they can be together. If Ted and Robin were presented a little differently with a little less drama and more scenes that make ud root for them the ending would be way better recieved. It makes sense from a certain pov. People just didnt root for Robin and Ted in the last seasons thats why they didnt like the ending.

[@davidvanhorn2493]

@@alinac5512 shows naturally change over time, they mutate and the show moved away from ted and robin, it told us over and over again that ted needed to move on because his obsession was stopping him finding his own love. Telling us In the last five minutes that all the development we watched the characters go through was for nothing is why the shows finale is so hated, and why it is very rightly criticised

[@alinac5512]

@@davidvanhorn2493 I dont agree but youre entitled to your opinion.

[@davidvanhorn2493]

@@alinac5512 it’s just a show, anyone can like or dislike anything, Ive given reasons why it’s generally disliked and the rules in storytelling that it breaks but I have no problem at all with someone liking it. Super subjective all in good fun pal

[@danielf5393]

I hadn't heard of the alternative ending prior to this video, but when the show was originally airing, I remember feeling that the mother's death was heavily implied. Also, Ted's recounting their lives to the children in such a sit down fashion would make sense in the context of her funeral or anniversary of her death. My alt ending would have included the scene of Tracy getting sick. Cut to the kids leaving and the camera swivels around to Ted who was sat in a chair. He walks out of the funeral home, in the midst of grey skies and damp rain, and goes over to Tracy's tomb stone and place the yellow umbrella on top. End on a zoom out. I wouldn't have changed Barney and Robin's breakup. They were both exceedingly self-centered people, so the relationship wouldn't have lasted long past the second either of them were faced with having to make any real compromises. We see Barney grow and Robin not by the end.

[@monetclau]

same here, i was a casual watcher of the show, and i thought it was heavily implied that the mother would die. and i agree with your alt ending too -- i think it would've been best if ted/robin didn't get back together but robin still breaks up with barney since it seemed more realistic that they wouldn't have lasted in the real world anyway without making major compromises.

[@delk1299]

Very based comment.

[@lionmuesli4321]

it was indeed heavily implied. "What daughter would miss her daughter's wedding?" cut to Ted crying, the 45 days speech, "look around Ted you're all alone" etc

[@tovbyte]

It was always curious to me why HIMYM got so damn depressing towards the end. I don’t only mean the final episode. Since season 7 really the show just felt progressively sadder and bleak. Characters find themselves in desperate soul searching struggles and face utter loneliness. Ted living a sad bachelor life going into his late 30s after his whole arc revolving around finding a partner is just incredibly cruel. Barney and robin entering one doomed relationship after the other is pretty sad too. And marshal and robin feel like they’re isolating themselves from everything, and always seem grieve the loss of their youth whenever they do come back. It’s just like man… idk know why their even telling jokes anymore. Like I get it - struggles are part of the show and it’s realistic, but this was always the kind of show where characters can grow and move past these struggles. But towards the end all of them just feel stuck and utterly helpless. Every issue just bares down on them for good, and idk that’s just not the kind of show it ever was

[@rusty852]

the best take

[@KelpyG.]

Thats does happen in life. Everything isnt smooth sailing

[@JesuínoPescador]

Bro there was a point i didnt even laugh for whole seasons. Himym comedy honestly sucks, but its drama gold. I think the writers were born to do drama, not comedy.

[@valej4272]

​@@KelpyG. Yes but it's still a sitcom :/

[@choryllis6646]

I think what makes the sound design so phenomenal is that the creators treated it like it was its own character. Every time they used it to convey powerful emotions, they allowed it to breathe. No one was talking over it, or they did so sparingly, and there was no laugh track over it. Ted running to Tracy, and the music is the only thing we hear; the clock ticking ends and it's dead silent with no noise until people start moving. It's given so much weight every time it kicks in, and anything that's unnecessary is cut and shoved in the trash.

[@ceciliaaparecida9423]

Totally agree. Another important point: in Friends is missing a character of an indipendent woman like Robin in HIMYM. Rachel, Monica and Phoebe seem always desperate to have a boyfriend/husband at any cost and this is not a healthy message, while Robin is consistent with her beliefs, she's always clear since the beginning about what she wants or doesn't want and never accepts to compromise or settle for less.

[@immacentaur8793]

Robin is kinda like Joey...career/work comes first and lovelife is just secondary...they're both loners(although Robin is not an 'open book' unlike Joey)...they also live alone for quite awhile...and they solve their own problems/issues without the need for help/validation from the other friends(especially in the later seasons)...but if you're looking for a 'woman', Rachel is a close comparison...she became independent at the very end even before having Emma...

[@winnetouch]

Why is such a character missing? Then why not also have the stay-at-home dad? Or a lesbian woman? Hell, let's represent EVERY possible group of people that we possibly can. Do you know why there was no such character? Because the story didn't call for one and such a character was not needed. Shoehorning such characters in just to make a point is bad writing and it's the reason most modern shows and movies suck. Because characters have traits that are not necessary for the development of the story or the character.

[@matiasbliznac2141]

And the guys in Friends are independent? Chandler is desperately looking for anyone to love him, Ross is desperately pining after Rachel/anyone who reminds him of her, and Joey is a guy who would rather die than go without sex. I agree about Rachel, Monica and Phoebe, but none of the characters in Friends are independent. So let's not make this out to be just a problem with the female characters.

[@therockdwarfmockdwarf1476]

I think that the message with robin is that you should actually make compromise. Think about it, because of her rigidity she breaks up with ted, a man she clearly loved and does regret it almost a decade later and she divorces Barney, another man she loved and who went to the ends of the earth to make her happy. Because of her job and her success we see that she drifts away from her friends and ends up alone. She’s happy with that but the overriding question is what should come first your relationships with your closest friends or your dream career, she could’ve stayed on as a less important broadcaster and kept those relationships but she didn’t. And with the themes of the show that your friends are your family it seems she made the wrong choice

[@winnetouch]

@@therockdwarfmockdwarf1476 That still doesn't validate the fact that the whole point of the last two seasons was her relationship with Barney that is totally thrown out the window in 5 minutes in the last episode. A message to learn from or not, this is still a show for entertainment first and the ending needs to be satisfying.

[@biazones]

I used to compare both shows when HIMYM came out but upon reviewing recently I found something that makes both show veeery different in my opinion. THE STORYTELLING. How i met your Mother is constantly playing with perspectives, every episode tells some story in a different way, revealing the ending first, showing each side before progressing with the story, and also there is always The notion that Ted is an unreliable narrator, which, to me all of that makes the show muuuch better than friends.

[@tjohns25]

Nah, it makes it annoying

[@tajniak4335]

5. Ross and Rachel ending, was IMHO deserved. The whole thing with their relationship was that while they were broken up and seeing other people, they clearly still had feelings for each other. While they were technically not together, in some way they were a couple all this time. They couldn't bear the thought of the other not being there. That's why Rachel tried to sabotage Ross's wedding to Emily, and succedeed at it, and why Ross refused to cut off contact with Rachel to save his marriage. Basically, for all these seasons they were a fighting couple being immature and stupid with one another, but they didn't feel the need to take the hard step of dealing with it, because they both knew the other one "is there for them", and they wanted it to stay this way (Ross even says it out loud when he tells Rachel nothing happened between him and her sister - "I don't know if anything ever will happen between us, but I don't want to know that it couldn't"). The point of them being a couple who refuses to admit they're a couple is even made fun of (Phoebe's line: "You love her, she loves you, you have a baby together. There is no right answer"). However, when Rachel was offered to move to Paris, it was a danger that this time they are breaking up for real. The other just won't be there anymore. Rachel even avoided talking to Ross before her flight, and when he confronted her about it, she reavelaled that it was pretty much out of denial - the idea of saying goodbye to him, so to break up for serious this time, was too much for her to handle. Their ending is both of them realizing that they finally have to deal with their situation, which they dragged for years, and resolve it. So they did. Comparing it to HIMYM, Ross and Rachel pretty much lacked Lilly in their life. Someone who would be sick enough of their crap to lock them in a bedroom and refuse to let them out before they resolve their issues.

[@medina7621]

Wow,thats actually a very interesting opinion,I have never thought about Ross and Rachel's ending that way, thanks for pointing that out☺

[@kerodelkigh]

plus they had a child together. that was a big deal

[@tjohns25]

Love this take.. I will say, though, that Ross himself ruined his wedding to Emily.

[@fifimimikiki6747]

Both the Phoebe pregnancy and Tulsa storyline were written due to real events (Lisa's Pregnancy and Matthew going to rehab), which explains some of the lazy or underdeveloped writing for those arcs. Also, I always saw Lily as Phoebe since they were both rebellious street kids with deadbeat dads and long criminal rap sheets.

[@lucykoppe7283]

Uh yes now that you said it. Monica didn’t have too much of a personality besides being a partner/wife

[@rrrr-im9oz]

@@lucykoppe7283 I don't think youve watched friends

[@mavelyn_]

Also it's not even fair to compare Mondler and M&L since they started as a couple, so... Yeah, 9 seasons without showing them grow as a couple would have been st*pid, but Monica and Chandler were a happy accident that had to take their time in order for the show to work and be believable. If as a couple they would've decided to move to the suburbs right away, everything would have gotten more complicated for the plot.

[@aliciabeem9236]

Awesome video! I loved your thoughts on Marshall & Lily as a couple because I thought that exact thing, they're one of the rare couples on TV who were allowed to stay together consistently and yet still grow and change as characters. We need more well-written couples in media!!

[@kshirinrao1963]

taking a moment to appreciate how thoughtfully edited this is. ross mouthing "full responsibility" as you say "full responsibility" at 15:52 is a nice lil easter egg

[@ruce9269]

Friends is about friendship, himym is about love. Thats the only conlusion you need and it reflects upon your opinion on the show aswell as others. A lot of people crave love, but most people have been hurt and they desire friendship because it doesnt cause the pain you can feel from watching himym.

[@GrizrazRex]

THIS. To love is to lose. Think about what love takes away from us, as individuals, over time. How much of that we willingly part with becomes the measure of how loving we are. There is an old lyric from 1983 that sums it up: "It's in the things I do and say "If I ever wanna live gotta die to myself some day." -U2

[@lionmuesli4321]

I disagree. How I met your mother is in big parts about friendship too. But they were daring enough to have tragedy actually have impact

[@Rebby0519]

- Ugh, just briefly seeing the scene where Marshal finds out his dad died made me cry again. It was such a strong scene, and you're right. The way it contrasted against the super happy scene did make it all the more powerful. - I love HIMYM because of the inside jokes throughout the series. It makes me feel like I'm a part of the group when I understand what they're alluding to. - When I first discovered HIMYM, I freaking binge watched the crap out of it. That's how good it was. When it came to Friends, I couldn't get myself to watch more than one or two episodes at a time. Friends is hard to get into while HIMYM has you hooked. - I'm glad that you've put into words why HIMYM is better than Friends. Because even though I did enjoy Friends, I find myself liking HIMYM more, and I just thought it's because I found HIMYM first so I was more attached to it. But it's because the storytelling is way better in HIMYM.

[@GrizrazRex]

The comparison really does seem like that of high school to college, with HIMYM being the higher level.

[@JaciintaM]

I think, ultimately, both shows are about growing up through your 20s and 30s. As I reach my late 20s, I find myself coming back to HIMYM again and again because so many of the shows moments still speak to me more than ten years since I started watching. I don’t find that same feeling with friends.

[@GrizrazRex]

Interesting take. When HIMYM debuted in 2005, I had just finished my own 2 years of being Ted, and was in my early 40s. I watched the pilot with my own Tracy, and was not engaged. Having just lived through the search, I was in no mental frame to relive it. It was not until 2 Broke Girls became the HIMYM lead-in show that I started to watch...and really enjoy. I managed to get the whole show watched in chrono order just before the finale aired. So many HIMYM moments were recognized as being analogous to my own experiences, but by 2014, I had also begun a red pill journey. My Tracy wasn't; we lasted just shy of 4 years, and still talk, from time to time. There was a tricycle ride with her BFF, not long after the pilot had aired. You have to know the show to get that one. I still eat sandwiches with some frequency. There has been an LTR of a decade coming out of a second rough patch as I type. The first rough patch was spurred by the HIMYM finale, as I examined what I was really wanting; the last gasp of my blue-pill self. I was still gigging heavily as a musician, at the time. and was often a front-row witness to, or participant in the kind of Barney-esque hijinks depicted in the TV show. My search in 2003-05 coincided with the rise of online dating, although the swipe apps were still a few years away. They have completely changed the landscape, now. This was also the dawn of the social media era. The landscape was literally shifting beneath my feet. Indeed, HIMYM ended just as Tinder was getting going. The real genus of HIMYM was the universality of many of its' themes. I still found plenty to relate to, even in 2012, after waking up with the band's singerbabe young enough to be my daughter. 2 Broke Girls was happening, and I was starting to watch. If there is any sort of follow-up show to HIMYM, it could not be a sequel or spin-off, or another attempt at HIMYD. It could be something more along the lines of How I Met Their Grandpa. Love later in life is not often explored in network sitcoms. It might work quite well, given the numbers. Older folks are the ones still inclined towards the networks. The Census Bureau tells us that, in our 50's, single women outnumber single men by 8-1. During my brief interlude in my relationship, I could have easily gone the replacement route. The aforementioned ex's BFF made her play quickly. HIMTG would essentially be a blend of HIMYM and Sex in the City, Golden Girls style.

[@onEmEmbErstudios]

It makes sense that I tried to watch FRIENDS 3 times without a "break", pun intended, but I have watched HIMYM 8 times, and each time, I'd watched the whole thing

[@ferafera9871]

thank you so much for this video! i've always felt the same way about these 2 shows, i absolutely loved all the characters in himym but i could never really get attached to the friends characters as much. feels like i've been waiting for this video for years. it was a nice one and half hours for me. how i met your mother def deserves better lol

[@oma1036]

i love those moments in how I met your mother where the music takes over and you can barely hear the characters but you know exactly what's happening and it's so powerful because the music just carries you through the scene and you don't even think about it

[@luc9450]

I’d like to add a musical moment which I thought was very powerful as well to the segment at 1:14:45. The moment Ted finally gets Robin (the first time) (s1 e22) and he gets back to the apartment and finds Marshall on the steps absolutely devastated about Lily leaving. Modern Love by Bloc Party plays, and it matches up and fits phenomenally well with what’s happening on screen.

[@ryandeffley7652]

I've always said HIMYM is far superior and I actually like Friends. 🤣 For me a huge factor is rewatchability. With HIMYM I get sucked in on each rewatch like it's the first time. Currently just saw S1's "The Limo". When Derrick shows up literally 5 sec before midnight to see Robin and Ted's crushed, you feel it as a viewer. Despite liking Friends as a whole and enjoying most of the characters EXCEPT ROSS, none of the episodes ever really invoke that much of an emotional response.

[@smithsunleashed]

yeah like when its supposed to be sad you hear the laugh track for some reason

[@Puzzles6942]

Funnily enough the line "Whatever you do in this life, it's not legendary unless your friends are there to see it" was so great, my brother used it as his senior quote

[@chemifan6784]

I find it disgusting that the only way for Barney to respect women is to take part in creating one

[@QUEENCARDTTT]

But unfortunately happens irl 🥲 unfortunately realistic

[@holzman00]

Unfortunately, that's what it takes for a lot of guys to finally treat women with respect.

[@slevemcdichael101]

Friends reminds me of my childhood and watching it on repeat with my sisters, memorizing entire bits and moments(sometimes even seasons), so it has a soft spot for me, but HIMYM was there for me when I was experiencing heart break, new relationships, new friend groups and growing up. Maybe that's the reason for my opinion, but HIMYM always felt like the more mature version of Friends. They're both the same thought, but one was made in the Era of syndication where everything returned to normal and every episode needed to be contained, and the other existed in the Era of Binge Watching, where people wanted to get a story and talk about theories. Friends had two-three big moments per season, where HIMYM had countless changes within each.

[@Mosydys]

Tracy is Phoebe... Whaaaaat? BOOM! Mind! Blown! Both share surface attributes, like their general wackyness and musical inclinations. Both even sing silly stuff about cats and breakfast foods. They also do sad stuff. But, they are also connected by their core character features. Both have an iron-clad connection to the core group and their desire to have a happy married life, which you found in Phoebe and is obviously present in Tracy. And much like Tracy, Pheobe only gets real development in the last two seasons.

[@salti6780]

Yeah, no sorry. Tracy is practically ted in the ways which she has that pheobe-like wackiness. My personal belief is that a small portion of pheoebe was distributed to each of the cast. Also that development stuff is total bullshit. Tracy wasn’t introduced until season nine, meanwhile Phoebe developed throughout all of the seasons, particularly when she carried Frank’s children and her relationship with David.

[@Aaron-xo5ud]

Plus both characters are still dealing with a death in the family that happened before they met the group. I wonder if since HIMYM does refference FRIENDS so much if they were directly stating that the fix to friends ending is if Ross ended up with Phoebe and Rachel ended up with Joey?

[@wedead4309]

Except one of them had actual musical skills lol jk

[@mas4583]

I really do hope u still skim through ur comments! This video essay was amazing. I loved every second of it. My husband likes friends while I never got into it. N sometimes we have friendly banter about it. I never even knew that there were so many „similarities“ because I always considered HIMYM something separate, the humor can not even be compared to friends. HINYM doesn’t even feel like a classic sitcom to me. Since I am German I don’t have any friends who grew up watching it like I did, so it felt like I finally found a friend who I could listen to, ranting about one of my favorite shows growing up. Thanks, I really enjoyed this. U also added captions which is highly appreciated!

[@jankyzipper564]

Did I just find a new " put this on to go to sleep" video ? Yes, yes I have. Half the views in this vid are probably mine...

I also find that long youtube video essays are the perfect way to fall asleep...

[@daemonspade8316]

I thought I was the only one

[@RoffeDH]

I have Scrubs on in the background. They usually don't have loud noises and I've seen it so much that I can visualize every scene. It's perfect.

[@marlengarcia3650]

I’d mostly agree but I’ve re-watched friends a couple of times but never been able to rewatch HIMYM. You see I was so emotionally invest in one show that when they broke my heart with the ending I just didn’t want to relive the pain.

[@Megumi646]

I think you’re misunderstanding the purpose of Monica and Chandler. It’s about two people that think they are unlovable and have low self-esteem finding love in each other later. They are not supposed to be the “teacher” couple.

[@therockdwarfmockdwarf1476]

The main difference between these two shows is that friends is a comedy first, though later the story starts having a larger impact you can watch the final 3 episodes of each season and understand the entire plot a good example is the character arcs, there’s no meaningful steps taken they just become more extre,me as you go. Himym puts comedy second, behind the story. Each character has meaningful and hard hitting moments, even Barney, their most comedic character has an extensive and probably the best character arc in a sitcom (minus the divorce). It just gets so real at times with himym

[@AngeliaVillar]

I agree 100% with this I grew up watching HIMYM and after I recently binged friends I can’t really compare them because they each shine in their own way

[@frederikpedersen4396]

Also, an important point which I think is often overlooked is that friends doesn't try to have every episode be some "epic story", pretty rarely so actually. HIMYM has, by the very way it is set up, every episode be a story that Ted tells, requiring every episode being centered around a story worth telling. It's a super cool way to do thing, but it takes away from the cozy "fly on the wall" feel that Friends does so well.

[@jadedjimmy]

@@frederikpedersen4396 right?? Despite HIMYM doing almost everything better than Friends (which is pretty evident in this video), there’s still an undeniable feel about Friends that differs greatly from HIMYM. The latter is a show that I’ve rewatched many times, have researched and analyzed extensively, have taken life lessons from, etc, but something about Friends is just so cozy and kind of endless. It’s almost like a dream. Interesting things happen for sure, it’s very funny (imo a little funnier than HIMYM), plenty of romance, but it ultimately doesn’t really change your life the same way HIMYM does.

[@ExistentialIdiot]

I like HIMYM (definitely more than Friends) and I have always been aware of the characters being similar to Friends. They don't really let you not notice it, but I just realized the balls it would take to pitch a show like 'So we want to make Friends and update it for the times and our framing device will be a focal character and that focal character is ROSS'

[@meerule]

this might be controversial but I prefer the original ending to the alternate ending. I initially didnt like it that much but upon rewatches it grew on me a lot. The story is about Ted and Robin. The timing for why he decided to tell the kids this story is also fitting. Robin has just moved back, it been years that his wife had died and it only seems perfect that when ted is finally able to move on, the chance to go for love of his life becomes closer to him than ever. In order to get his kids' blessing, he tells this story. And the story is absolutely more about him and robin than actually how he met the mother. It is why even in his own story to his kids, he keeps telling them that over the course of 9 seasons he is still hopelessly, pathetically in love with her time and again. I like the ending but I hope people appreciate it for what is means than what they want it to mean.

[@dedo69]

The title is How I met your Mother. It's mainly about Ted and the mother, Tracy. NOT robin!

[@TVGabo1985]

My problem with the ending is more with the ninth season that failed in develop the finale. People felt betrayed because they weren't ready for a finale thrown into them. Stories have to be very well paced and developed for the audience believe in it.

[@uriargaman7241]

​@@TVGabo1985 That I can concurr. I love the original ending, but don't understand why scenes were cut instead of making it a 3 parter and think half of season 9 is filler.

[@Broth8492]

Too easy

[@lionmuesli4321]

yes that's how I see it too. His kids even tell him that and have him come to realisation at the end. And in my opinion it works. We have a way better idea of who Robin is versus who the mother is. Will Ted and her work out? I don't know. But life is like that sometimes. Her being dead and Ted feeling ashamed for wanting to get back together with Robin is the catalyst for the story. It makes no sense for How I met your mother to have a weak catalyst like "hey this is how mommy and daddy met" to then recount everything is excrutiating detail having the focus on Robin's and Ted's will they won't they

[@matthiasfelix6567]

Subbed to you for this masterpiece

[@marianaalmeidaaaa]

Me too

[@Pyro04]

Same

[@chickenlegsTV]

I feel like HIMYM was more about a group of friends than "Friends" was

[@rijjhb9467]

Friends was way much better written though.

[@elcancerv7804]

@@rijjhb9467 XD

[@thekueken]

Apparently "Friends" original name was "Insomnia Cafe: Six Of One"...

[@lukerne9260]

That's so far from the truth. It's the opposite in fact

[@levischorpioen]

Couldn't agree more.

[@z4cte]

This person has put words to an idea that I could not

[@alenasenie6928]

The scene of Marshall's father death is perfect, and the reason behind it is that the scene was improvised, the actor didn't knew what was going to be said, the reaction is genuine

[@averytest5412]

Had an accident week before Thanksgiving 4 days later my grandmother dropped me off at night at the hospital to get checked out. Next morning my grandmother passed. The scene with Marshall and lily hit hard and I cried. How I met your mother is a great show.

[@pix3lhunt3r46]

omg man, when you showed that 10 sec video of marchalls dad dying, omfg I started crying, his acting is perfect

[@Mo7amedIhab]

I'm glad you mentioned twin bed in your revised version because I was gonna mention that. I wanna add that seeing Robin with the Rachel-glasses might limit Robin's character. Rachel is the spoiled girl who wanna become independent. On the other hand, Robin is the girl starved for affection. She's very independent from the get-go which is actually the problem, she's way too independent, something the show referred to multiple times. On my first watch, Robin was my least fav and I might've actually hated her in the first couple of season. That's because she was very conflicted about what she wanted from life and dragged the characters into her mess (but in her defense, she also had a kind guy who just wouldn't give up XD) However, upon reflection and rewatching, as much as I was frustrated watching Robin sometimes...she was frustrated just as much. Does she want love? Does she want work? Why does she even wanna improve in her career? Is it for herself or is it just to prove herself to her father because she rarely felt that she's enough? (I'm still watching the video, so maybe you mentioned more points that made my comment moot lol)

[@venerablewu8744]

Being starved for attention isn't independence

[@ucopiedyibo1959]

Jesus Christ I love it when people have passion. This is probably one of the best videos out there. Good shit subbed.

[@Nin-NinYT]

Also, it;s crazy to call Ross' character extremely possessive over one singular event over the course of the overall story in Friends, yet call Lily's character "something uncomfortable" when it was revealed that she was very manipulative over the course of many seasons in HIMYM.

[@sammypajammy803]

I, FUCKING LOVE, this video. I've had ths exact conversation with a very close friend of mine where he and I brought up the same points! I love that someon put into a video that (i hope) so many people agree with. HIMYM is personally my favorite sitcom of all time, and it's also seemed better than anything else I've watched.

[@Jack-fw4mw]

44:05 is a bit unfair. That whole plot line was written as a way to write-in the actress's pregnancy into the show. HIMYM wrote Lily out of the show for several weeks, and then also limited her appearance to be behind lamps and other things when Alyson got pregnant (but it didn't make sense for Lily). I do think that the Friends writers weren't quite committing to a full on lampshade of the actress driven need for the character pregnancy, but they did the best they could in those circumstances (actresses being pregnant when their characters shouldn't be actually has some really interesting implications for things such as story, costume design, set design, and camera angles. As Friends was filmed in front of an audience, they couldn't hide the baby bump using the same tricks).

[@bojurie]

The criticism isn't about the pregnancy storyline but about the lack of change in Phoebe afterwards. She doesn't change as a person at all and her relationship with her brother and her nephews/nieces are pretty much minimal. Phoebe going through that pregnancy should have had a much bigger impact on her and her perspective on life.

[@BrookeIsAnEditor]

I agree with this, but the creator of this video were to respond to this comment I imagine they would use a similar one to the argument they use at the very end, wherein the context behind the creations of the shows does not matter for this discussion, it is about the final product and which one is the superior viewing experience. The defense you use, while I agree in one context and disagree in another, has also been used to justify the original HIMYM ending. The footage had been prerecorded so it had to be that way.

[@AC2k14GOD]

hence HIMYM better thank you

[@GPH1403]

I think its worthy of note as well, the comparison between Ted and Marshall being college room mates and Ross and Chandler also being college room mates is kinda moot because thats just a really normal way life long friends meet

[@renrants]

I remember people predicting the mother was dead early on, and the theory made sense to me, but I honestly thought there was NO WAY they'd actually do that to us, and I was so mad when the reveal happened.

[@lenaeospeixinhos]

I love HIMYM's original ending and here's my 2 cents why: 1. Even though Ted had found "the one" in Tracy, it normalises getting into another relationship after widowhood, even if it's less perfect. The fact that his kids knew him so well they read the subtext of their father's story and were not only for him pursuing happiness but actually egged him on, is touching. It's a happy ending, just not the one we thought we were getting. 2. I've gotten to know Robin for 9 seasons, Tracy for one. I'm more invested in Robin than Tracy. 3. Robin wanted a career and she had it, now she's feeling like settling down. Ted wanted marriage and kids and he had that, now they're teens and doing their own thing. This is the time when it makes sense for Ted and Robin to be together. Not at 25, at 45. If you think your life goals are the same at 45 as at 25, boy have I got news for you. For extra kicks, Ted's kids know her and love her and she loves them.

[@mp_1231]

I like this argument. I'd never seen it before. Makes sense.

[@lacreina6831]

This actually made me like the original ending more.

[@willmollard9078]

I think the main problem for most people is the show spent a long time developing Barney and robin as characters and having them grow together in their relationship, it felt cheap to rip it away in the final episode. Also they’d wrapped Ted and robin up nicely already so it was jarring for them to go back on so much of what had taken so long to set up in a single episode especially the very last episode of the show.

[@kristinaskevin699]

I agree completely. I loved the original ending

[@BabyGirlTiny]

So basically Ted got his kids and robin got her career so now they can be together because they both got what they wanted in the end

[@vedarovski4110]

The biggest problem with the friends is sometimes they do things that makes me hate them in the moment. Especially Rachel!

[@akashsaxena9174]

13:35 - 14:20 - Describes how ted selflessly pushed Robin to get to Barney 14:20 - 14:26 - Asked weather Ross would do something like that and judging that he wouldn't. later 33:10 - 33:20 - Joey and Ross had a heart to heart conversation and Ross end up giving him his blessing even knowing that it will hurt him. PS - I too prefer HIMYM over Friends but over many points in this video i disagree with your interpretation of Friends.

[@jordanevans3735]

Ross said it, Ted did it.

[@AC2k14GOD]

Ted did it and it resulted to Robin and Barney getting together

[@claramercier7924]

yeah Lily did "bad" things that were never truly adressed throughout the show and from my point of view that has to be the weak point of himym. With that in mind it still felt very emotionally relevant to me. :)

[@amirahhmukhtarxx7129]

Right lilys self righteousness really pissed me off, I liked her more in the earlier seasons towards the end she because annoying, samething with phoebe aswell, she was so rude in the later seasons

[@luanasinclair]

Something that this video fail to mention but went right past it was, Lily spent all of the other dudes money on clothes and shoes, and didn't tell him and she tried to convince him to stay on his shitty job because she was in debt. I still like HIMYM but I feel like when someone becomes a fan, they forget a LOT of important stuff from the story. I had always heard that Lily and M where the best couple, and after that episode I wasn't sure if people just happened to forget all about it

[@15_is_a_girl]

@@luanasinclair but she does realise that she was wrong, they both do stuff that the other one doesn't like, and in the end, they both realise that sometimes they have to sacrifice in order for their relationship to last forever, which does happen irl.

[@quadeong7453]

@@15_is_a_girl True, but what really got to me about Lily was her actions were the whole reason Marshall had to take a job he hated in GNB, but when he actually started to enjoy his job and considered staying there, she accused him of going corporate.

[@leemc9943]

@@15_is_a_girl would also like to point out that when it was Marshall that needs to sacrifice by taking the corporate job, it was okay with her and even pushed him to do so at first, but when Marshall suggested to Lily to sell her expensive clothes that caused them to go into debt in the first place, Marshall is the bad guy.

[@moka1251]

I think the ending was like that because it parallels Tracy's life perfectly. She found her soulmate who later died, she stopped dating for a while, went on to find another who was good but just didn't sit right with her, broke up with him, found ted, and later died. Ted is only in the beginning part of that process, and he has yet to find the other soulmate again. Idk it just makes the ending a bit better for me

[@offlinekaisen627]

ted and tracy ended up with their soulmates in the end

[@belpop]

While I do agree with you on the realism aspect of Robin and Barney not ending up together, it ultimately rings hollow because the whole real reason they didn’t end up together was so that they could make Robin end up with Ted. That was the actual motivation behind divorcing them. Since Ted and Robin and the mother dying didn’t happen until the very last moments of the series finale, that was something they were able to change. But Barney and Robin being divorced was a part of the whole final episodes so it wasn’t something they could fix I guess. Side note: I hope that how I met your father follows the canon of the alternate ending and Barney and Robin do end up together after all. It would honestly make my life because they were my favorite couple on the show.

[@frederikpedersen4396]

While this obviously is, and always will be, super subjective, I think one of the most underrated aspects of Friends is the "feel", vs. any other show. When I'm watching friends, I feel like I'm getting a glimpse into the lives of 6 different friends, and follow them throughout some of the best years of their lives. While HIMYM is a great show, it just doesn't feel as "authentic" too me, and is often times a bit too wild and wacky which, while being very entertaining, takes a bit away from the atmosphere. The best way I can describe it is that friends feels like one long journey where we get to be "flies on the wall", HIMYM feels more like each episode is has its own very set storyline, and is a lot less "everyday" feeling. It almost always revolves around some specific event(s), and has a definitive build-up and climax, while Friends usually has less dramatic and crazy highs, which is my mind makes it more believable, chill and gets the cozy atmosphere just right. Of course, there are going many that prefer the HIMYM style of doing things, which is completely fine, and at the end of the day, it's just sweet that we got two wonderful shows that both did so many things right, and brought of hours upon hours of entertainment and joy, regardless of which you enjoy (more).

[@Jellybeansatdusk]

I find this interesting because I personally felt the exact opposite. Yeah, crazy things happen in HIMYM, but the characters respond in character, and they feel like real people would in those circumstances. In Friends, so often I find that something happens and the characters respond a way that makes me think “literally nobody would react like that” and it reminds me that I’m watching a formulaic sitcom.

[@d5dizzler962]

@@Jellybeansatdusk Yeah I feel similarly, With HIMYM any wacky crazy stuff comes from either; “That fact that this entire show is being told in a story from future ted” And Barney, He’s our wildcard and can allow pretty much anything, And that was set from the start so it never takes us out of it. Though despite that when the show’s characters still feel real, A testament to the creators Meanwhile with Friends I feel like it’s the most vanilla sitcom I’ve seen. I definitely like Friends but most comedic moments feel like very orchestrated and unnatural. Obviously it’s a TV show. But definitely feels like the characters are trying to be funny and not the actors themselves. Not that they’re not funny most of the time but it still doesn’t feel as real as HIMYM.

[@raysteal3]

I think that the small appointment where you explain the culture of tv and the differences is the biggest point of the differences between Friends and Himym

[@joshualally2883]

I've been an fan of friends for ages now. Out of the blue I decided to watch this video since I had no intention of watching how I met your mother and I was bored. I've come back to this video a few months later after finishing HIMYM and loved it. Thanks for convincing me to watch it.

[@saraxvc4]

me too! except i decided to hold off on this video for the 3-4 months it took me to watch the entirety of himym for the first time because i wanted to avoid the inevitable spoilers

[@rijjhb9467]

I watched it back in the days and I found it meh, it never reached more than average status for me. Run of the mill sitcom a la King of Queens and such. I was a big fan of Friend in the 90s instead, but I recognize that the last seasons are not great. Still, I think that the writing of Friends is of much higher quality.

[@AC2k14GOD]

@@rijjhb9467 meh opinion

[@UriosEditz]

​​@@AC2k14GOD nah he's right

[@AC2k14GOD]

@@UriosEditz mehhhhhhh opinion too

[@chichizekitty5694]

I so very much agree on pretty much everything in this video.. I looove HIMYM's theme of "life happens, and sometimes that sucks".. against friends just being "we have friends".. yeaaaah My favorite LGBTQ+ character, is Trudy (I believe her name is ? ) Tracys old roomie, the student Ted dated.. her arc ended with "thats not your mother, but shes someones mother" and then a pic of her, her wife and their kid.. no joke, no laugh, just, thats how her story is, shes a mom and shes happy.. and Ted is happy for her

[@leftundersun]

My favorite sound design moment is when Barney and Robin kiss in the cab and the episode ends playing "Hey" by The Pixies. Man, that song hit me HARD. It was like being asleep and being woke up by a bucket of cold water. It was like falling and falling and suddenly hitting the ground.

[@aminamin7403]

Yes totally agree with you, but my favourite is when robin moved out from Ted's house it was just heartbreaking

[@iFrizzy]

i lost mine a couple years before i watched this show and marshall losing his father was hard hitting. especially when he improvised and said "im not ready for this" like holy shit did i cry and got chills cuz no one is ready to face the future after losing someone they love and it was the same for when i heard it.

[@chikachika7782]

I used to hate the ending. But I literally just realized that it's perfect. Ted spent so much time focused on the past, him asking out Robin is him finally looking towards the future. While the kids explained that he was still in Robin, what they showed was that Ted finally moved on. A romantic guy like Ted, who was so devoted to Tracy, it would take him a while to figure everything out on top of raising two kids. Ted was able to move on from his grief, he would never forget Tracy and her impact on his life but he was ready to start a new journey. This could be the writers way of trying to write a poetic ending...only for it to fall flat because it could've been executed better.

[@johnathanbowers5433]

sure, play the scene where marshall finds out his dad dies. i wanted to cry. what a great fkng show

[@nash4179]

14:23, yes it does sound like something he would do since he did it. ross's situation was a bit different but still similar enough where i think it's comparabile, he told joey to go for rachel and accepted their relationship in the end after taking some time to process it regardless of his feelings