What's in Mark's DVR? - How I Met Your Mother

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Mondays, 8pm, CBS

So this show is one of the rare few I actually have watched since the first episode. I initially took a chance on it b/c I felt I somewhat identified w/ the plot line and it has definitely grown on me more and more! Of course, for you to know how I identified w/ the plot requires a little back story...time to step into the Wayback Machine!

In the first episode of this show, you learn that Ted is sharing an apartment with his two best friends from college, Marshall and Lily, who have been dating since college. While many might think this would make Ted the perpetual 3rd wheel (even in his own home) he actually is an integral part of the relationship (well, aside from the sex...as far as we know) and the three of them actually work really well together. When Marshall announces to Ted that he is going to propose to Lily, however, Ted realizes that the happy little family he has grown accustomed to is about to change dramatically. It was time for Ted to leave the comforts of this home for a life (and relationship) of his own. This scenario is basically exactly the same as my life in college.

For two and a half years, I lived with a friend of mine and we got along great. About a month or so after we moved in together, he started dating a mutual friend of ours who I was equally close to (not in a romantic way, but we were good friends). After about a year of their dating, they got engaged and, just after graduation, they got married and moved on. Well, since the girlfriend-turned fiancee-turned wife (who shall henceforth be referred to as "The Roommate's Wife") and I already got along so well, (and since we lived across the hall from each other the first semester they dated) it somewhat became natural that our place would be the one they would spend most of their time at. Even though she never officially lived with us, she sorta became the third roommate (which was a little awkward when we actually had a third roommate b/c The Roommate and I both liked The Wife better than the new roommate, so she kept the title as #3 and he got bumped to #4, but I digress). Instead of me feeling like the third wheel, our little trio actually worked out well. When The Roommate wanted to discuss sports, or something that disinterested the Wife, he had me to talk with. When The Wife wanted to talk about superficial meaningless stuff like Will & Grace episodes or fashion or whatever, I was right there with a willing ear and ready opinion. And when the two of them wanted to move on to something deeply intellectual like literature, I had the perfect excuse to leave the room! Although I was happy for them when they got married, it was a little disappointing b/c to me, it was more like I was getting divorced from our happy little family, as they moved 250 miles away.

With that said, when I first saw the previews for HIMYM, I knew I had to jump on board, as it premiered only about 2 months after their wedding. I've been hooked ever since! It is LEGEN- (wait for it) -DARY! C'mon...I had to! (Incidentally, a former coworker has on more than one occasion said I remind her of Barney from the show...I love it!)

Here's a few more HIMYM links for fun...
Barney's Blog (Here's the blog from previous seasons)
SlapCountdown.com
Swarley