Some HIMYM Shade
I watch a lot of TV. And most of that TV-watching consists of shows I've already seen a million times. I LOVE to rewatch my favorite shows and anticipate every joke and die laughing like it's the first time I've ever heard it.
With that said, a lot of the shows on my rewatch list were REALLY good for however many seasons and then got REALLY bad. Some examples:
The Office (stopped watching after Michael left)
Modern Family (stopped watching when the kids became bratty preteens)
Parks & Recreation (never rewatch the last season because of the stupid time-jump)
Game of Thrones (haven't rewatched, but worth mentioning because season eight was complete and utter crap)
Lost (never actually finished it because it became repetitive)
All of these shows were FANTASTIC until a certain point. And then they were awful. But not one of them holds a candle (or 5,000 candles if you're a Parks & Rec fan) to How I Met Your Mother. How I Met Your Mother entered a whole new version of Suckville in seasons eight and nine. And I think I know why...
(Obviously, HIMYM spoilers are coming.)
HIMYM spent the first seven seasons doing what it does best: being a situational comedy about five main characters navigating their late 20s/early 30s. You know who wasn't one of those five main characters? The mother. And I think that's partially why it became so bad in its final two seasons.
The mother didn't even make an official appearance until the season eight finale. That means the woman this entire story is supposedly about wasn't even actually present for 89% of the show.
I think that the writers had an oh-shit moment when they realized it was time for everything to unfold in seasons eight and nine. There was too much pressure and build-up, and ultimately, it just didn't work out.
Not only that, but someone came up with the idea to make season nine take place over the course of one weekend (Barney and Robin's wedding), and clearly, they were not willing to part with that idea even though it 100% did not work. (The fact that one entire episode consists of Marshall telling Marvin bedtime stories is a clear sign they ran out of material. You couldn't pay me enough money to make me watch that episode again.)
Not only that, but all this character development happens over the course of seasons eight and nine. It's all about Ted letting go of Robin (including that stupid shot of her floating away into the sunrise), and Robin and Barney finding their way back to each other, but then all of that unravels in the series finale.
Over the course of one TV hour (so basically 42 minutes), Robin and Barney get divorced, and Ted basically reveals to his children that this entire story of how he met their mother was really just a ploy to get their blessing to go after Robin again.
Oh, and yeah, turns out the mother is dead, by the way. They killed off her ex-fiancé earlier in season nine so that you can feel ok about them killing her off because it's kind of like they're reunited in heaven at the end. And bonus: now that she's dead, Ted and Robin can get back together. The whole thing felt a little tasteless, in my opinion. Especially because Tracy (the mom) is PERFECT for Ted! She wanted all the same things as him, and their love felt so genuine.
The final two seasons were so focused on tricking the audience and making you think one thing while something else is actually happening that it lost what it's really good at. Even Jason Segel couldn't save seasons eight and nine. He honestly looks a little dead in the eyes, and you can tell he's checked out by the end.
Side note: If you do watch (And you should! The first seven seasons are SO GOOD.), I highly recommend watching the entire thing from start to finish and just stopping at 18:07 of Last Forever, Part 2. You'll be 85% satisfied with the show if you do this. Instead of 0% if you watch until the very end.
PS - Forgot to mention, the whole breaking-the-fourth-wall thing wasn't working for me. Why did they suddenly start doing this? WHY? Whyyyyy?
