This is such an original show! No one has ever done a show about "six young friends living in New York" before! How I Met Your Mother is totally different because it has five friends! Let me prove it to you!
Under the heading "Well-developed characters":
Ted, the protagonist, is far from macho ladies’ man. He is sensitive, often socially awkward and has major aspirations of settling down and getting married. He is attractive and charismatic, but also has some endearing nerdy-type interests and tends to talk too much about the history of architecture.Ladies and gentlemen, the "Ross." Right down to a weirdly un-academic (and un-deserved) professoring gig at a major New York university (Columbia must have some sort of 'aspiring intellectuals' hiring program).
See also:
Lily and Marshall, perfectly played by Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan, were already a long-term couple when the show started and were married in the second season. Whereas many sitcoms use the concept of marriage as fodder for tired storylines (man just wants to do manly stuff, nagging wife gets in the way of his happiness; man and wife bicker over something and highlight how men and women are from different worlds, etc), Marshall and Lilly’s comedic moments and appeal come from the fact that they work together on the same side in a conflict, and helping each other out of trouble. It’s nice to see a couple whose main focus is not fighting with each other.a.k.a. "Monica" and "Chandler." And... they also have no shortage of plots where the two of them are pitted against each other, e.g. "Marshall wants a baby! But he doesn't realize how much work they are because he's a man!" In fact, the show's tendency to degrade Robin and reduce Lily to a string of baby-factory cliches makes it remarkably offensive to these quasi-feminist eyes. At least the women of Friends got to be professional successes, if that's what they wanted out of life.
Further:
Neil Patrick Harris as womanizer Barney Stinson provides some of the best one-liners and physical comedy of the show. Barney’s selfish, womanizing, materialistic character is certainly over the top, but it is a sitcom, after all. The broad comedy works because it is focused on one character and not everyone — Barney’s antics are only funny because they are in contrast to, and to the shock of, the other more grounded characters.a.k.a. "Joey."
The strong friendships between Ted and Marshall is endearing, and is based on real love and respect and not just on Entourage-esque “bromancing.”Joey and Chandler, anyone?
Look, it's a fine show. But it's not even remotely original. That's not a problem! Happy Endings isn't original, either, but it's perfectly entertaining. Just don't act like it's something it's not.
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