12 February 2012

Netflix Streaming Has Consumed My Life!

Damn Netflix Streaming!

A bit ago, I made a proclamation that my having high speed internet access and relatively not too difficult classes would make time for me writing on this here blog. Turns out, I may have spoke too soon. The very thing that I expected would make blogging easier has been my undoing, both in the blogosphere and in my homework doingness. 12 days ago, I started season 1 of a show I caught miscellaneous episodes of on Channel 45 in the wee hours of the night, giddy that I could finally watch six seasons worth all in order. What show may it be?


How I Met Your Mother had always been a fun half hour when I caught random episodes on the tube, so to have the opportunity to watch all available 126 episodes in order - yeah, too good to resist. So for the last two weeks, this series has consumed my life. And it's been terrific!

Turns out I've already seen a good portion of seasons 1 and 2 on the television, so a lot of my watching was just refreshing myself. But then season 3, all the way to the end, was full of material I had never seen before, and made everything so much sweeter.

Season 1 and 2 were decent, with some laughs interestingly more in the middle of the season more than the beginning or ending (which is usually the case with comedies). Season 3 was really well done, I thought, with the introduction of Stella, the gorgeous Sarah Chalke's character. I especially appreciated Ted's dedication to making her watch Star Wars. Any potential wife of mine will have to pass the same test. Their paths diverge in season 4 in a satisfying fashion. I love seasons three and four, but all too often, it felt like there were these promises being made and then obnoxious cop outs - or a plot thread is left behind for episodes on end only to get picked up near or at the finale. Got a bit annoying, frankly. But understandable.

Season 5 was fairly so-so, but season 6, which I read that people felt was largely uneven, I found to be my favorite. It had the most 'hit' episodes for me, and the introduction of John Lithgow as an important figure in Barney's life was absolutely brilliant. I love me some Lithgow.

Overall, if anyone has yet to catch this show, do so now. There isn't a better opportunity. There are some weak episodes, and some that seem a bit redundant or unsure of themselves, but those are far and few in between, overshadowed by some truly hilarious story arcs, one liners, and skits. Even though the show is about Ted Mosby's quest to find his soulmate, it's really Barney and Lily that make this show so damn entertaining, in my humble opinion. Neil Patrick Harris is obviously a very talented comedian, so his presence in even the most shoddy of episodes automatically makes it a bit more fun, and Alyson Hannigan proves herself a worthy comedic and dramatic force even without the brilliance of Whedon dialogue. These two actors own the series.

So, yeah, How I Met Your Mother: watch it. Pronto. But the big question facing me now is this: do I download the aired episodes of season seven and watch those, or wait until the full season is done, do one massive download of all 24 episodes, and spend this time concentrating on a new show? For example, I have these on my radar:


Terriers came and went last year with huge critical acclaim, but minimal viewership. Still, a year later, it's a show that's mentioned a lot by critics and bloggers. Apparently it's great and excellent and amazing and whatever way you can possibly say that it was good. And Netflix has been nice enough to put the entire 13-episode series online! Diss the hell out of the company all you want, but I gotta commend them for offering full series that haven't hit DVD yet. Kudos, guys. Other than knowing it stars that one dude from Grounded for Life and it has something to do with private investigating, I don't know a bloody thing about the series, so I'm sort of eager to see this much-acclaimed show. And the young kid in me is itching to start watching this:


Spider-Man: Unlimited. Hated, hated, hated by so many fans of the Web Slinger. From my own memories, I rather think I liked it. Sure, their version of Carnage and Venom were, like, freaky steroid-using villains, but overall, I loved the suit and the futuristic setting. It's been years since I've seen Spider-Man: Unlimited, so to have the chance to watch the complete series again is nothing less than a blessing. Unless I watch it and turns out everyone is right, the show truly is horrible, in which case I'll be madly disappointed.

After that, well, um, turns out every episode of every season of Power Rangers just happens to be Streaming as well, and the complete Godzilla: The Series. Must. . . Stop. . . watching . . .

3 comments:

jeremythecritic said...

Looks like we've been watching the same thing. Just finished all 126 episodes of HIMYM and about to start a review. Glad you liked it as much as I did! My new favorite series. Only caught it occasionally on TV but streaming all of it like this made for a completely different experience, as you said. Incredible show.

Andrew Simon said...

Haha, NICE! I can't wait to read your review, sir.

What do you plan on getting into next on Streaming?

jeremythecritic said...

Next up is probably BREAKING BAD and season 3 of PARKS AND REC. All this is really time consuming of course, but it's worth it.