Funny Halloween: The Idealistic Daydream - I'm totally a stalker and I don't even care

I've come to the conclusion that Monday night TV should be new every week, because I end up baffled and confused if I don't start my week off with bar/diner-based comedies. My schedule is all out of order and/or whack.

Comedies Without Which My Entire World Tilts Off Its Axis

How I Met Your Mother, "P.S. I Love You"

THAT IS THE MOST EXCITED AND/OR ECSTATIC I HAVE BEEN ABOUT THIS SHOW ALL YEAR.

MAYBE IN TWO YEARS.

I DON'T KNOW, I JUST HAVE A LOT OF CAPSLOCK AND NOTHING NEGATIVE TO SAY WHATSOEVER.

I. Meet Cute or Stalk Crazy? (answer: MEET CUTE)

"Stalker" Ted is my new favorite Ted, and Jeannette is my favorite love interest since Zoey left. Love at first sight! I cannot be deterred, I will make whatever mistake this is right along with Ted. Frankly, unless and until she boils Marshmallow/Cottontail or sticks a kitten in a dryer, nothing's gonna stop me now. She's adorable! And I'm not just saying this because my personality lends itself to both stalking and being stalked.

II. Underneath The Tunes (There's A Girl With A Story)

Per the only notes I managed to take --

JAMES VAN DER BEEK

I AM CRYING AT EVERYTHING

Barney breaking & entering (with Ted's property. of course), manic flight to Canada (with horrible slips in accent) & interrogation of ex-boyfriends, and then the real show starts. The endless parade of guest stars as themselves, and how they perfectly nailed the tone of Behind the Music, a program whose melodrama is never not funny. And ROBIN DAGGERS. Just the name makes me laugh.

As for the song itself...yeah, pretty sure it bests "Sandcastles in the Sand." The screaming and disclaimer interruption in the middle are annoying, as is the scratchy growling tone, but I can acclimate to the latter if I try because the melody is just that catchy. Like the other videos, I love how they spooled it out with reactionary dialogue in the middle, but the first time you see its full-length glory is a priceless experience.

Robin Daggers is also really pretty. I don't know what's happening, I think it's 90% in the hair.

(P.S. Hahahaha I never connected the "P.S." as being Paul Schaffer's initials until a recap mentioned it. This is why HIMYM can't plant clues for me ahead of time.)

III. Miscellany (Ran Out Of Catchy Headers)

-Do I love or hate how the story of Marshall & Lily's first meeting has been adjusted some more? I don't know. I think I'm OK with it.

-Now that we've finally had a decent episode, I can comment on the general state of Barney/Robin, which is that I think I like it, but it's so bizarre how they've just gone from 0 to 60 on the cuddly-romantic-stuff department. No leadup. Just, "Bam! Now we randomly kiss hello and sit next to each other like it's the beginning of season 5 all over again." And it looks lovely, taken totally out of context, but it also feels so much like just plain cheating on the writers' end -- "Romantic development is hard. Let's just make them in love again, cool?" Despite the fact that I can think of a lot of shows where it'd be fun to wave a magic wand over broken ships like that, I cannot wrap my head around a writing team actually doing this.

tl;dr: I'm mostly just kind of pushing these cute moments in a box labeled "Break in case of sad" so that when my obsessive ship feelings click back on, I will have a giant pile of goodies to look at as if for the first time.

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7:54 pm: I turned the channel back on, suffering through last gasps of the unkillable Rules of Engagement, and OH MY GOD A HERD OF CATS JUST RAN IN AND AND SURROUNDED THE GRUMPY DUDE ON THE COUCH.

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. GIF TO FOLLOW IF TUMBLR MAKES ONE. ONE OF THEM IS PAWING AT HIS TIE.

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"2 Broke Girls And the Psychic Shakedown"

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DROVE ANDY TO MOVE OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

UNACCEPTABLE.
DOTTY AND I ARE UPSET.

And that was pretty much the only thing I reacted to*. The psychic thing wasn't funny because literally no one would ever take such vague fortunes seriously, and everyone knows that worst case scenario, Max & Caroline Boston-Marriage it up and become eccentric old ladies with a stable full of horses and cats (theirs if they're rich, a charity rescue if they're not). It'll probably be decently watchable as a rerun, though.

(*aside from "Max is helping stuff eggs in Caroline's bra without invitation. Show, I am done with you (by which I mean your crazy endears me to you forever).")

Comedies That Have To Hire Awesome Guest Stars To Excite Me

Go On, 1x14-15

I don't know why I find it so impossible to turn on the Tuesday night comedies, but two weeks back I skipped it again, and then suddenly people were talking about Piper Perabo. *ZOOM* She is the one actress who can literally make me watch almost anything, she's so pretty and has the most charming girl-next-door(-who-grew-up-into-a-model) persona no matter what role she plays. Naturally, Simone is now my favorite member of the group. I also had boundless enthusiasm for the one-sided feud between her and Ryan.

Better yet, being totally and completely out of the loop on this show, their kiss got genuine astonishment out of me (followed by whooping and air-punching; Lauren Graham who?). And then suddenly they were in bed together, and I don't know what just happened but apparently I LIKE IT A LOT.

(sidebar: Ann serving as Danny's increasingly bloodthirsty divorce lawyer with a side of displaced spousal rage was pretty golden too)

And then Simone came back! And amidst all the other fun stuff, the next episode turned out to be my favorite episode of the series to date. As well as the first one I have genuinely, 100% enjoyed from start to finish.

1x15, "Pass Interference"

I was totally ready to accept this as a one-night stand, which I think is very impressive of me given how much I like his late wife and how tricky it was going to be to cross this milestone in a way I could tolerate. But then it was more! ("Yes! She likes [him]!") And BONUS, Ghost Wife starts hanging around all over the place, beaming sweetly and otherwise being awesome. This is literally my favorite part of the show, when she shows up. I love all the psychological blocks and guilt at play, it's everything I want it to be.

Including resolved with dancing at the end, because it turns out they are exactly the kind of person they're supposed to be with at this point in time. When was the last time I was really excited about a relationship with an expiration date just because it's good now?

Yolanda - so many names I'm learning this week! - planning the Goddess Party celebration for the ladies of the group was also pitch-perfect, but nothing was better than dragging Owen to the dress shop. The dress they finally found WAS perfect.

The comedic writing was on fire from start to finish. There were about a hundred lines that made me laugh out loud; have a tiny sampling for posterity:

Lauren: As you all know, I have a rule against dating people in the group. It gets in the way of healing, and obviously distracts everyone.

Owen: Guys, I think what Lauren is saying is, she hates love.

Danny: What other things do you hate? Sunshine? America? Pizza?

Lauren: I do NOT hate pizza. I got this scar reaching into an oven to save a burning pizza, how many of you can say that?

Fausta: I broke my hand in enchilada accident.

Anne: Sweetie, don't say that. I know it's true, but it sounds offensive.

Sonia: Shopping would have been so fun. We'd all start trying stuff on...I even wore my good underwear today.

Anne: You're an adult. You should only have good underwear.