Have you met Ted? TV Guide's New York City staffers did just that a few days ago when How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor paid a visit to our offices. What does the affable actor have going on this summer? And what lies ahead for Season 2 of his hit CBS sitcom? We asked Radnor those questions and more.
TV Guide: Are you only visiting us because TV Guide has an office in Radnor, Pennsylvania?Josh Radnor: You do? You do....
TV Guide: Maybe your family founded it?Radnor: I wonder.... You guys have been so nice to our show. Thank you, on behalf of everyone. Really.
TV Guide: Are you OK with the fact that you didn't make our "TV's Sexiest Men"
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Fox's Prison Break was back with a decent bang Monday night, averaging 10.3 million total viewers — a dip from the Nov. 28 "fall finale" but an 11 percent bump from the series' average and enough to put it on par with CBS' Queens-Mother combo. (Of course, the 8 o'clock hour's champ was NBC's Deal or No Deal, still a big deal for 16.6 million viewers.) At 9 pm, Two and a Half Men and The New Adventures of Old Christine proved an unbeatable tag team (with 16.9 and 15.3 mil viewers, respectively), while Fox's 24 placed with 13.6 million. Come 10 pm, yawn, CSI: Miami dominated with an audience of 19.5 mil.
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Question: This week's How I Met Your Mother episode (Feb. 27) was easily the best of the season. I started thinking about why this show isn't a bigger hit. The show has great characters, better-than-average humor, and Seinfeld-esque catch phrases, and still nothing. Why do you think it's not a bigger hit? Do you think it's on the wrong network? Do you think it'll ever break out?
Answer: Lots and lots of mail flooded in about this sleeper sitcom after Monday's episode, which was one of the better ones of the season. (Focused in large part on Barney's surprising backstory: basically, how he learned to suit up. More on him later.) Actually, it's probably a good thing that Mother has lived its first season pretty much under the radar. This is very much a show that has been finding its way in fits and starts through an uneven yet highly enjoyable first year. If it was overhyped, which on the strength of its sensational pilot it could have been, the impatience with its growing pains would
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Question: I have become a fan of the show How I Met Your Mother, though at first I was wary since I don't really like Ted all that much and I don't see any chemistry between him and Robin. I know the producers originally started the show with Ted falling for Robin, but do they intend for her to be the mother of the poor kids stuck on the couch listening to Bob Saget? Do you think the producers have realized that Barney (played so well by the former kid M.D.) and Robin are much better on the screen together than Ted and Robin ever will be? Do you think that they can find a cousin of Lily's to introduce who could possibly be a love interest for Ted instead? What happens when a show is planned to go one way with two characters, but over time those characters just don't connect? Is this a common problem on most shows?
Answer: A common problem? I'm not so sure. But long-term romantic comedies often change course midstream to keep the characters fresh, or to acknowledge casting mistakes.
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On How I Met Your Mother Barney invented the lemon law for blind dates. Totally offensive, but loved when it got turned around on him and instead of being mad, he was excited that it had become a "thing." And his worst pickup line of the night? "I have a feeling tonight you might be Jackie Ohhhhh." How come it is funny when it comes out of his mouth, but if it were a real guy in a bar, you'd want to smack him? Oh, and Mother gave me the vocab word of the day — "anhedonic" — meaning someone who can't enjoy anything. Used to describe Ted before he got all enthusiastic about playing with his sword. A real sword, people — get your minds out of the gutter. — AC
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