Ted Talk #1

 

Am I showing my age too much by writing about this? Oh well.  I saw a reel today that showed a teacher talking to her elementary students and she was teaching them manners. If there is something about a person that they have no control over or they can't change within 30 seconds, just don't mention it. So, my age is something I can't change in 30 seconds, let's not talk about that! 

My son is binge watching "How I Met Your Mother" this summer.  I watched it off and on when it was on "normal" tv from 2005 - 2014.  There was no "on demand" watching in those early years and I did not have a DVR. I never did figure out how to set the VCR to record if I wasn't home and frankly I just didn't care that much! I had a brand new baby and I was probably asleep by the time it came on, if I even happened to remember what night it was on.  

Now I'm watching it with my youngest son and I'm watching it through a different lens.  It's actually quite timeless in many ways, but also stirs up some nostalgic feelings.  If you are not familiar with the show, here's how Wikipedia sums it up: 

The series follows the adventures of Ted Mosby and his love life as a single man. His stories are narrated by Bob Saget as Ted Mosby 25 years later as he tells them to his adolescent children - Luke and Penny.  

The story goes into a flashback and starts in 2005 with 27-year-old Ted Mosby living in New York City and working as an architect. The narrative deals primarily with his best friends. These include the long-lasting couple Marshall Eriksen, a law student and Lily Aldrin, a kindergarten teacher, who have been dating for almost nine years when Marshall proposes, as well as womanizing playboy Barney Stinson, and Canadian news reporter Robin Scherbatsky. All of the characters' lives are entwined. 

At the time I thought it was just a fun show about friends. Now I watch it and think about the literary tools the scriptwriters used and how clever they were to combine foreshadowing and flashbacks along with the jokes, most of which would probably not pass the editor's desk today. I realize that makes me sound like the most boring person on the planet, but that's why I keep those thoughts just between me and my blog ;-). If you happen to be reading this, don't mention this if we ever meet in real life. 

I also watch it and think, "Wow! This show is almost 20 years old and the main character is writing a blog and that blog is actually a pretty major part of the show. How forward thinking was that?" Barney is the character who writes a blog and he has the same struggles we have today, getting people to read his blog. I just learned that there is an actual Barney Stinson blog. I am definitely going to find that when I finish this post. 

I'm also struck by the fact that, although smartphones were part of our lives, especially for the last 5 or 6 seasons of the show, the characters did not rely on their phones the way we do now.  Texting was used as part of storylines, but social media was not yet really a thing.  This should not really surprise me, but everything else in the show makes it feel like it could happen today except for the way they use their smartphones.  

I wonder how would the show be different today? Would Ted have met his wife on a dating app? Would they have MeetUp groups to arrange activities instead of just heading down to the bar to see who is there? Would they turn to Ask Reddit to solve some of their friendly squabbles? Hmmmm....I'm sensing a sequel is necessary! The social connection options are are almost endless.