*****"MY NAME'S PAULA AND I HAVE A SECRET..."*****

I have a confession to make, readers. Perhaps some of you will judge me for this, perhaps others also are culprits - but I must admit that, once upon a time, I used to be one of those people who will buy people a dvd or cd or occasionally even a book - and watch/listen/read it myself before I wrap it up and pass it on. In recent years, I have stopped doing this - but this Christmas temptation beckoned and I couldn't resist.

I had ordered the dvd boxset of "How I met Your Mother" Season One as part of my brother's Christmas present - I had already spent quite a lot on him, so bought it off amazon marketplace from a seller who claimed it was "new" and "unwatched" rather than "used". However, when it arrived, it wasn't cellophane wrapped - and I could hear it calling to me "I'm not wrapped up Paula - Brian will think you've watched me anyway - you might as well!" And I succumbed shamefully quickly.

Now, I've seen the odd episode of this in the past, which was why I quite fancied watching the series in its entirety. It was always confined to a silly timeslot, as with most American tv series on BBC 1 and 2 - half six or thereabouts on a Sunday evening - and constantly got bumped in favour of whatever ridiculous event was happening (snooker, Krufts, those sort of things) so I saw perhaps the second, fifth and eleventh episode of it. Enough to give me a taste of it, but not enough for me to be able to piece it all together.

*****SO WHAT is "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" ABOUT?*****

With a tagline which describes it as "a love story in reverse", the show is basically a more modern version of "Friends" - that's probably its closest comparison; although so many things have been labelled "The New 'Friends'" that its somewhat of a lame one. However, what makes this programme slightly different from both "Friends" and its other counterparts is that it is essentially told in flashbacks. At the beginning of the programme, in the pilot episode, Ted's two teenage children sit down as their unseen father (voiced by Bob Saget) begins to tell them the story of how he met their mother. They don't particularly want to listen to this, particularly as his numerous stories never seem to bring up the aforementioned mother, instead focussing generally on Ted, his best friends Lily and Marshall (and his "other best friend" Barney), and his crush on the beautiful Robyn. It seems the the point of the programme itself is to show how Ted came to the point of meeting his future wife, but will it ever actually show the actual meeting and who the wife and mother of his children actually IS???

*****THE CAST AND THE CHARACTERS*****

Josh Radnor - Ted Mosby
Jason Segel - Marshall Eriksen
Cobie Smulders -Robin Scherbatsky
Neil Patrick Harris -Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan - Lily Aldrin
Bob Saget - Older Ted Mosby

Of the cast of "How I Met Your Mother" two are immediately recognisable from other shows - Alyson Hannigan was, of course, cult heroine Willow from the "Buffy" tv series, and Neil Patrick Harris was the actor formerly known as Doogie Howser, MD on the show of the same name from the late eighties/early nineties. Both manage to avoid being typecast in the roles they were previously famous for - as Lily, Hannigan remains slightly dippy (something she is probably always destined to be) but seems far feistier than Willow ever was, even AFTER she became a witch Neil Patrick Harris, meanwhile, plays sexist, womanising, irritating-yet-inherently lovable Barney like a walking, talking, utterly hilarious cliche who's two catchphrases "Suit up" and "It'll be LEGENDARY" always seem to be used at exactly the right time to guarantee a laugh.

The other actors are ones you may recognise from bit parts and one-off roles in several different tv series (Smulders, for example, has had appearances in both "The L Word" and "Tru Calling" while Jason Segel has turned up in "CSI", "Alias" and the recent smash film "Knocked Up") but none of the others are as immediately recognisable as Hannigan and Harris. However, their performances are great all the same. Particularly Josh Radnor as romantic Ted - unlike most guys, all he wants is to get married and settle down. And, even though this is what most girls seem to be looking for in a guy, he rarely seems to find these girls!!! Poor dude. It's easy to feel sorry for him - if we're talking "Friends" comparisons, he's probably Ross BEFORE he got so annoying.

*****THE MAIN PLOT POINTS*****

Here are the main things that the plot focusses on, just for an idea of what you are letting yourself in for...

*TED'S SEARCH FOR LOVE - Hopeless romantic Ted is, like I said, desperate to find a woman to settle down with and a great deal of the show obviously focusses on this. From trying out a dating agency to reluctantly chatting up women in bars due to Barney's favourite game "Have you met Ted?", he meets quite a few girls over the course of the series. But whether any of these girls are his future wife is anyone's guess. After all, if the point of the story is to find out ultimately how Ted met the future mother of his kids, then it's going to be like "Lost" - there will NEVER be an ending! The search for Ted's future can surely only conclude once the show decides to end, right? Otherwise we KNOW the ending and therefore the point of the show is moot.

*TED'S AND ROBIN'S WILL-THEY-WON'T-THEY? - This has the potential to be the new Ross-and-Rachel, thus adding further to the "Friends" comparisons. He likes her, she isn't interested, he gets involved with someone else, she likes him, they nearly get together but he does something reprehensible which involves everything going back to square one. Can they overcome the odds? Like Ross and Rachel before them, this is a couple you'll be rooting to get together.

*LILY AND MARSHALL'S RELATIONSHIP - The show kicks off with the college sweethearts getting engaged after years of being together - but that's not to say their relationship is absolutely perfect. Many of the plots in the show involve numerous misunderstandings or arguments between the pair, and both occasionally have their doubts about committing too young.

*BARNEY'S "LEGENDARY" SCHEMES - How about when Barney decides he and Ted are going to go to the airport armed with empty suitcases to meet women? They end up on a plane to Philadelphia and later are accused of being terrorists? Barney's schemes usually seem harebrained and idiotic - and usually prove to be exactly that. But they will definitely give you a laugh in the meantime...

*****SO THE VERDICT IS...*****

"How I Met Your Mother" is great fun and as far as I'm concerned lives up to any hype it generated. It's a shame it was stuck in such a rubbish timeslot and not a lot of people got to appreciate it because of this, but I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who has been searching in vain for a sitcom great enough and funny enough to fill the gigantic shoes "Friends" left behind when it ended. It's lighthearted, hilarious and inventive - the concept and the flashback format (and not to mention the flashbacks WITHIN the flashbacks) is fresh and new - and I cannot wait to watch the next series! If you want a laugh and like American sitcoms, then I would definitely advise you give this a watch. It's completely fabulous!

*****NOT QUITE CONVINCED YET??? HERE'S SOME QUOTES...*****

Barney: It's going to be legendary!
Ted: Don't say that! You're too liberal with the word "legendary".
[flashback to Barney standing at Ted's door in snow gear with a shovel]
Barney: We're building an igloo in Central Park! It's going to be legendary! Snow-suit up!

Ted: I'm gonna do what that guy couldn't, I'm gonna take the plunge... Well, I guess that's not a perfect metaphor since... for me it's falling in love and for him it's... death.
Barney: Actually, that is a perfect metaphor.

Ted: So, you're a reporter?
Robin: Sorta, I do those fluff stories at the end of the show, like... Monkey can play a violin. I'm hoping for some bigger stories.
Ted: Bigger... like, a Gorilla with an upright bass? Sorry, you're very pretty.

Ted: At least someone appreciates the fact that I am doing and not thinking.
[pause]
Ted: And now, I don't think I won't not go the bathroom.

Marshall: I'm not a gay pirate, I have sex with my parrot all the time!
[there is an awkward silence]
Marshall: OK, that came out wrong.

*****PRICE GUIDE*****

AMAZON.CO.UK - £22.98
AMAZON MARKETPLACE - used and new from £17.31
PLAY.COM - £22.99