How I met Your Mother

[Fievel121]

Is a great show if they can get rid of the main character. Last night show, Ted was the biggest beat down ever. Yet Barney & Marshall had me laughing quit a bit.

 

[UT Spring Branch]

Last nights show was only so so - the Ted stuff was pretty lame

 

[Barton Hills]

Ted is a complete whiny/douche-bag. Ruins the show for me in most episodes.

 

[Larry T. Spider]

Love the show but Ted is a douche.

 

[PFD]

Ted is the Ross Geller of HIMYM.

 

[Fievel121]

No, Ross had his funny moments, but I get what you mean

 

[majorwhiteapples]

Barney and Marshall are by far the winners for this show. Robin is ok, Lilly sometimes great sometimes not so great. Ted is a DB, agreed.

 

[halsteadfrost]

I've always thought it was weird that in this show the two "main" characters (IMO, Ted and Robin) are the least interesting. Robin got better after a while with her whole Canadian thing, but Ted's always been a downer. Same for Rules of Engagement and The Big Bang Theory, but on those shows they were able to bump the crappy characters (Penny and the Unmarried couple respectively) down and showcase the better/funnier actors. Unfortunately HIMYM is basically named with Ted as the central figure, so...

 

[mia1994]

HIMYM is a great show. Ted is the weakest character of the 5, but it is unfair to say he hasn't had his moments. I'm watching the second season again in syndication and he is far better than I remember him being. Over the run of friends, Ross went from being kind of dorky to some horrible clownish thing. Ted's "romantic" stories uniformly put him into a position to not be funny... and pathetic, and since those stories are the central conceit of the show, they are many. That said, when they let the character take a back seat, the character & actor frequently nails the scene.

 

[Napoleon]

Many shows are built around the straight man and how things happen to him (and/or her).

Dick Van Dyke show
Seinfeld
Will & Grace

(I'm not saying Will & Grace was on par with the other two, I'm just pointing out...)

The main characters usually got the least funny material and/or couldn't act (Jerry). In fact, if you look back, Jerry is trying not to laugh in about half the scenes.

And almost every episode of Will & Grace featured some story line that made you want to throw a brick at your television. But Karen & Jack's characters were usually funny and Woody Harrelson did a hilarious turn as a boyfriend of Grace's who was a bit of a slob, but didn't give a **** about all the gay guys flying around in her world.

Mad About You featured a beat down in Helen Hunt, especially in the last season. And there are many other examples (none of which I can think of right now) that feature less than stellar main characters with great supporting actors "making the show".

 

[chickendog!]

Also the premise would allow for them to do entire episodes without Ted. Just have Saget tell stories about his friends to his kids. You could easily remove Ted from 2/3 of the episodes without hurting the series in my opinion.