I'd say that about covers it.

Have him drive off into the sunset with Victoria at the end of Season 5 (instead of 7) and we can call it a day.

Marshall and Lilly just decided to have a baby; Barney showed the beginning of a soul and Mosby met the mother.

The last 3 seasons have just been marking time.

Well considering that the show runners of HIMYM wanted to end it 2 seasons ago, I will say they did a good job of stretching the series out.

From what I read, this is CBS' only show that the average viewer is less than 50 years old. So CBS backed a dump truck full of cash to the show runners and the cast to do another year or two.

You can almost see a really, really compelling conclusion to the show if you take snippets of the last 3 seasons, and combine them into one season. For example... thought episode 1 Monday was effective, and then episode 2 was your typical bullshit story line to stretch the season out. It did nothing for me.

So you are telling me the average viewer is 50 or over for Big Bang, 2.5 men and 2 broke girls? Yeah right.

Yeah, that seemed odd to me as well. Add in Survivor and the Amazing Race as well.

My GOD, was the 2BG premiere atrocious or WHAT?

"I've got big boobs."

"Yeah, well I have a cock."

"Well, I am purny Asian man-boyrr wit hardry a penis at arrr."

Like many shows the characters are ditching their flaws in order to make them likeable. The worst ever was when Maj. Houlihan was no longer a bitch on MASH. Barney just isn't as funny now that he isn't chasing every skirt out there. The network pulled the string on this show longer than the creators wanted. They knew that once certain things happened the tension between characters that made the show funny would no longer be there. I think they've tried to make Ted even more a caricature of himself. I don't think that's working. Its going to have some dying pains. Like many I think they will make a strong finish when it more resembles how they wanted the show to end anyway.

When I started watching this show, I settled upon the idea that the last line of the series (or at least Ted's narration) should be "And that's how I met your mother," showing the mother ONLY in a quick shot (kind of like what we saw at the end of Season 8) or a brief scene (like the one on the bus with the mother and Lily) that shows how compatible Ted and the mother are.

I hope they wrap this up well.

Am I right in tracking the timeline that Ted might need to accidentally knock the mother up quickly? Maybe that's why he stays in New York?

I always thought he was telling the story because the mother was not longer with them

i should say median age. here is what i found a few years ago:

Big Bang Theory 8:00 & 8:30
HH Rating: 8.6 & 8.8(last year: 8.4)
A18-49 Rating: 4.9 & 5.1 (last year: 4.9)
%Male/%Female within 18-49 audience: 47%/53%
Median Age: 50 (last year: 49)
Total Viewers (000): 14,619 avg. (last year: 14.060)



My point still stands. CBS skews older.

Actually it is surprising how much older tv skews in general. check out a young hip show:

Community
HH Rating: 2.5 (last year: 3.7)
A18-49 Rating: 1.7 (last year: 2.2)
%Male/%Female within 18-49 audience: 48%/52%
Median Age: 39 (last year: 41)
Total Viewers (000): 3,928 (last year: 5,009)

I guess a lot of that accounts for younger people watch tv shows online more so than on TV. I know I watch all my network shows online and I am 29.

Supposedly, "old Ted" is going to play a bigger role in the later episodes (not played by Bob Saget). Opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. I think it's been discussed for a while, so I feel like the show always had an ending in mind, which hopefully increases likelihood the ending will be good.

So does everyone agree that this Ted guy is a douche?

Since 2007? Yes, I agree.

I thought the first few seasons were brilliant and since then, it's been garbage.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Laugh track? Really?

I did see it a few times when my wife would watch it with my kids. I found most of the characters to be amusing enough. NPH is great. Alyson Hannigan is just sexy as hell. The female Canadian friend and Hannigan's husband have their moments. Ted is just a horrible character. He kills the funny.