The Show
Here's a lesson that would have surely benefited select seasons of Heroes: If your overall story is going to proceed at a pace that would make a narcoleptic snail appear bubbly, make sure that the week-to-week goings-on are as entertaining as they can be. How I Met Your Mother gets it, as evidenced in Season 4. The central conceit of the show is that main character Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor, although actually portrayed by the voice of Bob Saget in his off-camera narration) is explaining to his kids in the year 2030 the entire saga of how he came to cross paths with their mom. It is apparently a convoluted journey since we're now four seasons in and we still don't know, although we have finally been given a big clue.
This year, Ted was left at the altar, fired, and he took a new job, while his ex-girlfriend Robin (Cobie Smulders) and hound-dog bud Barney (a stellar Neil Patrick Harris) might or might not wind up together. Along with the recently wed Marshall and Lily (Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan), these are some the most fun, most relatable characters on TV, and the structure of the show lends itself to lots of terrific flashbacks (and -forwards). We don't know Ted's whole story yet, but so far it's a hoot.
The Picture
There's a pleasant warmth to the colors in the 1.78:1 frame, although the clarity is good but not great. Elements in the image are noisy, sometimes distractingly so. This being another New York City-set show being recorded on Hollywood soundstages and backlots, Mother often relies upon stock shots, which look pretty sharp even if they don't always match the other scenes. Some digital special effects are also necessary to create the geographic illusion, and these don't look so hot in HD.
The Sound
Some very subtle environmental cues are incorporated into the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, as when we're out on the street or up on the roof of an apartment building, and the music takes advantage of the surround speakers, occasionally powerfully so. But in general it's all up front, plenty of time the rears are dead silent. What surprised me most of all is that even the audience is mixed into the mains when it would have fit perfectly behind or around the listener.
The Extras
Commentary tracks are provided for a total of four episodes, two from creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, one with guest actors David Ellis Duncan and Evan Rock, and another with writers Chuck Tatham and Joe Kelly along with star Josh Radnor. A three-minute Season 3 Recap is supplied so we can hit the ground running, in addition to a seven-and-a-half-minute Gag Reel, the funny Barney Stinson "That Guy's Awesome" music video (one minute), plus a brief Easter egg. "A Night with Your Mother" (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Panel Discussion) is edited down to a fifteen-and-a-half-minute question-and-answer session with the creators and stars, which leads to an unexpectedly hilarious moment when Neil Patrick Harris abruptly goes to the men's room but leaves on his wireless microphone. All of the special features are in standard definition.
Final Thoughts
Now that I've caught up on Blu-ray, I'm a lot more interested to tune in on Monday nights and perhaps find out once and for all how Ted met his babies' mama. If it takes a while, so much the better.
Product Details
- Actors: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Bob Saget, Lyndsy Fonseca, David Henrie, Sarah Chalke
- Directors: Pamela Fryman, Michael Shea, Rob Greenberg
- Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 3
- Rating: NR
- Studio: Fox
- Release Date: September 29, 2009
- Run Time: 528 minutes
- List Price: $49.99
- Extras:
- Audio commentaries on four episodes with Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, David Ellis Duncan Evan Rock, Chuck Tatham, Joe Kelly and Josh Radnor
- Season 3 Recap
- Gag Reel
- Easter egg
- Barney Stinson: "That Guy's Awesome" music video
- "A Night with Your Mother" (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Panel Discussion)
