Whedonesque : Comments on 10127 : (SPOILER) 'How I Met Your Mother' Gets UK Airdate.

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April 20 2006

(SPOILER) 'How I Met Your Mother' Gets UK Airdate. BBC Three have finally given the details on when they will air How I Met Your Mother after having the rights for many months. Warning: The link contains spoilers to several other shows. In other UK news, FX UK will be showing Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a 7pm slot starting from May 1st as well. And Adam Baldwin will be on tonight's episode of Bones on Sky One.

BBC Three will be showing Alyson Hannigan's How I Met Your Mother from May 1st at 7.30pm for those of us in the UK who have long been waiting on the show.

Presumably it will then be every Monday, but the BBC is still yet to speak about it themselves.

Ashley | Cast&Crew | 22:20 CET | 41 comments total | tags: buffy, adam baldwin, bones, how i met your mother, alyson hannigan, uk, bbc

Alyson's mere presence could make a funeral seem sunny and fun, but I'm afraid anyone with above-average taste won't find much but a generic American sitcom here.

MrArg | April 20, 22:57 CET

Think you could risk offending a fair few people on here with that statement MrArg.

It's a really good show, can't see it really taking off here simply because I don't think it's the right place for the show, a Friday evening slot on Channel 4 would have been much better, or even a nightly slot on Paramount (where it would get advertised to death like they're doing with Stacked at the moment). Can't remember any US sitcoms since Fresh Prince that have been shown on the BBC, and they certainly showed with their treatments of Family Guy, American Dad! and Seinfeld, that if it doesn't get them the ratings they want, it'll be headed to the graveyard slot.

Ghost Spike | April 20, 23:48 CET

We all have different tastes (and that's a good thing!) - I just don't find this show funny at all. Too bad, because I do like Alyson.

Ruadh | April 21, 00:05 CET

Perhaps I phrased my criticism a bit harshly in reference to its potential fans--I'll restate and just say the show sucks.

MrArg | April 21, 00:07 CET

I'll hold my opinion on the show until I've had chance to see it myself because I've heard enough varied opinions from others to realise that it is one of those series you will either absolutely love or really hate, depending on your personal sense of humour.

It could really suffer from the channel and timeslot it has been given though. How many people actually check out BBC3 on a regular basis?

Serial Rocker | April 21, 00:10 CET

Only time I've ever watched BBC3 was when they had the 4th season of Coupling, and usually watch Doctor Who Confidential.

Two Pints of Lager (dreadful British sitcom) always seems to be on.

The channels in quite a few homes, you only need freeview to get it, but I don't think too many people watch it, not sure if it ever breaks the 1 million viewers mark.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2006-04-20 22:19 ]

Ghost Spike | April 21, 00:16 CET

It's an annoying channel to be on, no-one will watch it, especially as it clashes with corrie! Hopefully though it will be promoted to mainstream BBC.

gilesno1fan | April 21, 00:21 CET

I watch BBC 3 sometimes, because BBC 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the only British channels I get here in Holland. I'll give How I met your mother another go, but I have to admit I really didn't like what I've seen of it via downloads.

Caroline | April 21, 00:23 CET

I think they often trial shows on BBC3 and if they show potential in terms of ratings, they may move them to BBC1 or (more likely with this type of show) BBC2. Only the living room in my house has BBC3 and someone else may already bge using the TV, so I probably won't be able to follow it religiously, but I will definitely try and tune in to check it out. It may not be ground breaking but if it's mildly entertaining then I think it's worth watching. I'm sure its better than a lot of the painfully crude, repetitive and pointlessly bizarre comedy that I have been unfortunate enough to have seen (Green Wing and series 2-3 of Little Britain spring to mind).

Razor | April 21, 00:25 CET

Monday nights at 7:30 on BBC 3 is kind of buried but if it does OK it'll probably make it to BBC2 as seems to happen with most BBC3 comedies.

Not been terribly impressed with the channel in general though apart from the odd episode of 'Little Britain' or 'Ideal' I don't really watch it much ('Two Pints' is truly lowest common denominator TV, IMO, and the '60 second' news thing is annoying and pointless, quite a combination).

Wonder if the Beeb will do a MASH and take the laugh track out ? Either way, i'll maybe give it another chance, see if it gets better past episode 3.

Saje | April 21, 00:29 CET

We seem to be coming down with UK items today so I'm going to merge some threads.

ETA: All merged.

Simon | April 21, 00:33 CET

Good merging, gotta keep us brits under check!

gilesno1fan | April 21, 00:37 CET

"... no-one will watch it, especially as it clashes with corrie!"

Actually, I would say that is a damn good reason why you should watch HIMYM. In fact, having totally unnecessary surgery done on your eye with a spoon is a better way to spend that half hour than to suffer through Coronation Street.

Serial Rocker | April 21, 00:43 CET

A rusty spoon at that.

Ghost Spike | April 21, 00:44 CET

Ha I just realised. Buffy and HIMYM will be on at the same time. God you wait to see Aly on the telly and then there's a bloody schedule clash.

Simon | April 21, 00:46 CET

I'm sensing a non-corrie fan...?

gilesno1fan | April 21, 00:47 CET

gilesno1fan, are you some kind of empath demon? What gave it away? ;)

Simon, I believe there is a next day repeat of Buffy on FX at 3pm so you can just watch or record the episode then whenever there is a schedule clash. Unless, of course, you have Sky Plus, in which case there is no problem anyway. Master of the obvious, me.

Serial Rocker | April 21, 00:57 CET

Unless, of course, you have Sky Plus, in which case there is no problem anyway

I have NTL so I know pain. Looking forward to seeing How I Met Your Mother.

Simon | April 21, 00:59 CET

... bloody schedule clash.

Now, How I Met Your Mother versus Buffy, that i'd pay to see (laugh track or not).

(or a cross-over between HIMYM and Corrie. Sure it's Alzheimer's but it's comedy Alzheimer's, plenty of mileage there. It'd add an extra dimension to the 'Have you met Ted ?' game anyway)

Saje | April 21, 01:25 CET

HIMYM seems to have many fans here, including JW himself who has stated several times that he loves it. I've really tried with it -- I've watched many episodes via download. Honestly, I can't stand it either. It totally grates on me. It's so sickly sweet that when I watch it I feel like all my teeth are crumbling away. And that laughter track ... arghhh. I don't want to offend those who do like it. I guess different things make people laugh, but watching something which is supposed to be funny but fails to raise even a smile can be excruciating.

dzr | April 21, 01:25 CET

Saje, NOOOOO!

Don't even joke about giving Coronation Street more airtime than it currently gets. You just know that some producer somewhere will see your idea and run with it.

If I ever see that HIMYM/Corrie crossover happen, I'm tracking you down. I swear it. Bad Saje, BAD!

Serial Rocker | April 21, 01:34 CET

Maybe i'll keep my 'Eastenders' idea to myself then ... ;-)

(and good luck finding me, i'll be in the Bahamas* with all my royalty money. Given that Corrie's already on about 25 times a week, cross-overs can only spell kerching ! for dear old moi, Muahah... Muahahahaha)

* or will I ?

Saje | April 21, 01:46 CET

My main problem with the corrie clash is that we only have sky in one room and that will be used to watch corrie, so no HIMYM for me, unless it is repeated...

gilesno1fan | April 21, 01:51 CET

Oh, trust me, Saje. If your idea causes there to be even one more second of Fred "thinks he's Foghorn Leghorn" Elliot on our screens then there will be more than me after your blood. There are entire secret organisations that are dedicated to the end of bland television soap operas. Didn't know they existed? That's how secret they are!

I'm currently developing a satellite that emits a signal capable of destroying any television on which the Coronation Street theme music is heard. Some may say these measures are a little drastic but I believe them essential for the future development of decent evening television programming.

Don't you worry, gilesno1fan, once my satellite activates you will have no more Corrie scheduling clashes to worry about ... although you may need to buy a new television.

Eastenders and Emmerdale, don't think you can escape. You are both on my list, Bwah hah haaaa!

Excessive dislike of a television series? Me? Naaah! ;)

Serial Rocker | April 21, 02:01 CET

"Ha I just realised. Buffy and HIMYM will be on at the same time. God you wait to see Aly on the telly and then there's a bloody schedule clash."

Or, you could see it as during the commercials for HIMYM you can flick to Buffy, so there won't be an Alyson-less minute!

Ashley | April 21, 02:56 CET

I always thought the Coronation Street theme was a beautiful piece of music - but then I used to play the trombone, so I'm probably a bit biased. As for the show - well, I've never been into any soaps, except perhaps for a brief dalliance with early Brookie. That had a bit of life in it, at least. And then there was Anna Friel. Oh yes.

Still haven't seen HIMYM, but I'll certainly give it a chance. I've always hated the idea of a laugh track, but then whenever I put my Fawlty Towers DVDs on, I hear the same bloody thing. Lesson? It can be transcended if the show is any good.

SoddingNancyTribe | April 21, 03:17 CET

Nice one - I think this trumps my Veronica Mars post.

As others have said, the fact that it's on BBC3 doesn't mean it won't make an appearance at a later date on BBC2.

I hear the nay-sayers here, but I'm still keen to see this. Don't think I've got any schedule clashes (I have all the Buffy DVDs, so that one won't worry me).

Kiddo | April 21, 03:26 CET

I'm afraid anyone with above-average taste won't find much but a generic American sitcom here.

Okay, here's something: I have 'above-average taste' you could speculate (I don't watch Fear Factor), and I love this show. So because you don't or do like a show doesn't define how good it actually is in terms of other peoples taste.

Also: BBC Three enjoys massive ratings, believe it or not, for Two Pints of Lager, and many other programmes. Two Pints, also, is currently being drafted for a motion picture -- it's one of the BBC's highest ratings comedys of the decade, and a geninue piece of pop culture.

With Two Pints as competition, I'm sure HIMYM will do fine.

gossi | April 21, 03:41 CET

I don't get it. It usually takes quite a bit for me to fall for a sitcom and I absolutely love HIMYM - in fact it's the only sitcom I watch regularly. And believe it or not it has very little to do with the presence of Alyson Hannigan. I'm aware of its flaws - all shows have flaws if you look closely enough - it's just a question of being able to overlook them and see the good. And there's plenty of good stuff here.

loa | April 21, 04:15 CET

Well, not had my coffee yet gossi so i'm going to point out that, unfortunately, being widely watched is practically the definition of 'lowest common denominator TV'. 'Two Pints' may be a ratings hit but 'The Sun' is also the bestselling UK newspaper (something like 3.5 million a day) so, as has been the case since time immemorium, popular taste is not the final arbiter of quality (course, it's been said before but nothing is more subjective than humour and anything that even one person laughs at can legitimately be called 'funny' so it's all just IMO).

That's really weird SNT, I can't remember 'Fawlty' having a track (not got the DVDs but i'll occasionally watch one on UK Gold). As you say, if the quality's there I guess you just don't notice it.

(ah, yeah, Anna Friel .... * sigh * ;)

Saje | April 21, 12:27 CET

Maybe if it does well on BBC3 they'll pop it on late night on BBC2?

continuitygirl | April 21, 12:52 CET

Here is the BBC programme information that includes May Day - it mentions that "How I Met Your Mother" (item is fourth from bottom) will be repeated on BBC Two on the following Sunday.

moley75 | April 21, 13:04 CET

For anyone who might be interested in knowing these kinds of figures, the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) produces a weekly summary of the television audience share in the UK. For the week ending 9 April 2006 BBC3 had a share of 1% (which is equivalent to an average of 15 minutes viewing per person for the whole week). In real terms, it's audience reach is 24.8%. BBC2 had a share of 7.2% (equating to an average of 4.48 hours per person for the week).

The top rated show on BBC3 was a repeat of an old episode of 'Eastenders' with 734,000 viewers. 'Two Pints and a Packet of Crisps' got 580,000 viewers. The top rated show on BBC2 was 'The Apprentice' (reality TV show) with 4.26 million viewers. The top rated show in the UK across all channels that week was the Friday edition of 'Coronation Street' with 12.34 million viewers.

For those interested in knowing the prospects for 'Veronica Mars', the highest rated show on Living TV was CSI with 423,000 viewers. 'Charmed' was number two with 384,000 viewers.

alien lanes | April 21, 14:31 CET

Wow, surprising amount of people in this thread who don't seem to like HIMYM. As always, I'll speak out in favor of it. It has a slow start (I liked it the first 2 or 3 episodes, but did not love it, it didn't differentiate itself from any other sitcoms). But as you stick with it, it just starts getting better and better untill it has now become, imho, the best sitcom currently on television.

To me, HIMYM is an endlessly quotable, laugh-out-loud funny show with characters I absolutely adore. I'm firmly in the 'love it'-camp for this one (and I'd argue I have above avarage taste as well - and heck, even Joss loves it :-p).

GVH | April 21, 14:39 CET

Oh, saje, I know that the amount of people watching doesn't dictate quality. American Idol is pretty much the number 1 consistant TV programme ever made, for example.

gossi | April 21, 18:13 CET

And what exactly is wrong with American Idol? It is a solid, entertaining show, as far as I'm concerned. Certainly far from being at the poor end of the reality television scale. Being a reality series does not automatically mean that it is unworthy to be on the air. There is good and bad in every genre. Need I mention Charmed?

Plus, AI gave the world Kelly Clarkson and Bo Bice, and currently is treating us to the future success story that is Chris Daughtry. Three reasons to give the show it's due.

Serial Rocker | April 21, 18:41 CET

What what exactly is wrong with Charmed?

It's all perception. I've got nothing against American Idol, although I don't think it is in any way brain food or layered.

gossi | April 21, 18:53 CET

It isn't actually supposed to be brain food. It's a glorified singing competition, not a Shakespearean work of literature.

Naturally it is all about perception. My point about Charmed is that, whilst I'm sure many would argue it's case, it is certainly never going to challenge the likes of Buffy or Angel for the honour of being at the top of the list for fantasy show quality. Andromeda has a fan base but it will never be considered on the level of Battlestar Galactica or Firefly for it's quality of writing.

The reality television genre has it's place on the schedule, same as everything else. American Idol is, in my opinion, one of the better shows to come from that type of programming and, whilst not needing a great deal of thought to enjoy, is a quality show of it's own kind.

I'm all for the limiting of the reality show craze that got so out of hand these last few years. The fewer "My Midget Boyfriend's Cross-dressing Cat" shows we see, the better. However, I'm also more than happy to sit and watch a good quality reality show that keeps me entertained and provides an hour or two a week of enjoyable viewing. What more can you ask from a television show than to enjoy it for what it is?

Serial Rocker | April 21, 20:38 CET

I've been looking foward to HIMYM. But it seems the Beeb got it wrong. The programme currently scheduled for that slot is "Honey, We're Killing the Kids". See the BBC listings. HIMYM does not appear anywhere in the DigiGuide listings for the next two weeks.

tichtich | April 25, 13:31 CET

I emailed the BBC about this, and just received a reply:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding 'How I Met Your Mother'.

I understand you would like to know when the series will begin.

Our schedulers have confirmed that the series was provisionally due to start on 1 May but has been moved back to the following week. The exact transmission date and time still have to be confirmed.

tichtich | April 26, 11:30 CET

HIMYM is now listed in DigiGuide and the Radio Times web sites at the following times:

Sunday 07 May, 7:35pm - 8:00pm, BBC2

Monday 08 May, 10:30pm - 10:50pm, BBC3

The descriptions of these two episodes are different, so it looks like one is not just a repeat of the other. I'll be recording both, to be on the safe side.

tichtich | April 28, 11:57 CET

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