himym

(S05E19) Many of the episodes of 'HIMYM' this season have been slapsticky and silly, but mostly in a good way. It's part of the effort of Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and their crew to not get so bogged down in the "mythology" of the Mother story, allowing them to touch on it much less than they used to. It also sets up some nice standalone episodes for syndication.

Sometimes the silliness works, sometimes it doesn't. This time it worked. And because it worked, I won't get the phase "mugged by a monkey" out of my head for quite a while.

(S05E18) Ever come across an episode of one of your favorite shows that just felt half-baked to you? Sure, it had its funny moments, but there was something about the main story that begged to be explored a bit more. Or maybe one of the B-stories looked like it had more potential but it just ended up being either a one-note joke or dropped altogether.

This episode had both. I wanted the main story of Ted always bringing around his "skanks" to group celebrations to be tied in a little more to his search for the all-exalted mother. And I also wanted to see more about both Barney's and Marshall's relative abilities in front of a camera lens. Both left me dissatisfied.

(S05E17) Let's see ... this week, we got Ted in the future telling his kids the story that Barney told a police officer after he'd been pulled out of the Hudson River. So did we get Barney's version of events, or the version Ted might remember from his own role?

I'm going with this being Barney's version of events, because it's the only way I can justify the way in which Ted described to Barney the "super-date." All in all, there were several moments that made me smile, but I wasn't laughing as hard as I usually do during an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother.'

However, I'll forgive the episode that because it did entertain me and more importantly-- it gave us all some much needed closure!

It's gotta be tough turning down Jennifer Lopez, a.k.a. Anita on 'How I Met Your Mother' (Mon., 8PM ET on CBS). Especially if you're Barney.

But even when she lured him in with the promise of getting lucky -- forget about the twelfth date; she'll do it right now – he stuck to his guns.

And is it just us, or is J-Lo everywhere lately? Talk about a workaholic, and the mom of two shows no signs of slowing down. 'The Back-Up Plan' arrives in theaters April 23.

Watch the video after the jump.

It takes some chutzpah to turn down Carrie Underwood, but Ted did the right thing on 'How I Met Your Mother' (Mon., 8PM ET on CBS).

Ted, listen to us: You absolutely did the right thing. You don't need to get snarled up in that vicious cycle of deceit and hook-ness. You're a man for walking out that door, and don't you forget it. (Cue Carly Simon's 'Let the River Run.')

Watch the video after the jump.

What happened on this week's 'How I Met Your Mother' episode, 'The Perfect Week' -- in 100 words or less.

To distract himself from troubling situations at work, Barney decided to try for the perfect week, seven girls in seven consecutive nights with no rejections. The story was related to us via a fantasy interview with Jim Nantz.

(S05E14) Wouldn't everyone want to analyze their love lives with Jim Nantz?

Even if you haven't been as lucky in the sack as Barney Stinson, having an accomplished play-by-play guy talk about the ups and downs of your romantic escapades lends things a bit of gravitas and class.

However the 'HIMYM' writing team came up with the idea of how a nervous Barney recounts his perfect week in his own head, it was an inspired move, as it gave the episode the right narrative pull and really did put you in the position of a fan, pulling for him and making sure he didn't get jinxed. Did I just say that word?

What happened on this week's 'How I Met Your Mother' episode, 'Jenkins' -- in 100 words or less.

After Lily admitted to Marshall that she thinks he is the 'reacher' and she the 'settler' in their relationship, he found an opportunity to make her jealous when Jenkins (Amanda Peet) -- his cool, new, hot female coworker that Lily wasn't jealous of -- kissed him while drunk from the "but, um" game.

It backfired when Jenkins apologized, and got a Lily beatdown.

Ted discovered that Robin's show was popular with his students because she says "but, um" enough to build a drinking game around. For revenge, Robin said it over and over again; then tormented them with a bullhorn.

(S05E13) This was one of those episodes that seemed like it would be more fun than it actually was. The stories seemed to be potentially amusing, and there were some funny moments. But this was definitely on the lower side of the ledger as far as this season's episodes are concerned.

Which one of the stories did I like better? Hm... the Jenkins one, but only by a little bit. It was fun seeing Amanda Peet playing someone who was even more alpha male than Robin, and envisioning Peet doing some of the things Marshall described Jenkins doing wasn't exactly unpleasant. Oh, and it introduced us to Big Fudge, who I hope plays more Skee-Ball as the seasons go on.

(S05E12) After I wrote my gushing preview of this episode, I went back and re-watched it, hoping my first impression was correct. It turned out that it was, but for a very different reason than I thought. The 100th episode of HIMYM didn't have everything that makes the show such fun for its fans: there was no time-shifting, and not a lot of misdirection. It just told two straight-ahead stories that were really funny and gave us confidence in how things are going to play out going forward.

Oh, and it had a song-and-dance number that was fun as hell.

Congratulations, 'How I Met Your Mother'!

The Emmy-nominated show is hitting a huge milestone -- their 100th episode -- and they're celebrating rather appropriately with a big song-and-dance number and plenty of guest stars (Mon., Jan. 11, 8PM ET on CBS). AOL TV visited the set while they were shooting the big show to get the scoop on what to expect straight from the stars and creators. What we ended up getting was so much better ...

The highlights? Neil Patrick Harris dishes about Barney's big musical performance; Alyson Hannigan reveals she's "kind of obsessed" with one of the big-name guest stars; Cobie Smulders talks about the Barney-Robin relationship aftermath; Josh Radnor teases how close we'll get to meeting Ted's future wife, the show's long-awaited 'Mother,' in this episode; and Jason Segel admits that just reading the episode's script made him emotional: "I almost started crying!" Awww.

Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas were not as forthcoming, though. "We might as well spoil it," Bays says with a grin. "As of right now, Ted dies." OK, that's so obviously not the case, but maybe Marshall and Lily will be making a big life change soon ... or, if you listen to Jason Segel, maybe not. "Marshall would be a fantastic father, he'd love the kid. It's literally the logistics of Jason Segel, holding a baby, that they're afraid of."

Yep, they're all just as funny in real life. There's a reason the show has lasted this long ... watch our set visit video to see it all.

I didn't know that Slate was keeping a weekly "Shame Index" for How I Met Your Mother, a regular column where they go over each episode in fine detail and list what the show does "awesome" and what the show should be ashamed of. You're probably wondering, what could the show possibly do to be ashamed of?

Basically it comes down to either 1. lame jokes or 2. being too much like Friends. I'm not a regular viewer of How I Met Your Mother (I did love Friends), so I have absolutely no opinion on the matter at all. They do point out the plot from last night's episode where they tried to quit smoking, saying that Friends did that several times with Chandler Bing's character over the years and that was funnier and HIMYM copied too much from Friends.

What do you think?

What happened on this week's 'How I Met Your Mother' episode, 'Last Cigarette Ever' -- in 100 words or less.

In 2030, Ted's kids learn he's been lying to them. One by one, it's revealed that everyone had a smoking problem.

Robin has issues at work with her new co-anchor, who refuses to care or wear pants. Marshall's new boss is his former boss, so he smokes to try and befriend him. This leads to Lily smoking and getting a nasty smoker's voice.

They all try to quit, and even stop Robin by watching and calling into her early morning show. They'll all stop eventually -- Marshall and Lily over their baby, and Ted two weeks into dating his kids' mother.

Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live - Tuesday December 15, 9 pm, Global/Fox

Not content to just terrorize reality show participants and budding chefs, now Gordon Ramsay wants to yell at you. This one-hour live special can be either enjoyed in the traditional way - seated on the couch - or it can become one of the worst hours of your life if you choose to try to cook a three-course meal along with Ramsay. Masochists can get their shopping lists at globaltv.com.

What happened on this week's 'How I Met Your Mother episode, 'The Window' -- in 100 words or less.

Maggie's one of those girls who's only single for a minute. Her window opens, but Ted has to teach a class first. Marshall feels like he's failed his 15-year-old self by selling out and Lily has to console him, leaving Robin on Maggie to watch at the bar.

Ted gets encouragement from his class, only to find himself competing against Maggie's coworker and Barney, who's vowed to get laid wearing overalls. But Maggie's window closes forever when her childhood love resurfaces, encouraging Ted to try for love again.

More importantly, future Marshall reveals we'll have time travel in 30 years!