Yeah, there's no 'almost' about it. If someone actually subscribes to that final AU episode (and no I'm not "pretending" it's AU. There is no doubt that it actually IS AU. It was an ending written a decade ago for an entirely different story that CB never ended up telling. That is the very definition then of an alternate universe to the story that the series actually DID tell) and that person didn't understand the full story behind it (that it was meant for a different story that only lasted from Season 1 - Season 2) then it absolutely would ruin the entire show. But I don't know a single person who watches the show who hasn't decided to just ignore that last episode because it was something else entirely and most definitively not HIMYM.
All that being said, I think the author almost got it spot on. They're absolutely right that it didn't fit with the later seasons (and by "later" I'd say anything past Season 3 in my opinion, but definitely anything from Season 5 onward; Season 6 was unquestionably a very clear line-in-the-sand
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The finale wouldn't have fit to the show even if it would have been 1.13 but I think at least after S2 a majority of the audience could have accepted that crap. The concept of hiding the identity of the Mother and let her be dead just didn't fit together, so as they killed her they killed the show with her
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The finale wouldn't have fit to the show even if it would have been 1.13 but I think at least after S2 a majority of the audience could have accepted that crap.
Yes, exactly. I never would have liked that ending because Robin with Ted is HORRIBLE, and the Mother was never meant to die and deserved to be more than just an afterthought, especially to her kids (and husband). She was meant to be the moral of the story and the prize at the end, not just a uterus. However, it could have worked in the sense that there wouldn't have been the HUGE list of contradicting canon elements that would come in the seasons to follow, not to mention the contradicting characterization, plot, and tone.
When a couple like B/R hold your show on air you have an obligation to them as you have an obligation to the audience.
It's clear that CB (and CT by default because he let it happen) couldn't care less about the characters, ANY of the characters other than Ted. But regardless they had that obligation to their audience. B/R is how they sold the show
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"It's clear that CB (and CT by default because he let it happen) couldn't care less about the characters, ANY of the characters other than Ted." That was a point that always bothered me about the show. They did it with most minor or major character, i.e. Nora and also with most storylines, i.e. Robin's infertility.
"But regardless they had that obligation to their audience. B/R is how they sold the show and kept it alive,..." And that will make the show for most people unwatchable after that AU ending. I think CBS as Fox know that the AU ending will cost them a lot of money for syndication as for DVDs.
"CBS was too smart to take a chance on them when they see what pariahs they are to the viewing audience,..."Yeah, they lied to everyone. The audience may like some twists, also big ones as "Game of Thrones" is showing again and again, but the audience don't like to be betrayed. As CTCB are now in NY they are out of the field and as they lied also to their cast, crew and the networks I don't think anyone will give them a chance in
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I'll never forgive them for what they did to poor Victoria (or Klaus) I mean at least B/R stayed together forever AU fanfic aside, but poor Victoria got screwed over by Ted twice. I mean I know Klaus ran away too, but that was a 7 year relationship CFB broke up to bring an OOC Victoria back for 2 minutes.
I liked Victoria and I liked Klaus. If Victoria had ended up being the mother (and lived,) I'd have been fine with that, but she wasn't, so Klaus seemed like a good match for her. Apart from the whole "something that is almost what you want" thing, which I'll allow. Yes, Victoria and Klaus both ran away from their wedding, but then they both ended up living with Ted, and then both... apparently vanished into the ether of eternal misery? Which is apparently the price one must pay for Not Pleasing The Ted. Because he's nice.
In this case, the dog would be named Swarkles. I do get how some viewers now can't enjoy a formerly favorite show because of the finale. I do. Pet dies in movie? No thanks. Unzadi will not be viewing that movie. Just...no. It's a stinky thing to have to go through, having something beloved ruined, and dirty pool on the part of the writers. Hope being "clever" is a good enough recompense for the loss of fans and faith in future projects.
... I... I kind of liked "Marley & Me" (GAH, that ending!) because it was a movie (based on a novel obviously). Sure it made me sad but because I didn't spend much time with those characters they weren't close to me so it made me sad without upsetting me too much. Now if "Marley & Me" would've been a long-running lighthearted sitcom like HIMYM with characters who almost become like family over the years and they pulled the same stunt in the end (I know the book author didn't actually pull a "stunt" because it's an autobiography) like they did in the movie/novel I would've been equally angry as I was about our "finale". You can have a movie about a dog and have him tragically die in the end, it's increadibly sad in a good way but not abusive (IMO). But you just can't have a sitcom that runs for ten years and tells a story about a ,dog/two broken people finding their way/a guy getting to the right place at the right time with the right mindset, and coldheartedly kill/destroy it in the end, no one will find it sad like they would've if
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I didn't see Marley and Me, but I do agree with the movie format allowing for more distance, and, to the best of my recollection, Marley and Me was marketed as a drama, so the expectation would be different. I'm also always extremely wary of the fate of any four-legged character in a movie, because there usually is no safety net.
Different formats do bring different experiences and different expectations.
Well, that was a brain fart, I was convinced you were actually refering to both the ending of that movie (because of the way you said "Pet dies? Not going to watch it!" and I had a lot of friends say the exact same thing that they will never watch such a movie again after seeing "Marley & Me") and the HIMYM dog named Swarkles out of the link you posted, sorry about that, I hope you didn't plan to watch it and I just spoiled it for you.
No worries. I do know the ending of Marley and Me, as I did some snooping when the movie came out, and knew it wasn't for me. My comments about not wanting to watch movies where the pet dies were meant in general, not referring to any specific film.
When a couple like B/R hold your show on air you have an obligation to them as you have an obligation to the audience.
I completely agree, and the showrunners let us both down, the audience, and the couple the audience preferred. Let's say for the sake of argument that Ted/Robin, awful as that couple would be, was the intended endgame. First, that breaks the promise made in the very title of the show, that this is the story of Ted and the future mother of his children. Second, Ted told us that this wasn't the story of how he married Robin (still need to get current on rewatch, so forgive me if I have misquoted here.) But let's assume that the intent was for it to be exactly that.
All well and good, and for the first season, one could argue that they were maybe heading in that direction (emphasis on maybe and could) but once the dynamic between Barney and Robin took off, and the writers went with that (that's a choice that they made, to write toward B/R rather than T/R) then the original intent no longer works, because we're looking
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I am able to separate the final forty minutes from the rest of the series, but I understand how others can't do that, and I'm angry that loyal fans had to lose their favorite show that way.Yes, I still remember the 31st as if it was yesterday, pretty sure I could sue CB/CT because of PTSD... Sure it made me beyond angry how they decided to treat their characters, but what made me truly livid to the point of actual sleep deprivation was reading the comments and breakdowns here from people who even used to defend those two against the haters. Just how? How can someone treat his fans like that? I can't understand the reasoning behind it, but I do know that some people seem to really enjoy the misery of others and I fully believe CB is one of those (but how he can believe to get away with it and people will watch his next stupid show is beyond me). Reading your comment, I had to think about something funny I came across on the Game of Thrones subreddit after the last episode "The Mountain and the Viper" aired (people who follow the show
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you better make sure to come through in the end, to not break "the contract". That's the thing that makes it so impossible to understand what CB/CT were thinking here. It's like I said in my other comment. You can't sell one product and then once you've got the consumer's money hand them something else entirely and then wonder why you're being sued. That's just common sense, common knowledge, everyone knows that. Yet that's exactly what CB/CT did and you can't tell me they didn't know what they were doing was terrible and immoral and a betrayal of their audience. You can't tell me they didn't know what the result would be (especially when CB came out beforehand and openly admitted to both of those things, that the ending he made them film was wrong for the story now and that he knew the audience would hate it and hate him for airing it
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I don't think they expected quite the backlash they got. I think Carter at least bought into (or deluded himself into thinking) the "the silent majority are T/R fans" myth and thought everyone would come out of the woodwork cheering when they saw his genius ending. I think if the emmy submission and the twitter survey is anything to go by I think he sort of still does
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I do think you're right about Craig. That is my firm belief too, that after a while he read the fans properly (and frankly I think he knew it all along but didn't want to rock the boat and disappoint his friend) and knew they were in deep trouble and that's why he fought for once in the editing room to try to edit out some of the more terrible parts of the episode (the ones they actually could edit around anyway
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All that being said, I think the author almost got it spot on. They're absolutely right that it didn't fit with the later seasons (and by "later" I'd say anything past Season 3 in my opinion, but definitely anything from Season 5 onward; Season 6 was unquestionably a very clear line-in-the-sand ( ... )
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Yes, exactly. I never would have liked that ending because Robin with Ted is HORRIBLE, and the Mother was never meant to die and deserved to be more than just an afterthought, especially to her kids (and husband). She was meant to be the moral of the story and the prize at the end, not just a uterus. However, it could have worked in the sense that there wouldn't have been the HUGE list of contradicting canon elements that would come in the seasons to follow, not to mention the contradicting characterization, plot, and tone.
When a couple like B/R hold your show on air you have an obligation to them as you have an obligation to the audience.
It's clear that CB (and CT by default because he let it happen) couldn't care less about the characters, ANY of the characters other than Ted. But regardless they had that obligation to their audience. B/R is how they sold the show ( ... )
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That was a point that always bothered me about the show. They did it with most minor or major character, i.e. Nora and also with most storylines, i.e. Robin's infertility.
"But regardless they had that obligation to their audience. B/R is how they sold the show and kept it alive,..."
And that will make the show for most people unwatchable after that AU ending. I think CBS as Fox know that the AU ending will cost them a lot of money for syndication as for DVDs.
"CBS was too smart to take a chance on them when they see what pariahs they are to the viewing audience,..."Yeah, they lied to everyone. The audience may like some twists, also big ones as "Game of Thrones" is showing again and again, but the audience don't like to be betrayed. As CTCB are now in NY they are out of the field and as they lied also to their cast, crew and the networks I don't think anyone will give them a chance in ( ... )
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I'll never forgive them for what they did to poor Victoria (or Klaus) I mean at least B/R stayed together forever AU fanfic aside, but poor Victoria got screwed over by Ted twice. I mean I know Klaus ran away too, but that was a 7 year relationship CFB broke up to bring an OOC Victoria back for 2 minutes.
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http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/writing/writing-tips/41
In this case, the dog would be named Swarkles. I do get how some viewers now can't enjoy a formerly favorite show because of the finale. I do. Pet dies in movie? No thanks. Unzadi will not be viewing that movie. Just...no. It's a stinky thing to have to go through, having something beloved ruined, and dirty pool on the part of the writers. Hope being "clever" is a good enough recompense for the loss of fans and faith in future projects.
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Different formats do bring different experiences and different expectations.
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I completely agree, and the showrunners let us both down, the audience, and the couple the audience preferred. Let's say for the sake of argument that Ted/Robin, awful as that couple would be, was the intended endgame. First, that breaks the promise made in the very title of the show, that this is the story of Ted and the future mother of his children. Second, Ted told us that this wasn't the story of how he married Robin (still need to get current on rewatch, so forgive me if I have misquoted here.) But let's assume that the intent was for it to be exactly that.
All well and good, and for the first season, one could argue that they were maybe heading in that direction (emphasis on maybe and could) but once the dynamic between Barney and Robin took off, and the writers went with that (that's a choice that they made, to write toward B/R rather than T/R) then the original intent no longer works, because we're looking ( ... )
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