How I Met Your Mother: Season Three

Getting better all the time
I've read a sampling of reviews for Season 3, most stating that 3 isn't as strong as Season 2; I heartily disagree. Season 2 felt disjointed, like filler to me (though of course I still loved it!), but Season 3 keeps the story moving forward. I like that the characters are maturing, unlike the Friends characters who irritated me acting early 20's well into their 30's. There's a natural progression here, that includes some sentiment and drama in addition to the comedy. I simply love this show~ BRAVO to the entire team that creates and excecutes it.

HIMYM - The Legendary Season Three!
The HIMYM gang [again guided by director Pam Fryman] returns with 20 more legendary episodes in How I Met Your Mother - Season Three. When Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother ended, Marshall and Lily had finally hooked back up (and tied the knot), but Ted and Robin had suddenly split up. The situations were reversed when Season 1 ended. Season Three picks up sometime later after Season Two with Robin introducing her new Argentinean lover, Gael (Enrique Iglesias) to the gang and Ted hooking up with a wild tattooed woman (Mandy Moore) after going out to party with Barney. The end result from that encounter later leads Ted (in "Ten Sessions") to a chance meeting with Stella (Sarah Chalke, fresh from NBC's recently ended Scrubs), a dermatologist and possible "mother" candidate who he falls for in the season's most engaging story arc. Props must be...

Starting to slip a little, but still very funny
PLEASE NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS.

I've been a fan of How I Met Your Mother from Day One, so I don't use a phrase like "starting to slip a little" lightly. But the fact is, season three just doesn't quite measure up to the previous two.

The main problem, as I see it, is that the writers felt the need to create ongoing conflict between the core group of friends. Sure, conflict is necessary to keep things interesting. But I think the ensemble in this show is better served by external conflicts (e.g., Barney and Ted's various problems with the opposite sex, Marshall's work-related stress, etc.). Watching Ted and Robin try to one-up each other after a painful breakup last season was. . .well, not that funny. Later in the season, Ted and Barney's friendship was on the rocks.

Otherwise, there were plenty of well-written and funny shows. Here's a few highlights:

"Slapsgiving" pays off the long-running joke from last season's "Slap...

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