HIMYM: See you on the other side

Although "How I Met Your Mother" is one of my favorite sitcoms, I don't usually blog about it. The show has fanatic fans that often pick up on layers of humor that sometimes escape me - there's a whole subtext of in-jokes and continuity humor going on that's easy to miss.

Since that was the show's last pre-strike episode, at least it was a good note to go out on.

The wheels-within-wheels plot, with multiple flashbacks layering the same joke over and over, was classic "HIMYM." The show's committment to its own stylistic universe is what makes it a great show. "Slapsgiving" and "How I Met Everyone Else" and "Showdown" were, on the merits, funnier episodes this season, but this was the one that really captured what "HIMYM" is all about.

Now contrast that with "HIMYM's" more successful Monday-night mates: "The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men."

"Big Bang Theory" is often a very funny show - the closing shot of the glowing goldfish last night was great - but it's totally straight. Sex jokes, nerd jokes, more sex jokes... repeat for 22 minutes and there's your show. It's well-crafted, but hardly art, you know?

And "Two and a Half Men" is the same thing, but with fewer nerd jokes and a cruder sense of humor. It's funny, but it's never funny in a rewarding way. If you think a little harder about either of those shows, you don't get more for your trouble.

"30 Rock" might be the dense-est show on the air, comedy-wise, but "HIMYM" is the one that most rewards loyal fans. And it'll be missed.