Watching HIMYM used to make viewers feel like this…

Kids, in the fall of 2005, CBS premiered a fresh, bold, creative, sharply written and genuinely funny comedy, centered around a single architect in New York looking for the love of his life, his eccentric cast of friends, and their ever-engrossing hijinks. Like all relationships are at the start, it was amazing then – the darling of critics and Americans alike. Millions tuned in each week, genuinely rooting for the young man to find romantic success, but equally entertained by his detours on the way there.

Now, fast forward eight years to 2013. If you’re wondering why we had to skip eight years, hang on, we’ll get to that in a minute. It’s a long story.

In January of 2013, CBS is still home to many popular comedies – including the god-awful Big Bang Theory – but among them is a stale, unimaginative trainwreck that has spent the last 3 years in search of narrative direction. The television equivalent of a passionless marriage, viewers continue watching it solely out of habit, desperately hoping that something – anything – will change, only to be sorely disappointed each time.

If you can’t tell by now, both the stale trainwreck and sharply written comedy are the same one: How I Met Your Mother; and unfortunately, with the recent news of a 9th season extension, it appears divorce is nowhere in sight. Judging by the show’s relatively stable viewership, there is a sizable contingent of fans excited about the prospect of more Barney Stinson, but the only way to interpret this development is as a major blunder. [Major blunder.]

When the series began, there was a definitive premise in mind. We, the viewers, agreed to an unwritten contract by watching, giving up our 30 minutes a week in exchange for the eventual identity of Mrs. Mosby. That much was implied by the title itself. How I Met Your Mother. Past tense.

Indeed, what kept people coming back was the promise that Ted would find the One, leaving only how and when left to be answered. In early seasons, much of the plot revolved around two Mother candidates – was it going to be Robin, the girl he fell in love with at first sight? Or Victoria, who many still feel was Ted’s best relationship, even eight years later?

Of course, as it turns out, the answer was neither of them. The Robin and Victoria storyline was riveting, part of some narrative misdirection showrunners Craig Thomas and Carter Bays pulled in the show’s early years – they introduced several candidates who we could feel strongly about, ensuring that there would be some uncertainty and debate. All the while, we were slowly fed scraps of information regarding Mrs. Mosby, each of which left us hungering for more. Mrs. Mosby had been near Ted at a St. Patrick’s Day party…Mrs. Mosby was in Ted’s first lecture as a professor…Mrs. Mosby was the roommate of Rachel Bilson…

All of this worked well at first, with fans treasuring each minor development, squirreling those facts in anticipation of her eventual unveiling. Those tidbits, as minor as they were, felt as if we were already meeting her, and only needed a face to go along.

As the seasons have dragged on, though, the list of names and candidates has only continued to grow. Stella, Zoey,Victoria again, Robin; to say nothing of the endless string of beautiful women Ted dated in between. Up until the episode that premiered Monday night, when it was confirmed that she plays bass at Barney and Robin’s wedding, it had been quite a while without a major development in the search for Mrs. Mosby. And even then, that wedding has been teased out over the course of two years, making it nothing more than an elaborate stall tactic from Thomas and Bays. That isn’t an unwarranted or unpopular opinion, either – the following comment was written by a reviewer following season 7, for example:

So after an entire season, we’re basically right back where we started, with the writers having taken 24 episodes to stage a reveal that could have happened in the first five minutes of the premiere and had the exact same impact. Does this mean that next season we can watch the first episode and the last and skip everything in between? Seems like we’d get the same amount of story with far less filler. [Television without Pity.]

That is not to say things are all bad about How I Met Your Mother. There are occasional moments when it feels fresh again, moments where the adventures and stories feel meaningful, and these last two episodes have been great examples of that.

But over the last few years, moments like those have gotten farther and farther apart, bogged down by indecision and lack of development by the writing staff.

The reality is, Ted is only marginally closer to meeting the Mother now than he was in 2010, and because the plot tricks that the writers pulled back then have long worn out their welcome, having a 9th season all but ensures more frustration for viewers. If we do indeed meet her at the end of season 8 – as is currently being hinted at – that turns this renewal into nothing more than a bunch of filler, because the main plot driver of the show will be completed, giving us little to no incentive to see the show continue.

Some may even justify a 9th season by claiming that HIMYM has evolved beyond the story of Ted meeting his wife; that it is now a narrative about all five characters, each of whom deserve time to have their lives further explored, an argument that is shaky, at best. Marshall has resolved his job crisis, and now works at an environmental law firm. Robin is a legitimate reporter at WWN and will marry Barney. Barney…well, nobody’s really sure what he does, but it’s hard to see that going anywhere. Perhaps Lily’s admission this week about not wanting to be a mom may be worth seeing more of, but for the most part, there really isn’t much left to resolve. The decision to give the cast another year together seems more like CBS milking the show for all its worth, rather than giving Thomas and Bays room to tell their story.

Equally telling is the fact that they had to convince Jason Segel to return for 2013. Perhaps he was worried about what I argue for now, that the decision to continue would leave little to gain. After all, the show’s premise will likely be fulfilled before season 9 at this rate, and if that happens, there are no remaining storylines that really need telling. Another year would simply be extraneous.

And if for whatever reason Mrs. Mosby is not revealed this May, if the writers do the unthinkable and delay things again, then they will have played Lucy to our Charlie Brown one too many times, likely losing a bunch of viewers for good.

In short, CBS has put Thomas and Bays into an extremely difficult position – one where they must throw in additional twists just for the sake of having them, and lengthen the final arc of their story because the higher-ups demanded it. Perhaps, though, they can surprise us all, and send their fans off into the sunset next May with an emotionally satisfying and meaningful ending.

Just don’t count on it.

…now watching HIMYM makes viewers often feel like this.

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