Would it were possible. So much Phil Hartman we could've had…

Well stated, sir.

I love Julia Sweeney. She's forged her own path very impressively.

True, and I thought the Superfans commercials worked well enough, but when you get to Rob Schneider on your SNL contact list, I would hope it's time to go in a different direction. The girls from Sister Sister, maybe? (Or did Old Navy use them already?) I don't know. I've heard some people don't like having their…

I don't get the obsession with early 90's era SNL that State Farm has. First the Superfans , then Hanz and Franz, and then the makin' copies guy? Talk about an almost dictionary definition of diminishing returns.

How Lily Stole Christmas is an excellent episode, yes, and I liked the moment where Ted pointed out that Lily walked out on him too. It may have been a tad overstated, but he did have a point.

And they never gave the poor woman a last name!

"The DVR's at 98% but I'm just never in the mood to watch Treme."

When pressed Lily clearly thought she was the settler. This directly ties into her feelings that she "gave up her dreams" for Marshall and a family which came up over and over in the series.

"Don't eat the soup!"
"This was about to be my third bowl. Why shouldn't I eat the soup?"
(Lily throws up violently into a garbage can)
"Why shouldn't I eat the soup?"

I loved "How Your Mother Met Me," and it was the highlight of season 9. I would like to give props to "Drumroll Please" from season 1 as an amazing introduction to Victoria, and still my all-time favorite episode. (I hated how the show pretty much kicked Victoria to the curb in season 8 after going through the trouble…

Exactly, The problem with the ending wasn't simply that it was a "downer" or that Tracy was dead.

Exactly. There was a definite shelf life for "Ted pining over Robin," and if it resolved the way it did a few seasons in, it might have worked, as it was (as Alan Sepinwall correctly put it) their relationship became toxic (bordering on pathetic). Which is why something that fans would've bought years ago felt like a…

Well observed! It could've ended on the split screen, but it didn't. I agree with you that the show is, deep down, optimistic.

Just watched the finale again, and I just can't get enough of Aya Cash's performance when she accepts Jimmy's "proposal." Her use of all kinds of body language as if she's trying to shake the words out of her brain is especially good, and her final "Yes!" is so damned sweet. Please please FX, do a second season.

They do it with a lot of their shows like Louie, Sons of Anarchy, and Tyrant to name a few recent examples. It seems like FX doesn't mind shows running long as a matter of policy, but I'll take it as a sign of confidence too.

I liked the whole "Reacher and Settler" bit between them in "Jenkins" leading eventually to Lily beating the shit out of Amanda Peet. As funny as all that was, it also reinforced the idea that Lily thinks she gave up something to be with Marshall.

Lily and Marshall behaved abominably for most of the last season. I especially hated how Marshall accepted a job and cowardly avoided calling Lily to the point of getting thrown off a plane, leading to not one, but two episodes revolving around Lily not looking at her phone. This is forced sub-romcom shit that this…

Exactly, Captain, most criticism I've read does not revolve solely around that fact that Tracy was dead all along, etc. It's mostly that the events of the last episode, which were a hell of a lot more interesting than all the wedding shit, should've been spread out over a dozen episodes. I would've loved to see the…

#3 pretty much restates what is the most common criticism of the last season/finale.