How I Met Your Mother Season Six

Still going strong six seasons in, the witty, unreliably narrated sit-com has long outgrown its premise (a father in the future telling his kids an extraordinarily long version of how they came to be), but doesn't suffer from continuing to adhere to that original conceit. Ted Mosby's search for love provides propulsion for the mad-capped shenanigans and, this season more than ever, honest dealings with the woes of everyday life that he and the gang — Marshall, Lily, Robin and Barney — experience. But even though his future self is the narrator, Ted's story is given equal weight to those of his friends. There are many shake-ups and surprises, but few of them have anything directly to do with the future Mrs. Mosby. Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), quite possibly television's most adorable happily married couple, have a lot of serious life changes to deal with, such as when Marshall considers that it might just be okay to enjoy his big corporate job instead of following his early dream of becoming an environmental lawyer, which is a good example of HIMYM's grounded and rounded viewpoint. Yes, growing up and accepting that you might not become exactly whom you expected is scary, but change happens and you have to deal. The season and series as a whole are crammed with jokes, giving dedicated viewers extra chuckles, and the rapid-fire pacing, including subtle and not so subtle visual gags, ensure that casual audience members won't feel lost. Neil Patrick Harris's portrayal of sociopathic womanizer Barney Stinson remains one of the show's most potent weapons and the writers have done a good job keeping his act fresh, but familiar. The show's hoser-hounding continues with the return of Robin Sparkles, the Canadian teen-pop alter-ego of Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), singing "aboot" her beaver on a hokey '80s kids show hosted by a pervy Alan Thicke (Growing Pains). He's one of many impressive celebrity cameos, which include a standout performance by Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as an eccentric named "the Captain," with a suit to match. Most of the deleted scenes in the special features are variations on jokes and additional often-funny tangential content — a fake bacon allergy in an episode about parental lies being the best. The gag reel features a great deal sexual humour and funny moments with Jason Segel and the "Making Of" behind-the-scenes footage for a handful of episodes is quite entertaining, with snippets of a table read, shots of filming and random outbursts of weirdness from the quirky cast. Getting in touch with the big black man inside him, Neil Patrick Harris belts out some over-the-top soul vocals in extra footage of him singing "Stand By Me," with Wayne Brady as half-brother James, in an episode where Barney's daddy issues reach delusional new heights after James is reunited with his father. Speaking of Barney's father, NPH does a commentary track with the actor who ends up playing his in "Legendaddy." It's the best of the four episode commentaries, along with an equally entertaining talk with Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan. Co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas aren't nearly as charming, but have plenty to say about the show. Finally, "What We Know About Your Mother" is just more needless teasing of clues about a mystery the show's appeal has little to do with.