Gong Show...

How I Met Your Mother

Episode Report Card

Cindy McLennan: C+ | Grade It Now!

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Gong Show...

By Cindy McLennan | Season 5 | Episode 22 | Aired on 05.10.2010

In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description!

Barney gets five tickets for a Robots vs. Wrestlers match. Robin's not going, because she's making herself scarce while she explores her relationship with Don, but everyone else is game. The only problem is, the gang has the opportunity to crash a swanky Manhattan party on the same night as the match. They decide to do both.

Ted seems to be in his element at the shindig, where he mixes and mingles with the glitterati, including Peter Bogdanovich, Arianna Huffington and Will Shortz. They like Ted. They really, really like him. They like his architecture discussion, his Dante recitation and his barbershop quartet harmonization. And he's enjoying the hell out of himself. This makes him a douche because... well, because the show says it does. Clearly, you're a douche if you don't get that. I'm a douche if I don't like that fact.

Ted's friends sneer at everything that makes Ted -- Ted, and express their disdain by making fart noises every time he talks about things that interest him. Where are the fart noises every other week when Barney talks about his dick? At any rate, Ted decides to remain at the party, while Marshall, Lily and Barney continue on to the match.

Once there, Barney spends the entire night worrying that everything is changing too much, and everyone's going to leave him. Yes Barn, but the syphilis will have hit your brain by then, so you won't mind so much. Anyhow, Lily and Marshall's "When will we have a baby" discussion doesn't help matters. But then all's right with the world when the robot rips off the human wrestler's mask to reveal he looks just like Ted, but "Mexican." My niece is "Mexican." She looks nothing like either Ted. The downsized gang is overjoyed to have found another doppelganger. If you'll recall, they had previously found doppelgangers of Robin (a "lesbian" -- you can tell by the way she dresses, don't you know), Marshall (Mustache Marshall -- another Latino) and Lily (a stripper). Once these dear, devoted friends send Ted a picture of Mexican Ted, he realizes he was wrong, bad, wrong to have fun with people who are interested in him for who he is, and runs back to the gang at the bar. And then Robin joins them, because... because... because nobody bothers telling us the because. Finally, Lily and Marshall decide that once they find Barney's doppelganger, they'll be ready to start trying to have a baby. Because babies always make TV shows better.

I'll hit all the details the weecap, so check back tomorrow. In the meantime, come on over to the forums, where we have more vowels than Ulee's Gold and more condoms than Trojan.

After hitting up the forums, see why we think HIMYM should have quit while it was ahead.

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Want more? The full recap starts right below!

We open on Lily, Marshall and Ted sitting at their booth at MacLaren's, when Barney enters to surprise them with 5 front row tickets to "Robots vs. Wrestlers." Marshall and Ted can't believe it. Barney: "You've heard of Robots vs. Wrestlers?" Marshall: "Never." Ted: "But we assume it's some sort of sporting event that pits ROBOTS against WRESTLERS." Barney: "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS... according to the website." Lily then calls attention to the 5th ticket -- asking who it's for. Barney acknowledges that Robin decided to stop hanging with them to concentrate on her relationship with Don. "But this is Robots. Versus Wrestlers!" Marshall says it's impossible to say no to that and we cut to...

Come On, Get Up New York Set: Robin is speaking on the phone at the anchor desk: "No to that." She has plans: Don's making her Chinese. Lily (on the Dowisetrepla couch): "I'll assume you're talking about food, otherwise I have some follow-up questions." Robin apologizes but she has to give "this thing" with Don a chance, and going out drinking every night with a gang that includes two of her exes doesn't seem like enough of chance. Lily understands. They end their call, and Robin turns to the camera. "Sorry, New York. I had to take that. Now where were we? Oh, right. Bus crash." Come On, Shut Up Robin. Seriously, Show? Lily can't get her ass out of bed to watch Robin's show, but she's up to call into it with a personal question, while it's on? And Robin -- the Robin that hated Don before he sprouted a bunny tail or duck feathers or whatever -- remember her, Show? Robin held Don in contempt because he didn't care about the show -- you know, like HIMYM's writers in season 5. Now she's chatting on the phone to a friend about her current beau, her exes and drinking every night, and she's doing this while on the air? Whatever.

MacLaren's: Barney can't believe Robin said "No" to their most important group tradition. Lily points out they've never gone before, so how can it be a tradition. Barney's response: "It's Robots vs. Wrestlers, Lily." Barney's disheartened. He says this is how it starts -- friend drift, that is. The next thing they know, Lily and Marshall will be having a baby. Lily assures him that's a long way down the road. Marshall corrects her. "It's down the road, in a medium way." They barter back and forth for a while. Finally, Ted breaks in and tells Barney he understands: friendships are important. "In fact, Emerson wrote a great poem entitled 'Friendship'. You guys are going to love this.: A ruddy drop of manly blood/The surging sea outweighs." Barney makes what I was going to describe as a "raspberry," but the show later calls it a fart noise, so why should I be any nicer? Marshall and Lily laugh as Saget!Ted narrates from the future that that's how it had always been for him with his friends. "Anytime I try to get a little high-minded..." We flash to...

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