How I Met Your Mother and The (Crass) Art of Guest Stunts

A few days ago, I ran across the news that Katy Perry would be guest-starring on How I Met Your Mother sometime this spring. At first, all I could do was sigh deeply and shake my head in dismay. Yet it shortly occurred to me that this was nothing new for the show, or for television in general. How I Met Your Mother has gone to this well multiple times, more often with negative rather than positive results, showing us not only the artistic compromise of guest stints, but also the variety of such stunts.


The “Oh my god! Really?”

Guest Star: Brittany Spears

The most feared of all guest turns, this one comprises of the casting of someone most people absolutely hate, but will probably tune in to see anyways. Fans of any given show are particularly sensitive to these turns, frightened of having their show fucked with just to accommodate someone they don't care about, and will likely never see again. In Ms. Spears' case, Bays & Thomas were smart enough to keep her relegated to the sidelines, letting her be hidden by the far more enjoyable turn by Sarah Chalke. (They of course overplayed their hand when they had Spears return later in the season.)

The Winking Reference

Guest Star: Emmit Smith

Though the jokes associated with such guest stars are usually middling-to-awful, relying on over-obvious reference humor, the upside of most of these guest spots in their brevity, as most show runners are aware that these stars couldn't carry a full scene, let a lone a whole storyline.



The “Aren't you too famous to be on this show?”

Guest Star: Jennifer Lopez

Some guest stars will just make you scratch your head in confusion, bringing about the thought “You're a decent actor and all, but what possible interest is this little show to you?” In J-Lo's case, it was most likely a mutual beneficial turn, as CBS owned/is owned by the studio who released her film The Back-Up Plan. Regardless of the reason, these turns can go either way, depending on the skill and gameness of the actor; in Lopez's case...eh.




The “Who The Hell Are You?”

Guest Star: Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag

Have you ever been told that one of your favorite shows was going to have a guest star, only to hear the name and have no idea who they hell that person is? In most cases, these “actors” are people who are caught up in the cultural zeitgeist, a popular machine you can be bothered to be a part of because you're too busy with actually important shit. In this case of the episode “Benefits,” the show must have known what kinds of stars they had on their hands, keeping them to a-least-offensive-as-possible 10 second “joke” that was removed enough to keep the rest of the episode from going down with it.



The Why Bother 
Guest Star: Carrie Underwood

Sometimes synonymous with the “Who The Hell Are You?”, the Why Bother covers all accounts where a guest actors turn was just so bland that the show would have been better off casting a non-famous person in the role. Because honestly, if your appearance is shown up by a teacup pig, then you just shouldn't be in the acting game.




The Actually Enjoyable Guest Star 

Guest Star: Wayne Brady, Jorge Garcia, Sarah Chalke

Most actors who fall into this category already have a) proven acting chops and b) a positive reputation in the eyes of the audience. But beyond that, these actors must be willing to roll with what ever the show may throw at them. The turns are helped by the fact that these roles obviously tend to be less flashy, in order to integrate them within the story with greater ease. These however aren't with out some flaws, as the casting is just too on the nose (Chalke playing a doctor), are an over obvious meta joke (Brady paying a gay man, as a joke to Neil Patick Harris' real-life sexuality), or their inability to avoid any of the tropes listed above (Garcia served as a Winking Reference).




The “Aww, Isn't That Special?” 

Guest Star: Bob Barker

A spiritual cousin to the Actually Enjoyable Guest Star, these turns usually involve a star of some caliber (usually old) coming on commemorate an important change in his/her career, but not someone you would want back on the show after the first stint. Here we had Barker appear in order to commemorate his retirement from hosting The Price is Right. Added as part of an emotional Barney storyline, and this one was all right. (It was no “Happy Gilmore”, but it did just fine.)


However much we may hate these stunts, the sad truth is that they bring in the ratings (Spears' guest turn brought up the shows numbers not only for the night, but for the rest of the series as well), and as long as they are successful in that regard, we will keep seeing more of them.  So buckle up, my fellow HIMYM fans, it's going to be a (hopefully only occasionally) bumpy ride.