If you used to enjoy the classic sitcoms before reality TV came along – shows like Cheers, Friends, and Seinfeld, then you will probably like How I Met Your Mother. The comedy is very witty, and that’s reason enough to watch the show. It’s also wonderful as an ongoing drama. You live through 9 years of each character’s life and watch them experience ups and downs, go through relationships, deal with career challenges, and strengthen their friendships. As you see the characters change over time, you get to know them and really care for them.The premise of the show is that the main character (Ted Mosby) is telling his children the story of how he met their mother. He is telling the story in the year 2030 and as he tells it, we flash back to see the events as they unfolded. The story is told from his point of view, so things are often exaggerated or filtered. There are a lot of scene changes as characters tell stories within stories, which make the show really fun. There are several romantic relationships that occur over the course of 9 seasons, and you do tend to root for certain people. There’s also an element of mystery as we try to guess who ultimately ends up being the mother.Very often, while much of an episode is silly, there’s a point to it. It makes you think about life and what’s important. It really triggers a variety of emotions.The show has 9 seasons, and each season has 20 – 24 episodes on 3 DVD discs. The first season uses the old 4:3 aspect ratio so it doesn’t take up the entire screen on a modern TV. The other 8 seasons use the widescreen format (1.78:1). Many of the discs have special features, and there is an additional “bonus” disc with more features.The packaging is compact and the discs get stacked on top of each other. I watched every episode and I didn’t encounter any problems with reading the discs.The show is funny, dramatic, romantic, and inspirational. I highly recommend it.*** MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE ENTIRE SHOW. ***There were a lot of people who didn’t like the ending, but I absolutely loved the ending. Why did Ted need to tell so many stories to his kids about how he met their mother when so few of them had anything to do with her? But so many of the stories involved Robin and their near misses. It was so clear for so long that Ted and Robin should be together and it was always very sad when it didn’t work out. Life can be rough and it was very sad when Tracy died. But Ted was telling this whole long story not for the benefit of the kids, but because he wanted them to understand what he felt, and he wanted them to be ok with him pursuing Robin. He’s too nice of a guy go after Robin without approval from his children. Seeing Ted and Robin getting together at the end was the best part of the show.