Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Interventions of Television

In the time span of only a year, three popular television shows featured an episode where they held an intervention. So my question is, do we like them and can we appreciate them?

How I Met Your Mother season 4, episode 4

How I Met Your Mother features several interventions in season 4, episode 4. Marshal has a ridiculous hat, Lily talks with a belligerent British accent, Robbin has a spray tan addiction and Barney likes to shoot magic flames of fire.
The main intervention is for Ted. The gang wants him to break up with Stella and of course, this is the only serious intervention moment of the episode. These guys really like to protect each other so much that three seasons later (S7:19) the gang has a "Quinntervention" because Barney's girlfriend has him completely whipped. As it turns out, it was a prank on them and the intervention backfired.

The Office season 5, episode 11

After a failed Moroccan themed Christmas, Michael offers to take Meredith "home" but really tries to drop her off at a rehab center for her alcohol addiction. "As it turns out, you can't just check someone into rehab against their will."- Michael Scott
This moment was borderline serious but what isn't on this show and then turned around into a joke? This is the only intervention of the show and it's obvious that it is not a rip off of the episode from HIMYM that premiered just two months earlier.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Season 5, episode 4 of It's Always Sunny starts off with Frank riding to his brother's funeral while he's completely drunk. After the funeral, the gang decides to intervene on his drinking problem. An intervention is declared!!! However, they don't have the typical intervention that is displayed in the other two shows. After seeking professional help for the intervention, the gang takes it into their own hands like what we've seen in The Office and HIMYM, but instead of helping Frank, they intervene while being drunk themselves! 

So I'm brought back to my question, do we like the idea of interventions on sitcoms? I mean, an intervention is a pretty serious event for people with real problems. However, I love the idea and how it has been played out in all of these episodes. HIMYM portrays interventions of less serious addictions such as a silly hat, fire tricks, and a crazy girlfriend. It's hilarious! Making light of something serious is always pretty funny to see, especially how it's portrayed on The Office. Meredith has a real drinking problem and she's confronted by an intervention circle and it's all joked about just like in It's Always Sunny... However, that show's intervention should have been for everyone on the show. 
In other words, it's brilliantly shown in all three series and I hope to see it more in the future of television. 

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