The Sad Reason Fans Compare That '70s Show To How I Met Your Mother
There's nothing more bitter than a beloved TV show ending, regardless of how perfectly everything is tied up in the end. It doesn't matter that there are hundreds of reruns to console or months' worth of seasons to binge. Sometimes it's not enough, and fans just wish they had more.
Not every show gets a reboot or a revival, and fans are learning to be okay with that. Sometimes it's even better that way. And after all, most of the time, fans end up satisfied with the show's ending if handled right. The girl gets with the right guy, everyone has their dreams fulfilled, and audiences (if they're not watching "Seinfeld") watch the characters grow into mature individuals and different and experienced people.
So, what's worse than a TV show ending? A TV show ending badly.
That was the fate of two popular sitcoms with so much potential – "That '70s Show" and "How I Met Your Mother." Many fans are displeased over the way the writers ended the stories of characters they had come to know and love for so many years.
Eric dumping Donna was out of character
An old Reddit thread compared the two sitcoms for one specific reason: a lack of justice for romantic couples on the show.
Fans of "That '70s Show" had a few things to be mad about. For one, the eighth and final season didn't include Topher Grace or Ashton Kutcher in the main cast, leaving fans with a bad taste in their mouth. Part of Grace's departure resulted in the demise of Donna (Laura Prepon) and Eric's relationship, which was one of the biggest issues fans had.
The couple were friends and had been dating since the first season and did so for seven seasons. Then, abruptly, they were broken up while Eric was in Africa. "Eric and Donna's relationship collapses after just a few weeks apart," u/meowskywalker laments. Donna ends up having a fling with Randy (Josh Meyers) instead and is nonchalant about her breakup with Eric when she tells the rest of the gang. Though they get back together and "That '90s Show" confirms they stay together with their daughter as the main protagonist, fans were mad it happened at all.
Adding fuel to fans' complaints is the destruction of the relationship between Hyde (Danny Masterson) and Jackie (Mila Kunis). U/wednesdayware called it "truly the biggest mistake the show made," while also citing continuing the show without Grace as another failure.
Barney found redemption with Robin
Fans of "How I Met Your Mother" didn't appreciate how the marriage of Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) was destroyed, especially after so much time of the show was dedicated to them getting together. Though Ted (Josh Radnor) and Robin had a back-and-forth exchange where they dated, broke up, and had feelings for each other at different times, it was very short compared to Robin and Barney's relationship.
Though almost of all Season 9 is centered on Barney and Robin's wedding, the two reveal to the gang in the finale (set years later) that they got divorced, leaving audiences distraught. U/DefNotUnderrated wrote: "I always thought Robin and Barney just worked well together. It's really frustrating that after all that they just undid his character development." And how would Barney react knowing Ted is going after his ex-wife? Audiences will never know.
Fans on Reddit suggested it would've been justified had they seen the relationship fall apart on screen, with U/killgart arguing that the show's conclusion was rushed: "I think if they had spent the last season showing reasons why, despite the image on the surface, Robin and Barney's marriage did not work."
Audiences are certainly hurt by these relationships and unfortunately, there's not much left for audiences to do except to live in the reruns and skip the ending of "How I Met Your Mother" and season eight of "That '70s Show"; it at least feels safe there.