Inside the Actors Studio

[Nutz]

So last night I was watching Inside the Actors Studio and they had the cast of How I Met Your Mother on. It was both funny and sad as the cast talked about their favorite moments during the series and then answered questions in character. But what really struck me is this was a cast of five people and it NEVER changed. Yes, the story was narrated by the lead character who was telling the story of how he met their mother (longest story EVER BTW) and they might have people come in for a few episodes, but it remained really about the five friends. (It would have gotten to crowded adding more)

Anyway, the main thread that ran throughout the show was the actors talking about how incredible the writers were, that they allowed them to feel safe to go into sometimes really emotion stuff in a comedy. But I think these two quotes really stood out from the rest since they dealt with the one steady relationship the show had between married couple Lily and Marshall. (And IMO highlight everything that the writers are getting wrong in BBT)

"The comedy scenes are great, but when we had to dig into the relationship stuff, which has been a great gift the writers have given us over nine years, I couldn't imagine a better acting partner for all of that." - Jason Segel, talking about the actress (Alyson Hannigan) playing his wife

"The thing that I have always loved about Marshall and Lily is they (the writers) were brave enough just to have them have the hots for each other, and really LIKE each other. They were best friends." -Jason Segel

It kind of makes me sad, can anyone picture ANY of the BBT cast members going on about how safe the writers made them feel, or praising them for making the "brave" writing choice? Oh I know that they spout crap about how great Lenny and Shamy are, but can you really see them thanking the writers over and over again about the material they were given?