How We Couldn't Hear You | S1E5 "Okay Awesome"

A Few Words from Craig Thomas

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Watching this excellent, Chris Harris-penned episode again for the first time in many years, I am struck that it's really about communication.

The storytelling gimmick (I say "gimmick" in the positive sense!) of the characters going to a club that's so loud, half the episode is done in subtitles (with nobody understanding what the other person is saying) was literally an entry on the "Future Episode Ideas" list we were shared with the network in the Spring of 2005, after we'd submitted the shot-and-edited pilot to them, as a sales tool encouraging them to pick the show up to series ("See how much fun we'll have if you let us make more of these things!"). So, it's quite cool, and vanishingly rare, that a logline idea like that would actually wind up becoming a real-life episode of television, much less one we're still talking about 20 years on!

Beyond that great logline (courtesy of the brilliant Carter Bays!), we didn't really know what the episode would be "about," emotionally/thematically. I like that it turned out to be about two friends, Ted and Marshall, whose lives have gone off in different directions (Marshall gets engaged and worries he's now too "grown up" and boring to have fun with Ted/Barney; Ted panics about still being single, doomed to wander the dance floors of horribly loud clubs with Barney), but they're not talking about those fears to each other. Not until the very end of the episode, that is, at which point their ears are ringing so loudly from the club that they have to have their sweet, poignant conversation by screaming at each other in the back of a cab.

There's a nice lesson here about communication, I think. Maybe even in a way I/we didn't even see at the time. The deeper truth beneath the gimmick is that it's better to talk about our fears in relationships and friendships than to avoid doing so. And even though it can be hard to say our fears out loud (and maybe hard for that other person to hear), it shrinks those fears down, Voldemort-style, to say (or, in this case, scream) the words out loud.

As we do this rewatch, I'm proud that HIMYM is that rare thing: a TV comedy where men actually have feelings, and actually talk about them. This episode was shot in 2005. Twenty years later, it still feels novel and refreshing to see this on a TV show (or in real life). I think the world would be a better place if more men made more of a habit of admitting what scares them, and saying it out loud, and realizing that the world has not ended by doing so. It's not easy to do, and it seems like the world is currently being run by men who would consider doing so to be a sign of weakness. But it's not.

Telling your male friend (or any friend) how you're feeling/what you're fearing is actually totally okay. In fact...it's awesome.

Thanks to Josh and Jason for playing that deeper truth so beautifully and hilariously, as they drunkenly shout their true feelings to each other in the back of a cab at 2 in the morning (hey look, something good did happen after 2 AM!), and reminding us what true friendship looks like. Thanks to Chris Harris for writing an all-timer. And thanks to everyone who watched/listened to this ep—and the pod ep about the ep—it's a Russian nesting doll of HIMYM content up in here!

Okay Awesome,

Craig

SHOW NOTES

In this episode of How We Made Your Mother, Josh and Craig take a deep dive into “Okay Awesome,” HIMYM’s first “club episode” and the debut script of longtime writer Chris Harris. They revisit the origin of the show’s loudest joke—the nightclub subtitles gag—and reflect on the real-life friendship themes that drive the plot, as Marshall and Ted struggle to stay connected across diverging life paths. They also discuss Robin’s need for validation, the debut of HIMYM’s iconic narrative tricks, the magic of Jason Segel’s dance moves, and why Alyson Hannigan’s Lily might be the show’s emotional center. It’s a loud, fast, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt look at what HIMYM was always about: holding onto your people as life pulls you in new directions. (Or at least that’s what ChatGPT thinks this episode is about.)

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AND IN CASE IT HELPS:
03:11 The Impact of Fan Testimonials
06:02 Celebrating Chris Harris and the Writing Process
10:04 Narrative Techniques and Humor in Storytelling
12:57 Exploring Themes of Friendship and Connection
23:02 The Role of Humor in Relationships
24:15 The Art of Unique Line Readings
32:34 Navigating Success and Friendship in Your 20s
38:06 Emotional Conversations and Growth
42:39 The Heart of the Show: Friendship and Connection