`Will and Grace’-ing us

Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t want the set of “How I Met Your Mother” to become too much like “Will and Grace” with guest stars showing up to improve ratings.

“I’m in the minority that our show does not need stunt casting in order to succeed,” Harris declared during a break from taping the Monday night CBS sitcom, which has grown a cult following since its 2005 debut.

“I worry that if they start `Will and Grace’-ing us too much, that the show will suffer. And we’re all really proud of the content of the show. I mean, viewership is not our game. It’s the network and the studio’s game, you know. It’s the promotion department’s game,” the actor, who plays womanizer Barney, told The Associated Press in an interview last week.

I happen to really like this show, but I purposely avoided watching the “Britney” episodes because, like Harris, I think the show can sell itself- as long as they can get people out from in front of “reality” tv (in the article Harris mentions his show appearing opposite “Dancing with the Stars”). Some people are using a lame comparison to “Friends” to rate the show, and I think that’s unfair. “How I Met Your Mother” can stand on it’s own for origin programming and exceptional talent- from the cast to the writers everything just “flows” nicely. I understand why they want to increase viewership, but I think adding controversial guests isn’t the way to go about it.

Harris is right that their promotions department should be all over this. I think there is a lot of potential to suck in that coveted 18-24 age group if they can just get them to catch the show once. I would recommend a marathon of sorts, perhaps on a Sunday night. A lot of people are home on Sundays (especially in that age group) and they might get drawn into the lives of the characters if they can get caught up.

I remember when we were on vacation- staying in one of those Outer Banks rentals (very nice)- and I caught a marathon of “Heroes”. This was in their first season and prior to seeing this marathon I hadn’t been interested in seeing the program. But after the marathon, I was hooked. I didn’t miss another episode. I really believe there’s something to be said about television marathons. I think for floundering programs, doing this could give a show life and, in the case of “How I Met Your Mother” bring in an audience that probably was sucked up in the latest elimination.

I’m glad that Harris spoke out about this, because I really don’t want to see this program put on the “guest star” crutch. It takes too much away from the characters on which the story is centered.

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