Murtaugh (How I Met Your Mother)
Encyclopedia
"Murtaugh" is the 19th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother
and 83rd overall. It originally aired on March 30, 2009.
recalling the events of the previous night to the rest of the gang, in which he was banned from laser tag
by the game's owner for being too rough. He then reveals plans to break into the laser tag arena and throw toilet paper everywhere. Ted
brushes it off, informing Barney that he is too old for laser tag. Ted then reveals "The Murtaugh List", a reference to the Roger Murtaugh
character from the Lethal Weapon
series, whose signature phrase is "I'm too old for this shit". Throughout the episode the narrator Ted replaces the word "shit" with "stuff" as he retells the story to his children. Ted's use of the list is to keep a record of the things he believes he has become too old to do anymore. Barney accepts Ted's revealing of the list as a challenge, and makes a bet with him that he can perform every item on the list within the following 24 hours. If he cannot, he will spend three hours listening to Ted talk about architecture, an idea so horrible even the thought of it causes him to twitch involuntarily.
Meanwhile, Marshall
has taken on the role of coaching Lily
's kindergarten's basketball team. He is extremely aggressive in training the children, doing such things as forcing them to run and throwing basketballs at them when they do not conform to his standards. A flashback shows his father relentlessly training Marshall, yelling at him aggressively. Lily is shocked by this, as her usual training tactics involve playing a guitar and allowing the children to do whatever they like.
Barney continues to try to perform every action on the Murtaugh List, contracting an ear infection and back injuries in the process, from self-ear-piercing and sleeping on a futon
, respectively. During a conversation with Robin, Ted reveals that he would prefer being older to being younger. Upon hearing this, Robin and Barney make Ted his own list of things he would do when he was older. Another bet is made between him and Barney to see who can complete their respective lists first, thus introducing the "gentleman's agreement".
Lily grows tired of Marshall's hyper-competitive coaching and tells him off, forcing him to go easier on the children. During the game, they lose without scoring a single point, but Marshall realizes the value in playing for fun and makes up with Lily.
After being drugged at a rave, Barney is finally forced to accept the reality that he is growing older and gives Ted the victory. Having re-watched the complete Lethal Weapon series, Ted realizes that Murtaugh still did the things he claimed he was too old for, and decides that he has more to live for than waiting to grow older. He agrees to accompany Barney in covering the laser tag arena with toilet paper, despite winning the bet. Ted, Robin, and Barney are discovered by the laser tag arena owner, who pretends to be accepting of the situation before going to call the police. As he does so, he says how ridiculous it is of a grown man with pink hair to TP the arena, and that he's "too old for this- ", but Future Ted interrupts by saying, "Stuff. He said stuff."
Michelle Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 9 out of 10.
Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity rated the episode with a grade A-.
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
and 83rd overall. It originally aired on March 30, 2009.
Plot
The episode begins with BarneyBarney Stinson
Barnabas "Barney" Stinson is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. The character has been extremely well received by critics and has been credited for much of the show's success...
recalling the events of the previous night to the rest of the gang, in which he was banned from laser tag
Laser tag
Laser tag is a team or individual sport or recreational activity where players attempt to score points by tagging targets, typically with a hand-held infrared-emitting targeting device. Infrared-sensitive targets are commonly worn by each player and are sometimes integrated within the arena in...
by the game's owner for being too rough. He then reveals plans to break into the laser tag arena and throw toilet paper everywhere. Ted
Ted Mosby
Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby is the titular fictional character of the U.S. television sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Josh Radnor...
brushes it off, informing Barney that he is too old for laser tag. Ted then reveals "The Murtaugh List", a reference to the Roger Murtaugh
Roger Murtaugh
Roger Murtaugh is a fictional character and protagonist in the Lethal Weapon films, played in all four by Danny Glover.-Lethal Weapon:...
character from the Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action film and the first in a series of films, all directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of LAPD detectives, and Gary Busey as their primary adversary...
series, whose signature phrase is "I'm too old for this shit". Throughout the episode the narrator Ted replaces the word "shit" with "stuff" as he retells the story to his children. Ted's use of the list is to keep a record of the things he believes he has become too old to do anymore. Barney accepts Ted's revealing of the list as a challenge, and makes a bet with him that he can perform every item on the list within the following 24 hours. If he cannot, he will spend three hours listening to Ted talk about architecture, an idea so horrible even the thought of it causes him to twitch involuntarily.
Meanwhile, Marshall
Marshall Eriksen
Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother, created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and portrayed by Jason Segel.-Character profile:Marshall is an easy-going, naive optimist from St. Cloud, Minnesota...
has taken on the role of coaching Lily
Lily Aldrin
Lillian "Lily" Aldrin is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by American actress Alyson Hannigan. She is the wife of Marshall Eriksen and the best friend of Robin Scherbatsky...
's kindergarten's basketball team. He is extremely aggressive in training the children, doing such things as forcing them to run and throwing basketballs at them when they do not conform to his standards. A flashback shows his father relentlessly training Marshall, yelling at him aggressively. Lily is shocked by this, as her usual training tactics involve playing a guitar and allowing the children to do whatever they like.
Barney continues to try to perform every action on the Murtaugh List, contracting an ear infection and back injuries in the process, from self-ear-piercing and sleeping on a futon
Futon
Futon is an English word derived from Japanese , a term generally referring to the traditional style of Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day, allowing the room to serve for purposes other than as a bedroom...
, respectively. During a conversation with Robin, Ted reveals that he would prefer being older to being younger. Upon hearing this, Robin and Barney make Ted his own list of things he would do when he was older. Another bet is made between him and Barney to see who can complete their respective lists first, thus introducing the "gentleman's agreement".
Lily grows tired of Marshall's hyper-competitive coaching and tells him off, forcing him to go easier on the children. During the game, they lose without scoring a single point, but Marshall realizes the value in playing for fun and makes up with Lily.
After being drugged at a rave, Barney is finally forced to accept the reality that he is growing older and gives Ted the victory. Having re-watched the complete Lethal Weapon series, Ted realizes that Murtaugh still did the things he claimed he was too old for, and decides that he has more to live for than waiting to grow older. He agrees to accompany Barney in covering the laser tag arena with toilet paper, despite winning the bet. Ted, Robin, and Barney are discovered by the laser tag arena owner, who pretends to be accepting of the situation before going to call the police. As he does so, he says how ridiculous it is of a grown man with pink hair to TP the arena, and that he's "too old for this- ", but Future Ted interrupts by saying, "Stuff. He said stuff."
Continuity
- Marshall and Lily have a telepathic or "psychic conversation" because they know each other so well they can communicate without speaking. The reason for this is because Alyson Hannigan had laryngitisLaryngitisLaryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx. It causes hoarse voice or the complete loss of the voice because of irritation to the vocal folds . Dysphonia is the medical term for a vocal disorder, of which laryngitis is one cause....
and could not talk. - Barney's love of laser tag is first shown in the series' Pilot episode. A board with the all-time Laser Tag high scores is seen hanging in the owner's office wall in this episode; all scores are credited to Stinson.
- In a flashback to Marshall's youth, his dad was shown to mock his large head. In convincing Lily not to have kids, Robin makes the same crack about Marshall in Not A Father's DayNot a Father's Day"Not a Father's Day" is the seventh episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 71st overall. It originally aired on November 10, 2008.- Plot :...
.
Cultural references
- The title is a reference to Roger MurtaughRoger MurtaughRoger Murtaugh is a fictional character and protagonist in the Lethal Weapon films, played in all four by Danny Glover.-Lethal Weapon:...
, Danny GloverDanny GloverDanny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
's character in the Lethal WeaponLethal WeaponLethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action film and the first in a series of films, all directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of LAPD detectives, and Gary Busey as their primary adversary...
film series, who is constantly pondering retirement. The laser tag owner speaks to Ted and tells him he is "too old for this shit" before Future Ted claims the word is "'Stuff.' He said 'stuff,'" which is a running joke from the film series. - Lily's pep talk to Marshall to not be strict on the kids is a reference to the scene of Jessep being interrogated by Kaffee, Wienberg and Galloway in A Few Good MenA Few Good MenA Few Good Men is a play by Aaron Sorkin, first produced on Broadway by David Brown in 1989. It tells the story of military lawyers at a court-martial who uncover a high-level conspiracy in the course of defending their clients, United States Marines accused of murder.It opened on Broadway at the...
. - Lily throwing a chair at Marshall is a reference to Bob Knight, the former Indiana University BasketballIndiana Hoosiers men's basketballThe Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Indiana University . The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the NCAA. The Hoosiers play on Branch McCracken Court at the Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana on the IU...
Coach. - When Barney sets off to start the Murtaugh List, he says "Let's do this!" and yells a cheer of his own name, similar to "Leeroy JenkinsLeeroy JenkinsLeeroy Jenkins, sometimes misspelled Leroy Jenkins and often elongated with numerous additional letters, is an Internet phenomenon named for a player character created by Ben Schulz in Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The character became popular due to a video of the game that...
!" - a reference to a popular video from World of Warcraft. - During the kindergarten basketball game, Ted mentions that Marshall's subsequent retelling of the events became more ridiculous each time. At first, the opposing team consisted of grown men, but Marshall's retelling grew to include a werewolf player. The flashback then includes several shots of the wolfman slam dunking the basketball, as an homage to Teen WolfTeen WolfTeen Wolf is a 1985 American fantasy comedy film released by Atlantic Releasing Corporation starring Michael J. Fox as Scott Howard, a high school student who discovers that his family has an unusual pedigree when he finds himself transforming into a werewolf...
. - After Barney and Robin return from the rave, Ted says he found some Russian beer in the basement. The beer is Švyturys Ekstra Draught, a LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n beer. - The laser tag manager gives Barney one last chance but warns him he will be playing Duck HuntDuck Huntis a video game for the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System game console system in which players use the NES Zapper to shoot ducks on screen for points. The game was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released in 1984 in Japan...
if he does not behave. Duck Hunt is a video game from Nintendo that uses a light gun.
Critical response
The AV Club rated the episode giving it a B grade.Michelle Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 9 out of 10.
Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity rated the episode with a grade A-.