5. Joey Is More Consistent Than His Playboy Equivalent Barney
Obviously, it is understandable that Barney has moved on from his old bachelor days. His character growth was important because How I Met Your Mother couldnt help rehashing the same ideas with him over and over again. Hell, even when hes engaged he cant help himself hitting on other women and hoping Robin doesnt mind. He has some great catchphrases- legen-wait for it-dary and haaave you met Ted? spring to mind- but they are thrown in too often to be quite so exciting as they could be, especially after the first few series. Joey, on the other hand, does not overuse How you doin? and so it remains able to make us swoon as it did Rachel. Joey does have a few steady girlfriends, and has a phase of loving Rachel as Barney first did with Robin, but he always stays the same guy. Chandler and Monica joke that Joey should live in an apartment above their garage, and instead of making this seem like he never gets the chance to grow up like other sitcoms may have done, it seems wonderfully funny and consistent with his character over the past ten years. Im not saying that Barney shouldnt mature into a happily married man- on the contrary, it might be perfect for him. It is just that his whims and feelings towards women including Robin, Quinn, Nora and the plethora of one night stands through his door seem to fluctuate constantly, a point only emphasised when we find out that he didnt burn his real playbook for Robin the first time round.