You know what’s fun? Waiting a few years to start watching a great TV show. Then you can cram several seasons worth of viewing into a week (or weekend). I do this all the time — it’s how I watched Charmed, Veronica Mars, the early years of The Simpsons and more. And I recently decided to do this with How I Met Your Mother.

The show had always been on my radar, and I had watched intermittently over the years, but when free time and availability in my Netflix queue opened up at the same time, I decided to take the plunge. And it was totally worth it.

The show is centered around single guy Ted’s (Josh Radnor) search for true love in New York. Along with his best friends Marshall and Lily (the always-hilarious Jason Segel and Buffy/Angel alum Alyson Hannigan, respectively), ex-flame Robin (Cobie Smulders) and his womanizing pal Barney (the legen-wait for it!-dary Neil Patrick Harris), architect Ted struggles through the trials and tribulations of looking for one’s soul mate in the big city. He’s ready to settle down and have kids; unfortunately, he can’t seem to meet a woman who wants the same thing. The show is actually told in reverse; set in 2030, Ted is telling his children the story of how he met their mother, so each episode is part of the story and essentially a flashback.

My husband described the show as Friends 2.0, which is actually pretty accurate: you have the married couple (Marshall and Lily to Friends’ Monica and Chandler), the on-again, off-again friends/couple (Ted and Robin to Friends’ Ross and Rachel) and the happily single man-slut (Barney to Friends’ Joey). HIMYM replaces Central Perk (the Friends coffee shop) with MacLaren’s Bar, and Ted even goes on to become a college professor, much like Ross.

Despite the similarities, HIMYM is definitely its own show, with excellent writing and perfectly crafted performances by all the actors (especially Segel and Harris). Neil Patrick Harris is single-handedly reintroducing the expressions “awesome!” and “legendary” into modern lexicon, and the show has certainly reinvigorated the high-five around my house.

Check out the Season 4 bloopers (but beware, some of the language is NSFW):

After years of ho-hum programming and too many reality shows, I think the current TV season is really hot. Some of my faves are taking off (The Vampire Diaries, Glee), some got canceled (Dollhouse. Boo.) and some are on hiatus (True Blood, I miss you!). And with this hot season have come some really hot men. I might post later about the sexiest ladies on the small screen, but for now, let’s ogle the man candy.

The New Kid: Mark Salling, for making a mohawk hot, as Puck on Glee.

The Steady: David Boreanaz, for stealing hearts as a tortured vampire (on two different shows!), then making them melt as heroic FBI agent Seeley Booth.

(And Speaking of Vampires) Best Vamp: Alexander Skarsgard, as hilarious and twisted Eric Northman on True Blood.

(And Speaking of True Blood) Best Human on True Blood: Ryan Kwanten, who manages to make stupid sexy as Jason Stackhouse.

Best Comeback: Ian Somerhalder, for bouncing back from Lost with his turn as deadly Damon on The Vampire Diaries.

Best Import: Ed Westwick, as Gossip Girl’s resident bad boy Chuck Bass.

Hottest Guy I wish were still on TV: Ryan Reynolds. For obvious reasons.

Now it’s your turn to nominate your favorites. Who did I leave out?

Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses. Not only is she stunning (no one else comes as close to Audrey Hepburn’s gamine beauty), but she is whip-smart (Harvard-educated, multi-lingual), talented and has an intriguing, quirky resume.

The longtime vegetarian recently wrote a piece about veganism for the Huffington Post, and I encourage everyone read it.

Here’s an excerpt:
“I’ve also been afraid to feel as if I know better than someone else — a historically dangerous stance (I’m often reminded that ‘Hitler was a vegetarian, too, you know’). But this book reminded me that some things are just wrong. Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable, and the human cost Foer describes in his book, of which I was previously unaware, is universally compelling.”

So, season 3 of Gossip Girl premiered this week. The biggest scandal of the episode wasn’t Serena’s desperate cry for attention, Blair and Chuck’s twisted sexual game or Vanessa hooking up with Dan’s secret brother. Nope. It was the clear disdain, nay, hatred! that the wardrobe and hair/makeup departments unleashed on most of the female stars. Let’s take it frame by frame:

First up, Taylor Momsen. She’s 16, about 10-feet tall, blond and a model. How hard can it be to make her look good? Apparently, it’s pretty damn hard, so they stuck her with scraggly hair, too much makeup and crotch-eating hotpants with suspenders:

Next up we have Blake Lively. She’s 22, about 10-feet tall, blond…do you see a pattern here? She has the best hair in the world, not to mention a killer body. So, naturally, the best look for her would… also be hotpants. Instead of suspenders, however, these come in the form of a romper, topped with the world’s ugliest jacket. I know it’s kind of hard to see here, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Seriously, look!

And since she does have miles of amazing hair, what did the stylists do? A sexy blowout? Romantic curls? No. They shoved in about 30 bobby pins and called it a day:

Blake and Taylor aren’t just competing in the ugly shorts competition. Taylor rose to the occasion with her own bad hair, and then upped the ante with an insanely short dress (the better to flash you with! Also, you can’t tell in the pictures, but she was sporting a heinous updo with that polka-dot mess).

Next up we have unfortunate Jessica Szohr. Not only is her character boring and whiny, she has the worst. fake. hair. ever. Check it:

I know, right? Take a gander at the back; you can actually see the delineation between her real hair and extensions so bad they’re bordering on dreads:

C’mon, people! This is a show about Manhattan’s upper elite! These people are supposed to be millionaires! We watch this for the amazing fashion! What happened here?

The only possible explanation for this madness is that Leighton Meester paid off the gals in wardrobe, hair and makeup, because she spent the entire episode looking AWESOME. Seriously, a pink cloche:

She also pulled off a kick-ass brocade number while Blake Lively was forced to stroll alongside her wearing what appears to be a maternity dress:

No wonder she’s smiling.

Also. Thank God they didn’t mess with Chuck Bass. Cause Blair Waldorf will cut a bitch.