VERY VERY: First Meeting

 Back in the mid-1990s, Nick at Nite ran a programming block on the weekends called "Very Very Nick at Nite," which looked at four episodes with a similar theme. Now I will look at four sitcom episodes from across the decades that have a similar plot or theme. This week's topic is Very Very First Meeting!

This Week's Episodes

Coach #44 "When Hayden Met Christine" (First Aired: December 11, 1990)

As Hayden gets ready for a charity event after breaking up with Christine, he reminisces about meeting Christine at the same event four years earlier.

Hayden and Christine aren't one of my all-time favorite TV couples because I never felt like there was a ton of chemistry between Craig T. Nelson and Shelley Fabares, even if they're both pretty good characters in their own right. This episode also doesn't quite work for me because of how quickly Christine turns around on Hayden. She goes from being annoyed with him throughout the episode to being enamored by him in a matter of seconds and I don't really buy it.

The Dick Van Dyke Show #6 "Oh How We Met on the Night That We Danced" (First Aired: October 31, 1961)

Rob and Laura reminisce about the first time they met when Rob was in the army and Laura was a USO performer.

Few shows did flashbacks as well as The Dick Van Dyke Show. The show always incorporated the scenes well and it helped fill in the history of the characters we grew to love. This flashback does have the unfortunate issue of including Sol Pomeroy (Marty Ingals), an irritating side character. While there's no Morey Amsterdam or Rose Marie, it's a great early episode in the series to build up the undeniable chemistry between Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. Their performance of "You, Wonderful You" is really charming right up to the broken toe.

How I Met Your Mother #49 "How I Met Everyone Else" (First Aired: October 22, 2007)

While everyone meets Ted's crazy new girlfriend, they share how they met everyone else in the group.

This episode is as much about the "crazy/hot scale" - one of the many How I Met Your Mother creations that has withstood the test of time - as it is about every character meeting every other character. But it also has a lot of funny flashbacks that are mostly brief. There's a great guest appearance by Abigail Spencer as "Blahblah." While it's a little bit of a flimsy excuse to do all the flashbacks, this is a show that peddles so often in jumping timelines that it works just fine within the confines of the show. I think it's fun that the show covered all the meetings within one 22 minute episode.

Mad About You #11 "Met Someone" (First Aired: December 16, 1992)

The show flashes back to December 1989 when Paul tried to track Jamie down after a chance encounter at a newsstand.

Paul and Jamie Buchman are up there with Rob and Laura Petrie among all time great TV couples. Similar to The Dick Van Dyke Show, the series showed us early in the run how the couple met. This episode is better than Van Dyke because the show spends more time with the main couple. The scene in the office between Paul and Jamie is a really great way of showing the character's quirks with each other in a different way than the rest of the series when they've already been together for awhile. It's a really sweet and romantic episode.

Best Episode: How I Met Your Mother

This was a close call with Mad About You but How I Met Your Mother is the funniest and most creative story. It's funny to watch this episode and realize the crazy/hot scale, "Blahblah" and the use of sandwiches instead of pot all come from this one.

Best Fit for the Theme: Mad About You

This episode was completely centered on the two characters meeting. There wasn't even any scenes in the present day where they are reminiscing or flashing back.

Standout Performer: Helen Hunt, Mad About You

Runners-Up: Paul Reiser (Mad About You), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)

Tomorrow: The Friday Five - Top 5 TV news stories of the week!

Next Thursday: Very Very Ballet!