Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother

Well, today is Friday, and it's time to dig out the TV Guide to select a television show that we will be focusing on this week.

Well...actually, I have a confession to make.  This entry is a week late.  This was the entry that I had intended to do for September 21, but as you all know from reading yesterday's blog entry, my mind was all over the place, and I just didn't feel like writing all that much in my blog that day.  I had way too much on my mind at the time, and felt it best to not talk about pop culture that day.

But fear not, cats and dogs...I'm back in full force now, and am ready to honour my commitment...albeit a week late.

And for today's edition, I thought that we'd do something that I very rarely do.

We're going to be taking a look at a television show that is currently on the air.

I've done this before a couple of times...most notably with “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory”. But it's something that I don't usually do because I don't really care for a lot of what passes as “quality television” in 2012. I'd rather be watching classic reruns of television programs, to be honest.

In this case, I'll make an exception. And, I believe that I have chosen a fantastic subject for today.

Remember how two weeks ago, I did that blog entry on Doogie Howser M.D.? Well, in that entry, I had mentioned that for Neil Patrick Harris ended up finding success on another show that is currently on the air.

That show, of course is “How I Met Your Mother”, which has been on the air since September 19, 2005 on CBS.  It is currently in its eighth season, and is one of the most watched programs on CBS at this time.

And, for today's blog entry (which is really late, I know)...I thought that I would do a character sketch on one of the characters on the show.

But it won't be the character that Neil Patrick Harris plays. Granted, Barney is a decent character and I certainly could talk about him and never run out of things to say...and I imagine that Neil Patrick Harris has his fans.  But, to be honest, there's one character that I really wanted to do a feature on, mainly because the character (and the actress that portrays her on the show) is Canadian.  And since I myself am Canadian, we already have so much in common!

Today we're going to do a character spotlight on Robin Scherbatsky, who has been played by Canadian actress Cobie Smulders since the show's debut.

Now, before we get into the whole idea of who Robin is, and what her contributions to the show are, we should talk about what the show is about.  Yes, I am well aware that the show is still on the air, and that most of you already know what the show is about.  But on the slight chance that someone has not seen the show, here's the gist of it.

We're introduced to two teenagers (played by Lyndsy Fonseca and David Henrie) in the year 2030.  They're sitting on the couch in their living room, listening to the story of how their father met their mother.

TRIVIA:  "Full House" star Bob Saget is the voice of the narrator.

We quickly discover that the narrator is actually the 50-year-old version of Theodore Evelyn Mosby (known on the show as just Ted).  You see, part of the storyline goes that as Ted tells his children the tale of how he met their mother, we go back in time to what we consider present day and watch the younger Ted (Josh Radnor) in his many misadventures.  At first, the story seems to be centered around Ted, dating couple Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), and his womanizing best friend Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). 

But then a beautiful brunette enters his life named Robin Scherbatsky.  And, initially, the meeting between the two of them is not exactly the most romantic...

...but keep in mind that whole scene was staged as a way to help Robin's friend feel better about a break-up.  But that one incident ended up cementing Robin's place in the Ted/Marshall/Lily/Barney group.

And in her first seven seasons, Robin Scherbatsky ended up making quite an impression on the show, and in the lives of the four other main characters.  But just how much of an impact did she make?  And, what did she do before she moved to New York?

Well, let's play a little game called "Did you know...?".

Did you know that Robin was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada?  It's true.  And the reason why Vancouver was chosen as Robin's place of birth was because of Cobie.  Since Cobie herself was born in Vancouver, it made perfect sense for Robin to hail from there as well.

Did you know that Robin's full name is Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr.?  She was named after her father, Robin Charles Scherbatsky Sr. (played in a couple of guest appearances by "Twin Peaks" star Ray Wise and Young and the Restless star Eric Braeden).  On the show, Robin Sr. and Robin Jr. have a strained relationship, and Robin Jr. actually resents her upbringing.

Did you know that Robin was once a child starlet in Canada when she was in her teens, and that she recorded a couple of hit singles in Canada, such as the one below.

(Oh yeah...despite the fact that Robin was born in the summer of 1980 and that the video was clearly shot as if it seemed like it was the late 1980s, Robin's explanation was that in Canada, the 1980s came about fifteen years too late.  Sadly as a Canadian, as far as music goes, it seemed to be somewhat truthful.)

Did you know that when we're first introduced to Robin, she was a journalist at Metro News 1?  She eventually ended up hosting her own morning show...which aired at four in the morning.

Did you know that Robin ended up having romantic relationships with both Ted and Barney?  It's true.  At some point, both relationships ended, and this lead to some friction, but as of 2012, everything is fine between Robin and all of her friends. 

Did you know that Robin is a terrible liar according to her friends?  Ted believed that Robin could not tell a lie without giggling incessantly, but Lily notes that Robin tends to speak in a higher than normal voice (something that Lily refers to as her "truth voice") whenever she does speak the truth.  So, which is the truth, and what's a lie?  Who knows?

Did you know that Robin is a smoker?  And that she's very knowledgable in the subject of cigars?

Did you know that Robin has a rather strange fetish of sorts?  She seems to be attracted to men who have scars, missing teeth, or bruises.  In fact, she once found Barney more attractive when she believes he has gotten into a fight.

(Hmmm...I wonder what she would have thought of my own scar...well, if she were real and not a fictional character, that is...)

Did you know that Robin had never wanted to settle down and have children?  Sadly, it was discovered that Robin was unable to have children, and she broke down in Ted's arms over the discovery.  Of course, Robin tried to pass off the fact that she was really upset about not making the Olympic team for pole-vaulting, but Ted saw through it.

So, I suppose you've figured out by now that Robin is obviously not the mother.

In fact, after seven seasons, we still don't know who the mother of Ted's two children are...meaning that the 50-year-old Ted is a complete windbag!  But, I imagine that at the end of the series, we'll all find out who it is...and you can bet that Robin is going to be a part of it in some manner.  You can bank on that one.