When Marshall’s Dad Died On
Death on sitcoms always packs a wallop because we’re used to the easy, breezy comedic machinery that keeps a series going year after year. So interrupting the formula with tragedy is potent when done right. On “How I Met Your Mother,” Marshall is giddy to call his father and tell him the good news that Marshall and his wife, Lily, are able to conceive. But then Lily appears, tears in her eyes, and tells Marshall his father died of a heart attack. “My dad’s dead?” Marshall asks, helpless, before Lily embraces him. Just as we think the rest of the scene will play out in silence, Marshall says with a ragged, pained sob, “I’m not ready for this.”