How I Met Your Mother final season, redux

Last night was the premiere of the final season of How I Met Your Mother. Again. We thought we were here last year, people, then Jason Segel had to go and ruin it for everybody by agreeing to return for a ninth season. Not for nothing, I used to love this show, but let's hope this time it's for real. I cannot say enough how much this show wears on me. It has become so pedestrian. I started watching it last season just because I had invested so much time and wanted to see how it ended, but when I found out it WASN'T the end, I stopped watching. Now I'm here doing the same thing again. I'm feeling more than a sense of deja vu. And it's not easy. This used to be one of my favorite shows. This show used to be funny and heartwarming and touching, a show with real characters who were flawed but lovable and who obviously cared for each other, a show with heart and soul. But for the last 4 1/2 years, the writers and the actors have been phoning it in. These aren't the same characters I fell in love with. I used to feel like I was watching a story unfold; now I just feel like I'm watching a sitcom, and a not very good one at that. I used to laugh regularly. I still do. I catch repeats whenever I can because the first 4 1/2 seasons are still a part of my favorite show - it's just that that How I Met Your Mother is a different show. I didn't laugh at all last night. ::Sigh:: I will say this. Spoiler alert!! At the very end, when Future Ted is talking with Future Mother, I felt some emotion well up. Maybe it's because we finally get to see Ted and the Mother together. Maybe it's because there seemed to be genuine affection between them, and the sappy, romantic Ted being portrayed was the sappy, romantic Ted of old. Or maybe it's because if we're finally seeing Ted and the Mother together, it means this now trainwreck of a show is finally almost over...