How I Met Madeleine Albright

The freeze frame gag is something that gives television programs and movies the ability to be funny the second time around. Often freeze frame gags appear in the background or in the foreground for a split-second. It often manifests itself as a sign or object that is of no relevance to the plot of the story.

The Simpsons was one of the first television programs to readily employ the use of the freeze frame gag. The animated world allowed the freeze frame gag to be employed with ease. Later, Futurama would use them just as often.

Last night, I saw a sitcom using the freeze frame gag. A non-animated television program very rarely uses that gag. Last night, How I Met Your Mother employed the freeze frame gag with a split second showing in the foreground. Early in the episode, the character of Barney was thinking about all the women he slept with. The screen then showed a montage of women against a black field. As the montage continued, the women changed at a greater frequency.

During this montage, I noticed something weird, and no it wasn’t the fact that many women appeared mulitple times in the montage or that at least one of the women later appeared as an extra in another scene; although both of those are true. I noticed an image that looked out of place with the hodge-podge of trampy broads. Using my trusty pause-live-TV feature on my PVR, I was able to backtrack and go through the montage frame by frame. Splashed for only a few frames in the middle of the montage was former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

I laughed for quite a bit when I saw that.

Also, last night’s episode introduced another website. First there was Barney’s blog, then there was the Swarley website and the slapbet countdown clock. Now there is www.tedmosbyisajerk.com. Sure, the site crashed last night due to overwhelming traffic. Thank you very much Blogger! But when I was able to access it, I noticed all the things I would expect from a site devoted to warning women about Ted Mosby, architect (in actuality, Barney using his buddy’s name and occupation). The site also contains a personal song that plays when the page loads.