TCA: "How I Met Your Mother" vs. "Chuck" -- Let the Monday Night Smackdown Begin!

POSTED BY MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

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Get ready for the Monday night battle between TV's slightly dweeby "awesome" peddlers.

CBS' critical fave "How I Met Your Mother" has helped restore the term "awesome" into the current lexicon (rescuing it from its use as '80s retro fodder). Neil Patrick Harris' character, Barney, is such a proponent of "being awesome" that Tuesday's TCA panel for "How I Met Your Mother" promised a primer on the path to awesomeness.

But now comes NBC's "Chuck." Not only does "Chuck" lead Zach Levi (above, left) bear a passing resemblance to "HIMYM" star Josh Radnor (right), but the new series includes a character who goes by the name... wait for it... "Captain Awesome."

On stage at the TCA, Harris couldn't resist poking fun at the fact that both shows will now face off Mondays at 8.

"A war is brewing!" he quipped.

Then there's the case of this rather unusual "Family Circus" comic, which ran in papers on Monday. In the post below, Stu writes that Thomas joked during the session that he found the mention "better than an Emmy nomination."

But later, exec producer Carter Bays (who created the show with Craig Thomas) admitted after the session that the cast and crew were a little bit puzzled by the strip.

Were "Family Circus" writers Bil and Jeff Keane simply looking for a hip pop culture reference? Were they trying to make a clumsy statement about the dangers of watching too much TV?

But On the Air might add, what are little Billy and Dolly -- and especially pre-schooler Jeffy and toddler P.J. -- doing watching such a grown-up show in the first place? Shouldn't those kids be watching "How I Met Dora the Explorer"?!

Bays suggests a future "Family Circus" strip: "Instead of watchin' 'Rules of Engagement'... tonight I'll tell you MY 'Rules of Engagement'!"

-- Michael Schneider