So true. I was watching this on a whim recently and noticed Ted is just an incomprehensibly annoying human being. This guy constantly ignores good advice because wHaT aBoUt TrUe LoVe and is constantly dragging his so-called friends into his shenanigans and inevitable failures. Also he’s a bad friend to pretty much all of the other central characters and will constantly turn them down or ignore their needs in his relentless pursuit to find a girlfriend. Even Barney, the supposed sex hound, frequently makes time for his friends and genuinely wants to see them have a good time. Not Ted. Ted is a selfish bastard who thinks one “grand gesture” can make up for any transgression, so he let’s minor transgressions build until he has to make a grand gesture to smooth things over. That guy is toxic.
HBO loves doing this with their shows. See also True Detective