Old King Clancy
Encyclopedia
"Old King Clancy" is the 18th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother
and 82nd overall. It originally aired on March 23, 2009.
, Future Ted describes his work in the spring of 2009 on the Goliath National Bank (GNB) Headquarters. While he felt inspired when he started the project, including naturalistic features like wood beams and natural sunlight, Ted
feels restricted by the executive supervising the project, Bilson (Bryan Callen
). Eventually, a new task force is put together to supervise Ted, and he feels engaged again. But after an awkward pick-up attempt in the elevator, he is told the building was scrapped a month ago.
The gang is at MacLaren's when Robin
brings up the fact that she was once invited over to a Canadian celebrity's house to see his collection, but, after he propositioned her to perform a profane Canadian sex act, she left. Lily
is desperate for the specifics, and starts hyperventilating
until she gets the hiccups. Robin says she will tell them the details if they guess all three things correctly (the celebrity, the sex act, and the nature of the collection). Barney
quickly brings up www.canadiansexacts.org on a laptop, and the group of friends starts guessing.
Ted walks in, bewildered by the cancellation of his project and fearing that he is going to lose his job. After a brief exchange, Barney and Marshall
admit they lied to Ted, and reveal the elaborate nature of their ruse. Bilson had told them to fire Ted after the corporation decide to cut back on new expenditures (he complains about having to cut back on their bi-quarterly St. Croix retreats). The company was still contracted to pay Ted for the next two months, so after Marshall blurted out a lie about Ted's success, the two GNB employees decided to fool Ted. They hired a cafeteria worker, a janitor, a street musician, and interns to pose as the new task force for reviewing the headquarters plans.
Ted is furious, insisting that he would never lie to make his friends feel better. Barney refutes this, citing the time Ted encouraged Marshall's lame standup set (basically a list of fishes' names). Barney then mentions that a smaller job is available at GNB designing a copy of the ETR, or "Employee Transition Room" which Barney admits is a room where people are fired. A montage of closed-circuit television
footage from the room shows angry employees lashing out at Barney after he fires them on the spot.
Though he is asked to simply duplicate the room, Ted decides to add his own flair, recreating the ETR as a "rebirth canal." After a presentation to Bilson, Ted is taken down to the ETR, where he himself is promptly fired. The next night, back at the bar, Ted says he quit to start his own firm. After a bit of prodding, he quickly admits he was fired, and hit Bilson over the head with a chair. Nevertheless, Ted still wants to start his own business, without the noose of corporate thinking.
Throughout the story, Lily and the gang use the pauses in conversation to guess Robin's celebrity encounter (ex., Rick Moranis
[Canadian celebrity], the Reverse Rick Moranis [Canadian sex act], antique Judaica [collection]). After three days, they give up, and Robin gives in and tells them, but the items are all unrecognizable to the gang, so she has to explain. She met "The Frozen Snowshoe" (a famous Canadian wrestler), who showed her his collection of Harvey's
Trays (simple orange plastic trays from a fast-food chain), and offered her an "Old King Clancy
" (apparently, a "Sacramento Turtleneck," but with maple syrup). The gang is disappointed at the absolute obscurity of Robin's story.
In a flashback, Robin's 2002 celebrity meeting is portrayed, but the viewer finds out that it was Robin that offered the Snowshoe the Old King Clancy (pulling a small bottle of maple syrup out of her purse), and it was he who rejected her, not the other way around.
During the show Barney make references to http://www.canadiansexacts.org/ which is a real website produced by the writers of the show.
Michelle Zoromski of IGN
gave the episode an 8.5 out of 10, citing the episode's ability "to stay light, even while dealing with topics like Ted losing his job."
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
and 82nd overall. It originally aired on March 23, 2009.
Plot
In the cold openCold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
, Future Ted describes his work in the spring of 2009 on the Goliath National Bank (GNB) Headquarters. While he felt inspired when he started the project, including naturalistic features like wood beams and natural sunlight, Ted
Ted Mosby
Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby is the titular fictional character of the U.S. television sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Josh Radnor...
feels restricted by the executive supervising the project, Bilson (Bryan Callen
Bryan Callen
Bryan Christopher Callen is an American actor. Callen is notable for being one of the original cast of comedians on the sketch comedy series MADtv.-Early life:...
). Eventually, a new task force is put together to supervise Ted, and he feels engaged again. But after an awkward pick-up attempt in the elevator, he is told the building was scrapped a month ago.
The gang is at MacLaren's when Robin
Robin Scherbatsky
Robin Charles Scherbatsky, Jr. is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Canadian actress Cobie Smulders.- Early life :...
brings up the fact that she was once invited over to a Canadian celebrity's house to see his collection, but, after he propositioned her to perform a profane Canadian sex act, she left. Lily
Lily Aldrin
Lillian "Lily" Aldrin is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by American actress Alyson Hannigan. She is the wife of Marshall Eriksen and the best friend of Robin Scherbatsky...
is desperate for the specifics, and starts hyperventilating
Hyperventilation
Hyperventilation or overbreathing is the state of breathing faster or deeper than normal, causing excessive expulsion of circulating carbon dioxide. It can result from a psychological state such as a panic attack, from a physiological condition such as metabolic acidosis, can be brought about by...
until she gets the hiccups. Robin says she will tell them the details if they guess all three things correctly (the celebrity, the sex act, and the nature of the collection). Barney
Barney Stinson
Barnabas "Barney" Stinson is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. The character has been extremely well received by critics and has been credited for much of the show's success...
quickly brings up www.canadiansexacts.org on a laptop, and the group of friends starts guessing.
Ted walks in, bewildered by the cancellation of his project and fearing that he is going to lose his job. After a brief exchange, Barney and Marshall
Marshall Eriksen
Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother, created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and portrayed by Jason Segel.-Character profile:Marshall is an easy-going, naive optimist from St. Cloud, Minnesota...
admit they lied to Ted, and reveal the elaborate nature of their ruse. Bilson had told them to fire Ted after the corporation decide to cut back on new expenditures (he complains about having to cut back on their bi-quarterly St. Croix retreats). The company was still contracted to pay Ted for the next two months, so after Marshall blurted out a lie about Ted's success, the two GNB employees decided to fool Ted. They hired a cafeteria worker, a janitor, a street musician, and interns to pose as the new task force for reviewing the headquarters plans.
Ted is furious, insisting that he would never lie to make his friends feel better. Barney refutes this, citing the time Ted encouraged Marshall's lame standup set (basically a list of fishes' names). Barney then mentions that a smaller job is available at GNB designing a copy of the ETR, or "Employee Transition Room" which Barney admits is a room where people are fired. A montage of closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television
Closed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors....
footage from the room shows angry employees lashing out at Barney after he fires them on the spot.
Though he is asked to simply duplicate the room, Ted decides to add his own flair, recreating the ETR as a "rebirth canal." After a presentation to Bilson, Ted is taken down to the ETR, where he himself is promptly fired. The next night, back at the bar, Ted says he quit to start his own firm. After a bit of prodding, he quickly admits he was fired, and hit Bilson over the head with a chair. Nevertheless, Ted still wants to start his own business, without the noose of corporate thinking.
Throughout the story, Lily and the gang use the pauses in conversation to guess Robin's celebrity encounter (ex., Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
[Canadian celebrity], the Reverse Rick Moranis [Canadian sex act], antique Judaica [collection]). After three days, they give up, and Robin gives in and tells them, but the items are all unrecognizable to the gang, so she has to explain. She met "The Frozen Snowshoe" (a famous Canadian wrestler), who showed her his collection of Harvey's
Harvey's
Harvey's is a fast food restaurant chain that operates in Canada, with locations concentrated in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, as well as the Maritimes, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta. It serves hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and other traditional fast food fare. The...
Trays (simple orange plastic trays from a fast-food chain), and offered her an "Old King Clancy
King Clancy
Francis Michael "King" Clancy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours...
" (apparently, a "Sacramento Turtleneck," but with maple syrup). The gang is disappointed at the absolute obscurity of Robin's story.
In a flashback, Robin's 2002 celebrity meeting is portrayed, but the viewer finds out that it was Robin that offered the Snowshoe the Old King Clancy (pulling a small bottle of maple syrup out of her purse), and it was he who rejected her, not the other way around.
Production
Old King Clancy is based on a true story. One of the show writers told of an incident involving a friend who had met an American celebrity with a strange collection and also a strange sex proposition. The writers tried to guess who it was, what they collected and the sex act. After spending a lot of time on it they decided to incorporate the idea into the show.During the show Barney make references to http://www.canadiansexacts.org/ which is a real website produced by the writers of the show.
Continuity
- This episode follows up on the GNB Headquarters project Ted received in "Woooo!".
- Marshall uses his fish joke stand-up act again in "Right Place Right TimeRight Place Right Time"Right Place, Right Time" is the 22nd episode of the fourth season of How I Met Your Mother and 86th overall. It aired on May 4, 2009.- Plot :...
" to buy time as Ted finds his charts and also in "Field TripField Trip (How I Met Your Mother)"Field Trip" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 141st episode overall. It aired on October 10, 2011.-Plot:...
" when Marshall is rejecting a settlement offer and begins to ramble. - Ted pitches the idea of starting his own company. We see this materialize in "Mosbius DesignsMosbius Designs"Mosbius Designs" is the 20th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 84th overall. It aired on April 13, 2009.-Plot:...
". - Ted recalls this episode in his life in "The Leap"The Leap (How I Met Your Mother)"The Leap" is the 24th and final episode of season 4 of the How I Met Your Mother TV series and 88th overall. It originally aired on May 18, 2009.- Plot :...
.
Cultural references
- When Marshall and Barney are explaining to Ted how they hired the fake task force, its members are presented in a similar way as the cast of the movie SnatchSnatch (film)Snatch is a 2000 crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast. Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish ...
. - Some of the celebrities that were used as guesses included singer Bryan AdamsBryan AdamsBryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, hockey player Wayne GretzkyWayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
, game show host Alex TrebekAlex TrebekGeorge Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
, members of the rock band RushRush (band)Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, and actors Kiefer SutherlandKiefer SutherlandKiefer Sutherland is an English-born Canadian actor, producer and director, best known for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the Fox thriller drama series 24 for which he has won an Emmy Award , a Golden Globe award , two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Satellite...
and Rick MoranisRick MoranisFrederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
. - The celebrity Robin dated collects trays of Harvey'sHarvey'sHarvey's is a fast food restaurant chain that operates in Canada, with locations concentrated in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, as well as the Maritimes, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta. It serves hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, onion rings, and other traditional fast food fare. The...
. - King ClancyKing ClancyFrancis Michael "King" Clancy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, referee, coach and executive. Clancy played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a member of three Stanley Cup championship teams and won All-Star honours...
was the nickname given to Francis Clancy who played in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa SenatorsOttawa Senators (original)The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
and the Toronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
from 1921 to 1937.
Critical response
Donna Bowman of the AV Club gave the episode a B rating.Michelle Zoromski of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode an 8.5 out of 10, citing the episode's ability "to stay light, even while dealing with topics like Ted losing his job."