HIMYM

Acronyms. They're everywhere. I suspect there was a time when they didn't exist but as long as I've been alive (or at least as long as I can remember, so discount those first three years of joyful unaware bliss) they seem to have been around. The world of business is of course particularly susceptible for them. I remember spending nine months in a pensions office being confronted everyday with 'GMP', 'RPI' and 'AVCs', and the world of PR is just as bad (look at it, it's a bloody acronym itself!).

But it's the acronym above which has mostly been occupying my thoughts and indeed my evenings recently. It stands for How I Met Your Mother, a delightful little American sitcom that airs on one of the lesser channels (i.e. not Fox, ABC or NBC) in the US. It briefly ran on BBC Two here in the UK for the first couple of series, but then the Beeb has never been that good at maintaining American sitcoms on its channels (with the glorious exception of Seinfeld of course).

The central premise is simple but effective - Ted, the main character, sets up each episode by explaining to his kids the stories that led to the eventual meeting and marrying of their mother. The episodes then proceed by way of flashbacks to those events.

And of course, like every successful sitcom, HIMYM has a central comedy character at its heart. In this case it's the ultimate alpha male, Barney Stinson. Attractive, rich, a firm believer in the one night stand and yet curiously loveable - think Joey Tribbiani with intelligence and dress sense. Oh, and some wonderful catchphrases.

But the reason it really works, and is now entering its fifth season, isn't because it's devasatingly funny or indeed sharp, like say Frasier (still the greatest ever sitcom) or Mash. Rather, like Friends, Cheers, Will & Grace and all the rest, it works because it offers us some comfort, some security and some reassurance that good things can happen in our lives.

And that's all that people really want, and indeed need - human society wasn't forged from despair, it was forged out of hope and triumph. There's been plenty of the former and not nearly enough of the latter over the past 18 months so every little bit helps.

Go on, watch it. You might just be pleasantly surprised......