Nailed It!

CBS broadcast its annual coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade yesterday and one big disappointment was that Neil Patrick Harris was not the "man-on-the-street" reporter this year. As I reported here, in 2007 NPH (as the hipsters down with Mr. Harris refer to him) provided witty and quick-thinking color commentary for the parade for two years, the first time in the pouring rain. Although I went on record saying I was sure he would be back in 2008, alas, it was not to be. (Quick-witted viewers of The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson will have noted that Neil appeared earlier this week on the Hollywood-based show and introduced his parents [visiting from Albuquerque, NM] and said they were all spending Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, thus precluding his being in Manhattan for the parade.) His replacement, Patrick Warburton, did a good job, but nothing can compare to the delights of NPH, most well-known for his role as the libidinous Barney Stinson on the otherwise so-so show, How I Met Your Mother. To ease my disappointment I thought I'd post Entertainment Weekly's article celebrating NPH as one of their choices for Entertainers of the Year. This multi-talented performer—not only a triple threat Broadway-TV-movie star, but also a magician and talk show guest and awards show presenter. (If there are any doubts about the latter, recall that Neil got the biggest laugh of the evening on this year's Emmy Show broadcast with his ad-libbed comment about "Howie Mandel's prattling"—although in fairness, it would be hard not to get a laugh in what is commonly considered the worst Emmys show in its history.) So let's give thanks for NPH in spite of his not being part of the CBS's Thanksgiving parade coverage, and that he will continue to appear in venues that will showcase his native wit and intelligence, even beyond How I Met Your Mother.