There’s also the fact that gradually we discovered the gang on HIMYM were all unreliable narrators and (mostly) endearingly scummy. The characters on HIMYF were a little too… okay in the first season. They weren’t unhinged or morally ambivalent.

Season 2 has washed the bloom off the characters in an appealing way. Sophie’s no antihero, she’s clearly a protagonist, but she’s gone from a hopeless romantic in S1, to a hopeless romantic who happens to be a bit of a loser with a drinking problem and zero self-awareness.

To use an obscure Disney analogy, kids were bored with Doug Funnie because he was just slightly better than you. But kids naturally latched onto Pepper Ann because she’s just slightly worse than you.