Let me be clear: I’m supportive of Josh Radnor’s attempts to wade into the waters of filmmaking as his meal ticket, How I Met Your Mother, starts its final season. And I’m not even that big a fan of the show (though I wouldn’t say I dislike it by any stretch of the means). What I’m maybe less enthusiastic about is his tunnel-vision, since he really only seems to know how to write and direct certain types of characters and narratives; his sophomore effort, Liberal Arts, feels like a tale right out of HIMYM, and suggests that he doesn’t have a ton of range even if he knows how to work adequately within that range. But you’ll have to visit Go, See, Talk! to read more.
A Constant Visual Feast 
I also love HIMYM and wish Rdnor well but I completely agree with you in his limited range. It’s like he thinks that all he needs to do is grow a beard and the rest will follow, but the more he writes characters like this for himself the harder it will be for him to break out of that mold
Summed up perfectly. Thumbs up for you, very well put and I definitely agree. I don’t mind the guy at all, but he seems to really be shoehorning himself into a very particular mien. It seems to work for him, and I’m sure he can make a pretty lasting career out of it, but it is pretty limiting.
I look at Radnor and I keep seeing Zach Braff. Hopefully, he will be able to get out of the whirlpool that Braff couldn’t.
I had to guffaw at this because it’s 100% true. Only difference is that Radnor is older now than Braff was a the time of Garden State, so it’s basically the same sort of story but tailored for a very different stage of life.
It should be interesting to see what happens after HIMYM ends.
Probably he’ll just make more projects like this. Maybe breaking free of the HIMYM yoke will help him grow as an artist?
I love Radnor- he is such a lovable guy! Expect great things from him.
I’m more or less prepared to expect things like this from him at this point, though I have some optimism that he can expand his craft to tell stories with more depth and a reduced reliance on nostalgia.