Ten Reasons to Love Neil Patrick Harris

Shepard Price ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
With How I Met Your Mother ending soon, Emertainment Monthly gives you ten reasons to love Neil Patrick Harris, but really who doesn’t already love him?

 1. Anytime He’s Ever Hosted Anything Ever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=danBaPWT09A
Neil Patrick Harris has hosted seven award ceremonies, including the Tonys four times, the Emmys twice, and the Video Games Awards. And he is good at it. Each of his Tonys hosting gigs has been better than the last, and the only reason the Tonys is returning to Hugh Jackman as host this year is because Harris backed out due to his commitment to Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Harris is the man when it comes to hosting, and it’s a surprise that he hasn’t hosted the Oscars yet, an honor that is sure to come.

2. Barney J. Stinson

Although he was not the first choice for the role of the womanizer, he is now the only man who could have played the part as well as he has. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas envisioned Barney as a bigger guy (somebody along the lines of Jack Black), but nobody pictures Barney as anyone else now. Although he hasn’t won an Emmy for the role (he has been nominated four times), he has been one of the best actors on television since How I Met Your Mother began, playing a character the exact opposite of himself.

3. Doogie Howser

In his breakout role, Harris showed off his adorable side as the brilliant young doctor. After his success as a child actor, he has also been one of the few who has stayed sane with the lights and pressure, and he has handled the fame amazingly well.

4. His Family

Neil and his partner David Burtka are an amazing couple, one of the best in Hollywood, and their kids are the cutest set of twins. Harris is also somewhat retiring after How I Met Your Mother ends by moving to New York to spend more time with his family. And who can blame him?

5. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

In his cult classic villain role, Harris shines as a good guy, just with the wrong goals. Opposite a bad person with goals of doing good for the spotlight, Dr. Horrible is loveable, and it’s in part because of Harris himself. If there is a second part to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, it is going to be a great piece of media, because it’s Joss Whedon and Harris.  What isn’t there to love?

6. He loves his fans

He has taken to Twitter to figure out what car to get. He responds to fan mail, not through his “people” but actually through himself. Harris loves his fans, and actually cares what they have to say.

7. His charity giving

NPH works with 17 charities. Most of them have to do with beating cancer, defeating AIDS, giving food, or helping children.

8. Broadway

After Doogie Howser, Harris started working on Broadway. His love of theatre acting extends to this day, and he continues to act on Broadway (now in Hedwig and the Angry Inch). He also hosts the Tonys, which is part of his love of Broadway.

9. His inability to age

If you look at pictures of Harris from 20 years ago to today, you can see that he hasn’t aged. He’s 39 now, but when he was 19 he didn’t look all that different. The only way to know Harris has grown older has been his change in height from his Doogie days, and maybe a few new lines in his forehead.

10. His work with puppets

Harris’ true passion for puppets has showed the last few years. After his cameo in The Muppets, one of the best out of many, and joining in singing along with “Mah Na Mah Na” for the closing credits, Harris has started a web series called “Neil’s Puppet Dreams,” an adult version of the Muppets which uses a few “taboo” topics and not-that-clean language in a comedic way.