So here we are, four seasons in, and we still don’t know who the mother is. But does that really matter? No. As longtime viewers of the show are aware, “who” the mother turns out to be isn’t really what the show is about - it’s just one of the many devices that this fantastic sitcom uses to separate itself from the myriad of other bland, scripted, comedy fare we see on TV today. Rather, this show is all about the journey. Find out how the latest season of this journey stacks up, after the jump.

Of course it’s a crime that Neil Patrick Harris didn’t win for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy at last night’s Emmys (click here for a list of who won in the major categories).  But it’s okay because judging from all the coverage of last night’s broadcast, he won the night.  The response he’s gotten hasn’t just been a shrugging “Well, it was better than last year’s endless torture of five reality-show hosts…” but a standing ovation for his energy and humor.  It makes me wish I could watch the broadcast but without the awards.  Just let it be the “Neil Patrick Harris Variety Hour(s)”.

Well, I kind of got my wish because some clips featuring NPH’s great work have started popping up online so if you want to see his opening song-and-dance number or Dr. Horrible breaking into the live feed, hit the jump.

Even if you didn’t think it was catchy or funny-and I find you a strange human being if you didn’t-Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” was a significant moment in the development of content produced exclusively for online distribution.  Produced during 2008’s WGA Strike, it was a major case for why revenue from digital content was so crucial to writers.  Also, it looked professional, featured great performances, and had Whedon’s singular wit.  And now he has an Emmy Award for it.  Hit the jump but know that the Emmy is not his penis.

Variety is reporting that Peter Krause, best known for playing Nate on HBO’s “Six Feet Under”, has joined the cast of “Beastly” - CBS Film’s adaptation of the 2007 novel by Alex Flinn.  A modern retelling of the “Beauty and the Beast” story, “Beastly” is currently filming in Montreal with Alex Pettyfer (”Stormbreaker”) playing the Manhattan teen who is cursed into ugliness by a young witch.  Mary Kate Olsen is playing the witch with Krause set to play the Beast’s father who, as a punishment for being so damn hideous, banishes his son… to Brooklyn!!  The horror!  Vanessa Hudgens is playing Linda (aka “Beauty”) with Neil Patrick Harris as the blind tutor who braves the streets of Bensonhurst along with the young beast boy…

I have made no secret of my love for Neil Patrick Harris as I applaud both his self-lampooning in the “Harold & Kumar” movies as well as his stellar work on the fantastic comedy series, “How I Met Your Mother”.  After last year’s disasterous quintet of reality show hosts presenting the Emmy awards, CBS has tapped one of its biggest stars, Harris, to follow up his well-received stint hosting the Tonys by hosting television’s congratulatory wankfest.  It may also be odd because Harris is almost guaranteed to grab yet another Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy nomination for his work on “HIMYM”.  Of course, there won’t be the awkwardness of him winning because why do that when you can just give it to Jeremy Piven again (for those keeping count, Piven has won the award three years in a row for playing Ari Gold which doesn’t speak as much to Piven’s performance as it does to the fact that most Emmy voters probably just Xerox their ballots).

I have a confession to make. I am a Joss Whedon fan.  No, that’s actually not the confession.  The confession is this - I didn’t see Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog until I got this DVD.  I know.  I’m now on the outs with the club.  Despite all my friends insisting that this was right up my alley, I just didn’t want to watch it online.  I was stubborn in my old-school TV and DVD ways.  After having seen this, however, I vow “no longer will I be tied to the tube.”

Dr. Horrible (or Billy in his non-villain guise) wants two things out of life.  The first, he wants admission to the ELE, the Evil League of Evil.  Second, he wants pretty Penny to notice and possibly fall for him.  Penny is a purehearted soul and often crusading for the homeless.  Unfortunately, Dr. Horrible has a nemesis - do-gooding ham-head Captain Hammer.  Thwarting Horrible’s current scheme puts Hammer in a position to save Penny which, in turn, leads to those two dating.  Penny thinks that Hammer is a good guy through and through.  Only Horrible sees through Hammer’s public persona to see the douchebag underneath.  When word comes down that Dr. Horrible will need to kill someone to get into the ELE, he discovers that Captain Hammer would make for the perfect victim.  Of course, not everything works out as intended.

I am an unabashed Neil Patrick Harris-supporter and it’s in no way some ironic “Doogie Howser” love.  The guy has slayed me both in lampooning himself in the “Harold & Kumar” movies and by his unforgettable performance as legend-(wait for it)-ary lothario Barney Stintson on CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother”.  He’s been overdue for some feature film work and now, according to THR, he’s landed two projects which he’ll handle over “Mother’s” summer hiatus.

First up, he’s got “The Best and the Brightest” where he’ll be playing a husband and father who isn’t worried about his social status but is nonetheless thrust into the insane world of New York’s Upper East Side and enters the world of the city’s private kindergartens.  Bonnie Somerville is on board as the class-aware wife.  The flick has an all-around great cast including Amy Sedaris, John Hodgman, Peter Serafinowicz, Bridget Regan, Kate Mulgrew and Christopher McDonald.  I expect heavy lampooning of psychotic parents who think that if their kid doesn’t have the best education from day one, they’re doomed for life.

Harris’ other flick is “Beastly”, a modern retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”.  He’ll take on a supporting role as a blind tutor who helps and bonds with a teen (Alex Pettyfer) who is shellshocked from being turned into a hideous young man.  While I’m sure he’ll do a fine job, “blind tutor” definitely sounds like one of Barney’s many ruses.  Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen are co-starring and I think this movie maaaay not be intended for my demographic.  But with NPH, it’s in everyone’s demographic.