The Best of Jason Segel

This is a bit of a follow-up to Ryan's earlier post; after getting home from seeing Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I, too, had the impulse to write a blog telling you all to see it. So, go see it: It's funny. Like, really funny. But I'm not at all surprised, since for years I've thought Jason Segel was one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. To prove my point, I wanted to make a Top 5 list (with Youtube clips!) of the best of Jason Segel on tv. But as I started putting them together, I realized that almost all my favorite Jason Segel moments involved him either singing or dancing. So, after the cut, 5 Reasons Jason Segel Needs to Be Cast in a Musical Comedy:


1. Lady L, Freaks and Geeks: Some fans of Freaks and Geeks often point to Nick speak-singing "Lady" by Styx to Lindsey as the most cringe-inducing moment of the series. But I far prefer Nick's original song "Lady L," which he tests out on Ken in this scene. The song is awful, but so genius in how its bad while still sort of catchy.


2. Okay Awesome dance, HIMYM: I have long said that How I Met Your Mother is one of the most underrated shows on TV right now, and while Neil Patrick Harris deserves all the love he gets, Jason Segel is the most underrated actor on the show. CBS keeps the Youtube clips on a very tight rein, so I couldn't find all of the moments I wanted. But in this one, where Marshall ditches a wine-tasting party to meet his friends at a club, take some undisclosed drugs at a club, and dance his heart out in the middle of a circle, you can see that Jason Segel obviously has the moves as well as the pipes. And look at how much better he's gotten since the disco competition at the bowling alley!


3. Jesus is Just Alright: I adore this clip just for the moment when Nick starts the chorus a line too soon, then laughs and keeps going. I heard, in the episode commentary, probably, that this was a real mistake by Jason Segel but they decided to keep it in because it felt so natural.


4. Night Night Lily: In this clip, Marshall makes a video for Lily, his fiancee, after they decide not to spend the night together for the two weeks before their wedding. Ted, his best friend, is behind the camera. This might be the kind of clip that won't seem funny unless you're familiar with the show, but Marshall's conducting the harmony cracks me up. And making a lullaby video is a pretty straight progression from Nick showing up at Lindsey's house at night and Eric making a pillow with his face on it for Lizzie.


5. Eric in Shower, Undeclared: I would be remiss if I didn't include a clip of Jason Segel from Undeclared, where he played Lizzie's older, very possessive boyfriend. I don't think he did any singing or dancing on the show (although I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), but this clip includes the Sexy Robot song so it almost fits the theme. The thing I love about Jason Segel is that he's totally fearless as an actor; you never see any hints of self-consciousness as he does the craziest, most humiliating things. When Eric starts hitting himself, it's so real that I want to hide under my pillow.


Bonus clips!
This clip is from the Megan Mullally Show (remember when she had a show for like 7 minutes?), when the whole cast of HIMYM was interviewed. Somehow a discussion of musical theater leads into Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris singing the Confrontation Song from Les Miserables, and it might just be my favorite clip on all of YouTube.


Finally, someone put together a Best of Marshall video that shows, even out of context, how perfect Jason Segel's comedic timing always is:


So, everyone, rent the Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared DVDs, watch How I Met Your Mother Mondays on CBS, and go see Forgetting Sarah Marshall in theaters today.