First, Happy New Year.

Second, there are two very, very important and very, very awesome things you must watch over the next ten days. To prove the goodness of humanity in these dark times.

1) YOUTH IN REVOLT, starring Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Zack Galifianakis, Fred Willard, Steve Buscemi, Justin Long, Jean Smart, and Ray Liotta — opening January 8th. I’m excited, you’re excited, worshippers of C. D. Payne are skeptical and excited. Score by John Swihart, featuring some keyboard playing and arranging, as well as a musical doorbell, by myself. It’s funny, go see it.

2) HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER 100th episode, airing Monday, January 11th (CBS, 8:00p), featuring a full-blown musical number to close the episode. Song written by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas; orchestration, music direction, piano/keyboards, and backup vocals by yours truly. This is the project from that past year that gives me the most pride, and the one which most clearly proves that all that bizarre musical stuff I did in college (i.e., Yale a cappella) resulted in a strange yet useful set of skills. I’ll hopefully be able to post a video of the number after the airdate, provided that CBS posts one for the public. But here’s a photo from filming:

Oh, and Tim Gunn is in the episode. Tell your friends.