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How I Met Your Mother

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How I Met Your Mother
File:Howimetyourmother.jpg
Title card
GenreSitcom
Created byCarter Bays
Craig Thomas
Directed byPamela Fryman (most episodes)
StarringJosh Radnor
Jason Segel
Cobie Smulders
Neil Patrick Harris
Alyson Hannigan
Narrated byBob Saget (uncredited)
Opening theme"Hey Beautiful" by The Solids
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes146 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersCarter Bays
Pamela Fryman
Rob Greenberg
Craig Thomas
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running timeBetween 21 and 22 minutes
Production companiesBays & Thomas Productions
20th Century Fox Television
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 19, 2005 (2005-09-19) –
present

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.

As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) [1] with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting their mother, which explains the title and allows for a narration in the past tense. How I Met Your Mother follows Ted alongside his friends Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris).[1]

How I Met Your Mother has been a critical success, and has received consistently strong ratings throughout its run. It has won five Emmy Awards, including a nomination for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 2009. In 2011, CBS announced that the series had been renewed for an additional two seasons, making the current count eight.

The seventh season of the series was announced in March 2011, along with confirmation of an eighth season, and premiered on September 19, 2011, with back-to-back episodes.[2]

Production

Inspired by the idea "let's write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York,"[3] How I Met Your Mother is Bays's and Thomas's idea. The two drew from their friendship in creating the characters, with Ted based loosely on Bays, and Marshall and Lily based loosely on Thomas and his wife.[4][5] Thomas's wife Rebecca was initially reluctant to have a character based on her, but agreed if they could get Alyson Hannigan to play her. Fortunately, Hannigan was available, and was looking to do more comedy work.[4]

The bar MacLaren's, in which some of the show is set, is based on a bar in New York City called McGee's.[6] It has a mural that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas both liked and wanted to incorporate into the show.[7] The name for the bar is from Carter Bays's assistant, Carl MacLaren; the bartender in the show is also called Carl.[8]

Usually each episode is shot over three days (most sitcoms are typically shot in a single day) in the Los Angeles based Soundstage Studio 22[9] and features upwards of 50 scenes with quick transitions and flashbacks. The laugh track is later created by recording an audience being shown the final edited episode. Co-creator Thomas claims shooting in front of a live audience would be impossible, and doing so "would blur the line between 'audience' and 'hostage situation'".[10] Later seasons started filming in front of an audience on occasion when smaller sets are used.

The theme song is a portion of "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids, of which Bays and Thomas, the two co-creators of the show, are members. Episodes from the first season generally started with the opening credits. A cold opening has been used since season two. Viewers then occasionally see Ted's children on a couch and hear him talking to them, telling the story of how he met their mother. Alternatively, scenes from previous episodes or shots of New York City with Ted narrating over the top are shown. Thomas has explicitly said Future Ted is an unreliable narrator since he is trying to tell a story that happened over 20 years earlier, and therefore tends to recall events incorrectly;[11] this has been a plot point in several episodes such as "The Goat", "Oh Honey","How I Met Everyone Else" and "The Mermaid Theory". Nevertheless, Thomas has also emphasized maintaining a coherent and consistent universe, and trying to avoid continuity errors, based on his experiences of being a fan of other shows.[12]

A scene directly relating to the identity of the mother, involving Ted's future children, was filmed near the beginning of season two for the show's eventual series finale.[13] This was primarily done because the teenage actors portraying them will be adults by the time the final season is shot.[14]

During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, How I Met Your Mother shut down production, but once the strike ended the show returned on March 17, 2008, with nine new episodes.[15] A change in timeslot was also announced, to 8:30 ET/7:30 CT, flip-flopping from the summer schedule with The Big Bang Theory.[16] The show was renewed for a fourth season by CBS on May 14, 2008,[17] which premiered on September 22, 2008.[18]

In September 2008, it was announced Lifetime Television purchased the right to rerun How I Met Your Mother at a rate of about $725,000 per episode.[19] The four-year syndication contract stipulated the studio must deliver at least 110 half-hour episodes by the year 2010, and allows for up to eight seasons of the show. At the end of the fourth season only 88 episodes had been produced, and a further 22 episodes were required ensuring there would be a fifth season.[20] On May 19, 2009, the fifth-season renewal was announced.[21] On May 20, 2009, CBS announced How I Met Your Mother would move back to 8 pm, leading into the new comedy Accidentally on Purpose. On January 12, 2010, the show hit the milestone of its 100th episode. It was also announced the series would return for a sixth season on CBS.[22] In response to being syndicated, co-creator Craig Thomas said, "We're thrilled that it will live on in other forms," and they were proud of the show and it was great to see there was a strong desire for it.[23] However, cast members have suggested the show will run for no more than eight seasons.[24]

On September 13, 2010, reruns of the series began airing on local U.S. broadcast television stations and on Chicago-based cable superstation WGN America. Featured in these airings are vanity cards previously unseen in the CBS and Lifetime airings due to marginalized credit sequences used by the two networks. Shown in between the closing credits and the production company credits, these vanity cards show portions of "The Bro Code," a list of rules frequently referenced by Neil Patrick Harris' character, Barney Stinson, on how men should interact with each other, with an emphasis on activities involving pursuing members of the opposite sex. The opening theme song for the syndicated reruns is also slightly edited, running shorter and not using all the pictures seen in the opening montage that runs on DVD and the original CBS broadcasts. The episodes, too, are edited, leaving out small details.

One of the series' ongoing traditions involves giving guest roles to actors from various Joss Whedon productions, many of whom co-starred with Hannigan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Carter Bays puts this down to being "huge fans", and those casts representing "a big talent pool".[25]

On March 4, 2011, CBS announced that the show had been renewed for two more seasons,[26] with the seventh season scheduled to air with back-to-back episodes on September 19, 2011.[2]

On July 27, 2011, It was announced that FX has picked up the show for syndication. FX began airing the show on September 5, 2011.[27]

Cast

Main article: List of How I Met Your Mother characters
File:How I Met Your Mother's vagina cast.jpg
The main cast at a celebration of the 100th episode of the series. From left: Neil Patrick Harris, Cobie Smulders, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Josh Radnor.

Main characters

Recurring characters

Season synopsis

Main article: List of How I Met Your Mother episodes

Season One

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 1)

In the year 2030, Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) sits his daughter and son down to tell them the story of how he met their mother.

The series begins in 2005 with Ted (Josh Radnor) as a single, 27-year-old architect living with his two best friends from college; Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), a law student, and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), a kindergarten teacher, and an aspiring artist. Lily and Marshall have been dating for almost nine years when Marshall finally proposes. Their engagement causes Ted to think about marriage and finding his soul mate, much to the disgust of his self-appointed best friend Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), whom he met in the restroom at a bar. Barney is a serial womanizer who concocts elaborate con games, usually involving costumes and fake identities, designed to bed women he discards immediately afterward.

Ted begins his search for his perfect soul mate and meets an ambitious young reporter from Canada, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), with whom he quickly falls in love. Robin, however, doesn't want to rush into a relationship and the two decide to be friends. Future Ted reveals that Robin is not the mother after referring to her as his children's "Aunt Robin".

Ted begins dating a baker, Victoria (Ashley Williams), whom he meets at a friend's wedding, causing Robin to become jealous and realize she does have feelings for Ted. Victoria moves to Germany for a dessert fellowship, and she and Ted try a long-distance relationship. Once Ted learns Robin has feelings for him, he tells her he broke up with Victoria, even though he hasn't. They almost have sex when Victoria calls and Robin answers, mistaking Ted's phone for her own. Ted and Victoria then break up and an angry Robin distances herself from Ted, but they eventually make up and decide to date.

Meanwhile, Lily begins to wonder if she's missed any opportunities because of her relationship with Marshall, and decides to pursue an art fellowship in San Francisco, breaking up with Marshall in the process. The season ends with Ted coming back to the apartment, the morning after spending the night with Robin for the first time, to find Marshall sitting in the rain with Lily's engagement ring, devastated by their sudden break up.

Season Two

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 2)

Ted and Robin are now a couple; meanwhile, a heartbroken Marshall tries to continue his life without Lily. After enduring numerous emotional breakdowns, Marshall's friends step in, and Barney, using sly catch phrases and pick up lines, tries to get Marshall back in the dating game. Later, Lily, after finally realizing she is not meant to be an artist, returns to New York. She is reunited with Marshall, and the end of the season culminates in their marriage. When everyone discovers Robin was a Canadian teen pop star known as Robin Sparkles in the early 90s, with a hit single "Let's Go To The Mall," Marshall and Barney create a bet on whether Robin was involved in "adult films." When Barney discovers that he is wrong, the popular "slap bet" is created which permits Marshall to slap Barney in the face 5 times as hard as he can at any given time in the future, whenever Marshall chooses, which he does twice during this season. It is revealed Barney has a gay, black brother named James (Wayne Brady) and that he believes that Bob Barker is his father, unaware that his mother lied to him, and takes a trip to California to be a contestant on The Price is Right to meet his "father."

In the season finale, Ted reveals to Barney that he and Robin have been broken up for some time due to their conflicting views on marriage and kids. They didn't tell anyone in order to avoid taking attention away from Lily and Marshall's wedding. The season ends with Barney excited at the prospect of Ted and himself being single guys on the town again, and ends the season with Barney saying, "This is going to be legen- wait for it..."

Season Three

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 3)

Barney begins the season with the word, "-dary!" Robin returns from a trip to Argentina with her new boyfriend, Gael (Enrique Iglesias), and Ted must adjust to life as just her friend, while watching Robin and Gael fawning over each other. Marshall and Lily decide to move out on their own, falling in love with a place they can't afford. Robin learns of Lily's bad credit rating due to her compulsive shopping for designer brands, and forces Lily to tell Marshall. Despite this, they are able to finally secure their dream apartment, only to discover it's in a bad location and more poorly constructed than they thought (the floor is tilted). Barney is slapped for the third time on Thanksgiving, which Marshall dubs "Slapsgiving."

Ted tells his children he met their mother through a story concerning her yellow umbrella. He finds the umbrella at a club and takes it home after attending a St. Patrick's Day party where his future wife was, although they did not meet. Ted attempts to woo Stella (Sarah Chalke), a dermatologist he sees to remove an embarrassing butterfly tattoo. This culminates in a memorable "two-minute date," which incorporates small talk, dinner, a movie, coffee, two cab rides, and a goodnight kiss, all within two minutes. Robin sleeps with Barney after he comforts her following a break-up with a past Canadian love; Ted is infuriated, and decides to stop being friends with Barney. Meanwhile, an unknown woman begins to sabotage Barney's attempts to hook up. His saboteur is revealed to be Abby (Britney Spears), Stella's receptionist, with a vendetta against him for not calling her after they had sex.

In the season finale, after Ted and Barney get into separate car accidents and end up in the hospital, they renew their friendship. It is revealed Barney has true feelings for Robin, while Ted proposes to Stella in an arcade.

Season Four

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 4)

Stella says yes to Ted's proposal. Robin takes a new job in Japan, but quickly resigns and returns to New York to attend Ted's wedding, after realizing how much she misses her friends. Stella leaves Ted at the altar to get back together with Tony (Jason Jones), the father of her daughter. Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin as his company shifts him to the management team of a new acquisition, Goliath National Bank (GNB).

Marshall and Lily move to their new apartment and debate over whether or not they're ready to have children. Robin becomes roommates with Ted and gets a job as an anchor for a 4 AM news show after Barney sends out her video resume. Ted and Robin decide to sleep together constantly so they won't fight over each other's bad co-living habits. Barney attempts to make them stop fighting to prevent this, revealing to Ted his love for Robin.

Ted finds out Lily has sabotaged all of his relationships with anyone she doesn't approve of and indirectly may have inspired his breakup with Robin. Robin and Ted end up talking about it, causing their friendship to begin moving toward a positive note. After Barney finally sleeps with his 200th woman (and rubs it in the face of the childhood bully who taunted him into pursuing it), he begins to question the purpose of the remainder of his life, leaving him more certain of his feelings for Robin.

Ted, while carrying the yellow umbrella, bumps into Stella and Tony. Tony later decides to visit him, sympathizing with Ted over his loss of Stella. Tony offers him a job as a professor of architecture, which Ted initially turns down.

In the season finale Robin finds out that Barney loves her, and initially refuses to commit to anything but a sex-only relationship; they seemingly end up together anyway. Ted decides that being an architect is leading nowhere, and finally decides to instead to become a college professor. The finale ends with Ted preparing to teach his first class and Future Ted revealing to his kids that one of the women in the class is their mother.

Season Five

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 5)

Ted begins his job as an architectural professor, standing in the middle of a classroom – although the mother was present, it turns out to be an economics class as he's in the wrong lecture hall. Barney and Robin have had a sexual relationship throughout the summer and Lily locks them in a room, forcing them to come to terms with their relationship. After a rough patch they decide to break up. Robin describes it instead as "two friends getting back together." Barney immediately goes back to his old ways, using the playbook to score with women. Throughout the season Barney and Robin show feelings of regret over their break-up.

Ted dates a graduate student named Cindy (Rachel Bilson) and it is revealed her roommate is his future wife. Robin meets Don, her new co-anchor on her 4 AM TV show. Though she initially dislikes him, the two start dating and eventually she moves in with him. At the end of the season they break up when Don takes a job in Chicago — a job which Robin had previously turned down to stay in New York with Don. Marshall uses his fourth slap on Barney, once again at Thanksgiving. Ted buys a house, which needs to be fixed up badly, but is later revealed to be the future home for Ted and his kids.

Lily and Marshall are still unsure about having kids. After watching four doppelgangers of their group (Lesbian Robin, Moustache Marshall, Stripper Lily and Mexican Wrestler Ted) they decide to leave the big decision to the universe's "infinite wisdom" and start trying when they have seen Barney's Doppelganger. In the season finale, Barney disguises himself to have sex with a girl from every country in the world, and Lily and Marshall mistake him for the final doppelganger. When Marshall finds out, he decides not to tell Lily, fearing she will want to wait even longer to have children. Lily eventually finds out and decides to wait. In the season finale, Lily thinks she sees Barney's doppelganger as a hot dog vendor, which causes the group to realize she is seeing what she wants to see, and play along. Eventually Barney agrees having babies is not a stupid idea and Lily and Marshall should go forth. The season ends with Lily asking Marshall to "put a baby in my belly."

Season Six

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 6)

In the season opening, Ted sees Cindy again with a girl who he thinks to be her roommate, but she turns out to be Cindy's girlfriend whom she later marries. After prodding by Barney, Ted is eventually hired by GNB once more as the architect of the bank's new headquarters (which was originally scrapped in Season 4). However, he encounters opposition when he meets Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison), a woman who is protesting against GNB for selecting a decrepit hotel, the Arcadian, to be torn down for the headquarters. Over the season, Ted's encounters with Zoey eventually blossom into a relationship after she divorces her rich husband, but they break up as he puts his career over love, leading to the Arcadian's demolition. Ted also resolves not to get back with Zoey.

Having agreed to conceive a baby at the end of the previous season, Lily and Marshall keep having sex, hoping she will get pregnant. Around Christmas, they have a false alarm and later seek fertility testing and find the fifth doppelganger (Barney's doppelganger) as their fertility doctor, Dr. Stangel. However, tragedy strikes when Marshall's father passes away, leaving him devastated and the gang comforting him. Marshall tries to get over his father's death and live again. Despite a pledge to Lily to work harder for their future, Marshall resigns from GNB and follows his dream of being an environmental lawyer. Zoey also hires him as her lawyer in what became a futile battle to save the Arcadian. At the end of the season, Lily reveals that she is pregnant.

Barney finally admits to the gang that Bob Barker is not his real father, especially when his mother decides to sell the house he grew up in and his brother, James, meets his own father. Loretta offers the identity of Barney's father on a sheet of paper, but Barney tears this up after realizing her efforts as a single mother. At the funeral of Marshall's father, Barney tells Loretta that he wants to see his father at last. The man, Jerome Whittaker, is eventually revealed to be someone whom Barney thought was his guardian. Barney is disappointed because Jerome was not the free-wheeling man he knew as a child. Although he tries to bring back Jerry's old ways, Barney admits that he wants to settle down someday. He is also introduced to Nora, a co-worker of Robin, for whom he develops feelings. After an initial falling out, the season finale indicates a possible future revival of their relationship, where Barney asks her for coffee and Nora tells Barney that "it's never too late" to wear a sun-dress.

Robin continues to work at her talk show, Come On, Get Up, New York!, but the presence of a new hyperactive co-host forces her to leave. She is accepted as a researcher in another network, World Wide News. The gang also discovers more of her past as the Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles. Robin also encounters a man (Michael Trucco) she has had a secret crush on since first seeing him when she and Ted were dating, and Future Ted hints that there will be more of him later.

A short scene during both the first and last episode of the season feature a wedding set sometime in the future, which is where Ted will meet his future wife. In the last episode it is revealed to be Barney's wedding.

Season Seven

Main article: How I Met Your Mother (season 7)

Season seven opens to find Barney getting ready for his wedding with a yet unknown bride. Barney and Ted reminisce about Punchy's wedding, and Lily and Marshall reveal that they are having a child together. Marshall gets a job at the environmental law firm, Honeywell & Cootes. Barney proves to Nora that he can be a good boyfriend to her, and Robin regains feelings for Barney. Barney is forced to wear Marshall's ducky tie for a whole year after losing a bet with Lily that he can do a chef's job at Shinjitsu. Ted meanwhile runs into Victoria again, and feels guilty for almost cheating on her with Robin six years previously. However it emerges that Victoria cheated on him herself in Germany, and that she is about to get engaged to the guy she met there. After a fight, the two share a kiss but Victoria decides to remain with her boyfriend. Upon leaving, she warns Ted that the relationship he shares with Barney and Robin won't last, given that Robin has dated both of them.

Robin takes court-mandated therapy (for assaulting a woman), until her therapist Kevin (Kal Penn) lies to her, telling her that he is moving to Alaska. However, shortly after Robin runs into him at a restaurant. He confesses that he lied to her because he finds her attractive and therefore cannot be her therapist anymore. They start to date, after some initial awkwardness. Marshall and Lily learn that their baby will be a boy. Ted finally meets "The Slutty Pumpkin" portrayed by Katie Holmes, however they have the worst romance ever and break up soon after. Robin finds out from Barney's father that he is one-quarter Canadian, Barney is shocked by this fact, and tries to prove that he is a true American by wearing Rocky's Americana boxing trunks for Halloween. Barney quickly tires of wearing the ducky tie, but becomes desperate to take it off when he is due to meet Nora's parents for the first time. In the end, a compromise is reached... Barney can take off the tie if he has three slaps added to the one slap he has remaining from the slap bet. Barney agrees, and Marshall delivers two of the slaps immediately, leaving him with two remaining.

It is revealed that Marshall and Lily conceived their child in Barney's bathroom during Hurricane Irene and also that Robin and Barney almost kissed a day after that but were interrupted by a call from Robin's father. While reminiscing about this, they end up kissing in a cab and sleeping together. Barney and Robin both realize what they've done and decide to tell Nora and Kevin. Things take an unexpected turn, however, since Barney ends up breaking up with Nora for Robin and Robin decides to stay with Kevin. Marshall and Lily decide they want to move to Long Island. Robin reveals she is pregnant, the father is not revealed.

Tie-ins

Books

  • The Bro Code, cited by Barney many times throughout the series, is a set of written rules for bros to follow, and has been published as a tie-in novel and an audiobook.[28] Barney alleges it was written by Barnabas Stinson (an assumed relative of Barney), a contemporary of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.
  • Bro on the Go: a companion to The Bro Code, released in 2009.[29]
  • The Playbook, (based on the fifth season episode of the same name), by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn.[30]

Websites

  • Barney's Blog — Throughout the series, Barney makes references to his blog. The blog is written by Matt Kuhn and hosted by CBS.[31]
  • Barney's Twitter — CBS also updates a Twitter account for Barney.
  • Internationalsuitupday.com - International Suit Up Day 2011
  • Swarley.com — At the end of the episode “Swarley,” Barney tries to pretend he loves his new name to avoid being called Swarley again. Though not shown in the episode, there used to be a website called swarley.com about it.
  • TedMosbyIsAJerk.com — In the episode "The Bracket", it is revealed one of Barney's former one-night-stands, whom he told his name was Ted Mosby (in "Ted Mosby: Architect"), created a website denouncing him called TedMosbyIsAJerk.com. There is also TedMosbyIsNotAJerk.com.
  • Marshall and Lily's Wedding — A website with videos and pictures of Marshall and Lily's honeymoon, never shown on the program (the honeymoon part was never shown) but available as a special feature on the Season 3 DVD.
  • LilyAndMarshallSellTheirStuff.com (archived) — In Season 3, Episode 19 (Everything Must Go) Marshall made a website so Lily could sell her clothes to pay for a contractor to fix the floor in their new apartment. The site was promoted at the end of the episode, as an actual online auction of memorabilia from the show. The proceeds were given to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The site was shut down after the auction was completed.
  • GuyForcesHisWifeToDressInAGarbageBagForTheNextThreeYears.com — Lily proposes this name for their clothing auction website, after Marshall suggested “LilyAndMarshallSellTheirStuff.com.” To their surprise, Lily’s name has already been taken.
  • Mysterious Dr X — The website of Ted’s mysterious identity when he was in college, as seen on the episode "The Possimpible".
  • Barney’s Video Resume — In the episode "The Possimpible", Barney reveals he has created an online video resume.
  • The Wedding Bride — In the episode "As Fast as She Can", it is revealed Tony wrote a screen play entitled "The Wedding Bride" that became a big hit and has an "official" website. This is the tie-in site for the movie, with a trailer featuring Chris Kattan, Malin Åkerman, and Jason Lewis, who play movie versions of Ted, Stella, and Tony, respectively, in this movie.
  • canadiansexacts.org — In the episode "Old King Clancy", Barney reveals this site as the source of his knowledge of Canadian sex acts and has it bookmarked on his laptop. Except for the Lily & Marshall interactive wedding album, this is the most extensive of all the HIMYM fake websites. Canadian actor Alan Thicke makes several cameos.
  • slapcountdown.com (archived) — In the episode "Wait For It" (and again in "Slapsgiving") Marshall debuts this website to torment Barney by counting down the days until he next gets slapped, the result of their Slap Bet. Visiting the website prior to the airing of Slapsgiving displayed the same countdown as featured on the show,[32] albeit counting down until the air time of the episode; after the episode aired, the site redirected to CBS' How I Met Your Mother YouTube channel.
  • itwasthebestnightever.com — In the episode "The Sexless Innkeeper", Marshall made this website after he and Lily went on a couples date with Barney and Robin. It features a photo-montage of the evening and a music video of Marshall and Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme called "Best Night Ever", in which Marshall describes what a great time he and Lily had with Robin and Barney. The video was a parody of Extreme's "More Than Words" video.
  • bigbusinessjournal.com, extremitiesquarterly.com and balloonexplorersclub.com — Part of one of Barney's schemes, The Lorenzo Von Matterhorn, to "pick up chicks"
  • grademyteacher.net — In episode 4 of season 6, Marshall mentions this website to Ted, who goes looking for his own evaluation on it, and is disappointed by the result.
  • notafathersday.com - Season 4, episode 7. Barney creates this website as part of a new holiday for single, childless men.
  • StinsonBreastReduction.com - In season 7, episode 4, Barney reveals to his friends that he pretended to be a breast reduction doctor to trick big-breasted women into meeting with him, creating this website to further the ruse.
  • LinsonBreastLawsuit.com - In the same episode, Barney tells his friends that he also created a website where he purports himself to be a lawyer willing to sue the breast reduction doctor that was another of his roles.
  • TheSlapBetCountdown.com - Similiar in design to the abovementioned website SlapCountdown.com, this site features a countdown to May 6,2013 17:27.

Phone numbers

  • 1-877-987-6401 — During the Super Bowl XLIV telecast, a clip of Neil Patrick Harris was shown holding up a sign, ostensibly in the stadium's stands, with the words "Call Barney Stinson (CBS)" and this phone number.[33][34][35] In the episode "Rabbit or Duck", which aired the week after the Super Bowl, the same clip from the Super Bowl with Harris was shown with the number on the sign changed to a 555 number.[36] This occurrence became a plot point within the episode.[36] When the number is dialed, a message recorded by Harris in character as Barney is played.[37]

Nielsen ratings

Viewership represented in a line graph.
Season Timeslot (ET) Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank Avg. viewers
(in millions)
1 Monday 8:30 P.M. (September 19, 2005 – May 15, 2006) September 19, 2005 May 15, 2006 2005–2006 #43[38] 9.47[38]
2 Monday 8:30 P.M. (September 18, 2006 – October 2, 2006)
Monday 8:00 P.M. (October 9, 2006 – May 14, 2007) 		September 18, 2006 May 14, 2007 2006–2007 #61[39] 8.50[39]
3 Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 24, 2007 – March 10, 2008)
Monday 8:30 P.M. (March 17, 2008 – May 19, 2008) 		September 24, 2007 May 19, 2008 2007–2008 #70[40] 8.21[40]
4 Monday 8:30 P.M. (September 22, 2008 – May 18, 2009)
 		September 22, 2008 May 18, 2009 2008–2009 #49[41] 9.42[41]
5 Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 21, 2009 – May 24, 2010) September 21, 2009 May 24, 2010 2009–2010 #42[42] 8.60[42]
6 Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 20, 2010 – May 16, 2011) September 20, 2010 May 16, 2011 2010–2011 #48 8.80[43]
7 Monday 8:00 P.M. (September 19, 2011 – present) September 19, 2011 Present 2011–2012

The highest viewed episode was the season 1 episode "The Pineapple Incident," watched by 12.27 million viewers. The lowest-viewed episode was the season 6 episode "Landmarks", watched by 6.41 million viewers, approximately 48 percent lower than the show's series high.

Awards and nominations

Year Result Category Award Recipient(s)
2006 Won Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Emmy Awards Crew
Won Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series Crew
Nominated Favorite New Television Comedy People's Choice Awards
2007 Won Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Emmy Awards Crew
Nominated Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series Crew
Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Choice TV Actor: Comedy Teen Choice Awards Neil Patrick Harris
2008 Won Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Emmy Awards Crew
Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Favorite Scene Stealing Star People's Choice Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Choice TV Show: Comedy Teen Choice Awards Cast and crew
Nominated Choice TV Actor: Comedy Neil Patrick Harris
2009 Nominated Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy Awards Crew
Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Neil Patrick Harris
Won Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Crew
Nominated Outstanding Picture Editing for a Comedy Series Crew
Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Golden Globe Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Favorite Scene Stealing Guest Star People's Choice Awards Britney Spears
Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Comedy TCA Awards
Nominated Individual Achievement in Comedy Neil Patrick Harris
2010 Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Golden Globe Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Won Favorite TV Comedy Actress People's Choice Awards Alyson Hannigan
Nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics Crew
Nominated Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series Crew
Nominated Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special Crew
2011 Nominated Favorite TV Comedy Actress People's Choice Awards Alyson Hannigan
Won Favorite TV Comedy Actor People's Choice Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated Favorite TV Comedy People's Choice Awards Cast and crew
Won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Critics' Choice Television Award Neil Patrick Harris
Won Outstanding Picture Editing For A Comedy Series (Single Or Multi-Camera) Emmy Awards Crew
Nominated Outstanding Art Direction For A Multi-Camera Series Crew
Nominated Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series Crew
Nominated Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special (Non-Prosthetic) Crew
Nominated Outstanding Cinematography For A Multi-camera Series Crew
2012 Pending Favorite TV Comedy People's Choice Awards Cast and Crew
Pending Favorite TV Comedy Actor People's Choice Awards Neil Patrick Harris
Pending Favorite TV Guest Star People's Choice Awards Katy Perry

DVD releases

DVD season Region 1 Release date Region 2 Release date Region 4 Release date Episode # Additional information
Season 1 November 21, 2006 May 7, 2007 January 10, 2007 22 This three-disc box set includes all 22 episodes of Season 1. Bonus features include commentaries on six episodes, Video Yearbook (20:29), two music videos: "First Round" (1:13) and "Last Call" (1:45), and Gag Reel (9:00). The episodes on the DVD have been cropped from the originally broadcast widescreen to a full frame 4:3 format. At present there is no widescreen version available.
Season 2 October 2, 2007 February 8, 2010 April 8, 2008 22 This three-disc box set includes all 22 episodes of Season 2. Bonus features include commentaries on seven episodes, How We Make Your Mother (17:10), two music videos: Robin Sparkles's "Let's Go To The Mall" (3:17) and The Solids' "Hey Beautiful" (3:51), three "How It Really Happened" scenes (5:28), Gag Reel (7:10), and an Easter Egg.
Season 3 October 7, 2008 May 10, 2010 February 11, 2009 20 This three-disc box set includes all 20 episodes of Season 3. Bonus features include commentaries on seven episodes, Series Retrospective (2:42), Lily & Marshall's Honeymoon Videos (10:37), Cast Favorites (4:59), Behind the Scenes of "We're Not From Here" (5:43), six "How It Really Happened" scenes (8:33), two music videos: Marshall Eriksen's "You Just Got Slapped" (1:52) and Robin Sparkles's "Sandcastles in the Sand" (3:39), "Ted Mosby Is A Jerk" Audio Track for "The Bracket", and Gag Reel (11:12).
Season 4 September 29, 2009 July 19, 2010 October 27, 2009 24 This three-disc box set includes all 24 episodes of Season 4. Bonus features include commentaries on four episodes, A Night With Your Mother: Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Panel Discussion, Season 3 Recap, Eriksen's Fight Club, music video for Barney Stinson's "That Guy's Awesome", and Gag Reel. Also available on Blu-Ray outside of the UK.
Season 5 September 21, 2010 November 8, 2010 October 27, 2010 24 This three-disc box set includes all 24 episodes of season 5. Bonus features include a blooper reel, the music videos Super Date, Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit, and Best Night Ever, two behind the scenes features; Making of Super Date and Behind the Scenes of the 100th Episode, an extended version of the Wedding Bride Trailer, and a musical Series Recap.
Season 6 September 27, 2011 October 3, 2011 October 5, 2011 24 This three-disc box set includes all 24 episodes of season 6. Bonus features include a blooper reel, two behind the scenes features; Making of Subway Wars and Behind the Scenes of Glitter, commentaries on three episodes, an extended performance of "Stand By Me" by Neil Patrick Harris and Wayne Brady, and a Season 5 Recap. At this time, only the standard DVD format will be issued.[44]

References

  1. ^ a b "How I Met Your Mother cast". CBS. Retrieved 2009-12-24. Cite error: The named reference "HIMYM cast" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "CBS announces 2011-2012 premiere dates". CBS Express. 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  3. ^ "TV Summer School: How to Create and Run a Successful Sitcom". E!Online. August 6, 2007. Retrieved 2009-11-11. let's write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York."
  4. ^ a b "Alyson Hannigan – "How I Met Your Mother" Sitcom – William S. Paley TV Fest". Whedon.info. 2006-03-28. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  5. ^ Maureen Ryan (April 27, 2006). "Craig Thomas: 'Sitcoms used to be about something'". Chicago Tribune. I'm like the Marshall character, I've been with my wife since freshman year of college.
  6. ^ "TV Guide Editor's Blog: Video Q&As: I Hit the How I Met Your Motherlode!". tvguide.com. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  7. ^ How I Met Your Mother 1st Season DVD Commentary
  8. ^ Keller, Joel (2007-05-11). "Carter Bays of How I Met Your Mother: The TV Squad Interview". Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  9. ^ "We Call this the Cave of Magic! ...Or Soundstage 22". CBS. 2011-08-13. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  10. ^ "The Watcher: How 'How I Met Your Mother' is not a traditional sitcom". Chicago Tribune. 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2009-12-22.
  11. ^ "'How I Met Your Mother's' Craig Thomas on Ted & Barney's Breakup, Eriksen Babies and The Future of Robarn". Zap2it.com. Retrieved 2008-07-21. [He is] a guy who is telling the story so many years in the future, and he jumbles it up in his memory a little bit. He can be an unreliable narrator.
  12. ^ "Suit Up for How I Met Your Mother Scoops". Television Without Pity. 2008-10-03. Retrieved 2011-10-07. It's nice to go [online] and see how much continuity matters to people within the universe of a show. That's absolutely true for me, too. Whenever there's the slightest inconsistency in a Buffy episode or Friends or something, my wife and I would sit on the couch and throw stuff at the TV ... When we're doing stuff in the writers room, I really try and remember that.
  13. ^ "Barney writes a book, Barney + Robin, Ted + Stella and other 'How I Met Your Mother' news". Chicago Tribune. 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-21. He did reveal that more than two years ago ... With only the two kids who play Ted's future children ... they shot a scene that directly relates to the identity of the mother. That scene will be included in the show's series finale, which Thomas said he hopes "people will see in 2012."
  14. ^ "'How I Met Your Mother's' Craig Thomas on Ted & Barney's Breakup, Eriksen Babies and The Future of Robarn". Zap2it.com. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  15. ^ "CBS Sets Series Return Dates". Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  16. ^ "Breaking News – "The Big Bang Theory" And "How I Met Your Mother" To Swap Time Periods". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  17. ^ "Upfront: CBS Releases Full Schedule". Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  18. ^ "CBS Announces 2008–2009 Premiere Dates". CBS. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  19. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (September 24, 2008). "'Mother' reruns nest at Lifetime". Hollywood Reporter. Lifetime's four-year licensing deal includes up to eight seasons of "Mother," should the CBS comedy run that long. "Mother" had a big fourth-season premiere Monday, jumping 21% in the ratings over last season.
  20. ^ "How I Met Your Mother: Syndication Deal Ensures Season Five for Sitcom". September 17, 2008.
  21. ^ "Exclusive: 'Without a Trace,' 'Privileged,' canceled, 'Gossip' spin-off DOA". May 19, 2009.
  22. ^ "'How I Met Your Mother' meets Season 6". January 25, 2010. (registration required)
  23. ^ Cohn, Angel (2008-10-03). "How I Met Your Mother TV Show". TWoP. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  24. ^ "How I Met Your Mother to end after 8 seasons?". TV Series Finale. 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  25. ^ Gelman, Vlada (2010-12-16). "'How I Met Your Mother': 'Buffy's' Danny Strong, Alexis Denisof to guest". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  26. ^ "'How I met Your Mother' renewed for two more seasons". 2011-03-04.
  27. ^ "FX Fall 2011 Schedule Has How I Met Your Mother; The Nanny Reunion on Happily Divorced". Sitcoms Online. 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  28. ^ Stinson, Barney (2008). The Bro Code. New York: Fireside. ISBN 9781439110003.
  29. ^ Stinson, Barney (2009). Bro on the Go. New York: Fireside. ISBN 9781439173138.
  30. ^ "The Playbook". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  31. ^ "Boning Up on the 'Bro Code'". 2008-08-22. show writer Matt Kuhn (of the infamous "Slapsgiving"), who also writes Barney's Blog for CBS' Web site.
  32. ^ "slapcountdown.com as it appeared on August 22, 2007". Web.archive.org. 2007-08-22. Archived from the original on 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  33. ^ "Super Bowl: Call Barney Stinson at 1-877-987-6401 – From Inside the Box – Zap2it". Blog.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  34. ^ "Call Barney Stinson!". TV Squad. 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  35. ^ "How I Met Your Mother: Barney Stinson Reveals Number on Super Bowl Ad". Buddytv.com. 2010-02-07. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  36. ^ a b "'How I Met Your Mother': Rabbit or duck? – It Happened Last Night – Zap2it". Blog.zap2it.com. 2010-02-09. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
  37. ^ ""Super Bowl: Call for Barney" at How I Met Your Mother Source".
  38. ^ a b "How I Met Your Mother ratings". ABCmedianet. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  39. ^ a b "How I Met Your Mother ratings". ABCmedianet. Retrieved 2009-12-24. [dead link‍]
  40. ^ a b "Season Program Rankings from 09/24/07 through 05/25/08". ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  41. ^ a b "Season Program Rankings from 09/22/08 through 05/17/09". ABC Medianet. May 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  42. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (2010-05-27). "Full Series Rankings For The 2009-10 Broadcast Season –". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  43. ^ Gorman, Bill (2011-06-01). "2010-11 Season Broadcast Primetime Show Viewership Averages". TV by Numbers. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  44. ^ "How I Met Your Mother DVD news: Announcement for How I Met Your Mother - Season 6". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
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