How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is an American Sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005. The show was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. The season nine finale aired on March 31st, 2014 on CBS.

The series revolves around Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) who in the year of 2030 tells the story to his son and daughter how he met their mother (hence the title.) While living in New York City and working as an architect, the narrative deals with his best friends, including the long-lasting couple Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan); the eccentric, womanizer-playboy Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris); and news anchor Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). The series explores many storylines, including a love triangle between Robin, Ted, and Barney; Marshall and Lily's relationship; as well as the careers of the characters and so much more. The series is narrated by Bob Saget through flashbacks from the future.

Production
How I Met Your Mother drew from the friendship of Bays and Thomas (the creators) in creating the characters, with Ted based loosely on Bays, and Marshall and Lily based loosely on Thomas and his wife. Thomas' wife Rebecca was initially reluctnt 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.

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

Usually each episode is shot over three days, where most other sitcoms are typically shot in a single day, and features upwards of 50 scenes an episode with quick transitions. The show uses a laugh track and flashbacks are frequently featured in the story. The laugh track is later created by recording an audience being shown the final edited episode. Due to the larger scope of the show, co-creator Thomas claims that shooting in front of a live audience would be impossible, and doing so "would blur the line between 'audience' and 'hostage situation'". Later seasons were filmed 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 (about 2 minutes of the episode airs, then the opening comes) 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 shows or shots of New York City with Ted narrating over the top are shown. Thomas has explicitly said that 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. 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. This was primarily done because the teenage actors portraying them will be adults by the time the final season is shot.

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. 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. The show was renewed for a fourth season by CBS on May 14, 2008, which premiered on September 22, 2008.

In September 2008, it was announced that Lifetime Television had purchased the right to rerun How I Met Your Mother at a rate of about $725,000 per episode. The four-year syndication contract stipulated that 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. On May 19, 2009, the fifth-season renewal was announced. On May 20, 2009, CBS announced that 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 that the series will return for a sixth season on CBS. In response to being syndicated, co-creator Craig Thomas said, "We're thrilled that it will live on in other forms," and that they were proud of the show and that it was great to see that there was a strong desire for it. However, cast members have suggested that the show will run for no more than eight seasons. 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, called "The Bro Code", a list of rules frequently referenced by Neil Patrick Harris's character, Barney Stinson, on how men should interact with each other while both pursuing the same member of the opposite sex; these vanity cards are shown in between the closing credits and the production company credits.

Recurring Secondary Characters

 * Lyndsy Fonseca as Penny Mosby (2005–2014)
 * David Henrie as Luke Mosby (2005–2014)
 * Marshall Manesh as Ranjit (2005–2014)
 * Joe Nieves as Carl the bartender (2005–2014)
 * Charlene Amoia as Wendy the waitress (2005–2011)
 * Ashley Williams as Victoria (2006, 2011–2012, 2014)
 * David Burtka as Scooter (2006–2014)
 * Joe Manganiello as Brad (2006–2012)
 * Bryan Callen as Bilson (2006–2009)
 * Taran Killam as Blauman (2006–2010)
 * Alexis Denisof as Sandy Rivers (2006-2014)
 * Wayne Brady as James Stinson (2006-2014)
 * Sarah Chalke as Stella Zinman (2008–2009)
 * Britney Spears as Abby (2008)
 * Laura Prepon as Karen (2009–2010)
 * Rachel Bilson as Cindy (2010-2014)
 * Jennifer Morrison as Zoey Pierson Van Smoot (2010-2011)
 * Laura Bell Bundy as Becky (2010-2014)

Season One
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 story 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, who have been dating for almost nine years when Marshall 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 a restroom in a bar. Barney is known as a womanizer.

Ted begins his search for his perfect mate and meets an ambitious young reporter, 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, whom he meets at a wedding, causing Robin to become jealous and realize she does have feelings for him. 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 that he has broken up with Victoria, even though he hasn't. They almost have sex when Victoria calls and Robin answers by mistake. Ted and Victoria then break up and Robin becomes mad at 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.

Season Two
Ted and Robin are now a couple, and a heartbroken Marshall tries to continue his life without Lily. Realizing she is not an artist, Lily returns to New York. She is reunited with Marshall, and the season culminates in their marriage. Barney loses a "slap bet", which permits Marshall to slap him in the face five times at any given time in the future, whenever Marshall chooses, which he does twice during this season. It is revealed that Barney has a gay, black brother called James (Wayne Brady). Barney believes that Bob Barker is his father and takes a trip to California to be a contestant on The Price is Right. 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". The music video is viewed by Barney hundreds of times.

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. 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 the phrase "This is going to be legen- wait for it..."

Season Three
Barney begins the season with the word, "-dary!" Robin returns from a trip to Argentina with boyfriend Gael (Enrique Iglesias) and Ted must adjust to life as just her friend. Marshall and Lily decide to move out on their own, falling in love with a place they can't afford. Marshall learns of Lily's bad credit rating due to her compulsive shopping. 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. Barney is slapped for the third time on Thanksgiving, which Marshall dubs "Slapsgiving."

Ted tells his children that he met their mother through a story with 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 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, which is followed by Ted's disapproval and decision 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 that Barney has true feelings for Robin, while Ted proposes to Stella.

Season Four
Stella says "yes" to Ted's proposal. Robin takes a new job in Japan, but quickly resigns, returning to New York to attend Ted's wedding. Stella leaves Ted at the altar to get back together with Tony, 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 finds out about Barney's feelings for Robin when Ted and Robin sleep together constantly so they won't fight over each others bad co-living habits.

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. As Barney finally sleeps with his 200th woman, after rubbing it in the face of the childhood bully that taunted him into pursuing it, he questions what the rest of his life would be about now, 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 about Barney's love for her, which she cautiously reciprocates. Ted decides he is done being an architect and finally decides to instead teach architecture classes. The finale ends with Ted preparing to teach his first class and Future Ted revealing that one of the women in the class is the mother.

Season Five
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 of their break-up.

Ted dates a graduate student named Cindy (Rachel Bilson) and it is revealed that 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 discuss the idea of having a baby, though Lily is unsure. The couple decide to leave it until they finally glimpse the last of the group's doppelgängers. Eventually, Lily sees a man she believes to be the final doppelgänger, which, although disputed by the remainder of the group, proves that both members of the couple are ready to have a baby.

Season Six
Ted meets Cindy again, and sees her with a woman which he presumes is her roommate, only to learn that she is actually Cindy's girlfriend. It is also revealed that Ted first meets his wife while acting as best man at a wedding (during which he is caught outside in the rain without an umbrella). Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily start trying for a baby.

Barney's mother decides to sell the house he grew up in. While packing their mother's house, James and Barney see an unsent letter to Sam Gibbs, which leads to their discovery that Sam Gibbs was the father of James. Loretta offers the identity of Barney's father on a sheet of paper, but Barney tears this up after realizing Loretta's efforts as a single mother.

Ted accepts the offer of Goliath National Bank (GNB) to design the previously scrapped new headquarters. Lily persuades Robin to delete Don's number, and though it doesn't happen right away, Robin eventually forgets Don's number, and declares that she's finished with the relationship.

Season Seven
Season seven opens with another flash forward, in which Ted is helping Barney get ready for his wedding to a still unknown bride. Back in the present, Marshall gets a job in environmental law, while Lily progresses with her pregnancy. Barney proves to Nora that he can be a good boyfriend to her, while Robin is revealed to still have feelings for Barney. Robin takes court-mandated therapy, until she and her therapist Kevin (Kal Penn) start to date.

While reminiscing about Hurricane Irene, it is revealed that Lily and Marshall had conceived their baby in Barney's apartment, and Barney and Robin end up sleeping together. Barney and Robin both realize what they've done and decide to break up with their partners. However, Robin decides to stay with Kevin, which devastates Barney, who did break up with Nora. Marshall and Lily decide they want to move to Long Island, after Lily's paternal grandparents offer them their house there.

Robin learns that she cannot have children, which devastates her. Kevin proposes to Robin, but declines as she tells him she can't have children and that she doesn't want kids at all, so they break up. Robin soon admits that she does not love Ted, and Marshall asks her to move out of Ted's apartment so that Ted can finally move on in his love life. Ted then gives his apartment back to Lily and Marshall.

Barney starts dating Quinn, who happens to strip under the name "Karma" and they end up moving in together, and Ted buys Quinn's place. Later on, Barney asks Quinn to give up her job as a stripper, however Quinn doesn't want to, telling him she likes being a stripper.

Lily goes into labor and Marshall comes in time for Lily's delivery. Because of Marshall's promise with Barney, Marshall and Lily name their son Marvin "Wait For It" Eriksen and Marshall and Lily begin their new family with their baby. Barney proposes to Quinn after she tells him that she quit her job, and she accepts. Ted calls Victoria to see if he still has a chance with her, even though she is getting married. She leaves her fiancé for Ted and wants to go off into the sunset with him and Ted eventually decides to go with her. The season ends with a flash forward to Barney's wedding, where the bride is revealed to be Robin.

Season Eight
The season opens once again in a flash forward to Barney and Robin's wedding day as Ted reminisces about how he and Victoria run away from her wedding in 2012 while Lily and Marshall struggle with their new-born son, Marvin. Robin struggles with Barney's engagement to Quinn, which soon falls apart when Barney draws up an unrealistic prenuptial agreement which causes the two to realize just how little they trust each other. Robin gets a new boyfriend, a celebrity chef, and Ted continues dating Victoria after she flees her wedding. Unfortunately, both relationships fail during what the group term "The Autumn Of Break-Ups".

Once the autumn is over, we learn how Marshall decided he wanted to become a judge and Barney starts dating Robin's co-worker Patrice until he reveals how that was just a cover to prepare his marriage proposal to Robin, which she accepts. This leads to complications including Barney meeting Robin's father in order to get his approval and Ted having to come to terms with the fact he and Robin have no romantic future together. It is revealed that Ted first saw his future wife as bass player in the band at Barney and Robin's wedding.

Season Nine
Taking place immediately after where the previous season left off, this season covers the events of a three day period that is Barney and Robin's wedding weekend. During the course of the weekend, The Mother is separately introduced to Robin, Barney, Lily and Marshall, before finally meeting Ted. This season also provides a richer backstory to the mother (How Your Mother Met Me).

During the wedding weekend, several problems start to take form - the Stinsons and the Scherbatskys start to feud, Marshall and Lily have a huge fight which leaves Lily heartbroken, Ted carries a lifechanging secret that only Lily knows about, the bride and groom are freaking out and are both ready to abandon their own wedding, unwanted guests start to appear, and the Slap Bet is coming to a close.

In the series finale, it was revealed that after three years of marriage, Barney and Robin get divorced. Barney ends up fathering a child conceived through a one night stand. Marshall eventually becomes a judge, and he and Lily have three children. Ted's wife, Tracy, dies of illness in 2024, six years prior to Ted telling his children the full story of how they met. Upon finishing the story, at the urging of his kids, Ted decides to ask Robin out. Alluding to Pilot, the finale ends with Robin looking out her apartment window to see Ted on the street holding the Blue French Horn.

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. Barney alleges it was written by Barnabas Stinson, a contemporary of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin (an assumed relative of Barney).
 * Bro on the Go: a companion to The Bro Code, released in 2009.
 * The Playbook, (based on the fifth season episode of the same name), by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn.
 * Bro Code for Parents, written for Marshall and Lily by Barney Stinson in an attempt to make them want to hang out with him more due to the fact that he knows a lot about parenting.

Websites

 * Barney's Blog — Throughout the series, Barney makes references to his blog. The blog is written by Matt Kuhn and hosted by CBS.
 * Barney's Twitter CBS also updates a Twitter account for Barney.
 * Internationalsuitupday.com - International Suit Up day
 * swarley.com — At the end of the episode, 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.
 * puzzlesthebar.com - Website featuring the Puzzles Bar in Tailgate
 * TedMosbyIsAJerk.com — In the episode, it is revealed that one of Barney's former one-night-stands, Anna, whom he told that his name was Ted Mosby (in ), created a website denouncing him called TedMosbyIsAJerk.com. There is also TedMosbyIsNotAJerk.com, made by Victoria in response to Anna's website.
 * Marshall and Lily's Wedding — A website with videos and pictures of Marshall's and Lily's honeymoon, never shown on the show (the honeymoon part was never shown) but available as a Special Feature on the Season 3 DVD.
 * LilyAndMarshallSellTheirStuff.com — In, 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, Barney reveals that he has created an online video resume.
 * The Wedding Bride — In the episode, it is revealed that 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, 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 humorous cameos.
 * slapcountdown.com (archived) — In the episode (and again in ) 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, 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.  Now replaced with theslapbetcountdown.com .
 * itwasthebestnightever.com — In the episode, 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. However, the website is no longer in use.
 * 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, Marshall mentions this website to Ted, who goes looking for his own evaluation on it, and is disappointed by the result.

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.  In the episode, 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. This occurrence became a plot point within the episode. When the number is dialed, a message recorded by Harris in character as Barney is played.

Nielsen ratings
The show had an average of 9.42 million viewers for season 4, and episode 12 hit a season high of 11.85 million viewers, the show's highest ratings since Season 1 (February 2006). Episode 18, which aired at 8:00 instead of the show's usual 8:30 time-slot, hit a season low of only 7.40 million viewers. This was the lowest rated episode of How I Met Your Mother since the episode.