The cast of How I Met Your Mother.
Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Josh Radnor

How I Met Your Mother (aka HIMYM) is a tv series that my boyfriend introduced me to a few years ago (I think it was in it's second season at the time), and easily became one of the best shows I've ever seen. You know the types of shows that actually make you laugh out loud, no matter how many times you've seen the same episode? To me, this is one of those shows. I can watch the same episodes over and over and still giggle about certain parts, and burst out laughing at others. A lot of people think that the comedic aspect is too predictable, which is maybe true to some extent, but that's why I love it. I love how Barney is constantly telling Ted to suit up, or calling things legendary. I love that no matter who Ted is seeing in the show, you just know that something is going to go wrong, I love Marshall's strange little songs and his silly looks. To me, they're all really lovable and entertaining characters, even if some stuff is repeated.

Robyn, Ted, Lily, Marshall and Barney at MacLaren's.

Cast

Main article: List of characters from How I Met Your Mother

Main characters

• Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby
• Jason Segel as Marshall Eriksen
• Cobie Smulders as Robin Scherbatsky
• Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson
• Alyson Hannigan as Lily Aldrin
• Bob Saget (uncredited) as Future Ted Mosby (voice only)

Recurring characters

• Lyndsy Fonseca as Future Daughter (2005-)
• David Henrie as Future Son (2005-)
• Sarah Chalke as Stella Zinman (2008–2009)
• Ashley Williams as Victoria (2006)
• Joe Manganiello as Brad (2006-)
• Bryan Callen as Bilson (2006-)
• Marshall Manesh as Ranjit (2005-)
• Joe Nieves as Carl, the Bartender at MacLarens bar (2005-)
• Charlene Amoia as Wendy the Waitress (2005-)

While Lyndsy Fonseca and David Henrie have appeared in the show since the pilot, no new footage was filmed after the season 2 episode Where Were We?. They are still credited when the archive footage is used.
Numerous actors from Joss Whedon projects have appeared on the show, such as series regulars Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris, plus Amy Acker, Tom Lenk, Harry Groener, Morena Baccarin, and Alexis Denisof (Hannigan's husband). Aside from Denisof, Smulders' fiance Taran Killam and Harris' partner David Burtka are also featured (all three appearing in three episodes each).

Also, actors from Jason Segel's debut series Freaks and Geeks have appeared on the show, such as Samm Levine, Martin Starr, Busy Philipps, and Joanna Garcia.

Season synopses

Season One

In the year 2030, Ted Mosby (voiced by Bob Saget) gathers his daughter and son 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 Wesleyan University. At different points during the show, this "Wesleyan University" is alluded to being in Ohio and therefore Ohio Wesleyan University (as is written on Marshall's diploma) or in Connecticut giving the impression that it is Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT., 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 (best) friend Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) whom he met in a bathroom after a night of drinks. Barney is known as a womanizerRobin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), when Barney plays the game he invented to introduce Ted to women: "Have you met Ted?" Ted quickly falls in love with Robin and thinks about settling down, but Robin isn't ready. The viewers learn that Robin is not the mother when Ted, as he talks to his children, refers to Robin as their "Aunt Robin". with an unnamed corporate job. Ted begins his search for his perfect mate. He is introduced to the ambitious young reporter
As the series progresses, 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 culinary 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 and they almost have sex when Victoria calls and Robin answers by mistake. Ted and Victoria then break up, and Robin becomes mad at Ted for a number of episodes, but they eventually make up. Ted gets a call from Love Solutions, a matrimonial company that previously struggled to find a match for him, who have finally found him a match. But Ted decides not to show up for the blind date because he still believes Robin is the one.
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 finally a couple. A heartbroken Marshall must now go on and try to continue his life without Lily, and he reluctantly begins dating other people. 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 (Wayne Brady). Barney believes that Bob Barker is his father takes a trip to California to be a contestant on The Price is Right, although he doesn't actually tell Barker. They discover Robin was a Canadian teen pop star in the early 90s, with a hit single "Let's Go To The Mall". The music video, viewed by Barney hundreds of times, becomes a common joke during the show.
In the season finale, through a series of flashbacks, Barney learns from Ted and Robin that they broke up for some time before Marshall and Lily's wedding. Not wanting to take attention away from Marshall and Lily, they didn't tell anyone until after the wedding. Ted and Robin agree to stay friends as Ted wants to get married and Robin does not. The season ends with Barney excited at the prospect of Ted and himself being single guys on the town again.

Season Three

Robin returns from a trip to Argentina 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. They are able to finally score their dream apartment despite this, only to discover the bad location as well as the apartment being poorly constructed. Barney is slapped for the third time on Thanksgiving, which Marshall dubs "Slapsgiving."
It is revealed that the way Ted met "The Mother" is through a story with her yellow umbrella, which he finds at a club and takes home ("No Tomorrow"). 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. Meanwhile, an unknown woman begins to sabotage Barney's attempts to hook up. Robin sleeps with Barney after he comforts her following a break-up, which is followed by Ted's disapproval due to the breaking of the "Bro Code." Ted decides to stop being friends with Barney as a result. Barney's 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 last episode, "Miracles", Ted and Barney renew their friendship after both are involved in accidents (Ted is in a cab accident and comes out of it without a scratch. Barney is run over by a bus while rushing to find out if Ted's all right). At the end of the episode, Ted proposes to Stella.
In the episode "Ten Sessions", Stella reveals that she attended and left a party on St. Patrick's Day, which may have been the same one Ted attended. Ted told his children that the future mother of his children was at the party, but they had not seen each other.
It is heavily implied that Barney has feelings for Robin. In the episode "The Goat", it is revealed that in the following year (when Ted turns 31) Robin will be living in Ted's apartment. This is confirmed in "Not a Father's Day."

Season Four

The gang continues to mature as they all reach their 30s. Stella says "yes" to Ted's proposal, but leaves him at the altar to get back together with the father of her daughter, Tony. Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin. Barney's company shifts him to the management team of a new acquisition, Goliath National Bank (GNB), and Barney in turn gets Marshall a job at the bank as in-house counsel and a contract for Ted's firm to design GNB's Manhattan headquarters.
Marshall and Lily finally move to their new apartment and struggle over whether or not they're ready to have children. Robin takes a new job in Japan, but quickly resigns because it's even worse than Metro News One and returns to New York for Ted's wedding. Soon after, Robin becomes roommates with Ted and eventually gets a job as an anchor for a 4:00 A.M. news show after Barney sends her video resume to media companies. Ted finds out about Barney's feelings for Robin when Ted and Robin sleep together constantly so they won't fight over each other's bad habits. Relationship tension begins rising between Barney and 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 towards a positive note.
Ted gets laid off from his GNB design job, resulting in the founding of his own independent company named "Mosbius Designs". As his birthday approaches, Ted anticipates old age but comes to understand that the journey is just as much fun as the ending. Likewise, as Barney finally sleeps with his 200th woman and, after rubbing it in the face of the childhood bully that taunted him into pursuing it, 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 in his loss of Stella. Tony offers him a job as a professor of architecture, which Ted turns down, saying he doesn't miss Stella nor want her back because of her deception. This causes Tony to break up with Stella, but she convinces Ted to reunite the pair, who then move to California. In his last words to Stella, Ted mentions he wants what Tony and Stella, and Lily and Marshall have for each other. Stella tells him his girl is coming as fast as she can.
Lily abandons the group and disappears for four weeks after hearing a dirty joke from Barney (a plot device implemented to explain Hannigan's absence while giving birth). In the season finale, Robin finally finds out about Barney's love for her, which she then reciprocates. Ted decides he is done being an architect and opts to instead teach architecture classes. The finale ends with the tease that the mother of Ted's children is in his class.

Season Five

The season kicks off with Ted starting his first day as an architecture professor, standing in the middle of a classroom - although the mother was present, it turns out not to be the architecture class he is supposed to teach, but instead an economics class. It is revealed that Barney and Robin have had a sexual relationship throughout the summer. Lily locks them in a room, forcing them to have 'the talk', the two finally come to terms with their relationship. After a rough patch they decide to break up. Robin described it instead as "two friends getting back together."

Related Links
How I Met Your Mother on Wikipedia
How I Met Your Mother on CBS
How I Met Your Mother - Videos