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How I Met Your Mother: An American Sitcom Summary

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that aired from 2005 to 2014 on CBS.
The show was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays and produced by Bays & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox Television.
The series follows the life of Ted Mosby and his group of friends in Manhattan, New York City.
Ted narrates the story to his son and daughter in 2030, recounting the events that led him to meet their mother.
The show was inspired by Thomas and Bays' friendship when they lived in New York, and the characters were loosely based on their personalities.
The show's structure includes flashbacks and flashforwards, and the story is told from Ted's perspective as an unreliable narrator.
The show was popular and received positive reviews, but the reception became mixed as the seasons went on.
The show was nominated for 91 awards and won 21, including two People's Choice Awards for Favorite TV Comedy Actor and Favorite Network TV Comedy.
The show's main cast includes Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Neil Patrick Harris, and Cobie Smulders.
The show's production involved shooting over a three-day period, primarily in Los Angeles-based Soundstage Studio 22.
The show's theme song is "Hey Beautiful" by The Solids, of which Bays and Thomas are members.
The show's ninth season introduced Cristin Milioti as the titular mother, and the one-hour series finale aired on March 31, 2014.Summary of How I Met Your Mother Seasons 1-6
In season 1, Ted meets Robin and pursues a long-distance relationship with her while she pursues a fellowship in pastry-making in Germany. Meanwhile, Lily breaks up with Marshall to pursue an art fellowship in San Francisco.
In season 2, Ted and Robin become a couple while Barney mentors Marshall in the art of flirting. The gang discovers that Robin was a teenage pop star named "Robin Sparkles". The season ends with Ted and Robin breaking up due to conflicting views on marriage and children.
In season 3, Barney and Robin have a sexual relationship while Ted attempts to woo Stella, a dermatologist who removes an embarrassing butterfly tattoo. Barney's true feelings for Robin are revealed while Ted proposes to Stella in an arcade with a toy kangaroo.
In season 4, Stella leaves Ted at the altar to get back with the father of her daughter. Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin while Marshall and Lily debate having children. Ted buys a house which is later revealed to be his future home with his children.
In season 5, Ted is hired by GNB and begins a relationship with Zoey, a protester against the demolition of a hotel. Lily and Marshall try to have a baby while Barney struggles with his feelings for Robin. Robin moves back in with Ted after breaking up with her co-anchor and boyfriend, Don Frank.
In season 6, Marshall's father passes away and he quits GNB to become an environmental lawyer. Barney discovers the identity of his father and meets Nora, a co-worker of Robin's, for whom he develops feelings. Robin leaves her talk show for a new network and Lily becomes pregnant. The season ends with Barney getting married in the future.How I Met Your Mother: A Summary
The series follows Ted Mosby's search for love and his journey towards meeting the mother of his children.
Season 7 opens with a flash forward of Ted helping Barney get ready for his wedding to an unknown bride. Marshall gets a job in environmental law while Lily's pregnancy progresses. Robin is revealed to still have feelings for Barney and receives mandated therapy after a court case for assault.
While reminiscing about Hurricane Irene, Lily and Marshall reveal that they conceived their baby in Barney's apartment, and Barney and Robin end up sleeping together. Robin has a pregnancy scare and tells Barney the child is his, but Robin's doctor informs her that she cannot have children at all.
Barney starts dating a stripper named Quinn, and the gang begins to meddle in their relationship but Barney and Quinn outsmart their attempts and win their approval. Lily goes into labor and frantically calls Barney and Marshall, who are out at a casino in Atlantic City and heavily intoxicated. Barney helps Marshall arrive in time for Lily's delivery, and they choose the middle name for the baby, Marvin Waitforit Eriksen.
Season 8 begins with Ted visiting Robin on the day of her wedding to Barney, causing him to remember how he and Victoria ran away from her wedding to be together. The season takes place in the 56 hours leading up to Barney and Robin's wedding.
Season 9 also takes place in the 56 hours leading up to Barney and Robin's wedding, with the exception of the last episode, which reveals that Barney and Robin divorce after three years of marriage. Marshall eventually becomes a judge, and he and Lily have three children. Ted's wife, Tracy McConnell, dies of an unknown illness in 2024, six years prior to the time of Ted telling his children the full story of how they met. Upon finishing the story, Ted decides to ask Robin out.
The series received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with the eighth season being considered the worst. The finale received a largely negative reaction from critics and fans.
CBS turned nearly every website mentioned in the series into a real functioning website.
A spin-off called How I Met Your Dad was planned but was not picked up by CBS.How I Met Your Mother: The Failed Spin-Offs and Nielsen Ratings
How I Met Your Mother had two failed spin-off attempts, with the full script and pilot episode of the first leaked in 2016 and 2020 respectively.
A third spin-off attempt, titled How I Met Your Father, was ordered by Hulu in 2021, with Hilary Duff as the lead character and Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger as creators and executive producers.
The show's highest-viewed episode was the series finale, "Last Forever", watched by 13.13 million viewers, while the lowest viewed was the season 6 episode "Landmarks", watched by 6.4 million viewers.
Season 9 was the highest watched season overall and among 18-49 adults, scoring a 4.5 rating in that sector.
How I Met Your Mother has been nominated for 72 awards and has won 18, including a People's Choice for Favorite Network TV Comedy in 2012.
The show's art direction, editing, and cinematography have also been awarded.
The series was available to stream on Netflix in various countries but was ultimately pulled and relocated to Disney+ and Hulu.
All nine seasons are available to stream on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video in the US.