History Trivia / HowImetyourmother

* IKnewIt: Many twists have been accurately predicted over the course of the series:
** Marshall would use the final slap [[spoiler:to stop Barney from freaking out before he got married.]]
** The mother's name being [[spoiler:the same as the stripper from "Belly Full of Turkey"]] was correct.
** The fact that the mother [[spoiler:was DeadAllAlong was a common fan theory even before the show got heavy with {{Foreshadowing}}]].
** Perhaps most surprising of all, [[spoiler: Ted winds up trying to get together with Robin in the end. Despite marrying them both off to other people, they still wind up together… ish.]]

** In something of an inversion, Creator/AlysonHannigan hates her singing voice and asked not to be given much to do there (a similar thing happened with the MusicalEpisode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''). With that in mind, you'll notice she is never given a complete sentence to sing, such as in "Girls vs. Suits," or given something else to do while another is singing like playing the xylophone, tuba and violin in Marvin's lullaby.

* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Creator/WayneBrady (pansexual, but wasn't out during the series) as James Stinson (gay).

*** A subverted example. Robin is eventually discovered to be infertile. Cobie Smulders was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007 and it was ruled she wouldn't have children. She however later had two.

* IAmNotSpock: After the show ended, Josh Radnor tries to distance himself from it because everybody sees him as Ted Mosby. It's also why he grew out his beard and never shaved it.

** Serial womanizer Barney Stinson played by openly gay Neil Patrick Harris.

* OneTakeWonder: In the episode "Bad News", Lily steps out of a cab and tells Marshall that his father has died. This prompts an emotional reaction from Marshall, with him embracing Lily and crying "I'm not ready for this." Marshall's actor, Jason Segel, did not know about the twist before Lily said the the words, and the scene was done in only one take.

** Inverted with Robin who is actually a couple of years ''older'' than Creator/CobieSmulders is in real life (presumably to shift her being a news anchor out of ImprobableAge territory). Lampshaded in one episode, when Barney claims Robin always says she's two years younger than what she really is.

* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Wayne Brady (pansexual, but wasn't out during the series) as James Stinson (gay).

* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Wayne Brady (pansexual, but wasn't out during the series) as James Stinson (gay)

* PlayingAgainstType: Sarah Chalke was best known at the time for playing the shrill, neurotic Elliot Reed in ''{{Series/Scrubs}}''. While Stella is a doctor like Elliot, she's closer to the OnlySaneMan.

* TheWikiRule: The [[http://how-i-met-your-mother.wikia.com/wiki/How_I_Met_Your_Mother_Wiki How I Met Your Mother Wiki]].

*** Creator/GillianJacobs, Creator/RikiLindhome, and Creator/KaitlinOlson auditioned for Robin Scherbatsky as well before the casting of Smulders.

* NamesTheSame:
** In "The Naked Truth," there's Lenny Kravitz, an architect so renowned Ted describes him as a rock star. That metaphor is notably deceptive to Robin and the audience because Robin thought the guest at The Architects' Ball was Music/LennyKravitz.
** Ted's fanatically religious cousin from [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS2E11HowLilyStoleChristmas How Lily Stole Christmas]] shares her name with two women albeit their name is ''Stacey'' ([[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS3E04LittleBoys Little Boys]] and [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS4E08Woooo Woooo!]])

* PlayingGertrude:
** Despite Ted, Lily and Marshall being the same age in-universe, Creator/JasonSegel is six years younger than Creator/AlysonHannigan and Creator/JoshRadnor.
** Alyson is likewise only fourteen years younger than Creator/ChrisElliott, who plays her father.
** A justified example. Creator/CristinMilioti is only two years older than her on-screen daughter Creator/LyndsyFonseca. Justified because [[spoiler: Cristin only appears as Tracy in her youth while she was alive]].

** Creator/ScottFoley and Creator/JasonBiggs were approached for the role of Ted Mosby before Creator/JoshRadnor was cast. However, Foley turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with other projects while Biggs declined due to his reluctance to star on a television series. Biggs later regretted his decision when Creator/AlysonHannigan was cast, and he saw how successful the show turned out to be.

** Creator/ScottFoley and Creator/JasonBiggs were approached for the role of Ted Mosby before Creator/JoshRadnor was cast. However, Foley turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with other projects while Biggs declined due to his reluctance to star on a television series. Biggs later regretted his decision when Creator/AlysonHannigan was cast.
** Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt was offered the part of Robin Scherbatsky before the casting of Creator/CobieSmulders. However, Hewitt turned it down due to filming commitments to ''Series/GhostWhisperer''.

** Creator/ScottFoley was approached for the role of Ted Mosby before Creator/JoshRadnor was cast, but turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with other projects. Creator/JasonBiggs was offered the role, but turned it down, a decision he regretted when Creator/AlysonHannigan was cast.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: Zoey is like many of Jennifer Morrison's tough independent characters. However, rather than being heroic, she's a smug SoapboxSadie who torments Ted at every turn.

* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle: Jennifer Morrison was cast as Zoey around the time she was doing ''{{Series/House}}'' and preparing for the pilot of ''Series/OnceUponATime''. She had brown hair for the former, and was getting fed up at having to get her roots touched up every three weeks, so she opted to go back to her natural blonde specifically for ''Once Upon A Time'' in case it got picked up. As a result, she was blonde for her guest stint as Zoey.