Line #12 Trivia/HowIMetYourMother


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7	* ActingForTwo:
8	** The five main lead actors also play their respective doppelgangers.
9	** In "Bedtime Stories", Barney tells the story of how he once met all the "players" of New York City, all also played by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris.
10	* ActingInTheDark:
11	** The episode "Bad News" was scripted to end with Lily telling Marshall she was pregnant. The producers secretly told Creator/AlysonHannigan right before shooting the final scene that the episode was actually going to end with her telling Marshall that [[spoiler:his father suddenly died of a heart attack]]. This was done to keep Alyson's and Creator/JasonSegel's stunned and tearful reactions as genuine as possible.
12	** The actress who plays the Mother didn't even know she was auditioning for that role until after they cast her. Plus, she'd barely even seen the show before then.
13	** The finale casually revealed the death of a recurring character. This revelation was as shocking to the audience as it was to the actor, who was not informed of the character's death until just before shooting. [[spoiler:Significantly, the character in question was the titular Mother.]]
14	** The core cast are frequently caught {{Corpsing}}, because they often didn't get told each other's lines in advance, so they're as surprised as the audience and their reactions are genuine.
15	* ActorAllusion: At the end of season 3 episode "The Bracket", Barney is shown writing on his blog, which looks remarkably like [[Series/DoogieHowserMD Doogie Howser's]] journal, and the theme tune even plays over the scene.
16	* ActorSharedBackground:
17	** Like Ted, Creator/JoshRadnor is from Ohio.
18	** For Robin:
19	*** Like Robin, Creator/CobieSmulders is from Canada. She was originally meant to be from Toronto, but changed to Vancouver to match Cobie's hometown. One episode also features Robin trying to get dual citizenship, something Cobie already has to allow her to work in both America and Canada.
20	*** While her nationality isn't explicitly pinpointed, Robin's mother is played by British Creator/TraceyUllman with her accent intact. Cobie Smulders's mother is also British.
21	* AscendedFanon:
22	** Most fans had decided that the Mother was Cindy's ClosetKey, long before it was shown to be true.
23	** Ted's kids were nicknamed [[Franchise/StarWars "Luke and Leia"]] by some fans, based off Ted being told to swear on his future children and responding "I swear on Luke and Leia." Season 9's "Unpause" reveals that Ted's son ''is'' indeed named Luke, although the daughter is named Penny.
24	** A fan theory emerged from a gag in "Belly Full of Turkey" that [[spoiler:the Mother's name was Tracy, since Ted's kids believed his joke that the stripper named Tracy turned out to be their mother]]. In a 2022 AMA, show creator Carter Bays revealed that it wasn't intentional at the time, but they took [[spoiler:the mother's name]] from that joke so it'd indeed make sense.
25	* ButIPlayOneOnTV: Sarah Chalke endured years of fans getting mad at her for Stella [[spoiler: leaving Ted at the altar]] in Season 4.
26	* CareerResurrection: For Creator/NeilPatrickHarris, who before this show could never escape the shadow of ''Series/DoogieHowserMD''. During the show's run, Harris' stardom skyrocketed.
27	* CastTheRunnerUp: Samm Levine auditioned for Barney Stinson. He would eventually go on to portray Phil in "Okay Awesome".
28	* TheCastShowoff:
29	** Creator/JasonSegel spends a lot of time singing and playing the piano. In an early episode, he also showed off some mad dance skills.
30	** Creator/NeilPatrickHarris is a trained magician, and demonstrates a few tricks starting in Season 2.
31	** Creator/CristinMilioti's ukulele skills and her beautiful singing voice are showcased in the 200th episode with her captivating rendition of "La Vie En Rose".
32	* CreatorBacklash:
33	** Mild example, but Creator/JasonSegel had said in interviews that he was ready to leave the show after the eight season, both because he wanted to pursue other acting roles, and because he felt there wasn't much left to do with Marshall as a character. He then suggested it would be interesting if Marshall and Lily got divorced, but then acknowledged that such a dark plot wouldn't work within the standard sitcom conventions the show utilized.
34	** Another mild example with Creator/JoshRadnor, who towards the end of the show expressed annoyance towards some of Ted's negative traits, such as his immaturity with relationships, propensity to AesopAmnesia, and that his self-professed "NiceGuy" status at times was an InformedAttribute.
35	** Creator/AlysonHannigan wasn't happy at all with how the show ended, saying it was like slapping the fans in the face. She also said she was never happy with the Barney and Robin pairing, feeling it complicated the Ted and Robin relationship too much.
36	** Carter Bays regrets discarding the possibility of revealing the origin of the pineapple right away in "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS1E10ThePineappleIncident The Pineapple Incident]]" with the line "We never found out where the pineapple came from".
37	* TheDanza: Louis, the Mother's ex-boyfriend, is played by Louis Ferrigno Jr., son of Creator/LouFerrigno.
38	* DawsonCasting:
39	** The gang frequently plays their younger selves in flashback sequences, even to when they're teenagers.
40	** In a meta-example Creator/JamesVanDerBeek played his character as a teenager. Possibly the only example where Dawson himself participated in DawsonCasting outside of ''Series/DawsonsCreek''. James Van Der Beek guest starred as Robin's old boyfriend and played both his teenage self and his middle-aged self.
41	* {{Defictionalization}}:
42	** Full versions of the music videos for "Let's Go to the Mall", "Sandcastles in the Sand", and "P.S. I Love You" have been created and the songs are up for purchase on iTunes. "Let's Go to the Mall" is also available to play in ''[[VideoGame/JustDance Just Dance 3]]''.
43	** ''The Bro Code'' and ''The Playbook'' were also made into actual books, plus Barney's suit-jamas are available [[http://legendarysuitjamas.com/products/legendary-premium-suitjamas online]].
44	** Almost all the websites mentioned on the show have been created by the show's production team. A partial list can be found [[http://www.barneystinsonblog.com/links/ on Barney's blog]], which also counts as one.
45	* DeletedScene: While the series creators never confirmed the canonicity of deleted scenes, two in particular are, in a way, half-canon: both feature characters remembering unseen past events, and while them remembering isn't officially canon, the remembered events themselves are by way of being mentioned in ''Series/HowIMetYourFather'':
46	** In a deleted scene from "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E20Daisy Daisy]]" Ted sees a pineapple put out on The Captain's porch as a sign of hospitality and suddenly remembers stealing one from his other house back in "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS1E10ThePineappleIncident The Pineapple Incident]]"[[note]]What makes the scene where Ted remembers about it officially non-canon is his narration from "The Pineapple Incident" in which he specifically mentions they never found out where the pineapple came from, a line Carter Bays would later regret[[/note]] . The Captain remembers someone stealing his pineapple in the HIMYF episode "Timing is Everything".
47	** In "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS7E12SymphonyOfIllumination Symphony Of Illumination]]", Ted promised to tell his kids about the time Robin was a bullfighter, which only happened in a deleted scene from "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS9E24LastForeverPartTwo Last Forever, Part Two]]", where Robin told Ted about the time she got gored by a bull. In the same HIMYF episode "Timing is Everything", Sophie meets Robin and brings up this story.
48	* DirectedByCastMember: "Jenkins" was Creator/NeilPatrickHarris' directorial debut.
49	* DVDCommentary: Season 2's "Arrivederci, Fiero" had its writer Chris Harris and star Jason Segel doing a commentary, which involved them stripping to their underwear. For season 3's "The Chain of Screaming", Segel demanded to do the commentary with Harris, who hadn't even written the episode. Before recording, Segel had done shots. During recording, he continued to drink vodka (with Harris) and also produced twelve condoms. For season 4, they went further and recorded a commentary in the personas of "David Ellis Duncan" and "Evan Rock".
50	* FakeAmerican:
51	** Robin's doppelganger, who's presumably American, is played by Canadian Creator/CobieSmulders. In fact, all the gang's doppelgangers sans Barney are played with some FakeNationality.
52	** Tony, also presumably American, is played by Canadian Creator/JasonJones.
53	* FakeMixedRace: Dark-skinned Creator/WayneBrady plays white Barney's half-brother.
54	* FakeNationality:
55	** People associated with Robin are all played by non-Canadian actors/actresses.
56	*** Jessica Glitter, Robin's co-star from her Canadian children's television show (although it's never stated directly that she's a Canadian citizen), is played by Music/NicoleScherzinger, an American who was born in Hawaii and raised in Kentucky.
57	*** Katie and Genevieve, Robin's sister and mother, are respectively played by American Creator/LucyHale and British Creator/TraceyUllman.
58	*** [[TheOtherDarrin Both]] actors to play her father Robin Sr., the first being German-American Eric Braeden and the second being American Creator/RayWise.
59	*** Her ex-boyfriend Simon is played by American Creator/JamesVanDerBeek.
60	** All the gang's doppelgangers sans Barney's. For Robin's, see FakeAmerican.
61	*** The implied Hispanic Mustache Marshall is played by American Creator/JasonSegel.
62	*** The implied Eastern European Stripper Lily is played by American Creator/AlysonHannigan.
63	*** Mexican wrestler Ted is played by American Creator/JoshRadnor.
64	** Bangladeshi Ranjit is played by Iranian Creator/MarshallManesh.
65	** German Klaus is played by American Creator/ThomasLennon.
66	* FandomNod:
67	** A popular theory online was that Ted would marry Barney's half-sister. In "Ring Up," [[spoiler:Barney unknowingly encourages Ted to sleep with her and Ted unknowingly does, leading to Barney freaking out at the revelation, and then trying to get them to marry to justify it. They don't get married, but they do have fun teasing Barney…]] It goes a step further; [[spoiler:the actresses who were contacted to audition for the role of The Mother were actually screentested under the guise of a casting call for an actress to play Barney's half-sister.]]
68	** "How Your Mother Met Me" is the timeline of the series from the perspective of The Mother, filled with little winks to fan theories. One in particular was the St. Patrick's Day party from "No Tomorrow" being revisited with the Mother's friend Kelly saying she could bump into the love of her life, with a cut to the shot in the original episode of Ted bumping into a random girl, the "bump girl" was a popular theory that she was supposed to be the Mother.
69	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: In "The Best Man" comments on Shmosby videos are actually intelligible Finnish, but obviously created with a translation software.
70	* HideYourPregnancy: In Season 4, both Creator/CobieSmulders and Creator/AlysonHannigan got pregnant, evident by the shots, baggier clothes and props.
71	* IAmNotSpock: After the show ended, Creator/JoshRadnor 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.
72	* IronyAsSheIsCast:
73	** Serial womanizer Barney Stinson played by openly gay Creator/NeilPatrickHarris.
74	** Pop idol and 2000s sex symbol Music/BritneySpears played the geeky, socially awkward AbhorrentAdmirer receptionist Abby.
75	* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/NeilPatrickHarris says that the prospect of a steady TV salary was what first got him thinking of joining the cast.
76	* 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, Creator/JasonSegel, did not know about the twist before Lily said the the words, and the scene was done in only one take.
77	* TheOtherDarrin:
78	** Despite being TheFaceless in her first appearance, during her first full appearance it was clear that Barney's mother was played by a very different actress. The scene is [[FlashbackWithTheOtherDarrin flashbacked to with the new actress playing his mother]], imitating the original's distinctive tone.
79	** ''[[Series/QueerEye Queer Eye for the Straight Guy]]'''s Jai Rodriguez becomes the second actor to play James' life partner Tom. He was previously portrayed by a random actor for [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120123090350/himym/images/e/eb/Tom_%26_James.png a picture.]]
80	** Also Cheryl, Barney's biological father's wife is portrayed by two different actresses in her appearances. Creator/NancyTravis (For Legendaddy) and Nancy Lenehan (in Season 9). This was due to Travis being busy with ''Series/LastManStanding2011.''
81	** Robin's dad was played by Creator/EricBraeden in the character's first appearance in season 4, then was recast with Creator/RayWise. The story goes that Braeden was offered to reprise the role but claimed that he had a schedule conflict with a surgery appointment (which was minor, and considered a cop-out by the production). Creator/RayWise played the role for the remainder of the series.
82	* PlayingAgainstType: Sarah Chalke was best known at the time for playing the shrill, neurotic Elliot Reid in ''{{Series/Scrubs}}''. While Stella is a doctor like Elliot, she's closer to the OnlySaneMan.
83	* PlayingWithCharacterType: Zoey is like many of Creator/JenniferMorrison's tough independent characters. However, rather than being heroic, she's a smug SoapboxSadie who torments Ted at every turn.
84	* TheProducerThinksOfEverything: The final shot of the series was filmed in 2005, to ensure that the children would still be children whenever the show ended. What's more is that the first Thanksgiving episode shows that the mother's name was decided in advance. The children's shocked reactions when Ted leads them to believe the stripper is their mother happen because she is called [[spoiler:Tracy]].
85	* PromotedFanboy:
86	** [=YouTube=] ukulele songwriter Tally Deushane, whose [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp7NX2cH_SI filk song]] about the [[FramingDevice saintlike patience of Ted's kids]] was [[http://twitpic.com/2qs1xk played over the Season 5 series recap]].
87	** Creator/BeckiNewton (Quinn) campaigned for a part.
88	** Music/BritneySpears also campaigned to be in this show.
89	* PropRecycling: As Sarah Chalke was shooting ''Scrubs'' at the same time she was appearing as Stella, she just brought her lab coat and badge from the ''Scrubs'' set to wear again.
90	* QueerCharacterQueerActor:
91	** Creator/WayneBrady (pansexual, but wasn't out during the series) as James Stinson (gay).
92	** James' husband Tom is played by gay actor Creator/JaiRodriguez.
93	** In the FailedPilotEpisode ''How I Met Your Dad'', Danny's husband Todd is played by bisexual actor Drew Tarver.
94	* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
95	** Creator/JoshRadnor is very allergic to dogs, and didn't tell the show's creators this until after he'd been hired. They worked around it for awhile with, according to [[http://www.tvguide.com/celebrity-blogs/Going-Dogs-19722.aspx a blog post Radnor wrote]], "some Claritin and some thorough vacuuming." Eventually Robin sent her dogs to live with her lesbian aunts on a farm since each dog was from previous boyfriends, and she had just made Ted get rid of things that belonged to his exes. The dogs were never to be seen again (though you can still see an affinity for dogs in decorations around her house, or occasionally on T shirts she wears). However she had gotten new ones by the end of the series in the year 2030.
96	** Lily and Marshall rarely kiss on screen because Creator/AlysonHannigan disliked Creator/JasonSegel's smoking habit, and was reluctant to kiss him too often.
97	** The gag of Barney taking a magic trick through airport security and ending up in airport prison is something that happened to Creator/NeilPatrickHarris in real life.
98	* RealLifeRelative: Plenty.
99	** [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Alexis Denisof]] (Sandy Rivers) is married to Creator/AlysonHannigan (Lily).
100	** Creator/TaranKillam (Gary Blauman) is married to Creator/CobieSmulders (Robin).
101	** David Burtka (Scooter) is married to Creator/NeilPatrickHarris (Barney).
102	** Creator/ChrisElliott (Mickey Aldrin) is the father of Creator/AbbyElliott (Jeanette).
103	* RealLifeWritesTheHairstyle: Creator/JenniferMorrison 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.
104	* RealitySubtext: The couple who get engaged in the second season finale were friends of the producers who arranged it so the man could actually propose on set. The woman didn't know what was coming, her "yes" and her tears were real (as were Cobie Smulders's tears), and so was the applause. If you listen, you can hear the significant change in audio for the "yes", because the woman was so emotional it came out garbled and had to be dubbed over.
105	* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/JoshRadnor dated Creator/LindsayPrice, who played Cathy, the girl who talks a lot in "Spoiler Alert".
106	* StarMakingRole: This show helped bolster the careers of Creator/JoshRadnor, Creator/JasonSegel, Creator/CobieSmulders, Creator/NeilPatrickHarris and Creator/CristinMilioti. For NPH's case, it's more of a CareerResurrection since his first break was ''Series/DoogieHowserMD''.
107	* TechnologyMarchesOn: In "Where Were We?", Lily is the victim of credit card theft by a coffee shop clerk. In the scene building up to it she is digging through her purse for cash while an annoyed line of people is forming behind her, before finally giving up and asking if they take credit cards. Using your credit card as a last resort can seem a little strange these days in certain places in America, as cash and credit cards are slowly switching places, with electronic payments also used in terms of being the default payment method and some businesses completely excising cash altogether.
108	* UncreditedRole: TheNarrator Creator/BobSaget.
109	* UnderageCasting: Robin (born 1980) is the youngest character of the main cast but she still actually a couple of years ''older'' than Creator/CobieSmulders (born 1982) is in real life, presumably to shift her being a news anchor out of ImprobableAge territory.
110	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
111	** 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.
112	** Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt was offered the part of Robin Scherbatsky before the casting of Creator/CobieSmulders. However, Hewitt turned it down in order to star in ''Series/GhostWhisperer''.
113	*** Creator/GillianJacobs, Creator/RikiLindhome and Creator/KaitlinOlson auditioned for Robin Scherbatsky as well before the casting of Smulders.
114	** Creator/ChrisHardwick and Creator/JimParsons read for the role of Barney Stinson before Creator/NeilPatrickHarris was cast.
115	** Creator/AliciaSilverstone was originally cast as Stella Zinman, but dropped out of the project. Reports at the time indicated that upon learning that Music/BritneySpears would be playing her receptionist Abby, Silverstone's reps had her withdraw from the role because they did not want her first appearance on the series to be overshadowed by Spears. The character was also intended to just appear in one episode, but they liked Sarah Chalke's chemistry with Josh Radnor and kept bringing Stella back.
116	** Although the plot is the same, most of the dialogue and jokes in the first script for the pilot were rewritten. For example, some characters have slightly different quirks, like Marshall being portrayed as a bit of a {{hypochondriac}} who worries about having various diseases. The biggest divergence, however, is a missing scene when Barney, Lily and Marshall are waiting near Robin’s apartment: Marshall tries to prove that he is assertive and runs off to buy another champagne bottle. Once they start drinking they are caught by a police officer and Marshall is actually arrested when he tries to talk back. Lily has to bail him out and ''then'' they go to [=MacLaren's=].
117	** If the show hadn't gotten picked up for a second season, Victoria would have been the mother. Had it not been renewed for a fourth, then Stella would have been.
118	** Nick, whose return was promised by Future Ted, was originally supposed to appear as Robin's love interest in season 7. When his actor was unavailable, Kevin was created to take his place and Nick returned in season 8 instead.
119	** Season 8 was intended to be the final season, but when the show was unexpectedly renewed for a ninth season the planned ending (Robin and Barney get married and Ted meets the mother) had to be pushed back.
120	** Within two weeks of the episode airing, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas still hadn't decided on the ending of the series, trying to choose between two endings. The alternate ending was on the season DVD release.
121	* WordOfGod:
122	** It is never stated in the show, but the creators have confirmed that Carl's last name is [=MacLaren=] and that he owns the bar. This is a ShoutOut in and of itself--Carl [=MacLaren=] is a member of the HIMYM crew.
123	** If the show wasn't picked up beyond the initial thirteen episode order, Victoria would have been The Mother.
124	** In a Reddit AMA, Carter Bays [[https://www.reddit.com/r/HIMYM/comments/vtm75p/comment/if8o2w7/ confirmed]] that Marshall [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS5E19ZooOrFalse did indeed get robbed by a monkey]].
125	* WordOfStPaul:
126	** Prior to the series finale airing, Creator/CristinMilioti was asked about the fan theories that [[spoiler:the Mother has been dead the entire time Ted has been telling the story]], and her response of "That's insane." was taken as a debunking of the theory. [[spoiler:It did, however, turn out to be entirely accurate.]]
127	** Neil Patrick Harris is a fan of the theory that Ted purposely [[UnreliableNarrator exaggerates Barney's sexual escapades]] so that Ted's own decisions come off as more mild in comparison.
128	* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: The series starts with a DrivingQuestion of "How does Ted meet the future mother of his children?" and the creators were adamant that it would happen in the GrandFinale. The thing is they weren't sure how long they would get to tell this story and there were several admitted plans in place in case they were or were not renewed. Victoria of season one was outright confirmed to be the Mother in case the initial 13-episode order was all they had. Stella is theorized to also be a back-up Mother (given how they meet ties directly into the implied "MythArc") if season three was the end. Once ratings stabilized it seemed that the writers had a clear idea of how the show would end by introducing some more solid clues (the [[MilestoneCelebration 100th episode]] has Ted meeting the Mother's roommate and getting a lot of, still vague, information on her) but still had to keep things flexible because now they weren't sure ''when they were ending.''

Context Trivia / HowIMetYourMother