Nineteen years ago, CBS started to tell the world's longest meet-cute story with a new series called How I Met Your Mother. The sitcom ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2014, and now that the controversial end of the series is celebrating its tenth anniversary, Disney+ subscribers are binging it in order to remember what was good and bad about the series -- as well as the elements that haven't aged well. The show is currently the seventh most-watched title on the platform, and all seasons are available to stream.
Back when it premiered, How I Met Your Mother became one of the most popular sitcoms due to its ambitious storyline: The show jumps back and forth in time with flashbacks and flashforwards that sometimes reveal events that only play off in later seasons, including the main event described in the title. The series also catapulted the careers of its stars, especially Neil Patrick Harris (Doctor Who), whose character -- the womanizing Barney Stinson -- quickly became a fan favorite. From the main cast, Alyson Hannigan was already a big name due to the American Pie franchise and for having starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but her fellow costars Josh Radnor (Hunters), Jason Segel (Shrinking), and Cobie Smulders (Avengers: Endgame) were mostly unknown.
Throughout its nine seasons, How I Met Your Mother handled some pretty daring stories, approached some themes that are not usual for sitcoms, and featured guests like Bryan Cranston (Your Honor), Weird Al Yankovic (UHF), Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike XXL), Mandy Moore (This Is Us), Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars), James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek), Kim Kardashian (American Horror Story: Delicate), and superstars like Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, and Britney Spears.
Why Was the How I Met Your Mother Finale So Controversial? Close
All of How I Met Your Mother Season 9 is pretty unconventional. The 24 episodes take place over the course of a single weekend, and naturally fans were eager to discover how showrunners Carter Bays and Craig Thomas would finally present the title character and see her interact with the main cast. The problem was... the Mother (played by Cristin Milioti, who currently stars as Sofia Falcone in The Penguin) was hardly in the series at all and was basically introduced to meet a tragic fate. Additionally, the final episode is pretty gloomy, and fans have problems with the series' send-off to this day.
Recently, the show had a bit of a comeback with short-lived spin-off series How I Met Your Father, which didn't center around the same group of characters but featured guest appearances from Smulders and Harris. The new series had the same structure of the original show: It told the story of a woman telling her kids the story of how she met the love of her life. It starred Hilary Duff (Younger) and Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) in the main role (younger and older versions, respectively).
You can stream all episodes of How I Met Your Mother on Disney+.
How I Met Your Mother ComedyDrama
A father recounts to his children - through a series of flashbacks - the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother.
Release Date September 19, 2005 Cast Josh Radnor , Jason Segel , Cobie Smulders , Neil Patrick Harris , Alyson Hannigan , Bob Saget Seasons 9 Story By Carter Bays; Craig Thomas; Rob Greenberg Writers Carter Bays , Craig Thomas Network CBS Expand
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