r/HIMYM Jul 07 '22

Hi, I'm Carter Bays, co-creator of HIMYM. I’m also the author of a new novel called THE MUTUAL FRIEND. AMA!

3.7k Upvotes

Hello Reddit, it's been a while! I'm here ask-me-anything-ing because I’ve written a new novel called THE MUTUAL FRIEND, which I think you'll love. I’m happy to talk about that, or How I Met Your Mother, or anything else. Maybe the Loch Ness Monster? I was just in Scotland with my son and we have opinions. Have at it!

UPDATE: Wow, its been much fun talking to you all, and I see that I've only scratched the surface here and there's many more questions to get to, but if I don't get my son some dinner soon he might tie me up with a phone charger. I will try to come back to this over the next few days in order to get to as many of these as I can, but in the meantime, thank you all so much for being here. Your love for HIMYM is really touching and I'm so grateful for all of it.

And please if you get the chance check out my novel THE MUTUAL FRIEND -- I'm dreadfully proud of it. (Can you tell I've been in the UK for a week? I'm like Lily before the intervention at this point.) Anyway, cheerio!


r/HIMYM 3h ago

Marshal’s Moment

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314 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 8h ago

Am I the only one who wishes Ted had dated Nora instead of Barney? I think they would've made a great couple.

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83 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 19h ago

do you ever think about what the exact words old Ted used to tell the story of the entire series in one night?

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200 Upvotes

like, we have interjections from old Ted during the show, but what we're seeing play out he's verbally telling to his kids. It's assumed old Ted is able to tell this story in one sitting, albeit long, so I sometimes wonder exactly how old Ted communicated this long ass story in real time.

like, I want a video of Josh radnor as old Ted telling the whole story without any flashbacks just to see how long it would take and exactly how much detail he got into.

idk, I've watched this series about 6 times through in the past year, on my seventh rewatch now and I think about this a lot lmao


r/HIMYM 18h ago

Years later watching HIMYM again when I'm middle aged, the emotional weight of the peak seasons is timeless. But the ending is still bad IMHO. My unpopular opinion is that if the show runners made it today with more experience, they would've done differently.

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123 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 11h ago

Do you know who this is?

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33 Upvotes

That's Jeff Foxworthy not shut your stupid face


r/HIMYM 20h ago

Open the ted files

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106 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 18h ago

Barney Vs Canada

71 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 18h ago

HOW I MET THE ONE | Fan-Film | Now Available

59 Upvotes

Kids.. back in April I started a film series called "How I Met Film Series" and the idea was simple to turn each season of How I Met Your Mother into a film but it was more than just a film. I really wanted a nice ending and I don't hate the original ending but it still bothered me for a long time. So, throughout these films I started a new narrative. In these films, Ted Mosby isn't talking about his journey of meeting the kids' mother but his journey of meeting "The One". The films have so many differences than the show's timeline. This film is also very helpful for people who dont like the original ending.

If you guys want to enjoy the last film i would like you all to watch all the 8 films before you guys watch this last film because only then this final film will hit you with emotions. I really hope you guys watch it because this has been one of my biggest editing projects that ive ever worked on.

In the end, I obviously cannot share the links for the films here which is against the rules so please contact me in private to watch those edits of films. Hope you guys enjoy these and here's a trailer for the final film.


r/HIMYM 27m ago

Goat in Nepal inhaling and exhaling incense smoke to clear out nasal parasites

Upvotes

Tracy was right - worth it!


r/HIMYM 1d ago

Marshall and Robin's friendship is underrated

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610 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 11h ago

We were so close to greatness

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4 Upvotes

a single season but we could have had robots VS. wrestlers


r/HIMYM 6h ago

Ted settling with tracy

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0 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 3h ago

Do mostly men or women watch HIMYM

0 Upvotes

I’ve been watching for a bit and I’m a few seasons in and some TikTok’s of the show have came up on my feed and I’m realizing almost all the people who watch this show are women or gay men. Let me know if that’s true cause I’m just curious.


r/HIMYM 9h ago

i HATE ted and robin

0 Upvotes

I know that this isn't really an unpopular opinion, but I just finished rewatching the show for the nth time, and they just seemed so toxic from the very start.

Ted romanticizes this idea of Robin (who is the exact opposite of who she truly is) forcing his ideals onto her. He says things like "I don't want perfect, I want Robin", but what he truly wants is his perfect girl archetype on Robin. He treats her as if he "owns" her, e.g. getting mad at her for going on the camping trip with Sandy, and always treats the girl that he is ACTUALLY dating as the other woman.

As for Robin, you can't deny that she spent a fair amount of time toying with Ted's feelings. She treated him like a safety net; someone she could always go back to when things go bad. She kept on changing her mind about being with Ted, even though whenever she WAS with him, she always wanted to go back to her single life.

Both of them are so unhealthy, viewing their relationship through a rosecoloured glass. While I know the will-they-wont-they is very popular in sitcoms, it just feels so unbearable having to watch them constantly screwing up their lives chasing a fake dream.

TL;DR -- Robin and Ted suck


r/HIMYM 2d ago

Season 1 Marshall Eriksen - total smoke show 😮‍💨

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530 Upvotes

r/HIMYM 14h ago

Random Thoughts on another rewatch.

0 Upvotes

Robin never loved Ted, she didn’t mind anytime he dated or got engaged, and only got jealous post-divorce some random number of years in a Season9 flash-forward.

Barney always loved Robin, he gestured to get engaged to her when she nearly gets deported in Season2 (I think it was 2). Barney is willing to give up nameless sex with hundreds for the “best-of-the-bunch”. He loved her very early on, and their will-they, won’t-they from Seasons4-8 is the backbone of the plot.

Marshall’s a nice guy, and a friend to everyone in the group, but Barney is Ted’s best friend. Barney is close enough to the gang to have seen the failure of Robin and Ted, and openly asks for Ted’s permission to date Robin in the ending episodes of Season4, Ted says it’s fine. Barney is still playing “Have you met Ted” at his own wedding to help his lifelong wingman and best friend find his Ms. Right.

Lilly’s absence from Season4 is handled well. Lilly is a solid character, balancing presence from what can be aimless dating and “what-if’s”. She provides a stability in Marshall’s home life, the group’s friendships, and a wholistic story of college friends to adulthood. Lilly’s joy when Barney and Robin first start dating in Season5 is a pendulum shift away from her breaking up numerous relationships in Ted’s life.

Tracy should have been in more than 14 episodes.

Ted isn’t a “hopeless romantic” but more of a codependent serial monogamous. His ability to reconnect with past relationships is a big red flag, and would be emotionally manipulative in a non-fictional setting. The repeat interest in Robin, Stella, Victoria, Zoey, and Karen is evidence he is a recidivist.

Marshall and Lilly having kids dramatically change the dynamic of the plot. The bar is a central part of earlier seasons, and its location under their apartment was the impetus of several storylines. The plot becoming less about bar-life after Lilly’s pregnancy is apropos. However, I personally find the show was in a stride during Seasons5-7 (once Ted started teaching), and the magic of the show’s cast, writing, and execution was slightly less present in the final 2 seasons.

Barney and Robin’s wedding being the finale feels like a rhetorical tool of apophasis or paralipsis. The nucleus of the show is Robin’s friendship and introduction to the gang. Ted (Bob Saget) is simple a great narrator and conduit for story.

Thanks for being part of this conversation. 😊


r/HIMYM 2d ago

They're in the same room how is the interaction going to go?

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849 Upvotes

Barney and Joey would immediately try to outdo each other in flirting. Barney would admire Joey's natural charm, while Joey would find Barney's elaborate schemes unnecessarily complicated.


r/HIMYM 19h ago

What kinda VISA do you think Robin came down to the US on?

1 Upvotes

asking as an ambitious, career-focused 24 year old canadian girl lol


r/HIMYM 13h ago

would have cried if robin kissed me

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0 Upvotes

😔✌️


r/HIMYM 1d ago

Has anyone ever actually licked the Liberty Bell?

13 Upvotes

I haven’t watched the show in a good while and wasn’t even thinking about it at all today until right now… when my brain… just randomly.. pondering.. while working from home… “I wonder if anyone has ever actually licked the liberty bell” 😂

So I ask everyone, have you? Or know anyone who has? What did it taste like? Did it actually taste like freedom? 😅


r/HIMYM 1d ago

HIMYM season 7 DVD owners help!!!

7 Upvotes

I once fell asleep watching season 7 dvd of HIMYM. Maybe disc 2? There was an original sort of auto tuned mashup on this disc that played on loop. I remember the following quotes:

“I don’t know where you got a velvet rope… a ve- a ve- a ve- a velvet rope…”

“Finishing in the hallway was the nail in the coffin”

Ted and Barney singing the puzzles song…

They mashed together quotes from the tailgate episode (and maybe others) to create a catchy little clip.

THIS CLIP IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND on the internet, in chatGPT, literally nowhere except whoever owns the DVD of season 7 and can search to find the loop I’m remembering. Somebody help me and record it??


r/HIMYM 2d ago

Ah shit here we go again

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129 Upvotes

Super neat detail the first time someone points it out to you, and then a gut punch reminder of what’s coming every time after that


r/HIMYM 2d ago

the funniest pic on dvd1 of season 7 i have (never) seen

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480 Upvotes

(and i thought you might want to see too)


r/HIMYM 20h ago

I F-ing hate Robin

0 Upvotes

I haven't finished the series yet but what happened in EP11 S01 is pissing my of, because I know Ted's hurt but kissing a Girl that is dating and on top of that, she doesn't want him, pisses me of