10 Things You Didn’t Know About How I Met Your Mother

The much-loved sitcom will turn 12 this year (feel old, yet?), but although you’ve probably watched episodes like ‘The Naked Man‘ or ‘The Pineapple Incident‘ about 100 times, there are still many details about How I Met Your Mother you probably don’t know!

1 – Lyndsy Fonseca and David Henrie had all their scenes filmed from the beginning

The actors who play Ted’s future kids (15 and 18 at the time) shot all their scenes during the first season of the the show. Which means that the final moments of the last season had always been planned, and with it the fate of Ted and his wife. The reason behind this is pretty obvious as it was the only way to have them looking the exact same age from start to finish (the 9-season long series is just the same extended conversation between Ted and his children).

2 – Nothing good happens after 4.20pm…

The clock in Ted’s apartment is always set at 4.20pm. While it has no clear meaning, some might think it has something to do with the popular code ‘420’, which relates to marijuana (sandwiches, we mean).

3 – Haaaave you met Sheldon?

Jim Parsons, who went on to play the much-loved character of Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, auditioned for the role of Barney. Although Neil Patrick Harris eventually got the part, Parsons probably has no regret every time he polishes one of his 4 Emmy Awards!

4 – Marshmallow and Lilypad rarely kissed because of a bad habit

Actor Jason Segel is a big smoker. A habit that Alyson Hannigan found repulsive. Which is why we rarely see Lily and Marshall kiss on-screen (at Hannigan’s request). Can we blame her?

5 – Most websites mentioned in the show are real

stinsonbreastreduction.com, tedmosbyisajerk.com, goliathbank.com, canadiansexacts.org, and many more websites talked about in the series actually exist! Check out the full list, here.

6 – Conan O’Brien played in one episode

TV host Conan O’Brien made an appearance in the 17th episode of season 7, ‘No Pressure‘.

7 – The creators of the show made a cameo appearance, too…

Carter Bays and Craig Thomas appeared in the first season (episode 21) and played paramedics during a scene where Barney tries to seduce a young woman at MacLaren’s.

8 – … and also wrote and performed the theme song of the series

Members of the band ‘The Solids’, Bays and Thomas created the song ‘Hey Beautiful‘, which opens every episode. Here’s the full version:

9 – The real name of the mother is revealed in S1E9

In the scene where a stripper tells Ted her name is Tracy, future Ted says “kids, this is the true story of how I met your mother,” as a joke, which leaves the children shocked – and also confirms that it’s really their mom’s name…

10 – HIMYM was never recorded in front of an audience

Due to the many scenes and the fast-cut nature of the show, new episodes would only be shown to an audience once they were edited to record the viewers’ reactions. The creators later joked that filming in front of a crowd would have taken too much time, leading to a “hostage situation“.