How I Met Your Mother

Season 1

Pilot

1. The famous Barney catch phrases, "Have you met Ted", "What up", "Wait For it" & "Suit up" all appear in the pilot episode.
2. Features not only the debut of the five main characters, but also the debut of the recurring character Ranjit (Marshall Manesh) who usually works as a driver for the main characters. He has thus far appeared in every season.
3. Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas wrote the pilot's script with single-camera elements, mainly for the multiple scenes and flashbacks.
4. Marshall's character was originally supposed to be a hypochondriac, but it was dropped, however; when Marshall startles Lily on the couch before Ted walks in and tells them about his date with Robin, Marshall was supposed to tell Lily he had dog diabetes.
5. This episode was debuted on the same date (September 19th) as Doogie Howser, another show staring Neil Patrick Harris.
6. Lily's fingerpainting mishap is referenced in episode 6.06 Baby Talk (2010) as the reason Lily doesn't want to name her son Rob.
7. When explaining what he wants his future wedding to be like, Ted says that he wants a band, not a DJ. This connects to the episode in the 8th season "band or DJ", in which Ted argues that Barney and Robin should have a DJ at their wedding. We later find out that Ted only wants Barney and Robin to have a DJ because he disapproves of their marriage.

Purple Giraffe

1. After the second party, Marshall said: "Alright, we threw two parties. Everybody had fun. Everybody wanged, everybody chunged". This is a reference to the 1986 song "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" by Wang Chung.
2. During the second party, Barney said: "Ah, you were so right about the roof. The roof! The roof is on fire!". This is a reference to the 1984 song "The Roof Is On Fire" by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three.
3. This episode features two actors that star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cobie Smulders (Robyn) plays Agent Maria Hill In 'Avengers'(2012), 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'(2015), 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'(2014), 'Avengers: Infinity War'(2018) and 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'(2013-2015), while Jon Bernthal (Carlos) plays Frank Castle in 'Daredevil' (2016) and 'The Punisher'(2017).
4. Barney asks Ted, 'What's so special about the roof?' (in response to Ted's plans to take Robin to the roof). Barney would later propose to Robin on a roof in season 8.

The Sweet Taste of Liberty

Return of the Shirt

1. Anne Dudek plays Natalie, a girlfriend that Ted broke up with on her birthday. In Friends (1994), Friends: The One After Joey and Rachel Kiss (2003), Anne Dudek plays Precious, a girlfriend of Mike who also split up with her on her birthday.
2. Easter Egg - Barney offers Robin $50 to say "Booger" on live TV. She refuses. In the Pilot of WKRP In Cincinnati it is discovered that Dr Johnny Fever had been fired at another station for saying Booger. His one condition of being a DJ for WKRP when it changed to Rock and Roll was that he got to say Booger on the air, which he did immediately.
3. Marshall quotes The Goonies in this episode. Seasons later, you find out that Lily knows every word to The Goonies after seeing it countless times in theatres as a kid during her parents' divorce.

Okay Awesome

1. Standing outside the club among the three guys who see Lily and Robin flash their breasts is Samm Levine, who was cast alongside Jason Segel in the 1999-2000 Freaks and Geeks (1999). When Marsall (Segal) walks by, Levine says he looks familiar and tries guessing who it is.
2. Samm Levine (who appears in this episode) originally tried out for the part of Barney but stepped aside as he thought he wasn't right for the part.
3. Another person points out Robin's absence from the last scene, but incorrectly states it's not explained why. Robin lives in Brooklyn, while the other four live in Manhattan. It makes sense she wouldn't be in their cab.
4. Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays appeared on the television show Glee.
5. Jayma Mays (coat check girl) and Neil Patrick Harris later co-starred in Smurfs (2011)
6. In the final scene, Robin is absent, a fact that is never addressed or explained.
7. The Coat Check Girl is the character that has the longest interval between her first and second appearance in the entire series (178 episodes). The first being in the Season 1, Episode 5, and the second being in Season 8, Episode 20.
8. Toward the end of this episode, Marshall is seen showing off his disco skills. A much younger Jason Segel can be seen doing the same thing in the series finale of Freaks and Geeks (1999).

The Slutty Pumpkin

1. Robin mentions that she never played team sports but there's a running story throughout the rest of the show that she played hockey growing up.
2. There really is a drink called the "Tootsie Roll", but it's made with Kahlua and Sunny Delight orange juice instead of root beer.
3. The name on Barney's flight suit is Glenn Matthews, the same name the Janitor gives to JD in the series finale of Scrubs
4. The "slutty pumpkin "would later turn out to be actress Katie Holmes.

Matchmaker

1. Ted's favorite book is "Love in the time of Cholera" by Garcia Marquez. The book starts with an old man reminiscing how he came to be with the love of his life, similarly to how Ted tells the story to his children.
2. Dr. Sarah O'Brien, Ted's match, is a dermatologist. In Season 3, Ted meets a woman he will get engaged to, Dr. Stella Zinman (Sarah Chalke), also a dermatologist.

The Duel

1. The geeky guy that Robin tells Barney could be her soul mate is Martin Starr who played Bill Haverchuck in the 1999 Indie TV show Freaks and Geeks (1999).
2. At the end of the episode the song "tubthumping" by Cumbawumba is playing. This also plays at the end of American Pie. Alyson Hannigan who plays Lily was in American Pie
3. Lily incorrectly refers to the swords used in the duel as a "broadsword". In actuality, the swords are sabers.

Belly Full of Turkey

1. The music in the aired and the DVD versions were changed. In the strip club scene, the aired version played Mr. Roboto by Styx, but on the DVD, its replaced with generic music.
2. In this episode, Robin says to Ted, "I'm Canadian, remember?", but this is actually the first time in the entire show that Robin's nationality is revealed.
3. It is mentioned in this episode that Marshall is 6ft 4". In real life, Jason Segel is in fact 6ft 4".
4. Bill Fagerbakke who plays Marshall's father is best known as Dobber on "Coach" and the voice of Patrick Star in the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants
5. The song Barney is singing as he enters the kitchen at the homeless shelter is, "Over The River And Through The Woods".
6. The name of the mother is revealed at the end of an episode when Ted meets a stripper named Tracy and tells the kids "and that's how I me your mother" Obviously joking about the person but their mother is in fact named Tracy; in which this is shown 9 seasons later.

The Pineapple Incident

1. According to Netflix data, this is the most watched episode of the series.
2. The first time that Ted's room is shown.
3. Danica McKellar also starred in The Wonder Years (1988) which was also told in retrospective with narration.
4. At the beginning of the episode, Marshall discusses with the group on how he believes Bartender Carl is a vampire. Alyson Hannigan starred on the tv show Buffy The Vampire Slayer, in which vampires are a main issue on the show.
5. Robin has the same phone as Gabriella in the Disney Channel movie High School Musical
6. According to a deleted scene from the DVD collection of the final season...Ted got the Pineapple from "The Captains" house in the city. To Sailors putting a pineapple outside your house is a symbol of hospitality.
7. In this episode, Ted calls everyone in the bar 'babydoll' when he walks in after sneaking out of his apartment. It later becomes an in joke of the show that in the screenplay about Ted, Jed Mosly's catchphrase is 'candosville babydoll'
8. Ted complains about being "vomit free since 05" doesn't have as good a ring to it as "Vomit free since 93" however it's later revealed that he threw up during the "re return" when he went to go kiss Robin therefore breaking his streak. So he actually was vomit free since 05 when he complains about it

The Limo

1. Barney's get psych mix is 1. I wanna rock -Twisted Sister 2. You give love a bad name - Bon Jovi 3. Lick it up - Kiss 4. Paradise city - Guns 'n' Roses 5. Dancing with myself - Billy Idol 6. Rock you like a hurricane - Scorpions 7. Panama - Van Halen 8. Talk dirty to me - Poison 9. Thunderstruck - AC/DC 10. Dr. Feelgood - Mötley Crüe 11. Round and Round - Ratt
2. "You give love a bad name" is the first song Barney plays off his get psyched mix, however when he holds up the CD case, it is listed as the second track. The first track being "I wanna rock".
3. Whilst the gang are driving around in the Limo and MaryBeth (Ted's date) stands up to get some air through the sunroof, they are parked out side 'Nolita', the restaurant that Kitchen Confidential (2005) was based in.
4. Barney's psych up song is "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi
5. "Not Moby's" name was Eric (he signed Marshall's T-shirt).
6. When Ted and Robin kiss at New Years Eve, the background song happens to be "La vie en rose", same song he hears sing from Tracy for the first time, when he hasn't met her yet.
7. Running gag: Barney playing You Give Love a Bad Name multiple times only for it to be shut off

The Wedding

1. In this episode, Claudia says she is 28 years old, which makes her one year older than Ted, who was 27 years old. In real life, Virginia Williams was 27 years old, four years younger than Josh Radnor, who was 31 years old.
2. Reportedly, had the show not been picked up for a full season, the producers would have simply finished the story by dubbing over the Narrator's voice with the words, "And that kids, is the story of how I met your mother," when Victoria is seen smiling at Ted at the end of the episode.
3. When the audience first see the bride in the episode she's on the phone yelling at the person who is making her wedding cake. The girl at the wedding that Ted locks eyes with and dates for a while is, as revealed in the next episode to be this baker.
4. First appearance of Victoria (Ashley Williams). Although her name is never mentioned except for being listed in the end credits.

Drumroll, Please

1. The series received an initial order of 13 episodes. Because early episodes got mediocre ratings, the writers wrote this episode so that, if the show got cancelled, they could gracefully end the series with Victoria being the mother. The plan was to have Ted enter the bakery, Victoria saying, "Oh, thank God.", them kissing, and then older Ted saying in a voiceover, "And that, kids, is the story of How I Met Your Mother."
2. Bob Saget, who voices old Ted, has one of his real wedding photos shown at the beginning of this episode
3. In the opening scenes when Barney and Ted are sitting together at the wedding, you can see Marshall and Lily sitting behind them. Marshall is thoroughly - exaggeratingly - enjoying the cake that he raves about throughout the rest of the episode.
4. Barney refers Indian currency as "India dollars", which is made up and doesn't mean anything. The actual currency of India is rupee.
5. At the end of the episode, Ted is wearing the bleached sweatshirt that he mentioned to Victoria in the wedding.
6. When Ted decides to go find Victoria at the bakery, Barney tries to convince him to "Suit up!". Ted declines because he has a better idea. Instead of a suit he changes into "the real Ted" ensemble he described to Victoria when they were dancing; "a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt with bleach stains on it".
7. In this episode, Ted seems to play the piano very well with no music showing that he knows how to play. However, in the final season, Ted takes lessons as he says he always wanted to learn how to play Piano.

Zip, Zip, Zip

1. First time that "The Bro Code" is mentioned.
2. When Barney and Robin talk about Battleship at the bar, Barney mentions that he cheats by stacking up the boats. Later, when they play a game, you can see on Barney's board that his boats are all in one stack.
3. While Lily and Marshall are waiting in the bathroom, Lily comments she had an entire Big Gulp while she and Marshall watched a Quantum Leap marathon. Marshall responds by saying "Oh, Boy". In Quantum Leap, Dr. Sam Beckett would often exclaim "Oh, Boy" when he leaped into a new person.
4. First time we learn the Ted, Marshall & Lilly's apartment address (4'40) "75th street and Amsterdam" (Upper West Side, NY).
5. Lily and Marshall in 1x14 when they are stuck in the bathroom say that they've never peed in front of each other. However, in 1x06, you see Marshall going with Lily into the bathroom to help her go pee because her parrot costume is "elaborate".
6. In 1x14, Marshall and Lily are brushing their teeth together in the bathroom, using two separate tooth brushes. However, in one of the later seasons, they claim that they've always used the same toothbrush.
7. When Barney is "birthday suiting up" at Robin's apartment, he starts by removing his belt. When he gets dressed again, his belt is already through the loops of his pants.
8. Barney, after being rejected by Robin, while getting re-dressed, ties his tie in a four-in-hand knot.

Game Night

1. We learn how Barney got his catchphrase "Suit Up" when he's handed a flier advertising suits.
2. "Marshallopoly" was the original title of this episode.
3. Apart from How I Met Your Mother: Pilot (2005), and until the airing of the sixth season episode How I Met Your Mother: Hopeless (2011), this was the only episode to feature a different title sequence than the rest of the series, using a shorter version of the theme tune presumably to allow for more commercial time. The flying 'How I Met Your Mother' text seen in the pilot is used, accompanied by a shorter rendition of the normal theme music. The first two bars of the theme are shortened from eight to four notes, which then cuts to the ending of the normal theme.
4. After Barney decides to "suit up" he tied his tie in a four-in-hand style. A simple and easy to use knot.
5. Marshal says he kept the best part of backgammon, the gammon and threw the rest in the trash. The gammon, as well as being a potential win in the game of backgammon, is also a cut of meat, pork to be exact. Perhaps Marshal knew this and, being a big eater from Minnesota, was a fan on the dish.
6. Hippie Barney passes a restaurant "Imamura's Japanese Cuisine" after his confrontation with Shannon and Greg
7. During the game, Lily says 'what' twice. At the bar, Lily says what twice, Ted says it once, and Barney says it once. None of them are caught and forced to drink.

Cupcake

Life Among the Gorillas

1. This episode starts the running gag of Barney deflecting the question of what he does for work by laughing and saying "please"
2. The first appearance of Colbie Smulder's husband, Taran Killam as Gary Blauman.
3. The first appearance of Bryan Callen as Bilson.
4. When Victoria plans to call Ted at 11pm, it would be either 4am or 5am in Germany. This makes sense since Victoria is a baker and most bakers start work at extremely early hours, often between midnight and 5 am.

Nothing Good Happens After 2 AM

1. Guest-performer Alexis Denisof is cast-member Alyson Hannigan's real-life husband.
2. First appearance of Alexis Denisof as Sandy Rivers.
3. When Barney and Robin are presenting to Lily's class about his job the black board reads "Barney (not the purple one), a reference to Barney the Dinosaur. It is also noted that before HIMYM Josh Radnor had a brief cameo as a waiter in Barney's Great Adventure.

Mary the Paralegal

1. Mary says that she works at the law firm "Douglas, O'Halloran and Stamp". These are the names of the three people who played the Kryptonian villains in Superman (1978), Superman II (1980) and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980). Sarah Douglas, Jack O'Halloran and Terence Stamp.
2. First time Marshall says his catchphrase "Lawyered."
3. Three of the main leads spouses' feature on the show. Alyson Hannigan's (Lily) husband, Alexis Denisof plays Robin's boss, Sandy Rivers. Neil Patrick Harris' (Barney) partner David Burtka plays Lily's High School boyfriend, Scooter/Bill. 'Cobie Smulder''s (Robin) husband, Taran Killam plays Gary Blauman, Barney's colleague.
4. First episode to feature a Telepathic Conversation.
5. Ted and Marshall delight in mocking Robin's co-anchor Sandy Rivers due to a regular segment of his where he reads the news aloud from area papers. This is a joke on New York 1s Pat Kiernan and his daily on-air "In the Papers" feature.
6. Alyson Hannigan's husband (Alexis Denisof, also starring on Buffy and Angel) stars as a news reporter Sandy Rivers.
7. First of the many episodes to have a "twist ending" caused by Barney.
8. When Barney asks Vampire Lou to read his announcement, Vampire Lou is holding a Bloody Mary. He puts it down to read the "twist ending," but he picks it back up right before he walks away.

Best Prom Ever

1. Lily's high school boyfriend Scooter is played by David Burtka. In the real world, Burtka is Neil Patrick Harris' husband.
2. "The 88" are a real band from Los Angeles. Their songs are featured in the soundtrack of some How I Met Your Mother (2005) episodes, such as How I Met Your Mother: Belly Full of Turkey (2005) and How I Met Your Mother: Something Blue (2007). Also, they wrote and perform the theme song from Community (2009).
3. In this episode young Lily says she might want to try a lesbian relationship. Previously Alyson Hannigan played a lesbian on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Milk

1. In the episode Milk, when Barney is trying to pick up a woman using the 'fell from heaven' line, two fake paramedics arrive at the scene. These two 'gentlemen of Verona' are actually the co-creators of How I Met Your Mother.
2. First time seeing the reverse shot of the booth showing it is not built against the 'fourth wall'.
3. Ted's son is actually named Luke.
4. When Lily leaves Ted stranded in Duchess county, Ted calls Barney to ask him to come and pick him up. In episode 17 of season 2, Arrivederci, Fiero, it is established that Barney can't drive.
5. Ted's eventual wife and the titular Mother has most of the qualities Ted describes as residing in his "perfect woman".

Come On

1. Creator Craig Thomas told Entertainment Weekly Magazine in early 2014 that this was his favorite episode of the show.
2. Guest-performer Alexis Denisof is cast-member Alyson Hannigan's real-life husband.
3. Lou the Weatherman was also Lou the Vampire in 'Mary the Paralegal'.
4. Cast member Alyson Hannigan guest-starred on Angel (1999). Guest-stars Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof were cast members on Angel (1999).
5. Joss Whedon connections: Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof from Angel (1999) played Penelope and Sandy Rivers in this episode. Denisof (Alyson Hannigan's husband and Buffy Co-star) also appeared in two other episodes as Sandy Rivers.
6. One member of the orchestra is complaining that the pizza Ted promised is not going to happen. He may be right: Ted is so much preoccupied with Robin and the rain quest that he probably forgot all about the pizzas.