How I Met Your Mother

Season 8

Farhampton

1. The word that Klaus keeps saying is "lebenslanger Schicksalschatz" (would actually be two words in German) and does literally mean "lifelong treasure of destiny". However, this is not a standard phrase in German.
2. Neither "Lebenslangerschicksalsschatz" nor "Beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand" or "Schlauchmachendejungen" are actual German words or phrases. "Lebenslangerschicksalsschatz" literally translates to lifetime-destiny-treasure, "Beinaheleidenschaftsgegenstand" to close-to-passion-thing and "Schlauchmachendejungen" to boys that make hoses. In German none of these words make sense at all.
3. While Barney is quickly telling Quinn the story in 52 seconds, he makes a mistake, that Robin went to Brazil. Robin went to Argentina.
4. When Quinn tells Barney he has 52 seconds to explain it takes him exactly 52 seconds to recapture the whole story.
5. The church pictured is the same church used in the tv show 7th Heaven
6. Perhaps used as a foreshadowing, the background music to one of the first extensive scene to the Mother was The Funeral by Band of Horses.
7. When Barney recounts his relationship with Robin, he says Ted got hit by a bus. In actuality, it was Barney himself who got hit by a bus that resulted in their make up.
8. When Barney recounts his relationship with Robin, he says she went to Brazil, but she actually went to Argentina.

The Pre-Nup

1. Thomas Lennon's character, Klaus, suggests that they watch the German version of The Odd Couple in this episode. Lennon is scheduled to appear in the remake of The Odd Couple this year. (2015)
2. Robin has a TV in her bedroom so she can see herself on the news broadcast when in bed with Nick. In the episode "Moving Day" from season 2 she is against having a TV in the bedroom when Ted is moving in.
3. When the four couples are standing in the conference room with the guys on one side of the table and the girls on the other, the order of both groups is such that each person is in the same order as their respective partner.
4. In this episode, Robin and Nick have an argument over Robin watching television while they are in bed; however in season 2 episode 18 "Moving Day", Robin and Ted have an argument when Ted wants to put his TV in Robin's room but she does not want a TV in the bedroom. New: she didn't appear on "normal" hours on the tv before :)
5. Last appearance of Tugboat the dog.
6. Final appearance of Bob Odenkirk as Arthur Hobbs.
7. In a former episode when Robin is dating a guy named Max, in the locker room at the end of the episode, Ted, Barney, and Max talk about a "thing" Robin likes to do during sex." Ted and Barney agree that it's, "not for everyone." Marshall asks what it is and Max says, "Come on, it's the locker room." In this episode we discover Robin likes watching herself on the news while she has sex.
8. We find out what Robin's weird sexual thing is that the guys were talking about in the locker room from Season 6 Episode 5 "Architect of Destruction."

Nannies

1. The nameplate on the police uniform Barney wears when trying to pick up girls at the bar reads, "Longwood"
2. Lily says that Mrs. Buckminster is "a spoonful of sugar". This is a reference to the song "Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins, a musical about a nanny.

Who Wants to Be a Godparent

1. The suit that Marshall is wearing during the competition is the matching jacket to the pants talked about in the episode "The Magician's Code: Part 1" (7.23), as Robin and Ted recount for Lily the time Marshall had "unlucky" pants.
2. After Marshall and Lily almost get hit by a taxi, Lily response with, "Death is all around us." Marshall said the same thing in S7: E9 "Diaster Averted" after learning of the end of his health insurance and getting a paper cut.
3. Items on Lily and Marshall's "Who Wants to Be a Godparent" wheel: "Diaper Daily Double", "Birds and Bees", "Tooth Fairy Santa Bigfoot", "Bedtime Story", "Learning to Drive", "Discipline", "Potty Training", and "Our Demise".

The Autumn of Breakups

1. There is a scene in the bar where Marshall parodies Sex and the City. In his film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he pretends to be the ladies of Sex and the City in a bar.
2. The previously mentioned Autumn of Breakups claims It's 2nd victim. It can also be seen as a foreshadowing when Victoria says "or maybe 15 years from now" to Ted and Robin being together because this is how the series ends.

Splitsville

1. The colours of the basketball jersey for Ted's team of architects is based on the Cleveland Cavaliers the team of Ted's hometown in Ohio
2. Lily mentions a made-up history about Robin, Nick and a foreign student called Nadia. In the movie American Pie, which Alyson Hannigan was part of, the character played by Shannon Elizabeth is named Nadia and is a foreign student.
3. In this episode Marshall is in a basketball team. In season 4, episode 14, The Possimpible, Marshall states he can no longer play basketball due to an injury, which turns out to be called dancers hip.
4. The Splitsville restaurant is decorated with yellow roses, a flower representing friendship.
5. In S08 E06, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) obsesses over Robin's sex life mentioning a character known as "Nadia" who keeps joining Robin and Nick in sex. Nadia is also the foreign character she played alongside in American Pie.
6. In the opening sequence, Barney drops the same piece of Chinese food numerous times. Lilly and Ted both eat pieces. But through the whole scene, even after the opening credits, Barney never actually eats a single piece.
7. This episode marks the first step of Barney's final play from the Playbook, "The Robin".

The Stamp Tramp

1. Barney's free agency speech almost exactly mirrors basketball superstar LeBron James' speech when he took his talents to South Beach to join the Miami Heat in 2010.
2. About 11 1/2 minutes in, Marshall's boss says "that man is the human equivalent of what came out of my body after eating that soup you recommended." This soup is from the restaurant that Lily got soup from just before she found out she was pregnant (The Blue Bowl Restaurant, in the episode "Challenge Accepted"). She said her and Marshall continue to eat there despite getting food poisoning there on at least 3 occasions because it is so good.
3. At the beginning of the episode, the first interview for the strip club "Moneyballs" is a reference to the movie Moneyball. "Moneyballs" uses sabermetrics, in the movie they use sabermetrics to put a successful baseball team on the field.
4. Robin makes a crack about Barney being the LeBron James of strip clubs and then amends it to say that LeBron actually holds that title. In actuality, Mr. James is happily married to his high school sweetheart Savannah Brinson and is a committed family man.
5. When Barney imitates Ted, he actually imitates "Ted" from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".

Twelve Horny Women

1. Lily's whistling while kids are saying "Lily coming!" is taken from the character of Omar Little from the TV show "The Wire".
2. The episode title "Twelve Horny Women" is a reference to the film "Twelve Angry Men" about jurors deciding the fate in a murder case.
3. Final appearance of Joe Manganiello as Brad.

Lobster Crawl

1. In the last scene, the swords from Ted and Marshall's duel and the mother's yellow umbrella are visible on the wall of Ted's home.
2. At one point Robin's brain says, "That's it. I am outta here." accompanied by footsteps and a slaming door. Homer Simpson's brain does the exact same thing in an episode of The Simpsons.
3. In the last scene, future Ted is seen wearing a wedding ring, but we find out later that Ted and the Mother don't get married until much later into their relationship.

The Over-Correction

1. About 9 minutes in, Barney's Christmas tree is up and it is completely decorated with red and green ties.
2. When Robin finds David Lee Roth's autobiography you can clearly see that the book says "Crazy From The Heat".
3. When Robin is looking for the Playbook, it is revealed that moving the arm of Barney's Stormtrooper costume causes the playbook to descend from the roof. However, in the episode "Trilogy Time" Robin wears the suit, showing that it's likely not attached to any wiring.
4. In this episode, Patrice tells Barney that "you give love a bad name" is the first song on her get psych mix. Barney then responds saying "mine too!" Although the only song we hear from Barney's get psych mix is You give love a bad name, it's actually the second song on his mix behind I wanna rock by Twisted Sister

The Final Page: Part One

1. This episode was originally entitled "Silence of the Jinx".
2. Seth Green, who appears in this episode, played Oz, a love interest of Alyson Hannigan's character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).
3. Daryl's basement was the same set as Stella's basement in "I love New Jersey"
4. A syndicated re-run of this episode, that aired during the week of 19-Dec-2016, included digital replacement of some incidental background signage with posters for the film Why Him? (2016), which stars Bryan Cranston, who was prominently featured on the poster. Cranston had played Hammond Druthers, Ted's boss.
5. Alyson Hannigan, Seth Green, and Alexis Denisof have all appeared together in the T.V. series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Final Page: Part Two

1. Lily's dad, Mickey, refers to him watching "Breaking Bad" in this episode. Bryan Cranston and Bob Odenkirk, stars of Breaking Bad, both played characters in this show (as Ted's and Marshall's bosses).

Band or DJ?

1. In this episode it is revealed that Barney and Robin's wedding is on May 25th. May 25th also happens to be the same day that both the original Star Wars and Return of the Jedi movies were released. Star Wars is one of Ted, Marshall, and Barney's all time favorite movie trilogy as mentioned in many episodes.
2. In the episode where Ted and Lily argue about if there should be a band or a DJ at Barney and Robin's wedding, Ted votes for a DJ. However, in the very first episode before Ted meets Robin and talks to Carl's Lebanese girlfriend, he points out that in his opinion, a band is better.

Ring Up!

1. Ashley Benson who plays Barney's sister is the co-star of Lucy Hale on Pretty Little Liars, who also plays Robin's sister
2. This episode put an end to a popular fan theory that Barney's sister would be The Mother.
3. When Ted says "Charlie was everywhere" when talking about the Vietnam War, this is a reference to the communist forces in Vietnam.

P.S. I Love You

1. Dave Coulier is one of the celebrities insisting Robin Daggers' song isn't about him, asking why they always assume it's him. This is a reference to the rumor that Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" was about him.
2. When Dave Coulier says "Cut it out," the narrator says "I always liked that joke ." The narrator is played by Bob Saget, who stars alongside Coulier as best friends on Full House (1987), where Coulier used that catchphrase frequently.
3. The progression from Robin Sparkles to Robin Daggers is very similar to the real life career of Alanis Morissette who, before releasing Jagged Little Pill, had come out with a couple of light pop albums in Canada and went simply by "Alanis". Robin Dagger's vocal style is also reminiscent of Alanis.
4. Jeanatte (Abby Elliott) who played Ted's girlfriend from Season 8 is in real life, Chris Elliott's daughter. Chris plays Mickey Aldrin, Lily's father in the series.
5. Jeanette is played by Abby Elliott, the daughter of series recurring guest star Chris Elliott.
6. During the showing of the "Robin Daggers" video clip for P.S I Love You, she references god as a woman, while the "shirtless man in black and white" acts surprised, this is a joke similar to (and possibly a reference to) a joke in the seventh episode of this season called "The Stamp Tramp", eight episodes before this one, when Ted was talking about Dishwalla' song, "Counting Blue Cars", released in the 90's (the same decade as P.S I Love You was), where they made a reference to god also being a woman, and it "blew everyone's minds".
7. One of the people that was in the Interview for P.S I love you is Stephen page who is part of the band the bare naked ladies (also mentioned in the episode the slutty pumpkin returns) who sings the intro song for the show "The Big Bang Theory" (2007)
8. In the "P.S. I Love You" video, Robin makes reference to God being a she. This is another reference to Alanis Morrisette who played God in Kevin Smith's "Dogma". In Kevin Smith's Askewniverse movies, God is always referenced as a she.
9. In the full-length video for "P.S. I Love You," not shown in the episode, "Paul Shaffer" briefly appears written on a chalkboard, and is the only name to do so.
10. While Lily is trying to find Marshall by knocking on random people's doors she's wearing lipstick, but once she finds Marshall the lipstick has disappeared.

Bad Crazy

1. During the scene where Barney and Marshall are bringing in the items to store in Ted's apartment, we see Barney bring in a life-size Boba Fett. This marks the third life-size character Barney has had over the years. In the first couple of seasons Barney has a clone trooper and then in later seasons he has a storm trooper in his apartment.
2. In the scenes set in the future, between Lily & Robin, Lily states that Mike Tyson is now a Senator. As a convicted felon, Mike Tyson is constitutionally barred from holding public office.
3. Throughout the episode, during the flash forwards to Robin and Lily, Robin's left hand is never directly shown. This is in order to keep the secret that Robin and Barney later get divorced in 9.23 Last Forever: Part 1

The Ashtray

1. Barney mentions a play from the play-book "the Royal Archduke of Grand Fenwick". This may have been taken from the 1959 film "The Mouse that Roared. There was no Arch Duke in that film. But there was a Grand Duchess of Grand Fenwick. Because the film is set in the fictional country of Grand Fenwick. This was probably an homage to that great little comedy.
2. On the pictures of the boat in the captain's apartment, there's a little picture of Becky and "boats, boats, boats" in the bottom left corner.

Weekend at Barney's

1. When Barney is talking to Ted through the ear piece he says "Iceman to Neruda". Iceman and Neruda were the code names they were using while picking up girls using the play book. Barney's code name being " Iceman" is a reference to Val Kilmers character in the 1986 movie "Top Gun". Ted's code name was Neruda, which is a reference to Ted's favorite poet "Pablo Neruda" which he talks about in season 4, episode 9 "The Naked Man".
2. Ted refuses to pay for stamps, but earlier in the series Barney gave Ted a lifetime supply of stamps to keep Ted and Robin from fighting.
3. In the elevator, Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) dresses up in a beard, sailor hat and pipe. In the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events Neil Patrick Harris' character Count Olaf wears a disguise that is very similar.
4. Marshall and Strickland discuss the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Abby Elliott who appears as Jeanette in this episode, later appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014). And Taran Killam who portrays Gary Blauman in other episodes, also appeared in that movie.
5. The intro to this episode and the title is a reference to the movie Weekend At Bernie's

The Fortress

1. The show Ted was watching, "Woodworthy Manner", is a spoof of Downton Abbey.
2. When Lily is pouring "tea" from the pot, it's clearly just water.

The Time Travelers

1. Carl's last name is MacLaren
2. In the toilet, Robin writes: "Dear Marshall, I know this is a strange way to apologize but I'm sorry I let Carl name your drink after me. Why didn't I say something? Gosh, I guess that goes back to my childhood. Did you know that for the first two years of my life my dad treated me like a cat? Seriously, I wasn't permitted on the furniture, I had to bathe myself, and I was only allowed to poop in a box. Ironic that this all comes out in a bathroom. A place that for so long I yearned to be. This tiled prison that eluded my saddened grasp was a haven. The unreachable. When I finally did demand a bathroom visit, my dad applauded my moxie. And that's the only time my father ever said he was proud of me. Maybe that's why I stole credit for your drink. Maybe that's why I needed to pour my heart out like this. Or, maybe I wrote this so you'd be in here long enough for a lady to walk in, causing you to freak out and hide in the stall. GOTCHA!! love, Robin (creator of the Robin Scherbatsky)"
3. Marshall describes Robin's apparent credit-grabbing of his drink idea as "Zuckerberging," referring to the controversy between Mark Zuckerberg and the Winklevoss twins over who originally had the idea for Facebook.
4. The Robin Scherbatsky consists of coconut rum, peach schnapps, vanilla vodka, strawberry creme liqueur, cranberry juice, sugar and maraschino cherries.
5. The song that Barney and Ted are singing is "For The Longest Time" by Billy Joel.
6. At the end of the episode when Ted runs across town to Louis' instead of going to Robots vs. Wrestlers he has tears in his eyes as he talks about giving anything for 45 more days with the mother (Tracy). This is because Future Ted knows that his time with her would be short due to her illness.
7. 20 years from now Ted" is wearing a wedding ring. 20 years in the future would be the year 2033, 3 years after Ted tells his kids the story of meeting their mother, and 9 years after Tracy passes away.
8. 20 years from now Ted is wearing a wedding ring. Since he would be from the year 2033 (3 years after he is telling his kids the story and 9 years after his wifes death) it could be assumed that he and Robin got married at some point in those 3 years.
9. 20-years-from-now-Barney is wearing a wedding ring (visible on his left hand at the 11:37 mark and at the 20:27 mark). This could indicate several things. One, Barney is still wearing his wedding ring from his marriage to Robin. Two, Barney may have gotten married at some point after splitting up with Robin and having his daughter. Three, as of this point in the show it is not planned that Barney and Robin split up and Ted and Robin get together in the end, but the plan is for Barney and Robin to stay married.
10. 20 years from now Barney is wearing a ring. This could indicate maybe Barney got married with number 31.

Romeward Bound

1. The only line in Italian that Marshall knows, and keep saying repeatedly, is "Andiamo fratello, non Mastroianni tutti i funyuns". Funyuns are a onion-flavored corn snack and the line was intended to be "Come on Bro, don't eat all the funyuns" (as seen in the subtitles "Come on, Bro, Don't Bogart all the funyuns"). Marshall swap the name of Bogart with the name of a famous Italian actor (Mastroianni). In Italy there isn't a urban slang corresponding to the U.S. "don't Bogart..." meaning "don't keep it all for yourself", and, while the line "don't Bogart all the funyuns" works in the U.S., the line "non Mastroianni tutti i funyuns" doesn't in Italian language.

The Bro Mitzvah

1. Barney's Bro-Mitzvah Absolute Requirements are: booze, cigars, strippers, fear for our lives, mind-blowing entertainment, karate kid appearance, "alone time" for me during the strip show, tell crazy sex stories, spontaneous decision we regret, spend way too much money ($$$), lose a bro at some point, at least one real moment between bros, and see a girl fight one of these requirements actually occur with the appearance of the karate kid

Something Old

1. The episodes "Something Old" and "Something New" mirror the final two episode titles of season 2 ("Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue").
2. During laser tag, there are two references to the 1994 movie, Léon: The Professional. When Barney is giving a pep talk to his team one of the boys asks him, "What does that have to do with laser tag?" To which Barney responds in his face, "Everything!" This is similar to Gary Oldman's line in The Professional where he responds to a fellow officer asking who he should get to which Oldman's character responds, "Everyone!" The second reference is when Barney is perched above a doorway to shoot some kids in the back and then swings down to get two more kids while hanging upside down. This is exactly like a scene in The Professional where Léon does the same exact thing to police officers trying to enter his apartment.
3. When Ted is at the door of the apartment he delivers the following line "Look, I came here to chew bubblegum and pack boxes...and I'm all out of bubblegum." This line is a reworded line from the movie "They Live" starring Rowdy Roddy Piper in which Piper's character states "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubblegum."
4. "El Ganso con la Riñonera" actually means "the Goose with the Fanny Pack". In some Spanish speaking countries "goose" is a mild insult.
5. In the episode The Possimpible, it states on Lily's resume that she is fluent in Italian. In this episode, however, Lily claims that the move to Rome will be difficult because her and Marshall don't know the language.

Something New

1. Keegan-Michael Key (guy at restaurant) and Cobie Smulders (Robin) would later go on to play a married couple in Friends from College (2017).
2. The scene where Marshall gets dropped off in the Minnesota airport was actually filmed in PDX. The backdrop shows the sky bridge between the parking garage and the departure terminal, and the close-in scene where Marshall talks with his brother reveals the carts that are at the PDX airport.
3. Robin's locket is an allusion to the gold watch in Pulp Fiction.
4. When Ted & Lilly are driving to his house in Westchester it is dark, yet when Lilly is talking to Marshall, in St. Cloud it is sill sunny, and is still sunny when Marshall receives his call about becoming a Judge. Given that the time difference is only 1 hour, it should not be sunny in St. Cloud when it is dark in New York.
5. When Lily and Ted are talking about 'the girl', Lily says to Ted that 'she's out there walking around New York City right now...probably in a pair of really cute boots that she's gonna let me borrow whenever I want because we're the same size'.The first shot we see of the mother in the train station is of her boots.
6. This is the first time viewers see the mother's face.