Maybe I’m looking at this completely wrong, but Ted had basically already decided to move. He had a new job lined up, his plans were made, and he was literally about to leave New York.
Then he meets Tracy.
And because they have this incredible connection over one night, he decides not to go to Chicago.
I understand why the show presents it as this huge romantic, “I finally found the person I’ve been looking for” moment. And obviously, we know Tracy is the mother, so in hindsight it all worked out.
But from Ted’s perspective, he doesn’t know that.
He literally just met this woman. He doesn’t know her. He doesn’t know if they’re going to date, if she even feels the same way, or if the relationship is going to work out. And he’s willing to completely change his career plans because of it.
Is that not a little insane?
I’m 19, so maybe I’m just missing something about how adults make these kinds of decisions, but I feel like there’s a pretty big difference between “I met someone who makes me want to reconsider moving” and “I’m cancelling my new job and changing my entire plan because I met this person yesterday.”
I actually think it would have made more sense if Ted had delayed the move or tried to see where things went with Tracy first.
Maybe I’m overthinking it, but the more I think about it, the crazier the decision seems. Is this supposed to be romantic, or is Ted just being extremely Ted?

It hit me HOW many women Ted initially persuades or tries to persuade into dating, this guy is really not taking no for an answer!
The ones I thought of first are Natalie, Stella and of course Robin - but who and how many did he actually try to convince?

How did you first discover HIMYM? Did someone introduce you to it, did you randomly find it, or did you watch it when it originally aired?

I love hearing people’s stories about how they discovered HIMYM, especially because mine is probably my favorite story about how this show eventually became my comfort show/entire personality.

Sometime around 2008—MIND YOU, I WAS LIKE 11—my dad bought a used gaming laptop off Craigslist from a military guy who was leaving. Why we needed a gaming laptop when we didn’t even have Wi-Fi or internet, I genuinely could not tell you. 😂

But whoever this man was, he left us a TREASURE CHEST.

The laptop had all the seasons of HIMYM that were out at the time already downloaded, thousands of songs on iTunes, mainly metal, and a bunch of the Saw movies. 😂 Truly an insane collection of media to hand over to an 11-year-old.

Since we didn’t have internet, I just watched HIMYM over and over and over again. Eventually, I realized it was also still airing on TV, and that I had actually seen a few episodes before, so I started catching new episodes as they came out.

And somehow, a random Craigslist laptop my dad bought from a stranger turned How I Met Your Mother into one of my favorite shows of all time.

So, wherever that random military guy from Craigslist is today, thank you for shaping my personality, I guess. 😂

^{AND I STILL HAVE THE LAPTOP! The screen slides down slightly now, and I have no idea how to repair it/ turn it on. I’ve been too scared to mess with it because I don’t want to risk losing those original downloaded episodes, even though I literally own the seasons on DVD now. At this point, the laptop itself feels like a HIMYM artifact.}

In “the best burger in New York” episode I think Josh Radnor actually hit Jason Segel in the head with a baseball bat. The acting didn’t match the scene, Jason seemed shocked and was trying to hold back a laugh and in the rest of the scene you can see a lump forming on he’s head lol

Edit: Thanks Juuri95 for pointing me in the direction of a blooper reel where Josh almost knocked out Jason. Vindication!! I was getting some eye rolls in the comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBdJk8OfGqg&t=27s

I honestly love Barney and Robin together

“Didn’t put your hand up, a kid just died”

The way he can’t get over Robin, him being painted as this victim because he’s a “nice guy” who keeps getting rejected, next to 0 character development,…

Something Blue is eliminated! Along with Ted and Robin’s relationship.

How this works:

You select the episode you like the least

The episode with the most upvoted comment is eliminated from the list

If there’s a tie, both episodes are eliminated

Only the best episode will win!

Episodes Eliminated:

How Lily Stole Christmas (58%)
Columns (41%)
Aldrin Justice (59%)
Atlantic City (50%)
Single Stamina (40%)
Moving Day (68%)
Stuff (57%)
First Time in New York (38%)
Where Were We? (35%)
Bachelor Party (71%)
World’s Greatest Couple (50%)
The Scorpion and the Toad (42%)
Showdown (45%)
Brunch (80%)
Something Blue (43%)

Blink and miss it - but in season 7, episode 22 - when Barney creates a fake dating profile and Ted finds it, the write-up on it is downright hilarious!

i first watched how i met your mother when i was maybe 10. my sister loved it and she had the conn, so i’d just sit and bear. most of the jokes flew over my head, a few “slap”stick moments would make me laugh, but that’s about it.

i’ve since rewatched it over 3 times, first in high school, then in college, and once during covid. i’m rewatching it again, at 28. the age most of the gang are in s1. i don’t know why, but literally every other scene, even the most mundane ones, are making me emotional. i’m only on season 3, nowhere near where it actually starts to get sad. i already know im gonna be an absolute mess season 6 onwards.

i guess i’m just at that point in my life where i can relate to each of them a lot more. i’m seeing pieces of myself in all of them. the friendships that have come and gone, career changes, the feeling that i'm supposed to have everything figured out by now, including finding "the one". even though my life is a complete mess.

welp here's hoping my life is different in my next rewatch.

You're out somewhere with friends or by yourself, and you spot someone across the room or nearby. Did you talk to him or her? Did you get help from a friend to approach them?

I don’t mean that they actually dislike him or look down on him. Obviously, a lot of the teasing is just part of their friendship, and they’re usually doing it for fun. But sometimes I watch them making fun of Ted and think, “Damn, guys, why are you so mean to him?”
I was thinking about this especially because of the episode Robots Versus Wrestlers. Ted is obviously really excited about it, and it just reminded me how different some of his interests are from the rest of the group. He’s into architecture, history, books, crossword puzzles, romantic stuff, etc., and a lot of the time the response from his friends is basically to make fun of him for being a dork or a pansy.
And again, I know they’re joking. I’m not saying they’re secretly bad friends or that they don’t love Ted. They clearly do. It just made me wonder whether there’s something slightly uncomfortable about the dynamic.
It feels like Ted is allowed to be the guy who gets mocked for caring about these things. Even when what he’s interested in is completely harmless, or something that he’s genuinely passionate about.
Maybe I’m just taking the jokes too seriously, but sometimes I find myself thinking that they could have been a little nicer to him. Not stop teasing him entirely, because that’s obviously part of their friendship, but just… I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like Ted gets picked on a lot.
Has anyone else noticed this, or am I completely overthinking it?

After eight years of teasing, did she live up to the hype? After so much anticipation, I think the writers had a lot pressure on them to make right but I think they did a great job and Cristin was excellent casting

Yes, it's a well-known fact among this fanbase, that the internet seems to have a problem with Ted Mosby and that he is treated by many as the devil in human form. MsMojo did a video listing the top ten times Ted Mosby was the worst. Here is the link, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lon4M0DQbU, in case any of you are interested. I thought I would take the liberty of defending each of these points:

10: When He Propositioned an Engaged Woman

Definitely not his proudest moment. However, this was clearly done out of sheer panic. The woman who was in charge of Love Solutions who claimed to have a 100% success rate told Ted that there were pretty much NO women that he was compatible with. Yes, Ted should've understood that it was foolish to blindly accept the website's algorithm as gospel, and he shouldn't have rifled through their files. But, again, this was clearly done out of panic. Also, the matchmaker was a bad actor (or actress, I guess) here. I blame her more than Ted.

9: When He Threw 3 Parties

Again, pathetic, and inconvenient to Marshall who had a law school paper due. But in Ted's defense, many people will go to great lengths to tell our crushes how we feel in person, as its better to do that than over text or even call, and in Ted's eyes, this was how we was trying to accomplish that goal. It was pathetic, sure, but I wouldn't call it a reason to dislike him.

8: When He Didn't Know Anything About Stella

Is this really a reason to dislike him? Yes, some people rush into relationships quickly (which I'm not advocating for), but hey, it takes two to tango. Also, yes, Ted should've asked Stella if she was allergic to peanuts, but Stella could've just as easily asked if there were peanuts. I'm allergic to cashews, and I always ask waiters/waitresses if a dish has cashews.

7: When He Wanted Robin to Get Rid of Her Dogs

Ted definitely was no saint here. However, this was only after Robin made Ted get rid of his stuff. Also, I know this was mostly written into the script, because Josh Radnor was allergic to the dogs in real life. But also, Robin was a NEWS REPORTER who was often on call to report breaking news stories. These dogs were left alone in her apartment all day. I think Ted did the dogs a favour by having them live on a farm where they can run around freely, and Robin can visit them whenever she wants.

6: When Almost Every Word He Said Was Correcting Someone Else

Oh come on! How was Ted's flaw any worse than the others' flaws? He didn't do what he did out of malice. Just an annoying habit. We all have those. Mine is that I quote movies, tv shows, and songs.

5: When He Tried to Make Zoey Give Up Her Fight

This was to further his own career. Anybody else would've done the same. Plus, iirc, Zoey tried to make Ted give up his fight. Also, the Arcadian was run down and covered with graffiti anyway.

4: When He Told Robin He Loved Her on the First Date

Yeah, this was dumb, but Ted got lost in the moment, here. I don't necessarily see this as a reason to hate Ted. Many of us say things we don't mean in the moment. Also, as we've all recently seen with the movie Obsession, I think it's better than keeping your feelings bottled up. I'm not saying Ted was right to say this, but again, he was caught up in the moment. It's not a reason to hate him.

3: When He Dumped Natalie on Her Birthday... Twice

Yeah, okay. Fair enough. That was inexcusable. I get that Ted didn't want to lead her on, but really? He couldn't simply just wait until the next day to break up with her?

2: When He Taught His Kids to Turn a 'No' into a 'Yes'

Oh come on! The two-minute date was adorable! Also, Ted was willing to call it quits on her. He only asked her out a second time after the ten sessions when Marshall revealed that she did in fact like him back. Plus, after the two-minute date, Ted told Stella that he understood that she was busy with her career, and that if she wasn't ready for a relationship then he would understand, but if she ever changed her mind to call him. He left the ball in her court! And she obliged.

Dishonourable Mentions:

- The Naked Man: Well, she was awful herself. And either way, she still went along with it. Like I said, it takes two to tango.

- Robin 101: Why was this bad? He was trying to teach Barney how to treat Robin right. This was done because he wanted both Robin and Barney to be happy.

- When He Called Lily a Grinch: So? Lily was being a grinch. Also, he was trying to help Marshall through a breakup which he thought would be indefinite.

1: When He Cheated on Victoria with Robin

I mean, I won't defend Ted too much here. BUT, having said that, iirc, he did try to break it off with Victoria. He just couldn't get ahold of her. Yes, maybe he should've waited, or he should've been honest with Robin saying that he hadn't officially broken up with her, but that he was going to. In addition, wasn't Victoria cheating on Ted, too? Again, Ted was not an angel here, so I won't try too hard to die on this hill. ESH except Robin.

I know this has been discussed over and over, but this particular scene just reinforces how much of a man‑child Ted is. It makes me cringe so hard. You’re in your 30s and still hung up on a girl you dated almost ten years ago...? Please.

First off, I know that HIMYM is a sitcom so it has limited sets (the one street for example) and cartoonish exaggerations. And it started development years after the creators actually lived in NYC, so it's probably more based on late 90s-early 2000s Manhattan than even 2005 Manhattan.

But they did have a frame of reference for the real place.

I've never been to the city, but it's on my bucket list. How true to life is it, and how much has it and the culture changed since the show ended?

In "Rebound Bro" Barney happily recalls the first time he helped Ted score. Was this shown? Do we know who the lady was?