How I Met Your Mother
Overview
"How I Met Your Mother" (HIMYM) is an American sitcom that aired from 2005 to 2014. The show was created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, who also served as the show's executive producers and were frequent writers. The series follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in Manhattan. As a framing device, Ted, in the year 2030, recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meet their mother.
Plot
The series is narrated through flashbacks from the future, in which an older version of the main character, Ted Mosby, tells his two children the story of how he met their mother. The story begins in 2005 with Ted as a single, 27-year-old architect living in New York City with his best friend from college, Marshall Eriksen, a law student. Ted begins his search for his perfect soul mate and meets an ambitious young reporter from Canada, Robin Scherbatsky, with whom he quickly falls in love.
Characters
The series features five main characters: Ted Mosby, Marshall Eriksen, Robin Scherbatsky, Barney Stinson, and Lily Aldrin. Barney, a serial womanizer, is known for his many theories and rules on meeting women, picking up women, and scoring with women. Lily, Marshall's girlfriend, then fiancée, then wife, is a kindergarten teacher. She is a shopaholic with a poor credit rating, and she enjoys stealing items from hotels, which she justifies because "they expect you to take stuff".
Production
"How I Met Your Mother" was inspired by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas' idea to "write about our friends and the stupid stuff we did in New York", where they previously worked as writers for "Late Show with David Letterman". The show's creators envisioned it as a "love story in reverse", an idea that became the show's central theme.
Reception
The show received generally positive reviews, with critics often praising the unique structure and the performances of the lead actors. However, the series finale was polarizing, with most critics and fans finding it unsatisfying.
Legacy
"How I Met Your Mother" has been a cultural phenomenon, gaining a dedicated fan base and becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of its time. The show has also been praised for its unique structure, humor, and dramatic elements, and has been credited with paving the way for other nontraditional sitcoms.
