“How I Met Your Mother” ran for nine seasons. Over the course of more than 200 episodes of content, the iconic millennial sitcom developed a unique cast of characters and eventually, painstakingly, revealed how one of them, Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), met his wife. Although the series had some compelling long-term story arcs, it really existed to entertain by following the characters through the foibles of their daily lives, in the same vein as “Friends,” “New Girl” or “Seinfeld.”
This laissez-faire but quirky approach to storytelling led to several recurring jokes that appeared again and again during the series – including one that Radnor named as his favorite. Years ago, when a panel of cast members were asked what their favorite joke was, Radnor’s answer made perfect sense. This is what he said:
“I’m a big fan of interventions. I love those. I think it’s so funny that they clearly have a professional banner made for an intervention, a fake British accent or they’re wearing Crocs. And they take it very seriously, and you walk in there with a banner, and everyone’s like [scowling face]”.
The intervention trope runs throughout the show, tackling obsessions in everything from spray tans to magic tricks. There are both on-screen and referenced interventions on chart addictions, Dr. Suess hats, and Barney hitting on girls dressed like an old man. At some point, there is even an intervention for the sake of interventions.
Other gags from the series
“How I Met Your Mother” is riddled with other running jokes. Radnor brought up telepathic conversation as another such topic. The characters in the series often converse with each other without moving their mouths, connecting brain to brain for more intimate or secret exchanges.
Lilly actress Alyson Hannigan brought up an example of a more compartmentalized joke: when the show’s main characters continually thank bartender Linus for his timely and urgent service throughout Season 9 (the final season of the series). Punctual service leads to the familiar phrase “Thank you, Linus.” Robin actress Cobie Smulders’ data-driven response to a widely used joke was the show’s continued use of random but very specific numbers and percentages to quantify things.
Many of these gags have become more nuanced over time. As the seasons progressed, they demanded a deeper level of “you had to be there” understanding from the audience. That’s why, despite the random nature of much of the show’s content, it’s still best to watch this one from the beginning so you can understand everything and build that intra-show vocabulary as you go.
